Lost Judgment Includes 8 Playable Sega Master System Games

Between Sonic the Fighters in arcades and activities like skateboarding, Lost Judgment players can also get partake in some retro action thanks to an in-game Sega Master System. In a new tweet, Ryu ga Gotoku Studio confirmed all of the titles that would be available with a total of eight games. These include Alex Kidd in Miracle World, Enduro Racer, Fantasy Zone, Penguin Land, Woody Pop, Maze Hunter 3-D, Secret Command and Quartet.

You don't gain access to all of them immediately though. As Yagami explores the world, he'll find different game cartridges and can play them back in the office. How these will be discovered remains to be seen so befriend every possible NPC and complete any Side Cases and School Stories that come your way.

Lost Judgment is out on September 24th for Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PS4 and PS5. For more extensive footage showcasing the combat, dancing mini-games and parkour, head here. You can also go here to read up on why this could be one of the biggest games of the year.

Ghost of Tsushima Director's Cut Review – Your Legend Grows

Ghost of Tsushima turned out to be a much bigger deal than anyone – even Sony or Sucker Punch – could have anticipated. Though not the hyper-polished and technically astounding game that one usually expects flagship first party PlayStation titles to be, the open world samurai epic wowed audiences with its gorgeous world, its empowering stealth, its spectacular combat, and more. Now, a year later, Sucker Punch has come out with an extended cut of the game, improving upon the base experience with technical and visual enhancements and quality-of-life upgrades, but most notably, also adding a meaty new piece of content to Jin's already lengthy story with the Iki Island expansion. And to no one's surprise, Ghost of Tsushima Director's Cut is an unequivocally excellent package.

The biggest draw here, of course, is the new content on offer. The Iki Island expansion is set during the events of the base game, accessible as soon as you're done with Act 1, which means Jin's journey to Iki takes place while the Mongol invasion of Tsushima itself is yet to be dealt with. Even so, though the expansion might not act as a bridge between Ghost of Tsushima and its inevitable sequel the way, say, last year's Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales did between its predecessor and eventual successor, it still feels like an important part of the larger story being told here.

"To no one's surprise, Ghost of Tsushima Director's Cut is an unequivocally excellent package."

Iki Island, a wild and lawless place as it is, has been taken over by a new Mongol faction calling themselves the Eagle Tribe, who're led by a woman known as, well, the Eagle., and under their iron grip, the island's become an even more dangerous place. The biggest threat being faced by its inhabitants is a new kind of poison being used by the Eagle Tribe, which, in essence, renders its victims insane and completely dismantles their minds. Knowing full well how dire the situation could get when the Eagle Tribe eventually makes its way to Tsushima, Jin decides to travel to Iki to deal with the problem before it can spread any further.

The story told here is a very personal one that dives deeper into Jin's past, and further fleshes out plot points that were only briefly touched upon in the base game. Throughout the expansion, we see Jin having to deal with his past traumas and inner demons, lending greater depth to his character. On top of that, being a samurai on Iki Island is a complicated situation in and of itself as well. Years ago, samurais led by Jin's father tried and failed to quell the lawless ways of the island and establish proper law and order, and their struggle against the raiders and natives of Iki ultimately ended in the death of Jin's father.

The people of Iki, as such, don't really hold the samurai in high regard, and that leads to some interesting, complicated relationships and dynamics between Jin and new characters, as he's forced to forge alliances with people he would once have considered his enemies, so that they can now take down a common foe. Learning of the conflict that took place on the island and being shown the perspectives of everyone involved makes for a rich setting with an excellent sense of place and a history of its own, while watching the repercussions of that old conflict on the problems Jin is facing now makes for some fascinating plot moments.

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"Just like Tsushima in the base game, Iki is a gorgeous, masterfully designed open world map brimming with excellent sights and engaging activities. The new map is about a third of Tsushima in terms of size, and the expansion uses that real estate to great effect, with environments dominated by the same brilliant, oversaturated, colourful, and vibrant hues that have now become so crucial to Ghost of Tsushima's visual identity."

