Kotaku Wednesday, June 22, 2022 3:50 PM  If you, like me, were intrigued by the recent smattering of Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes reviews and went looking for a copy on Amazon, the online retailer probably responded with a funny question: "Did you mean Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Holes?" Thank you for asking, Bezos-mart, but no, I literally didn't mean… |
Kotaku Wednesday, June 22, 2022 3:35 PM  Nintendo has been showing off a lotta Splatoon 3 on Twitter lately, and IDK if you've been paying attention, but everything in the upcoming colorful shooter is looking sick. There are new customization options for your character, more weapons to experiment with, an additional map to play on, a look at the Octolings,… |
Kotaku Wednesday, June 22, 2022 3:20 PM  At this point, it almost seems silly to pay full price for a PlayStation game. Fresh on the heels of one big sale for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5, Sony has kicked off another. It's not as good as last month's, but it's not bad, especially for those who've been holding off on some of the bigger games of last… |
Kotaku Wednesday, June 22, 2022 2:20 PM  Final Fantasy XVI producer Naoki Yoshida said in recent interviews that the latest entry in the long-running JRPG series will tackle "more mature" themes than its predecessors. |
Kotaku Wednesday, June 22, 2022 2:05 PM  Horror manga fans already know that Junji Ito is the king of the genre, but what if his art style featured the likes of King of the Hill's Hank Hill, the king of all things propane and propane accessories? Well, first off, weird question, but if you happen to be a fan of these two disparate media, this illustrator put… |
Kotaku Wednesday, June 22, 2022 1:50 PM  Yesterday, Valve released a new update for Team Fortress 2 that fixes and tweaks a lot of things, but many players are most excited about the changes to how voting and usernames work, hopeful they'll make it easier to combat all the annoying bots that continue to plague the multiplayer, class-based shooter. |
Kotaku Wednesday, June 22, 2022 1:20 PM |
Kotaku Wednesday, June 22, 2022 1:05 PM  Oops, they did it again. Fall Guys, Mediatonic's bubbly platformer royale, released on Xbox and Switch yesterday as part of a big free-to-play overhaul. The game's servers immediately combusted, with reports of connectivity woes continuing more than 24 hours later. |
Kotaku Wednesday, June 22, 2022 12:00 PM  We finally got a full overview of Xenoblade Chronicles 3 today and the upcoming Switch JRPG looks massive. A 20-minute Nintendo Direct showed off more of the game's existential story beats, multi-layered combat mechanics, and other activities players will get up to in its giant open world. Hopefully you like on-screen… |
Kotaku Wednesday, June 22, 2022 11:40 AM  Just yesterday, Activision Blizzard shareholders voted to approve a report looking into the company's anti-harassment efforts. While the company itself is "carefully considering" that, stockholders also gave the green light to the Board of Directors nominees, which included shitty CEO Bobby Kotick. So great, Kotick… |
Kotaku Wednesday, June 22, 2022 9:23 AM  Video games provide an opportunity for team building, relaxation, and vicarious experiences you couldn't have anywhere else, but for couples where one person is more interested in them than the other, video games might only produce the inconvenient question: should we break up? In a relationship, the video game… |
PCGamesN Wednesday, June 22, 2022 3:59 PM  Squad update 3.0 is sending in the marines, at long last. The latest patch for the milsim multiplayer game adds amphibious forces, including both the marines themselves and their specialised vehicles, which are capable of crossing deep bodies of water. But that's just the start of the latest major update for Squad. RELATED LINKS: Squad system requirements |
PCGamesN Wednesday, June 22, 2022 3:46 PM  Square Enix teased a smidgeon of information about Final Fantasy 16's plot after first announcing the game in 2021, but a new Famitsu interview with producer Naoki Yoshida, translated by Aita Japan CEO and Twitter user Audrey, sheds a bit more light on what drives the people of Valisthea to war in the upcoming RPG. Each nation is built around a Mother Crystal, a source of aether that Yoshida says is the Final Fantasy 16 equivalent of an oil well. The continent is awash in this magical oil, and eventually, countries formed around each crystal. RELATED LINKS: The best RPG games on PC 2022, The best JRPGs on PC in 2022, Best Final Fantasy games on PC |
