Kotaku Saturday, March 30, 2024 10:30 AM  Capcom's new action-RPG Dragon's Dogma 2 is sparking a fascinating range of reactions from players, and we've got a few of our own. We've also got thoughts on why the new South Park game, Snow Day, is such a disappointment, more commentary on Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth's hotly contested ending, and more. |
Kotaku Saturday, March 30, 2024 9:00 AM  This week's gaming news was far-ranging in its nature and its implications. We got reports that Pedro Pascal has already wrapped up shooting on season two of HBO's The Last of Us, heard rumblings that some publishers are unsure if supporting Xbox continues to make sense for them, and got our first look at Marvel Rivals… |
PCGamesN Saturday, March 30, 2024 11:35 AM  Since Dark Souls exploded, adding a whole new chapter to the RPG playbook in 2011, soulslikes have been a dime a dozen. Every man and his dog has taken a swing at the formula - where the game world's friction goes against the player any way it can, with no care for how they'll react - and quite a few games have done a decent job. Lords of the Fallen, Nioh, and Lies of P are just some of the bigger examples. But when we talk about soulslikes, we're almost always looking at them through a lens of third-person action roleplaying games. So what would happen if we removed an entire dimension from the genre: how would it play, and would it even work? This is a question Void Sols wants to answer, and it's the most unique spin on soulslikes I've ever played. MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best soulslike games, Best indie games, Best RPG games |
PCGamesN Saturday, March 30, 2024 11:00 AM  People often nostalgically reminisce about archaic technology, laughing about the frustrations and limitations of cassette tapes or floppy disks, before adding 'but they were amazing at the time!' However, you simply can't hide the horror of CGA graphics - the PC's first color graphics adaptor - behind such rose-tinted glasses (although orange-tinted glasses might help – more on that later). Nobody, absolutely nobody, thought CGA was amazing at the time. It's hard to imagine this now, when the best graphics cards of today are so far ahead of the hardware in current game consoles, but PC game graphics really were abysmal in those early days, when Nvidia was just a glint in Jensen's eye. I had a CGA PC in the 1980s, and even then you felt disappointed when you fired up a PC game to be greeted by a mess of purple and black on the screen. Continue reading The horror of CGA PC game graphics MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best graphics card, Best gaming PC, Best SSD for gaming |
PCGamesN Saturday, March 30, 2024 10:29 AM  Heavily inspired by the iconic PC turn-based strategy game series Heroes of Might and Magic, along with a little of that 4X juice from the likes of Civilization 6 and Endless Legend, Songs of Conquest is a promising early access game that harkens back to those glory days with a stunning pixel art style. First launched in May 2022, it currently holds a 'very positive' 87% Steam rating, with recent reviews trending a little higher still, and now developer Lavapotion and publisher Coffee Stain (of Satisfactory and Valheim fame) reveal a hefty new update along with a massive Steam sale discount. |
PCGamesN Saturday, March 30, 2024 8:22 AM  As the next Zenless Zone Zero beta looms, HoYoverse's new game is already set up to give us plenty of free rewards when the full game launches in 2024. This is thanks to a staggering 30 million players already pre-registering for the game, with even more rewards available if we hit a few more milestones. Continue reading Zenless Zone Zero already offering loads of free rewards for launch MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Zenless Zone Zero release date, Zenless Zone Zero codes, Zenless Zone Zero banners |
PCGamesN Saturday, March 30, 2024 8:20 AM  Bethesda's Starfield might have dominated the headlines last year, but despite that and big updates to the likes of No Man's Sky, Stellaris, and Star Citizen, Everspace 2 came out ahead as the best space game of 2023 for my money. With its speedy, satisfying space battles that strike that ideal balance between arcade satisfaction and more realistic physics, and a loot-hunting system in the style of RPGs like Diablo 4 that at times outpaces even Blizzard's epic. Ahead of Everspace 2 Incursions, the big, free update set to launch in spring, developer Rockfish Games shows off "a major change" to how legendary equipment works, and how you'll find some of your best items in the new update. MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best space games on PC, Best upcoming games |