Of course, Iki Island excels not just as a narrative backdrop, but also as a wonderful new playground where players can lose themselves. Just like Tsushima in the base game, Iki is a gorgeous, masterfully designed open world map brimming with excellent sights and engaging activities. The new map is about a third of Tsushima in terms of size, and the expansion uses that real estate to great effect, with environments dominated by the same brilliant, oversaturated, colourful, and vibrant hues that have now become so crucial to Ghost of Tsushima's visual identity. It's also a location that differentiates itself from Tsushima quite well. As an untamed and lawless island, Iki is much less civilized, which allows it to be populated by quite a few locations and environments that are unlike anything found in the base game, from an old and abandoned village now covered entirely by overgrown foliage and greenery to stunning coasts with white cliffs shining brightly under the sun.

Wanting to see the next stunning sight keeps you constantly motivated to keep exploring Iki, but there's plenty else going on in the open world as well. Various activities from the base game make a return, such as bamboo cutting challenges, haiku spots, new Mythic Tales, Shinto shrine platforming challenges, and more. Meanwhile, a number of new activities have been added as well, like participating in archery challenges, or finding animal sanctuaries, or a new dueling arena in the main raider settlement. There are, of course, a number of side quests as well, which deserve special praise. They consistently tie into the expansion's main plot in some very interesting ways, and are, by and large, much better and more consistently designed than the side quests of the base game, which could often range between excellent and downright pedestrian.

Combat, too, has seen a new wrinkle being introduced in the shape of a new enemy type. The new spear-wielding shaman tends to hang back and chant loudly, and as long as he chants, all other foes around you get a significant boost and become much faster, stronger, and more aggressive. Meanwhile, you can now also charge at your enemies while riding on horseback. The action costs Resolve, but it's always a blast galloping right through large crowds of enemies and seeing them fly in all directions. Overall, there's definitely enough going on here to keep things from feeling too similar to the base game, especially with new charms, headbands, gear, skills, and what have you. All in all, Iki Island is quite a meaty new piece of content. It can take roughly 10 hours to get through its main story, but given all the additional content that is on offer here, I wouldn't be surprised if players ended up doubling that number, if not more.

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"There's really no reason not to get Ghost of Tsushima Director's Cut."

Ghost of Tsushima Director's Cut makes other, relatively smaller changes as well, on top of offering a major new expansion. On a technical level, the game now runs at 4K and 60 FPS, which means its stunning world and slick action are now able to stand out even more, thanks to the improved resolution and performance. Meanwhile, the DualSense's haptic feedback and adaptive triggers are also put to use, while other smaller quality-of-life changes (such as being able to hide your bow and quiver, for instance) have also been added. Most of these aren't major headlining additions, of course, but collectively they do add up and make for a better, smoother experience.

All of which is to say is that there's really no reason not to get Ghost of Tsushima Director's Cut. Of course, it bears mentioning that Sony's pricing policy with this release has been disappointing, to say the least, and definitely deserves to be called out. Judged on the merits of its content though, there's a lot to love here. For those who have already played the base game, Iki Island is a meaty and excellent new piece of content, which builds on the main game's strengths in all the right ways and introduces just enough of its own new ideas as well. For newcomers, on the other hand, this is easily the best way to experience the game for the first time for a number of reasons. At the end of the day, what we have here is the definitive version of what is probably Sucker Punch's best game in years, if not ever, and yet more assurance that the future for them looks even brighter.

This game was reviewed on the PlayStation 5.

Quake Rated for PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Switch, and PC by ESRB

id Software's Quake is seemingly making a comeback. It's recently been rated for Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch and PC by the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB). This further fuels reports that a remastered version of the first game will be revealed at QuakeCon 2021.

The digital expo begins tonight and will have a special panel at 2:05 PM ET where id Software and MachineGames celebrate the 25th anniversary of Quake. The official schedule previously described a "revitalized edition" with Digital Foundry's John Linneman speaking to MachineGames' Jerk Gustafsson about the classic. Along with discussing the title's legacy, the latter would also provide details on new content included in this updated version.

Plenty of other Bethesda-published titles will be present at QuakeCon 2021 including Deathloop which will have a Deep Dive at 2:30 PM ET (along with a "special discussion" for multiplayer). Fallout 76 is on at 3 PM ET with the development team providing more information on Fallout Worlds while id Software's Marty Stratton and Hugo Martin will provide a studio update for DOOM Eternal at 4:30 PM ET.