PCGamesN Wednesday, June 22, 2022 3:49 PM  The League of Legends patch 12.12 notes are now available for the live update. Following the former LoL patch 12.11, thanks to the new update we now know what Riot Games is bringing to its popular MOBA game next – and it's filled with skins and a lot of champion changes. After the introduction in LoL update 12.11 of the brand new champion Bel'Veth, the Empress of the Void it seemed Riot Games was going a little easier with patch 12.12, but that was apparently incorrect. Bel'Veth has received a nerf, and many other champions have received changes. Despite the last update appropriately featuring a number of appropriate summer-themed skins for several characters, 12.12 adds ice-themed skins for Caitlyn, Illaoi, and Kayn, which all add new visual effects, sound effects, and animations. Still in the world of skins, we've also got a new Ashen Knight variation for Pantheon - the first new one in this series since patch 12.6. RELATED LINKS: Best LoL Champions , League of Legends patch 12.12 notes, LoL tier list |
PCGamesN Wednesday, June 22, 2022 1:38 PM  Creative Assembly is most famous as the developer of the Total War games, but it also made the superb survival horror Alien: Isolation, and we've known for some time that the team responsible for that has been expanding and working on something else - a multiplayer sci-fi shooter. Today, finally, their project is revealed: it's called Hyenas. 'Another multiplayer shooter,' you may say, but Hyenas is a bit different. For one thing, teams of three compete not to be the last ones standing, but to steal gaudy tat from the world's most loathsome billionaires. "The billionaires have finally made it to Mars, leaving Earth and those tax bills far behind," explains Creative Assembly. "The zero-gravity tech that powered their journey has shattered our planet, abandoning us in a drifting slum called the 'Taint'. The only thing the rich care for is rare merch – pop culture swag from the lives we left behind – which they loot from the rubble to furnish their Martian mansions. Time for us to steal it back". RELATED LINKS: The best FPS games on PC in 2022, The best multiplayer games on PC in 2022, Overwatch 2 tier list |
PCGamesN Wednesday, June 22, 2022 1:06 PM  "The Junkertown map showcases her tough, almost brutal personality, and we wanted her abilities and playstyle to match that energy," says Blizzard of its new Overwatch 2 hero Junker Queen's abilities. The new tank character is set to join the FPS game's roster in time for the second Overwatch 2 public beta, and a quick glimpse at her kit reveals that she's adopting a few tricks usually associated with the support role. Now, a developer blog from Blizzard digs into the design decisions that went into creating her brawling-oriented loadout. The developer says Junker Queen's pre-existing role in Overwatch's lore meant that "she had big community expectations resting on her stately shoulders." As such, they leant into her style as a scrappy, dangerous fighter - "a berserker tank whose survivability is directly connected to how many enemies she's wounding." This is reflected in her passive ability, Adrenaline Rush, which causes Junker Queen to heal from all damage over time dealt by wounds. Wounds can be caused by her Jagged Blade melee, which applies both on her quick melee attack or when using an active ability to throw the knife at an opponent, as well as with her Carnage ability and Rampage ultimate. Wounding causes enemy health to slowly drain, which feeds into Junker Queen's lifesteal. RELATED LINKS: Overwatch 2 heroes, Overwatch 2 release date, Overwatch 2 tier list |
PCGamesN Wednesday, June 22, 2022 12:45 PM  Intel Raptor Lake processors should arrive on the scene by the end of this year, and their coming could signal the beginning of a new era of CPU clock speeds. Reports suggest that team blue might be working on a chip that will break the 5.0GHz ceiling we've found ourselves under for the past several years. RELATED LINKS: Arc Alchemist GPUs - everything we know, Raptor Lake CPUs - everything we know, Best gaming CPU |
