Kotaku Monday, January 24, 2022 10:10 PM  It was only a few days ago that 34 quality assurance testers at Raven, one of the studios working exclusively on the Call Of Duty series, formed the first ever union among Activision Blizzard employees. Today, management has responded to their success with some changes. |
Kotaku Monday, January 24, 2022 8:45 PM  Early copies of Pokémon Legends: Arceus somehow broke street date last week, setting the internet ablaze with details about the highly anticipated game. We recently took a look at all the new pocket monsters players will be able to train when Arceus launches on January 28, but now it's time to get into the important… |
Kotaku Monday, January 24, 2022 7:20 PM  Unpacking was one of the best games of 2021, to the point where it didn't just make my personal GOTY list, but the entire site's as well. It is currently available on PC, Mac, Switch and Xbox One. It is most definitely not available on Apple's iOS devices. |
Kotaku Monday, January 24, 2022 5:30 PM  It's being reported by multiple outlets that ESL, one of the world's oldest and biggest esports companies, has been bought for $1 billion by Savvy Gaming, an esports investment company that is backed by the Saudi Arabian Government's wealthy and controversial Public Investment Fund. |
Kotaku Monday, January 24, 2022 4:20 PM  They say necessity is the mother of invention, so when speedrunning Super Mario Odyssey became "too easy" for Twitch streamer DougDoug he decided to spice things up by making the game's heads-up display get progressively… uh, worse the longer he played. |
Kotaku Monday, January 24, 2022 4:05 PM  Japanese studio Pocketpair is back with another early look at Palworld, the Pokémon-like game that so masterfully shocked us with its reveal last summer. |
PCGamesN Monday, January 24, 2022 5:36 PM  The Chemtech Drake in League of Legends is being disabled after a rocky debut in the latest preseason. Riot says player feedback has indicated that the new dragon type has been "too frustrating to play with." The developer says it's removing the drake from the game, along with its associated soul and terrain - and it might be some time before we see it again. "When we introduced the Chemtech Drake, Soul, and Terrain in preseason, we shared our intent for it to have a higher impact on games than the original four elemental drakes," the Summoner's Rift team says in a new blog post. "Over the past few months, we've heard your feedback across social media and surveys that, even with this goal in mind, the Chemtech addition has just been too frustrating to play with - especially if you're on the losing team." Riot says it's going to be iterating on the designs of the current drake versions to solve some of the issues they've been facing, taking a particularly hard look at their terrain. "This may take time to do right, meaning there's a chance we won't bring the Chemtech Drake back for a while," the team says. RELATED LINKS: Best LoL Champions , League of Legends patch 12.3 notes, LoL tier list |
PCGamesN Monday, January 24, 2022 4:38 PM  Valve's gearing up for the official launch of its Steam Deck handheld, and it's added a new feature to Steam that's going to make it easier to move back and forth between the Steam Deck and your PC. Dynamic cloud sync will upload any save data to Steam's cloud when you suspend a game on the Steam Deck, which means you won't have to fully exit a game before you can pick back up on your PC. "We anticipate that users will frequently suspend their Steam Deck without exiting the game, as is common with other hand-held gaming devices," Valve explains in a new post about dynamic cloud sync. When this feature is enabled, "Steam will automatically upload all modified save game data to the cloud prior to the device entering sleep mode." When you want to move back to the Steam Deck, Steam will then automatically download any new save data when you wake the device back up. If you don't enable dynamic cloud sync, you'll be prompted to shut down the software on the Steam Deck if you try to open the game on another device. RELATED LINKS: Steam Deck – everything we know, Best Steam Deck games, Which of Valve's Steam Decks should you pick up? |
Twinfinite Monday, January 24, 2022 9:17 PM Lost Ark is a Korean MMOARPG that's been out for a few years now, but it's finally making its way to English-speaking territories in February. The combat is rather Diablo-like with its ARPG and looting elements, and there are plenty of dungeons to take on as you make your way through the story. This is […] The post Here's a Rundown of What Lost Ark's Endgame Will Look Like appeared first on Twinfinite. |
Twinfinite Monday, January 24, 2022 8:22 PM Arc System Works revealed the release date and a new trailer for the fourth DLC character that will be added to its fighting game Guilty Gear -Strive-. The post Guilty Gear -Strive- DLC Character Baiken Gets Release Date & New Trailer appeared first on Twinfinite. |
Twinfinite Monday, January 24, 2022 7:56 PM With the Steam Deck set to release in February, Valve has been releasing blog posts and updates to keep users apprised of upcoming features that they can expect from Steam itself in the coming weeks. One of the new features detailed in a recent update is the Dynamic Cloud Sync feature, which improves upon Steam's […] The post Steam's Dynamic Cloud Sync Feature Lets You Switch Between Steam Deck and PC Seamlessly appeared first on Twinfinite. |