Ace Combat 8 Will Use Unreal Engine 5

Yesterday, Bandai Namco confirmed that the next mainline entry in the Ace Combat entry was in development, with development team Project Aces being provided support by ILCA (who're currently also working on Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl). Since then, another crucial detail about the game's development has been confirmed.

As reported by Twinfinite, Ace Combat brand director Kazutoki Kono has confirmed that in order to realize the creative and technical vision the development team has for Ace Combat 8 (or whatever they end up calling the game), the title is being developed using Unreal Engine 5.

Since the official reveal of Unreal Engine 5 last year, a number of major games have been confirmed to be using Epic's next-generation engine for development. These include the likes of Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2, Dragon Age 12: The Flames of Fate, BioShock 4, State of Decay 3, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chernobyl, The Coalition's upcoming projects, and possibly even The Outer Worlds 2.

DOOM Slayers Collection Listed for Nintendo Switch

It seems Bethesda and id Software are gearing up to unleash a fully packed collection of DOOM titles on the Nintendo Switch. The DOOM Slayers Collection launched for the PS4 and Xbox One a couple of years ago, but according to a listing that recently went up on Best Buy, it might soon be coming to the Switch as well.

As per the listing, the collection is going to have one additional game that the PS4 and Xbox One releases of the compilation did not have- namely, DOOM 64, which got ported to modern consoles in early 2020. In addition to that, the package will also supposedly include DOOM, DOOM 2, DOOM 3, and DOOM (2016). Its release date is mentioned as September 2 on the Best Buy page, at a price of $49.99.

An official announcement for this collection's Switch version hasn't yet been made by either id Software or Bethesda, but with QuakeCon 2021 kicking off imminently, it's possible that we'll be hearing something about this very soon. Either way, stay tuned, and we'll keep you updated on any new details that come our way.

Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl Will Each Require 10 GB of Storage Space

During yesterday's Pokemon Presents, we finally got long-awaited gameplay deep dives for the upcoming Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl and Pokemon Legends: Arceus, while other details on the games have also begun emerging since then. In addition to the Switch eShop detailing the storage space requirement for the latter, the same information has also become available for the upcoming Gen 4 remakes.

According to the North American eShop pages of Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, each game will require 10 GB of free storage space on your Switch (which is about 2.5 GB less than 2019's Pokemon Sword and Shield). The pages do mention that this is an estimate, but the figure should probably remain in that ballpark. With not too long to go until the duo's launch, there might be some updates coming at or around launch, but it seems the bulk of development work has been done.

Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are launching for the Switch on November 19. A couple of weeks before that on November 5, Nintendo is also releasing a Switch Lite Dialga and Palkia Edition.

Pokemon Legends: Arceus Will Require 13 GB of Storage Space

The Pokemon Company had been weirdly silent about Pokemon Legends: Arceus since announcing it earlier this year, but yesterday, they finally provided a bunch of new details on the upcoming open world RPG, talking about its setting, structure, combat, traversal, and much more. Soon afterward, of course, the game's eShop page was updated, providing some more additional details.

According to the North American eShop listing of Pokemon Legends: Arceus, the game will require an estimated 13 GB of storage space on your Switch. An exact number will probably be provided closer to launch, but in most cases, when a game's file size is mentioned on its eShop page, it means that principal development on it has wrapped up, and any other work being done on it will come in the form of day one updates. Of course, no official announcement has been made about whether the game has gone gold (we rarely get those for first party Switch exclusives) so it's hard to be sure either way.

Pokemon Legends: Arceus launches for the Switch on January 28.

Blackwind Interview – Story, Combat, Progression, and More

Playing as a teenager stuck inside a battle mech in the midst of an alien invasion sounds like an interesting premise, doesn't it? Well, here's the good news- Drakkar Dev's upcoming Blackwind is a game built on that premise, on which it's promising to build fast paced sci-fi action combined with platforming and exploration. What we've seen of the game so far definitely sounds conceptually promising, and to learn more about the game and what's going to make it tick, we recently reached out to its developers with a few of our questions. Below, you can read our conversation with Manlio Greco, co-founder of Drakkar Dev and programmer on Blackwind.

