Jun 26, 16:00


PCGamesN Sunday, June 26, 2022 1:30 PM
     Fall Guys player count stumbles past 20 million beans

In case you've been living under a rock, soft-play bean battle royale game Fall Guys is now free-to-play as of June 21, and developer Mediatonic has announced that the Fall Guys player count stumbled enthusiastically past a staggering 20 million total players within the first 48 hours after the launch of Fall Guys: Free For All.

The developer announced the milestone on Twitter, giving a "massive thank you to all who have stumbled" their way into the fray since it became a free game, and saying that it took just two days to hit the impressive 20 million number. The game saw some server issues with the F2P launch, as might be expected given the volume of users, but that didn't stop players from piling in.

Anyone who bought the game prior to its free-to-play launch gets access to a Legacy Pack DLC, featuring some cosmetic items to show off their veteran status, and also receives the first new season pass for free.

RELATED LINKS: Fall Guys review, The best battle royale games, Play Fall Guys

PCGamesN Sunday, June 26, 2022 1:15 PM
     Doom mods have support for vampires now

The big new GZDoom update 4.8.1 is out now with a range of new tweaks, fixes, and improvements for the quintessential Doom mods program. Of particular note, however, are some cool mirror effects that essentially allow you to turn the classic FPS game into a vampire game.

There are many fantastic and inventive Doom mods out there, such as a hack-n-slash Shinobi mod, an open-world Fallout-type game, and Fred Durst. There's even a fantastic first-person recreation of one of the best Castlevania games - which might be perfect for an update to make the most of these new GZDoom features.

You can check out the full patch notes and download for GZDoom 4.8.1 here. There are many welcome improvements, such as further support for the Vulkan renderer, but it's the new options for mirrors that are particularly intriguing. Aside from improving reflection support within Doom, the update adds the "+ONLYVISIBLEINMIRRORS" and "+INVISIBLEINMIRRORS" flags for modders to use. Essentially, these add the option for characters to either only appear in mirrors or have no reflection in mirrors.

RELATED LINKS: Doom runs on Twitter, Play Doom

PCGamesN Sunday, June 26, 2022 12:53 PM
     This Skyrim mod wants to sell you on 16K dragon textures

There are an almost uncountable number of Skyrim mods out there, and one of the most popular categories is visual improvements to take advantage of modern graphical hardware in the RPG game. Now one eager modder wants to sell you on the benefits of 16K dragons - no, not 16,000 of them flying around at once (as fun as that sounds), but rather dragon textures at a whopping 16K resolution.

According to modder XilaMonstrr, "everyone who is running 4K textures should be using 16K dragon textures." Why, I hear you ask? The simple answer, they explain, is that dragons in Skyrim are very large. While this seem like an obvious statement, it means that when you are fighting the dragon up-close you need its textures to be at a higher resolution to compensate for how close you are to it.

The mods in question are upscales of the 'HD dragon replacer pack' and the 'new dragon species' mods originally created for Skyrim by Bellyache, which sharpen up dragon textures and add a selection of new variant dragon spawns to the open-world game.

RELATED LINKS: Best Skyrim mods , Skyrim: Special Edition mods, Skyrim: SE system requirements

PCGamesN Sunday, June 26, 2022 12:14 PM
     A Fortnite collab with Dead by Daylight may happen

Could a Fortnite x Dead by Daylight crossover happen? That's the latest rumour going around, and while neither multiplayer game is short on collaborations there may be a grain of truth to this one - as Fortnite developer Epic Games has already hinted at it in a recent survey.

While not a horror game, Fortnite has played host to a number of scary icons, including skins based on Resident Evil, an invasion by zombies, and even a crossover with Stephen King's IT. Likewise, Dead by Daylight has also featured plenty of collaborations, including The Ring, Silent Hill, and - well, also Resident Evil.

So far, though, Fortnite and Dead by Daylight haven't crossed over with each other. However, that may be set to change, according to new details passed on to popular Fortnite leakers such as iFireMonkey and Shiina. If the reports are true, Dead by Daylight developer Behaviour Interactive has been "discussing propositions" about a possible Fortnite collaboration. This would include a Llama Charm for Dead by Daylight and a Meg Thomas skin for Fortnite.

RELATED LINKS: Fortnite V-Bucks, Fortnite Skins, Fortnite Creative Codes

PCGamesN Sunday, June 26, 2022 11:00 AM
     Survival game Raft player count surfs past 100k in Steam summer sale

The Steam Summer sale is underway, and one of its big winners so far is shark-infested ocean survival game Raft, which has just reached a new peak player count thanks to a discount and the game's transition to full release. Developer Redbeet Interactive released its version 1.0 update, 'The Final Chapter,' on June 20, saying that they "consider Raft to no longer be in need" of the early access label.