PCGamesN Saturday, March 30, 2024 7:12 AM  The Terraria 1.4.5 update gets more exciting with every passing month, and as developer Re-Logic hones the finishing touches for what might be the final (final, final) update for one of the best PC games ever, it gives us a look at a couple of big upgrades. The Terraria State of the Game March 2024 is upon us, and there are some very welcome additions to the sandbox game, including a much-requested inventory change and a new way to get around that I didn't realize just how much I needed until right this moment. Continue reading Terraria 1.4.5 update makes two incredible quality of life upgrades MORE FROM PCGAMESN: The best Terraria mods, Terraria happiness guide, Terraria bosses guide |
PCGamesN Saturday, March 30, 2024 7:08 AM  March 30, 2024: We've added today's new Monopoly Go dice links to our list and checked for any expired links. How can I get Monopoly Go free dice links? The classic board game has made its way to a free-to-play format, and you'll be doing laps of the board collecting houses and hotels and completing a variety of multiplayer minigames along the way. You can't get far in Monopoly Go without dice rolls, which you'll have a limited amount of to begin with. To earn more dice rolls, you'll need to log in daily to collect bonuses, invite your friends to the game, or progress further. If you don't want to spend your hard-earned money on more dice, you can use dice links for the board game instead. Now, let's run down all the currently active Monopoly Go free dice links for today. Continue reading Free Monopoly Go dice links March 2024 MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best board games, Free PC games, Monopoly Go dice |
PCGamesN Saturday, March 30, 2024 6:45 AM  Suicide Squad Kill The Justice League Season 1 is finally here, and even as it's given Rocksteady's live service superhero game a big spike in players, it looks like this isn't nearly enough to save the dwindling player base. While the Steam player count saw a brief spike of up to ten times more players than the current average, the arrival of the Joker has been met with crickets, and not the raucous laughter anyone was hoping for. Continue reading Suicide Squad's 10x player count jump can't save Season 1 MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Suicide Squad Kill the Justice League system requirements, Suicide Squad Kill the Justice review, Suicide Squad Kill the Justice League builds |
Twinfinite Saturday, March 30, 2024 11:49 AM  |
Siliconera Saturday, March 30, 2024 9:00 AM
Acheron felt like HoYoVerse's golden child going into Honkai: Star Rail 2.1. She's an expy of Raiden Mei from Honkai Impact 3rd and Raiden Shogun from Genshin Impact, after all. Yes, Aventurine featured prominently in Honkai: Star Rail marketing for 2.0 and 2.1, but he was framed more of an antagonistic spy. However, after going through the 2.1 Trailblaze Missions in "Cat Among Pigeons," I can't help but feel he's the true star of this storyline and even more exciting than her.
Editor's Note: There will be some spoilers for 2.0 and mild spoilers for 2.1 of Honkai: Star Rail below, but no details about Aventurine or Acheron's identities or positions in 2.1.
Both Acheron and Aventurine are rather swiftly introduced once the Nameless head to Penacony, but there's a decidedly different tone to both. She is immediately framed as some sort of ally. She assists the player when they happen upon the same area together. The two exchange meaningful words. Both end up crying after the experience.
Meanwhile, Aventurine comes across as something of a flashy scam artist and gambler. He offers to help the Trailblazer get into the hotel, at a price. He talks about friendship, while also insinuating it is a means of serving his own ends and getting something out of the deal. Not to mention he's one of the top folks at the Interastral Peace Corporation (IPC) and, even though Topaz ended up generally being "fine" after the incident at Jarilo-IV, that whole corporation and its means of buying up the less fortunate to profit on them in the name of "preservation" is… skeevy.
I mean, HoYoVerse has Acheron flat out "save" the Trailblazer from Aventurine when they are cornered by him at a point in 2.0. He was trying to coerce some sort of favor and seemed generally untrustworthy, and because of her he ended up ushered out.