PCGamesN Wednesday, June 22, 2022 12:34 PM  Can't wait for Spider-Man Remastered on PC? We quite understand, so might want to swing by and try this Fortnite Spider-Man map instead - which one fan built in the battle royale game's Creative mode. Aside from being a fun superhero sandbox in its own right, it serves as an excellent reminder that Fortnite is somehow one of the best Spider-Man games on PC. Fortnite is well-known for its excellent crossovers. Darth Vader is running around at the moment, and more Naruto skins and challenges are incoming, and that's just the official stuff. Where the creativity of the game really shines, however, is in the player-created content. In part to celebrate Spider-Man being back in Fortnite and to make the most of the Grapple Glove, Reddit user ThePeacefulGhost put a post up on Reddit showing off the joys of the fusion of both of them on a skyscraper-filled custom map. If you've watched the video and thought, "damn, that'd be great fun to play around with," then you're not the only one - and you can. ThePeacefulGhost was kind enough to supply us all with the code to check out their little New York: 9635-2275-6900. You can hop in with up to seven other players and just vibe your way around the city you like. RELATED LINKS: Fortnite V-Bucks, Fortnite Skins, Fortnite Creative Codes |
PCGamesN Wednesday, June 22, 2022 12:27 PM  Want to know more about the upcoming Genshin Impact events? A new version of Genshin Impact arrives every six weeks, complete with new characters, quests, and events. It's difficult to keep track of which events are currently running and if there are any new ones coming soon, so here's a schedule for all current and upcoming Genshin Impact events. There are usually a number of Genshin Impact events running simultaneously, and they aren't just in-game events. When a new Genshin Impact character joins the game, the devs launch a web event at the same time - players learn about the latest characters through an interactive story told through a web browser. The rewards for completing different events range from in-game items like primogems and mora, to real life prizes like mouse mats and plushies. Just like the Genshin Impact banners, most events are only available for a limited time, so it's worth participating as soon as you can. New events are usually added to Genshin Impact after an update, but it's worth keeping an eye out on this page as the devs do like to surprise the community. RELATED LINKS: Genshin Impact 2.8 release date, Genshin Impact character tier list, Genshin Impact leveling guide |
PCGamesN Wednesday, June 22, 2022 11:59 AM  The next big horror game from the creators of Dead Space arrives in December, and developer Striking Distance Studios hopes that The Callisto Protocol will become "the start of a franchise." Nevertheless, there are still plenty of questions left about the former PUBG spin-off, so PCGamesN spoke to Striking Distance to get some answers. After impressive gameplay showings at PlayStation State of Play and Summer Game Fest, including the reveal of the awesome gravity gun weapon, anyone looking forward to The Callisto Protocol will undoubtedly want to know more about the scary space game. PCGamesN spoke with Striking Distance chief creative officer Chris Stone – who was the animation director on Dead Space – about the team's inspirations, why they ditched the PUBG connection, and how The Callisto Protocol improves on Dead Space. RELATED LINKS: The best horror games, The best survival games, The best space games |
PCGamesN Wednesday, June 22, 2022 11:57 AM  Want to know about the new Genshin Impact Muddy Bizarre Adventure event? This is a new series of quests in the RPG game that take place in The Chasm as part of the second phase of Genshin Impact 2.7. Along with the release of Kuki Shinobu, you can also embark on a quest to help researchers clean up a strange, mud-like substance that's started appearing. RELATED LINKS: Genshin Impact 2.8 release date, Genshin Impact character tier list, Genshin Impact leveling guide |
PCGamesN Wednesday, June 22, 2022 11:55 AM  Are you excited to try out the best Marco 5 loadout in Warzone? SMGs have been incredibly popular in Warzone ever since the battle royale game switched over to Caldera. Almost every SMG added to the game since Call of Duty Vanguard launched has been a viable option and if the older SMGs are anything to go by, the Marco 5 has the potential to become one of the best SMGs in Warzone. The best Marco 5 loadout stands out amongst its competitors due to its impressive mobility. Even when loaded up with attachments, it feels like you're holding nothing at all. The Marco 5 is surprisingly accurate when hip firing which makes it incredibly lethal when fighting enemies at close range. RELATED LINKS: Warzone loadouts, Best AR in Warzone , The best guns in Warzone |