Twinfinite Monday, January 24, 2022 7:42 PM Developed by Cloisters Interactive and published by Annapurna, A Memoir Blue is a beautiful and somber looking game that's set to release in March. The publisher has just put out a new release date trailer showing off the main characters, and give us an idea as to what the art and graphical styles will look […] The post Annapurna's A Memoir Blue Explores the Emotional Bond Between a Mother & Daughter appeared first on Twinfinite. |
Twinfinite Monday, January 24, 2022 7:23 PM Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin didn't necessarily make the best first impression on us when it first announced. The trailer was cringy, full of edge, and guys decked out in black and saying works like "chaos" and "darkness" over and over again. The final trailer fares a little better, and actually gives us a […] The post Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin Final Trailer Dives Deeper into its Story, This Time With Frank Sinatra appeared first on Twinfinite. |
Twinfinite Monday, January 24, 2022 4:31 PM ***The following article and music video contain MAJOR spoilers for the entirety of Attack on Titan up until this point. If you haven't seen up until the latest episode in Attack on Titan Final Season Part 2, please come back after you've watched it.*** Attack on Titan Final Season Part 2 is in full swing, […] The post Ai Higuchi Releases Attack on Titan Final Season Part 2 Special Version Music Video appeared first on Twinfinite. |
Twinfinite Monday, January 24, 2022 4:19 PM Bandai Namco released new clips of its free-to-play first-person shooter Gundam Evolution, showcasing one of its playable mobile suits. The post Gundam Evolution Gets New Gameplay Videos Showing Transformable MSA-005 Methuss in Action appeared first on Twinfinite. |
Twinfinite Monday, January 24, 2022 4:09 PM The Destiny series has always allowed players to let their imagination run wild, featuring a vast customization system and detailed worlds that have resulted in a lot of creativity. Earlier this week, channel Player One Stories revealed a brand new project that proves just how much the game has to offer creative minds, as the […] The post Impressive Immersiplay Series Destiny: Solas Revealed by Player One Stories appeared first on Twinfinite. |
Siliconera Monday, January 24, 2022 8:15 PM
The Guilty Gear Strive Baiken DLC release date is upon us. She'll be out right as January 2022 ends. How soon people can use the Unfaltering Awakened Samurai depends on whether or not you bought the $29.99 Season Pass 1. If you did, you get access to her on January 28, 2022. If you didn't you can buy her for $6.99 on January 31, 2022. There are also two new trailers looking at her in-game. The first Baiken Guilty Gear Strive character trailer is more of an overview. It shows some brief footage of her in battle. It also showed off the new battle stage appearing alongside her. Lap of the Kami will appear at the same time. Likewise, it will be out on January 28, 2022 for Season Pass holders and January 31, 2022 for everyone else. The end of the trailer confirmed the fifth character, second battle stage, and Another Story only available with the season pass will be out in 2022. The other video is the Baiken starter guide. It offers an overview of her moveset. It looks at all of her special attacks one-by-one. This means four of the five Guilty Gear Strive Season Pass 1 DLC characters is out. Before Baiken, Goldlewis, Jack-O, and Happy Chaos were added to the cast. The Baiken Guilty Gear Strive release date is January 28, 2022 if you have the season pass and January 31, 2022 if you don't. Guilty Gear Strive is immediately available on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Windows PC. The post Guilty Gear Strive Baiken DLC Release Date Set appeared first on Siliconera. |
Siliconera Monday, January 24, 2022 5:31 PM
Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin's release date is drawing nearer, and there's a new trailer to offer more insight. This is billed as the "final trailer." It's longer than some of the previous videos looking at the game. It also means more of the opponents who appeared as the major Fiends in the original Final Fantasy, like the Kraken and Lich, show up. All of this happens while Frank Sinatra's "My Way" appears as a background track. The first half of the new video focuses on story segments. It goes over Jack and his allies' quests. At the 1:25 mark, the new take on the Final Fantasy Fiend of Water Kraken shows up. At 1:43, the Lich appears. In the original game, that boss is the Fiend of Earth. Here is the final Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin trailer. Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin is a reimagining of the original game. This means there are both new and old jobs appearing in it. Familiar characters will be depicted in different ways. You can learn more in Siliconera's interview with Director Daisuke Inoue and Producer Jin Fujiwara. Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin will come to the PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and PC via Epic Games Store on March 18, 2022. People who pre-order a digital copy will get early access on March 15, 2022. The post Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin Trailer Shows the Kraken and Lich appeared first on Siliconera. |
Siliconera Monday, January 24, 2022 5:01 PM
Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin is an unconventional sort of Final Fantasy spin-off, albeit one with familiar characters, jobs, and trappings. Moreover, it's an action game coming with input from Team Ninja, who created the Nioh series. To help better understand how it came to be and works, Siliconera spoke with Director Daisuke Inoue and Producer Jin Fujiwara about the title. Jenni Lada: How did Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin come to be? What did the pitch look like and how did Team Ninja get involved? Jin Fujiwara: First, the idea was conceived by Tetsuya Nomura when he was discussing about how he wants the story that depicts how the villain in the Final Fantasy series Garland came about. He also wanted a game that is heavily skewed toward action gameplay where you are adventuring through different locations or dungeons. So those ideas were being proposed. We have had a relationship with Koei Tecmo's Team Ninja when we worked on Dissidia Final Fantasy. So when we were thinking about, "Yeah, we'd love to make an action game. Who should we turn to?" Because we really wanted this to be a good action game. We approached Team Ninja. We felt that they'd be the best fit. That's why we decided to partner with them. While Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origins is of course pulling from Final Fantasy, how much did Nioh and its sequel influenced it? How did it and its sequel prepare the developers for this? Daisuke Inoue: Of course the project proceeding, we had directors from the Square Enix side, plus the Koei Tecmo team ninja side come together and discuss what we wanted to do. There were certain elements that I had in mind, coming from a Final Fantasy background. There were different things that I wanted to bring to the table. Then of course Team Ninja would [offer] feedback like, "We would also like to include such and such elements." It was just a very nice collaborative sort of environment where we discussed with each other and made sure what we're trying to bring out what we do best in each other's sides.
In the original Final Fantasy, people had six starter job and six advance classes. Early screenshots already showed additional jobs like Duelist, Marauder, and Ronin. How did past entries influence and shape the jobs available in Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin? Are there any jobs that are completely new to the series? Inoue: For sure, we will be introducing some jobs that are not usually found in the Final Fantasy series. So you may be surprised. Like, "Oh, is that the weapon that this person is going to use?" Is there a job that you wanted to include in Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin, but it didn't end up fitting in somehow or due to some technical issue? Inoue: Yeah, for sure. There are lots of ideas that came up that we had to unfortunately scrap. There were so many conditions we had to fulfill. Some of it didn't work out. I'm sure you want to get an idea of what exactly those jobs were. Let me see if I can think of an example. There was one job that was very relevant to the protagonist characters, but we had to give up on implementing that due to certain reasons.
How is the team handling job balancing in Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origins, and are there any characters better suited for certain roles than others? Inoue: So in terms of job balance, the job categories are separated into three different categories. You have your sort of basic, or starter, jobs. Then you get into the advanced and then further advanced. There are three tiers. Now, just hearing the name may make you think that, "Oh, it gets stronger as you get more advanced." But that's not accurate. It's that some of the higher tier jobs are what's considered to be higher tier. It's just more complex in terms of how they move. I think some of them are more unique or edgy almost. They are categorized, but then in terms of strength, we tried to make it so they're all equal. So that's how we balanced the jobs. As for the different content that the players engage in, I think what job is suitable really depends on how the player wants to play the specific content. So if you're more comfortable with doing ranged attacks, you might want to choose a job that is more skilled with long-range attacks. Or if you want to do something that's more close-range attacks, there are jobs for that. Or if you want to still be melee, but not near distance, there's a sort of "back row" melee type job as well. So I think it really depends on how the player wants to go about tackling some of the content. I don't think there are any sort of specific jobs that are especially suited for certain roles and content. How much freedom was the team given when altering and developing the characters, jobs, and story for Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin? Was there any one character who was especially fun to re-envision and remake? Inoue: With characters that didn't appear in the original Final Fantasy, we definitely had the creative liberty to take different approaches for sure. And then for the characters that do exist in the lore, we did have to kind of have to put in our reinterpretation of them. In creating these characters and reading the script as it would become available, what struck me as very interesting was the character of Astos. Fujiwara: It's very interesting to see [Astos] and how, as the story progressed, this character is being interpreted.