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"Blackwind's core story is basically "war seen from a teenage perspective"."

Blackwind's got an interesting premise that sees the protagonist, a teenager, being stuck inside of a mech suit and having to fight aliens. How does the game's story and dialogue use that premise to its advantage?

James Hawkins is a teenager and this helps a lot during the game because of his natural approach to jokes and having fun.

Being a teenager, James thinks of the Battle Frame as an "expensive toy" at the very beginning. But when he faces the real threat of war, he'll be forced to grow up quickly to make the right decisions. Blackwind's core story is basically "war seen from a teenage perspective". The most frequent dialogue happens between James and the Battle Frame AI. It's a computer with no emotions but programmed to learn and evolve from its "symbiote" and it's going to learn from a scared kid that only wants to find his father.

How much variety in mechanics does Blackwind's combat offer with the abilities and weapons of the Battle Frame?

Blackwind features melee combat, ranged combat, auto aiming missiles, unlockable special attacks and the ability to deploy the Drone that is capable of ranged attacks and using mines and traps. The player can switch from the Battle Frame to the Drone at any moment so any fight can be faced with different approaches according to the player's play style. Also there's an additional power, called "Black Mode", that allows time-warping action to deliver the most devastating attacks.

How extensive are the progression mechanics in Blackwind? How much variation can players expect in how to power up their Battle Frame as the game progresses?

Basically any of the above features I've mentioned can be upgraded. Many powers and features will be unlocked as the game story progresses and then they can be further upgraded. There are many progression branches the player can choose from so they will fit any play style. Just as an example: you can increase your defence skill with a shield, you can enhance the fighting capabilities of the Drone or you can turn your Battle Frame into a speed demon with enhanced dash attacks. It's up to you.

Outside of combat, what should players expect from the game in terms of things such as exploration and optional content?

Exploration is a key point of the game. There are some "secret" areas that hide extra power ups, and a good number of alternative "skins" for the Battle Frame, hidden in the game's levels.

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"Exploration is a key point of the game. There are some "secret" areas that hide extra power ups, and a good number of alternative "skins" for the Battle Frame, hidden in the game's levels."

What sort of platforming elements are there in Blackwind? Are they crucial to the experience, or more of an ancillary mechanic?

Platforming is an important aspect of Blackwind. For example: extended jump, gliding and ledge grabbing will allow the Battle Frame to reach for previously inaccessible areas.

How important is the story to the game? The central premise and the fact that James has some own personal stuff going on as well are interesting elements, but do they have a large role to play in the overall experience?

Actually, Blackwind's story goes beyond what the premise says. We don't want to spoil any of the plot twists in the game, let's just say it's going to be more complex than it looks at the very beginning. We also modelled the gameplay based on the game's story to have the best mix of action, dialogue and narrative.

Can you talk to us about the game's local co-op mode? One player plays as the Battle Frame, one plays as the drone- what can the Drone do in gameplay and combat in comparison with the Battle Frame?

At any time the Drone can be separated from the Battle Frame. The Drone can shoot, deploy mines and special traps, it's much smaller than the Battle Frame so it can access areas where the Battle Frame can't go.
When the two are separated, so are the powers. The Battle Frame can't shoot when the Drone is detached, it can only perform melee attacks, it can't double-jump (because double jumping is performed with a thruster that is part of the Drone). So when the Battle Frame and the Drone are separated they surely represent a fearsome attack force but they need each other to perform some actions. So in co-op mode the players must collaborate to progress through the game, even deciding when it's time to rejoin as one and when to separate again.

Roughly how long will an average playthrough of Blackwind be?

The whole campaign takes about 12-15 hours. That's our usual time but I can think that someone that approaches the game for the first time can even have a longer lasting experience.

Since the reveal of the PS5 and Xbox Series X's specs, a lot of comparisons have been made between the GPU speeds of the two consoles, with the PS5 at 10.28 TFLOPS and the Xbox Series X at 12 TFLOPS- but how much of an impact on development do you think that difference will have?