PCGamesN Wednesday, June 22, 2022 11:51 AM  Despite PCIe 4.0 SSDs and other devices only being on the market for a few years now, before you know it we may be slotting PCIe 7.0 components into our gaming PCs. And if you think NVMe drives are plenty fast now, the new PCI Express specification should allow read and write speeds to reach new heights, thanks to it boasting eight times the bandwidth of the current spec. RELATED LINKS: Best SSD for gaming, How to build a gaming PC, Best gaming CPU |
PCGamesN Wednesday, June 22, 2022 11:36 AM  Excited to find out who made it onto the Street Fighter 6 roster? The Street Fighter 6 release date is pencilled in for 2023, so there's plenty of time for more characters to be revealed. Looking back to older games in the series, Street Fighter 4 launched with 25 characters, but the lacklustre Street Fighter 5 featured just 16 characters on day one. Capcom appears to be learning from its past mistakes, so we're hoping for a large roster this time around. There are only five characters revealed on the Street Fighter 6 roster so far. If the leaks and rumours turn out to be true, we can expect to see one or two character reveals each month until launch. RELATED LINKS: Best fighting games on PC |
PCGamesN Wednesday, June 22, 2022 11:31 AM  A new Team Fortress 2 update has arrived, featuring several updates aimed at solving the FPS game's notorious bot and cheater issues highlighted by the recent #SaveTF2 campaign. The new TF2 patch features an improved kick vote system designed to allow players of the FPS game to remove troublesome bot accounts from servers more quickly, and fixes an exploit which allowed players to enable cheats in ostensibly secure servers. The June 21 Team Fortress 2 update allows both teams in a match to run a vote to kick at the same time, and also allows these votes to occur at the same time as a global vote. In lieu of any more substantial fixes to deal with bots, this should at least act as somewhat of a stopper against the never-ending tide for players to try and keep their servers under control. In addition, you can no longer change your name during a game - this was often used by bots to duplicate real player names and cause confusion. Another potentially troublesome exploit allowed players to activate the 'sv_cheats' command while playing on a secure server, allowing them to employ cheats in-game. This particular trick has now been patched out also. RELATED LINKS: TF 2 system requirements, Best FPS shooters on PC, Best multiplayer games on PC |
PCGamesN Wednesday, June 22, 2022 11:00 AM  League of Legends welcomes its newest champion, Nilah the Joy Unbound, onto the MOBA game's public beta environment today. Nilah is a warrior ascetic, a skirmisher from a faraway land, and she's bound to a powerful demon of joy. Nilah's abilities are centred on this demon, and the joyful energy she radiates on the battlefield because of it. Nilah's passive is called Joy Unending, and it effectively buffs the amount of experience Nilah and her allies get when Nilah last-hits a minion. Half of the XP that would normally be lost to sharing last-hit XP with nearby allies is instead granted back to Nilah and the nearest allied champ. Nilah also gets additional benefits from allied heals, and shares that buff with her nearby allies. RELATED LINKS: Best LoL Champions , League of Legends patch 12.12 notes, LoL tier list |
PCGamesN Wednesday, June 22, 2022 10:59 AM  There are a lot of Starfield secrets hiding in the recent gameplay trailer, let alone the final RPG game. One player discovered the much-memed space cheese sandwich hiding in a single shot, but this new discovery is much less joyful. In fact, this creepy Starfield Easter egg is more like something out of a horror game, such as Dead Space or System Shock. The gameplay trailer contains just a handful of the 1,000 planets available in Starfield, but does show one of the major cities in the game called Neon - a gaudy, Cyberpunk 2077-like location. In the city's first shot in the gameplay showcase, players have spotted some graffiti next to a vent with the sinister warning "they are coming." We can only speculate as to who "they" are, but it certainly sounds ominous and like something you'd see in Citadel Station or aboard the USG Ishimura. One possible culprit is a Starship Troopers-like four-legged creature that appears on a whiteboard in the lockpicking scene as the subject of a cloning experiment, with disturbing scratches on the metal walls elsewhere in that location. RELATED LINKS: Starfield release date, Starfield ship design, Starfield Game Pass |