Now, spurred by the official release and a discount in the summer sale, the co-op game is listed as one of the top sellers on Steam, and SteamDB lists the peak player count at over 100,000 concurrent players and climbing at the time of writing. The new update adds three major destinations to explore and an overhaul to the game's story to provide a "clear and engaging narrative experience," along with added voice acting for all the game's story notes.

If the sharks weren't terrifying enough, several new beasties are out there in the watery depths and among the various locales. Most notably (and perhaps most terrifying) of all is the toothy anglerfish, but there are also swarms of bugs, polar bears, hyenas, and more mystery creatures to be discovered.

RELATED LINKS: Best survival games on PC, Best adventure games on PC

PCGamesN Sunday, June 26, 2022 10:44 AM
     PUBG new map release date – Deston drops in July

Developer Krafton finally revealed the next PUBG map Deston in a livestream on June 24, confirming the battle royale game's urban-focused location - the ninth map we've seen in PUBG, and the first new one since Taego in 2021. But what is the new PUBG map release date?

Krafton confirmed the PUBG Deston map with a brief announcement trailer and a livestream, with a more in-depth look at the multiplayer game's ninth location now available on the Deston website - including the map itself. It promises a lot more than the massive city of Ripton, with new features like Fortnite-style ascender ropes, airboats, and a permanent parachute ability.

RELATED LINKS: Best battle royale games, Best PUBG weapons and guns, Best PC games you can play on mobile

PCGamesN Sunday, June 26, 2022 9:38 AM
     The Summer Games Done Quick 2022 schedule kicks off June 26

It's just about time to start up another week of thrilling speedrunning action with Games Done Quick. Summer Games Done Quick begins June 26, and it'll run all through the following week on the GDQ Twitch channel. This year's festival includes some new additions to the speedrunning lineup, such as Elden Ring and Monster Hunter: Rise, and kicks off with a somewhat niche (but action packed) playthrough of a PlayStation classic.

This year's SGDQ kicks off with Rubiehart performing a normal time attack random boss rush of Shadow of the Colossus. This run skips over all the open-world game's traversal and cutscenes, and goes straight for the jugular: 16 fights against colossi in random order. It's scheduled to take about 47 minutes.

RELATED LINKS: The best Elden Ring builds, Elden Ring bosses, The best Elden Ring classes

PCGamesN Sunday, June 26, 2022 8:34 AM
     The FFXIV report system is still awful, say players

It's been almost a decade since the (re)launch of critically acclaimed MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, yet many players believe that the FFXIV report system is still just as limited and clunky as it was when the game was released. Currently, the only quick report option players can take from the game's chat window is for players engaging in RMT activity, and reporting any other issues such as harassment or cheating requires digging through a series of confusing and often useless menus.

"I have over 10,000 hours played in this game," says popular FFXIV streamer and YouTuber Zepla, "and I swear I had no idea how deep the jank goes." In a new video talking about the report systems, Zepla shows off the process of trying to file a report, poring through menus in an attempt to demonstrate how convoluted it is. Despite having played FFXIV "almost every day for seven years," Zepla admits she wasn't even aware that some of the menus existed until she dug into them for this video.

The one straightforward option is reporting players for RMT (real money transaction) activity - used for players who are selling the likes of gil or boosting services, usually through third party sites. In this instance, filing a report is as simple as right-clicking on the user's name, selecting 'report,' and clicking the option to 'report RMT activity.' However, this is the only TOS breach that Square Enix appears to have deemed urgent enough to present in this quick menu.

RELATED LINKS: The best MMOs on PC, FFXIV Reaper job guide, FFXIV Sage job guide

PCGamesN Sunday, June 26, 2022 8:18 AM
     Hideo Kojima wanted a game

Metal Gear Solid and Death Stranding creator Hideo Kojima is one of the most renowned developers in the industry, so when he says he considered making a superhero game with Mads Mikkelsen in the lead, people take notice. So why didn't it happen? It was too similar to Amazon superhero series The Boys, according to Kojima.

Hideo Kojima currently has a lot on his plate. At the Xbox showcase, it was confirmed that the developer is working on a "never-before-seen concept" for Microsoft, and Death Stranding 2 is an open secret thanks to Norman Reedus.

Apparently, Kojima nearly considered a more comic book-style project for his next game, "a buddy thing with a special detective squad facing off against legendary heroes behind the scenes." He "was thinking of Mads (Mikkelsen) as the lead" - who was previously in Death Stranding, of course. The developer describes it as a "radical hard-boiled action" game, with dark humour parodying the way "superheroes continue to be mass-produced in the entertainment industry."