Our goal is to have the best experience regardless of the underlying hardware. Developers that are working on exclusive games for those consoles will surely have the opportunity to exploit the hardware to the last drop of performance.

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"Platforming is an important aspect of Blackwind."

The PS5 features an incredibly fast SSD with 5.5GB/s raw bandwidth. This is faster than anything that is available out there. How can developers take advantage of this, and how does this compare to Series X's 2.4GB/s raw bandwidth?

Surely any game will benefit from such loading speed, considering consoles haven't used SSD since last gen. Especially those games that need to stream large amounts of data will surely receive a good boost.

There is a difference in Zen 2 CPUs of both consoles. The Xbox Series X features 8x Zen 2 Cores at 3.8GHz whereas the PS5 features 8x Zen 2 Cores at 3.5GHz. Your thoughts on this difference?

We don't know if such a small difference will be of relevance considering that the GPU, more so than the CPU plays a greater role in a game's performance.

The Xbox Series S features lesser hardware compared to Xbox Series and Microsoft is pushing it as a 1440p/60fps console. Do you think it will be able to hold up for the graphically intensive next-gen games?

1440p is not 4k. GPU will have a much smaller job to perform so Xbox Series S could be a valid cheaper version if not targeting 4k.

Super Resolution is coming to PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. How do you think this will help game developers?

Our opinion on this is that shading is more important than resolution. If Super Resolution is going to handle that side, developers can focus on making better looking games.

What frame rate and resolution  is the game targeting on PS5 and Xbox Series X and S?

We aim for 60 fps at native resolution (4k for PS5 and XBS/X).

Twelve Minutes Review – Back At It Again

"It is only by forgetting that we ever really drop the thread of time and approach the experience of living in the present moment" – these are the words that were constantly revolving around my head as I reached the conclusion of this time-looping point-and-click adventure. Even after spending almost 10 hours in a small apartment, Twelve Minutes has so much left to offer in terms of secrets that I am tempted to jump back and do it all over again.

Twelve Minutes drops you into the seemingly mundane life of the protagonist, who returns to his small apartment to be greeted by a loving wife who has prepared a special dessert for the evening. A few minutes later, a cop barges through the door and poses an immediate threat to the family with his dominating presence, and immediately handcuffs the couple. Soon, the time-loop resets, and it's up to you to uncover the myriad of secrets buried deep within this story and eventually break the time loop.

"Even after spending almost 10 hours in a small apartment, Twelve Minutes has so much left to offer in terms of secrets that I am tempted to jump back and do it all over again."

The story itself is great, brilliantly juxtaposing a time-loop with a grounded plot revolving around love and family without overpowering one other. It's always a treat to uncover a new secret that could potentially change the narrative and relationships of the people involved, which is a great motivator to keep going when all hope seems lost. The writing is equally great, which is magnificently brought to life by the star-studded cast of James McAvoy, Daisy Ridley, and Willem Dafoe. There are a number of emotionally evocative moments hidden beneath this time-looping story, and the cast does a great job at doing justice to it at a consistent pace. That being said, there are a few dialogue options that are quite rigid, and lead to premature resets of the time-loop in some of the most unlikely situations which can be immersion-breaking at times.

An interesting point about Twelve Minutes' story is that it is told in a non-linear fashion, as some secrets that advance the plot further can be found out of order which remains quite interesting until the very end. There's also a pinch of this non-linearity found in the way players manage to unearth these clues, which remains a treat in a similar vein. That being said, it can also be a double-edged sword at times considering the game doesn't provide a lot of hints as to what needs to be done in order to get further in the plot. There was more than one instance during the later hours where I found myself completely clueless because I left out a seemingly insignificant detail during the earlier parts which of course, held huge ramifications for the future.

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"It's always a treat to uncover a new secret that could potentially change the narrative and relationships of the people involved, which is a great motivator to keep going when all hope seems lost."

Twelve Minutes' gameplay is standard point-and-click adventure stuff, and players must interact with the surrounding environments and combine items to uncover new and interesting scenarios that further advance the plot. Much like the story, the puzzles themselves are pretty grounded in their scope. Point-and-click adventures have a reputation for including nonsensical puzzles at times, but Twelve Minutes does a great job sidestepping many of these tropes with smart design. This is further accentuated by the fact that Twelve Minutes relies a lot on its environment for creating obstacles and opportunities, and players are encouraged to manipulate the knowledge of these environments to shift the flow of proceedings during a time-loop, which feels eerily similar to something like Hitman.