PCGamesN Wednesday, June 22, 2022 10:43 AM  Minecraft is perhaps the ultimate sandbox game. Through mods and builds, players can use it to create anything, from their own takes on official trailers, beautiful doors from beloved films, and their very own in-game GIFs. It's a haven of creativity, and its tools allow players to build whatever they can think of - including the Elden Ring city Farum Azula. RELATED LINKS: Minecraft console commands, Minecraft skins, Minecraft mods |
PCGamesN Wednesday, June 22, 2022 10:35 AM  If you're looking to buy a Samsung NVMe SSD, you're in luck, as the Samsung 980 Pro 2TB is currently $110 off as part of a limited-time discount on the company's website. This brings the price down by a whopping 28%, to just $269.99. This Samsung NVMe SSD boasts impressive read and write speeds, clocking in at 7,000MB/s and 5,000MB/s, respectively. Plus, its compact M.2 form factor makes it easy to slot into both laptops and desktop computers. Anyone seeking to build the best gaming PC would do well to have this drive as part of their repertoire. If that's not impressive enough, this Samsung 980 Pro is renowned for its reliable thermal control. It uses a nickel coating to help manage the controller's heat level, and even has a heat spreader label to deliver thermal control on the NAND chip. Meanwhile, Samsung's thermal control algorithm allows it to manage its heat levels all on its own. RELATED LINKS: Samsung 970 EVO 1TB review, Best SSD for gaming, Best gaming monitor |
PCGamesN Wednesday, June 22, 2022 10:23 AM  Chivalry 2, the online multiplayer slasher from Torn Banner, released on Steam on June 12, and in its first ten days has managed to rack up some enormous sales figures, along with "very positive" reviews from players. RELATED LINKS: Chivalry 2 review, Get started in Chivalry 2 , Best Chivalry 2 classes |
PCGamesN Wednesday, June 22, 2022 9:50 AM  World of Warcraft expansions have become a bi-yearly tradition for the MMORPG that hardened raiders and casual guildies alike all look forward to. Along with a giant shedload of new content - quests, raids, mounts, transmogs, class changes, abilities, factions, zones, pets, and god knows what else - each new expansion is a fresh frontier. It's a chance to break the established daily routine; to learn what works and what doesn't, what new builds are viable and which aren't; to find new daily grindstones on which to place your nose. Well, the time is almost here, guildmates. Dragonflight is officially available to pre-purchase as of last night, with a total of six different editions. You can find all the details on Blizzard's news post, but we'll run through the main differences here. RELATED LINKS: Best MMORPGs on PC, The best WoW addons, WoW Classic leveling guide |
PCGamesN Wednesday, June 22, 2022 9:30 AM  Metal Hellsinger system requirements shouldn't prove hellish for your gaming PC, making it easy to find your demon slaying rhythm. In fact, chances are your rig already meets the recommended GPU specs for the FPS game, which should be more than enough for crisp and smooth 1080p 60fps gameplay. RELATED LINKS: Best SSD for gaming, How to build a gaming PC, Best gaming CPU |
PCGamesN Wednesday, June 22, 2022 12:19 PM  Looking for the best Chongyun build in Genshin Impact? The popsicle-loving professional exorcist has been around for a while, but now he makes a return as part of an Arataki Itto rerun banner as part of Genshin Impact 2.7. If you're still questioning whether you should tackle the best Chongyun build, there are plenty of reasons: he's a good main DPS for beginning players, a useful Cryo sub DPS for advanced players, he's great at setting up Elemental Reactions, and his ascension materials are relatively easy to obtain. On top of that, four-star Cryo characters are still quite rare. RELATED LINKS: Genshin Impact 2.8 release date, Genshin Impact character tier list, Genshin Impact leveling guide |