RELATED LINKS: Death Stranding PC release date, How long is Death Stranding, Death Stranding Steam

Twinfinite Sunday, June 26, 2022 3:34 PM
     Gamera Interactive released a new gameplay video of its upcoming classic-style action RPG Alaloth: Champions of The Four Kingdoms.

Twinfinite Sunday, June 26, 2022 2:41 PM
     Azur Lane fans who also love figures have three new pre-orders available to choose from, portraying three beloved shipgirls.

Twinfinite Sunday, June 26, 2022 1:25 PM
     If you love Tales of Arise, you can now express it by wearing a dedicated perfume, at least if you're in Japan.

Twinfinite Sunday, June 26, 2022 11:47 AM
     Turns out the Love Live! Sunshine!! spinoff anime Genjitsu no Yohane: Sunshine in the Mirror announced as an April Fools' prank is real.

Siliconera Sunday, June 26, 2022 3:00 PM
    

We already know part of how the Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon story goes thanks to the anime. It follows Sesshomaru's daughters Towa and Setsuna, as well as Inuyasha and Kagome's daughter Moroha. However starting in June 2022, there's another way to learn about what happens next in Inuyasha. The first volume of the Yashahime manga features a more deliberate start that spends more time getting to know characters, specifically Towa.

The manga version of Yashahime begins in a far different manner than the anime. With the show, things kick off in medias res. Towa, Setsuna, and Moroha already met up and are working together. Those scenes are interspersed with ones of the original "gang" fighting alongside each other. The trio meet "properly" in the second episode. There's also more ambiguity about characters' identities, the past, and a bit more resistance to working together. In general, the anime adaptation can feel like it evenly divides attention among the three young women.

Yashahime Manga Focuses on TowaWith the manga, Towa is firmly the focus. The story begins with her at a new school. She transferred, as her last one took issue with her white hair. They considered it a distraction, even though Sota and his wife asserted it was natural. As she walks home, a girl comes to confess to her. After assessing the girl's friend is possessed by a demon, Towa invites both to her family's shrine. There, she performs the exorcism in her more traditional suit while her family watches. It is then that a stronger demon appears. Setsuna and Moroha show up, with both already working together as a duo. Towa is also more unaware of her twin, with the whole life in the past more of a surprise to her.

This isn't to say Setsuna and Moroha don't get any development. However, the first volume of the Yashahime manga is more about establishing who Towa is, showing her coming to terms with things, and learning more about the past. The story is more upfront with what happened to Inuyasha, Kagome, and Sesshoumaru. This also means we know who the twins' mother is immediately. In this storyline, Moroha and Setsuna grew up together. Towa arriving is something of a missing piece. This means that when an attack launches on the trio and Kaede, Towa regains more of her memories and they better understand about certain concepts like their (brief) unmother guardians. We also see Towa begin to accept more of her power. Moroha and Setsuna are established. They're steady supporting cast members. Towa is the one seeing real development in this initial installment.

The result is a story that feels very much like the Yashahime anime, only with a bit more substance, lore, and attention to Towa. Someone coming to the manga will immediately have a better idea of what Towa's life was like with Sota and his family. The foundation is laid early on for what happened to the twins and their cousin. It also feels like there's more lore here and the potential for less of a monster-of-the-week approach to some situations. I'm actually more excited to see where this version goes, compared to the anime adaptation.

The first volume of the Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon manga will debut on June 21, 2022. Viz Media is handling the English release. The anime adaptation can be found on Crunchyroll.

The post Yashahime Manga Focuses on Towa appeared first on Siliconera.


Gaming Instincts – Next-Generation of Video Game Journalism Sunday, June 26, 2022 3:43 PM
    

Players play as Narin, a seventh-grader who winds up in a mysterious world

The post Survival horror game Narin: The Orange Room Announced For PC appeared first on Gaming Instincts - Next-Generation of Video Game Journalism.


Gaming Instincts – Next-Generation of Video Game Journalism Sunday, June 26, 2022 3:11 PM
    

This version adds rollback netcode, online lobbies, and a new spectator mode.

The post The King of Fighters '98 Ultimate Match Final Edition Gets PS4 Version appeared first on Gaming Instincts - Next-Generation of Video Game Journalism.


Gaming Instincts – Next-Generation of Video Game Journalism Sunday, June 26, 2022 12:00 PM
    

5 Stormgate Details You Must Know

The post 5 details you must know about Stormgate appeared first on Gaming Instincts - Next-Generation of Video Game Journalism.