The environment itself is a pretty small space, being an apartment boasting just a drawing-room, a bathroom, and a bedroom. It's really surprising to witness the amount of detail and possibilities present within this space, and all of this is achieved without the game world itself feeling too cramped. The time players spend within these four walls is also a significant element, which clocks in at well, 12 minutes. Furthermore, players can advance the time accordingly as they learn more about the narrative – which further decreases the time sink required to see a single run to completion. This creates a pretty addictive gameplay loop of just one more run, which is absolutely vital to the pacing since not every run will bear fruit.

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"This creates a pretty addictive gameplay loop of just one more run, which is absolutely vital to the pacing since not every run will bear fruit."

Progression in Twelve Minutes comes in a number of subtle ways, such as dialogue options evolve to reflect your current knowledge of the time-loop and associated characters. This alleviates a lot of concerns that crop up with replaying the same scenario over and over again but does give rise to another problem that could prove to be detrimental for some. As players progress through the narrative, a few scenarios holding crucial information get locked out. If you miss any related details and hints, you might be left perplexed after a while since you wouldn't obviously have all the pieces to solve this recurring puzzle. A ship-log system like Mobius Digital's Outer Wilds could have done wonders here, displaying all the relevant information in a single place that could've helped you plan your next move.

Twelve Minutes looks quite gorgeous, featuring a clean art style with great use of lighting and reflection through the small environment. The textures and environment also look equally detailed, and animations are equally competent for most actions. The sound design is also great, albeit a bit understated to reflect the actions within the game. It starts out slow and somber, which is a great fit for a evening and slowly and steadily rises in intensity as players progress through the time loop.

"Twelve Minutes can be a pretty lengthy game if players want to hunt down achievements and other related secrets."

Twelve Minutes isn't a very long game. As mentioned before, it took me just under 10 hours to complete the story and roll the credits. However, that's not the end since there are a number of secrets – both major and minor that are still left to be uncovered. There are many possibilities of achieving a goal, and as you explore the intricacies of this small world you will find out much more efficient ways of performing the same feat in subsequent runs. As highlighted by the developers, Twelve Minutes can be a pretty lengthy ordeal if players want to hunt down all achievements and hidden scenarios and secrets. Fans looking to do so might be looking at anywhere up to 20 hours of content, which is pretty astonishing once you consider that the game takes place in such a small world.

Twelve Minutes is a thrill ride through and through, constantly presenting players with new and interesting revelations in the time looping narrative that never fails to keep one guessing. It veers away from stereotypical point-and-click adventure tropes, and challenges players to bend its densely-detailed environments to achieve their goals. It's not a perfect game by any stretch, but gets so much right that players even vaguely interested in the premise should definitely give this game a go.

This game was reviewed on the PC.

GTA Remastered Trilogy Releasing "Sometime in 2022" – Insider

Recent reports revealed that Rockstar had remasters of Grand Theft Auto 3, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas in the works. Developed by Ruffian Games, now known as Rockstar Dundee, these titles were reportedly slated to release in late October or early November for current and previous gen platforms along with mobiles. According to insider Tom Henderson however, they may be coming later.

Henderson said on Twitter that everything he would have mentioned about this GTA Remastered Trilogy had already been covered. However, he noted that, "I don't believe the launch time frame is correct." Instead of October or November, the trilogy is reportedly coming "sometime in 2022."

It wouldn't be too surprising if they managed to slip into next year – the remasters were reportedly slated for release earlier this year but faced delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Rockstar is also apparently focusing on the console versions first with the PC and mobile versions coming next year. The sheer amount of platforms that they're releasing for, combined with the pandemic, could have pushed the release date back again.

Plans could change, essentially, so take things with a grain of salt and stay tuned for more details. In the meantime, Grand Theft Auto 5 and GTA Online are still confirmed for November 11th on Xbox Series X/S and PS5.