People have had a very interesting response to the game so far online, like when they saw Jack's clothing for the first time and things like that. We've already seen the development team kind of have fun with that by going ahead and having the one segment where there was the Limp Bizkit music in the trailer. Are there any kinds of callbacks like that in the game proper that people can expect to see in response to feedback? Fujiwara: I think the way that some of these elements were presented in the information that we revealed were surprising and very unusual to people watching it. They are excerpts from the story proper and final product. It will start to make sense that Jack and some of the other characters have means to access things that we may think is more modern and that's closer to real life. I don't think we'll have elements where people will be severely surprised? There are some random things that pop up in the story. But at the same time, with the narrative itself we're trying to make it so there are twists that people will be surprised by. So in a good way, will sort of betray their expectations. We're hopeful that people will come across those and we hope that they enjoy those twists. Are we going to end up seeing some of the characters from Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin in Dissidia Final Fantasy Opera Omnia? And would that also eventually mean a story with Jack meeting Garland? Fujiwara: So you happen to be speaking with the producer [Fujiwara] and director [Inoue] of Opera Omnia. Yeah, the possibility is definitely there. We would love to have Jack and the other characters show up in Opera Omnia from Final Fantasy Origin. And I'm sure players will be excited to see how this sort of face-to-face between Garland and Jack would happen. Or if that's even possible. I want to say that the possibility is definitely there. I'm afraid I can't guarantee when it's going to be, but we're hopeful that it's going to be in the near future. So like maybe even a global first, since that sometimes happens? Fujiwara: We'll think about it. Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin will come to the PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and PC via Epic Games Store on March 18, 2022. People who pre-order a digital copy will get early access on March 15, 2022. Editor's Note: This interview was lightly edited for clarity. The post Interview: Talking About Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin's Jobs and Characters appeared first on Siliconera. |
Destructoid Monday, January 24, 2022 8:25 PM Soul Bossa Nova makes everything better As wary as I am of leaning too hard into memes, sometimes, I can't... The post Austin Powers in Mass Effect works a little too well (Update) appeared first on Destructoid. |
Destructoid Monday, January 24, 2022 7:30 PM Don't spill the beans Mediatonic's frantic, clumsy, huggable battle royale game Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout has fused with Monopoly, and... The post Fall Guys has been Monopoly-ified appeared first on Destructoid. |
Destructoid Monday, January 24, 2022 7:00 PM Nothin' like an endless scroll of names This post contains mild spoilers for the end-credits sequences of Marvel's Spider-Man, Portal 2,... The post Do you sit through the credits when you finish a game? appeared first on Destructoid. |
Destructoid Monday, January 24, 2022 6:30 PM Valve is thinking ahead about how users will probably handle the Steam Deck The Steam Deck is expected to start... The post Valve introduces Dynamic Cloud Sync to make moving saves between devices easier appeared first on Destructoid. |
Destructoid Monday, January 24, 2022 6:00 PM For a split second, I almost thought I was looking at a Dynasty Warriors demake A handful of cool game... The post Samurai Bringer is a demon-shredding roguelite action game with a cool retro style appeared first on Destructoid. |
Destructoid Monday, January 24, 2022 5:30 PM The upcoming narrative adventure gets a small delay I'm a simple woman. Annapurna puts out a game, and I play... The post Annapurna's emotional narrative A Memoir Blue now releasing in March appeared first on Destructoid. |
Destructoid Monday, January 24, 2022 5:00 PM Chaos! Stranger of Paradise is looking crazier by the minute, and in my book, that's a thing of beauty. While... The post Designers: Stranger of Paradise Final Fantasy Origin is a mix of Dark Souls, Devil May Cry, and Final Fantasy appeared first on Destructoid. |
Destructoid Monday, January 24, 2022 4:30 PM "We are acting in good faith and asking for good faith." Quality assurance workers at Raven Software are ending their... The post Raven Software workers end strike following announcement of union appeared first on Destructoid. |
Destructoid Monday, January 24, 2022 4:00 PM You were expecting anybody else? Kotobukiya has released the first images of the first King of Fighters figurine to join... The post Mai Shiranui shines as Kotobukiya's first King of Fighters Bishoujo appeared first on Destructoid. |