PCGamesN Wednesday, June 22, 2022 8:20 AM  City builders and PC gaming go hand in hand all the way back to the 80s, yet players' appetite for the genre is still very much alive and kicking - as shown by current champion of the city-building games Cities: Skylines sales reaching the mammoth 12 million mark. Cities: Skylines has been riding high among fans of city management games since its launch seven years ago, after capitalising on the general disappointment around the release of EA's 2013 SimCity game. That success has only continued to grow thanks to the huge variety of Cities: Skylines mods on offer, as well as plenty of official DLC releasing for the title. Probably also factoring into this milestone is the fact that the game was available for just one dollar in a recent Humble Bundle, along with significant discounts offered on a range of Cities: Skylines DLC. Nevertheless, fans of city building games will be pleased to see that there's still a solid foundation of interest for the genre. RELATED LINKS: Cities: Skylines mods, Cities: Skylines system requirements, The best management games on PC 2022 |
PCGamesN Wednesday, June 22, 2022 8:05 AM  Tiny Tina's Wonderlands' Chaos Chambers are a new endgame activity that's been put into the FPS game so that you can just keep playing forever, if you really want to. They also offer a substantially more challenging string of fights, excellent loot, and are a great way to grind up your level. Who doesn't love a good combat encounter? Tiny Tina's Wonderlands' Chaos Chambers also offer a welcome change to the usual post-ending malaise. Normally the endgame in a Borderlands title involves playing through the story again in New Game Plus, or taking on additional post-story quests that have you fighting over-sized, over-levelled monsters. While the endgame offers the best opportunities for loot, it's not always exciting to play through the story again, especially in games where the story is less than enjoyable. While the core of Chaos Chambers is all about, well, chaos, there are actually some important rules and mechanics to consider when you start messing about with them. Read on to learn everything you know about Tiny Tina's Wonderlands Chaos Chambers. We're chaos experts, so you'd think we'd know what we're talking about. RELATED LINKS: Tiny Tina's Wonderlands review, Tiny Tina's Wonderlands legendary weapons, Tiny Tina's Wonderlands best builds |
PCGamesN Wednesday, June 22, 2022 8:08 AM |
Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed Wednesday, June 22, 2022 12:00 PM  When I got a hands off look at Oxenfree II: Lost Signals, my analysis was that it looked a lot like Oxenfree and therefore if you liked Oxenfree you would like this. I have now played through a small bit of the game, a slightly extended version of the area I saw in the hands off preview, and my analysis is... largely the same. I know that's very boring, but it's also positive, isn't it? Oxenfree was good, and Oxenfree II looks to be doing those same things that made Oxenfree good. A 2D, side-on supernatural thriller with radios. Good thing remains good! In a world where sequels to beloved media seem to only get progressively worse, I'll happily take it (especially since this one is a Netflix-published project now). And although it's directly related to the first game, the characters and happenings in Oxenfree II are distinct enough that it's going to be accessible if you're new to the series. And even if you did play the first game, it's possible that Oxenfree II will be more thrilling and unsettling to you now, five years later. |
Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed Wednesday, June 22, 2022 11:43 AM  Now that all the unusually stressful benchmarking is out the way, let's talk how mineral-grubbing "quest shooter" The Cycle: Frontier performs on PC. Short version: pretty well! It can make do with older and lower-end hardware at 1080p, and scales nicely all the way up to 4K and ultrawide resolutions, taking full advantage of the best graphics cards or the best gaming monitors with high refresh rates. If your rig is only just scraping past the system requirements, there are also some chunky performance improvements available via the right graphics settings tweaks. |
Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed Wednesday, June 22, 2022 11:15 AM  Last time, you decided that undo is better than invert mouse. For many people, this result will turn the world on its head. And if those otherworldly beings with horrifying ideas about piloting meat puppets take this personally, maybe we can hit undo to save ourselves. This week, it's a question of control. What's better: air control, or an AI-controlled friend just running about helping me fight? |
Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed Wednesday, June 22, 2022 11:00 AM  Team Fortress 2 has been updated by Valve today in response to the player-led #saveTF2 campaign that's seeking an answer to the classic multiplayer shooter's bot epidemic. However, the automatically applied update is primarily intended to sort out a variety of daft-sounding exploits. These range from teleporting back to your spawn point by changing loadout or class while touching the other team's No Entry gate, to Spies disguising themselves and creating an invisible shield at their feet to block incoming fire. |
Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed Wednesday, June 22, 2022 9:17 AM  Today sees the arrival of season one of free-to-play sci-fi looter shooter The Cycle: Frontier with the 1.2.0 patch. The game soft-launched with a pre-season on June 8th, so its transition into the first season seems to consist largely of the launch of its Fortuna battle pass. Here's a trailer detailing what the pass entails, below. |
Twinfinite Wednesday, June 22, 2022 3:36 PM Coin-op goodness. |
Twinfinite Wednesday, June 22, 2022 3:01 PM Conan Exiles has been among the most beloved survival games on the market for five years, and some may wonder if a sequel is in the cards. |
Twinfinite Wednesday, June 22, 2022 3:00 PM Execute Order 66! |
Twinfinite Wednesday, June 22, 2022 2:54 PM One of the common questions among fans is when does Rune Factory 5 come out on PC? and if you are wondering the same, here's everything you need to know. |
Twinfinite Wednesday, June 22, 2022 2:17 PM Game better be super funny or this title makes no sense. |
Twinfinite Wednesday, June 22, 2022 2:10 PM If you're wondering why the Valorant update is so slow, here's what you need to know. |
Twinfinite Wednesday, June 22, 2022 2:03 PM Today Rare released a new video sharing an update about content coming to its popular game-as-a-service Sea of Thieves. |
Twinfinite Wednesday, June 22, 2022 1:56 PM Here is info on Reva's future. |
Twinfinite Wednesday, June 22, 2022 1:44 PM I am always up for some heists. |
Twinfinite Wednesday, June 22, 2022 1:41 PM Breaking down Poggers! |
Twinfinite Wednesday, June 22, 2022 1:38 PM Here is the release date for Hyenas. |
Twinfinite Wednesday, June 22, 2022 1:37 PM Xseed Games announced that the former Nintendo Switch exclusive Rune Factory 5 is making the jump from the console to PC. |
Twinfinite Wednesday, June 22, 2022 1:27 PM Valorant Legion event brings new in-game rewards, totally for free. |
Twinfinite Wednesday, June 22, 2022 12:45 PM How to fix the co-op for Dying Light when it isn't working. |
Twinfinite Wednesday, June 22, 2022 12:39 PM Today's issue of Weekly Famitsu included the first artwork of the 10th numbered installment of the Ys franchise, likely named Ys X. |
Twinfinite Wednesday, June 22, 2022 12:30 PM Epic Games is back again with another Naruto collab, featuring new cosmetic items like the Manda Glider. Here's how you can get it in Fortnite. |
Twinfinite Wednesday, June 22, 2022 11:40 AM NFC ya later! |
Twinfinite Wednesday, June 22, 2022 11:17 AM Bandai Namco released two more character trailers of its upcoming fighting game JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle R. |
Twinfinite Wednesday, June 22, 2022 11:06 AM Valorant's new map Pearl takes the game in a new direction. |
Twinfinite Wednesday, June 22, 2022 11:06 AM Here is the Xenoblade Chronicles 3 expansion pass cost. |
Siliconera Wednesday, June 22, 2022 3:00 PM
When you get a game collection, there are certain things you expect. Different ways to play the game which capture the original spirit and perhaps a more modern look. Historical elements compiled in some kind of gallery. Which yes, Sonic Origins does all that with its Classic Mode, Anniversary Mode, and Museum. But there's also an unexpected element. Its Story Mode offers a sense of context that helps see how entries fit together. A good way to think of Sonic Origins' Story Mode as being akin to The Godfather Saga. Where that version put all the scenes from The Godfather and The Godfather Part II in chronological order, this behaves similarly. It runs through the games as events happened. So Sonic the Hedgehog leads into Sonic CD. That, in turn, leads into Sonic the Hedgehog 2. Things close out with Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles. Each one is preceded by a new animated short setting the stage for the adventure and ended with another that closes things out and helps tie things together.