It's only with the 2.0 Trailblaze Mission cliffhanger in "Whodunit" that HoYoVerse turned things on its head. In case you didn't heed that spoiler warning up there, here it is again. We get the wham moment of seeing Robin, pop star and Sunday's sister, dead in the water of the room. Black Swan, another individual who'd been proved trustworthy so far and constantly rescuing or aiding the Astral Express members, brings us to Aventurine. It's also this IPC member who's offering us the most truth about Acheron, Robin, and the situation in general.
If there's one thing I didn't expect going into the 2.1 update for Honkai: Star Rail, it's to find that Aventurine is actually genuine. But here we are. Not only that, but his character development and arc ends up being astonishingly well-handled. Even though both he and Acheron end up being supporting protagonists and having their playable moments during these latest Trailblaze Missions, he's the one that comes out feeling like there's the strongest narrative to his tale.
Sure, Acheron is interesting. Yes, we get some revelations about her identity. The thing is, we already knew about some of these things. Her role in things came up at the end of 2.0 during "Whodunnit." Her character trailer went over the incident with the Annihilation Gang and Duke Inferno. It's fun to see her with Welt Yang, considering his connections to Mei and that it gives the Astral Express member more screen time. However, I'd say it doesn't feel as exciting and emotional.
Meanwhile, Aventurine's segments are filled with these captial-M Moments. We get flashbacks showing who he is and what his life was like leading up to his role as one of the IPC's Ten Stonehearts. These are heartfelt, dramatic, touching, and devastating scenes. There's intrigue as he deals with Sunday and the new mission he's given on Penacony. It's even absolutely hilarious at parts, given the banter he has with Dr. Ratio during certain segments. There are all these feelings coming up for a character who seemed very one-dimensional before, and he's so having his moment.
Even in terms of combat, I'm genuinely vibing more with Aventurine than I am with Acheron. I'd been saving up for her banner for a while and that, combined with the first anniversary currency and warp tickets, meant I got her. She's a fantastic DPS character, especially if you build her up with other Nihility characters like Black Swan or Kafka. I didn't expect to want or need another Preservation person, as I have Gepard and the Trailblazer and prefer my teams to involve two damage dealers, a person applying buffs or debuffs, and Luocha.
But Aventurine is shockingly stunning. I was amazed to find that, when playing through his portions of the 2.1 Trailblaze Missions, he is my ideal type of Preservation character. Like Luocha, it feels like he's more geared toward passively aiding the party while still doing major damage. So you come into a fight? Everyone already has shields! Enemies attack? Aventurine is counting down each hit up to seven to prepare to unleash damage on everyone. His Ultimate? It's fantastic at affecting a single target and helping the team by "unnerving" them so critical damage is increased. (I also had it once also boost him to up to seven points of Blind Bet too, netting an achievement and immediately dealing damage to everyone. His Skill? Everyone has a shield now. He's designed to still be a great damage dealer while protecting folks, and I love that.
There's no competition here, given Honkai: Star Rail is a game where all four-star and five-star characters can feel viable depending on how you play and the teams you build, but it all comes down to Aventurine feeling so much stronger than Acheron after 2.1. It's incredible how HoYoVerse used him throughout the storyline here. Not to mention his kit makes him feel like a really useful Preservation character. She's fun too, but I didn't expect to come away with this gambler stealing my heart.
Honkai: Star Rail is available on the PS5, PC, and mobile devices. Acheron is available via the gacha until April 17, 2024. Aventurine's banner will launch on April 17, 2024.
The post Aventurine Outshines Acheron in Honkai: Star Rail 2.1 appeared first on Siliconera. |
Gamer Empire Saturday, March 30, 2024 5:26 AM Raft is a post-apocalyptic survival game where players are left to survive on a stranded raft on the endless ocean. Even though the final chapter of Raft was released 2 years ago, with over 250,000 positive reviews, the game continues to attract thousands of players who love the survival genre. Recommended Read: Raft – Building […] |
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