PC Invasion - FeedDDD Monday, January 24, 2022 7:00 PM  After years of delays, Intel has finally moved on to a more advanced manufacturing node, bringing new levels of performance and efficiency to its desktop processors. As it would have it, this technological step forward also coincides with the introduction of Intel's new Hybrid architecture that introduces a mix of big (P) and little (E) cores all on a single monolithic die. Codenamed "Alder Lake," we're looking at what is the most exciting new generation of processors from Team Blue in years. Intel seems to think so as well, because it sent us an i5-12600K to review for gaming performance, features, and value. Spoiler alert, this one takes the value-to-performance crown for the best enthusiast-grade CPU for gaming. If you checked out our i9-12900K review, you already know Intel has some competent new K-Series CPUs that deliver seriously impressive gaming performance, even while handling heaps of background tasks, such as recording/streaming gameplay. Intel 12... |
PC Invasion - FeedDDD Monday, January 24, 2022 6:30 PM  WARNO is Wargame: Red Dragon with Steel Division mechanics and more, but that doesn't mean it's good. Like the previous Wargame series entries, WARNO is a Cold War real-time strategy (RTS) game, albeit much more limited in scope. This time, it's set strictly in 1989 — literally the worst occasion to set a Cold War game. The technological balance has swung overwhelmingly to NATO's benefit, while Warsaw Pact's preemptive invasion stance shifted to a much more passive defensive posture. However, the kids want Apaches, Bradleys, and 120mm M1A1s, so that's what they're getting. The gameplay in WARNO is the same as it was in Wargame. You build your deck, get to the field, spawn whichever units you can afford, wait for the ticker to award you more units, and so on. Units can carry up to three weapons each, vehicles still have directional armor, infantry still uses men as HP, and both can still be healed by supply trucks. Command units exist and, going by the manual, they actual... |
PC Invasion - FeedDDD Monday, January 24, 2022 5:15 PM  Guild Wars 2: End of Dragons is the next expansion coming to ArenaNet's highly successful MMORPG. A while ago, the developer announced that the release date for the expansion would be sometime in February. However, February is almost here and no date for the End of Dragons launch has been revealed. Until today, when ArenaNet announced the date when it will reveal a much more important date, the launch date. On February 1, the release date for End of Dragons will be revealed. Along with the release date announcement, the Guild Wars 2 developer also shared a schedule for Livestreams that will reveal more details and content for End of Dragons. The new schedule is slightly different from the one announced back in October 2021. End of Dragons launch month schedule The New Kaineng City Map Tour was originally going to happen on January 28. Now, it will take place on February 8. Kaineng City was a major location from Guild Wars: Factions, so it will be very interesting to see how i... |
PC Invasion - FeedDDD Monday, January 24, 2022 4:00 PM  Late last year, news came out that Toshihiro Nagoshi, the creator of the effortlessly charming Yakuza series, would step down from Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio and Sega at large. He moved to tech industry giant NetEase, which may have sparked some concerns over how this would affect his creative output. Fortunately, it looks like the Yakuza creator will have plenty of creative control, as he just formed a new development studio under NetEase called Nagoshi Studio. The team will consist of several key developers who worked alongside Nagoshi at RGG Studio. According to a statement made by Nagoshi, the studio will aim to maintain an open atmosphere and encourage meaningful conversations regardless of seniority. The studio's team of nine members, including Nagoshi himself, will try to facilitate a work culture that sees mistakes as learning experiences rather than something to avoid at all costs. Nagoshi hopes that, through this positive work environment, the team will stay motivated to p... |
Tabletop Gaming News Monday, January 24, 2022 6:00 PM |
Tabletop Gaming News Monday, January 24, 2022 5:00 PM |
Player Assist | Game Guides & Walkthroughs Monday, January 24, 2022 5:29 PM A boss enemy is a war machine left behind by a lost ancient nation. With its cube-like form that reshapes every time it attacks, this enemy can be considered the mechanical version of the Hypostasis. It can also summon smaller machines to aid it in battle, but this war automaton does not belong to any […] |
Gaming Instincts – Next-Generation of Video Game Journalism Monday, January 24, 2022 5:02 PM I look forward to seeing what they have in store. The post Activision Blizzard Veterans Open New Developer-Publisher appeared first on Gaming Instincts - Next-Generation of Video Game Journalism. |