First, it feels great because we have this sense of cohesiveness. Like we all generally know how things go for Sonic. We know stories are connected. They don't really have to make sense. But this new Story Mode means that it does. It helps build these connections. I felt like I better understood evolutions in its gameplay by having this additional context. Plus, the transition of going immediately from one game to another can really highlight the progress in terms of character sprites and level design. The animations are also really exceptional. These come up frequently throughout Sonic Origins. When you head into a game, you might see a scene where, say, Amy Rose reads her fortune with tarot cards. We might see how Dr. Eggman and Knuckles meet. Having them as bookends for the classic games feels so appropriate. The design direction is perfect. Plus, these games benefit from that extra exposition. They didn't need them, mind you. But it's a fun perk. Now, there are some parts of the Sonic Origins Story Mode that might feel a bit limiting. Since it is going through all four games and showing the adventure through Sonic's eyes, you are stuck as Sonic. Which makes sense, given the nature of it. If you want to play as Tails or Knuckles, you can hop into Sonic the Hedgehog 2 or Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles and do so. But the big, overarching story only has one star.
This extra Story Mode also goes well with the other modes offered in Sonic Origins. The Classic Mode is a very pure showcase of each game as it originally appeared. Anniversary is more forgiving, thanks to the infinite lives, ability to retry Special Stages, and ability to explore more leisurely. Mirror Mode changes things up by removing any muscle memory due to going backward through stages. And the Boss Rush and Mission modes are designed to offer a bit more of a challenge. So with Story, we have something relaxing and taking us through things as they "happened." It's a novelty. You always have an idea of how a story goes. We know what the timeline is like. The Sonic Origins Story Mode helps respect that. It offers an optional way to play that lets you appreciate how the design changed and Sonic's story went. It's the sort of bonus we haven't seen done before in a collection like this, and I didn't know how much I'd wanted such a thing until I played through it. Sonic Origins will come to the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and PC on June 23, 2022. The post Sonic Origins Story Mode Offers Fun Context appeared first on Siliconera. |
Siliconera Wednesday, June 22, 2022 2:00 PM
More people will be able to play Rune Factory 5 soon, as a PC version is heading to Steam. It will debut on July 13, 2022. It will be $59.99 for the standard version. There is also going to be a $69.99 Digital Deluxe one with Rune Factory 4 Marriage Candidates Outfit Set DLC. However, the pre-order discount in effect brings the price of the former down to $50.99 and the latter to $59.49. 10 pieces of DLC will also be available at launch. Here's the Rune Factory 5 PC trailer that appeared ahead of its Steam debut. It doesn't note any of the specific changes for this version. However, you can see some of the visual updates. Here's a list of all the DLC that will be available at launch. If people own the PC version of Rune Factory 4 Special, people get Lest and Frey protagonist outfits and will see Doug and Margaret in town. Pre-orders also come with the The Holy Knight and the Bibliophile Swimsuit Set and New Ranger Care Package Item Pack add-ons.
Rune Factory 5 will come to the PC via Steam on July 13, 2022. It is immediately available on the Nintendo Switch. The post Rune Factory 5 PC Version Will Appear on Steam in July appeared first on Siliconera. |
