Kotaku Tuesday, September 24, 2024 9:40 AM  A small film production company you've never heard of called Stellarblade is suing Sony and Shift Up over the use of Stellar Blade in this year's hit action-adventure. |
Kotaku Tuesday, September 24, 2024 9:30 AM  Visions of Mana is a predominantly linear game, but Chapter Seven throws a curveball. With three boss fights against the Benevodons down and only five to go, you can choose to take on the next four elemental demons in any order you like. It's a vaguely Mega Man style structure, since each boss will unlock valuable… |
PCGamesN Tuesday, September 24, 2024 9:56 AM  The last Legacy of Kain game came out 21 years ago. That's right, we've been waiting over two decades for any sort of return. While you could get some of the series across Steam and GOG (for a time), the story of Kain and Raziel has largely remained dormant. We've heard rumblings, and even have a graphic novel on the way, but that's about it. It looks like that's all about to change though, as the Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver remasters just completely leaked thanks to PSN, suggesting a reveal is imminent. MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best old games and PC classics, Best story games, Best zombie games |
PCGamesN Tuesday, September 24, 2024 9:50 AM  When is the Dragon Ball Sparking Zero release date? While its subtitle may be unfamiliar to Western audiences, Sparking Zero is the long-awaited Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 4. After a 16-year hiatus, publisher Bandai Namco has drafted in Spike Chunsoft – the original studio at the helm of Budokai Tenkaichi – to ensure Sparking Zero remains an authentic Dragon Ball experience for fans and newcomers alike, and we've got all the latest surrounding its release date. Dragon Ball Sparking Zero ushers the popular 3D arena brawler onto current-gen platforms, and we expect it to take advantage of all the latest tech to ensure the fighting game looks and feels as smooth as ever. Aside from the core gameplay mechanics that define the Budokai Tenkaichi series, Sparking Zero is also set to include "genre-defining features" to create "one of the most immersive anime game experiences of all time" according to Bandai Namco CEO Arnaud Muller. Here's everything you need to know ahead of the Dragon Ball Sparking Zero release date. Continue reading Dragon Ball Sparking Zero release date, gameplay, and latest news MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best fighting games, Best multiplayer games, Best anime games |
PCGamesN Tuesday, September 24, 2024 9:30 AM  What is the next Monopoly Go event? With so many limited-time events in Monopoly Go, it can be hard to keep track of the rewards you can get your hands on. Monopoly Go events can last anywhere from a few hours to a week, so bookmark this page as we'll keep it regularly updated with the next events and their start and end dates. Monopoly Go is the latest online board game sweeping the globe, but completing all of these events won't be easy without some free Monopoly Go dice links, so check out our daily updated guide for some freebies and rewards before you get started on the next Monopoly Go tournament. Continue reading All Monopoly Go events, tournaments, dates, and rewards MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best board games, Monopoly Go events, Monopoly Go dice |
PCGamesN Tuesday, September 24, 2024 9:28 AM  September 24: 2024: We've added new Monopoly Go dice links for free dice rolls. How can I get Monopoly Go free dice links? The household favorite board game has been reimagined as a free-to-play app on smartphones, allowing everyone to experience the thrills of Monopoly on practically any device. Everything that makes the board game special is here in Monopoly Go, so you'll be collecting properties and building hotels as you go around the board, and there are a variety of multiplayer minigames to get through along the way. You're going to need to get your hands on Monopoly dice rolls, but they are difficult to come by no matter how far you are into the board game. There are ways to earn additional dice rolls, including logging into the game every day to collect daily bonuses, progressing further in the game, and inviting friends to try Monopoly Go. While you can also spend real money to unlock more dice rolls, you may want to give our list of Monopoly Go dice links a try instead, especially if you're waiting for the next Monopoly Go Golden Blitz event. Take a look at all the currently active Monopoly Go free dice links for today. Continue reading Free Monopoly Go dice links September 2024 MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best board games, Monopoly Go events, Monopoly Go dice |
PCGamesN Tuesday, September 24, 2024 9:25 AM  When is the next Monopoly Go Golden Blitz? This special, limited-time event allows players to trade the usually locked golden stickers up to five times a day. This is an ideal solution for grabbing elusive missing stickers and completing albums quickly. While you can trade these up to five times a day, each event is limited to two specific stickers, set by Scopely. There's no official schedule for Monopoly Go's Golden Blitz event, so a lot of sites that confirm dates are actually speculating based on the current Monopoly Go events. While you're waiting for the next Golden Blitz, make sure to keep on top of other freebies with our free Monopoly Go dice links guide, which is updated several times a day with the newest links. Continue reading When is the next Monopoly Go Golden Blitz event? MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best board games, Monopoly Go events, Monopoly Go dice |
PCGamesN Tuesday, September 24, 2024 9:14 AM  What are the best Diablo 4 classes? We've played the game for dozens of hours to bring you the ultimate guide to each Diablo 4 class and which one you should pick for your intended playstyle. We'll run through an expert analysis of the Necromancer, Rogue, Sorcerer, Barbarian, and Druid following extensive testing. Every D4 class has a unique skill tree, allowing you to pick which abilities to use. Unlike Diablo 3, which featured set character designs, you can customize the appearance of each Diablo 4 class. The D4 Season 4 release date has arrived, and with hours upon hours of hands-on experience with the game, detailed in our Diablo 4 review, we share everything you need to know about the best of the five Diablo 4 classes. Continue reading Best Diablo 4 classes ranked MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best RPGs, Diablo 4 review, Diablo 4 classes |
PCGamesN Tuesday, September 24, 2024 9:28 AM  What are the latest Once Human codes? There are times in all of our gaming lives when we need a little bit of help. Call it a handout, call it a freebie, call it whatever you like, but receiving a gift from time to time is lovely - and vital when there are eldritch abominations around each corner, wanting to turn you into their next meal. Whether you're just starting off in Nalcott or working towards the last of the Once Human bosses, you could always use a little help. As with many free PC games, Once Human offers redemption codes to give you a boost, and the Once Human codes below can help you fill your coffers without having to spend hours collecting resources and risking your life outside of your cozy home base. Continue reading Once Human codes and how to redeem MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best sandbox games, Best open-world games, Best survival games |
PCGamesN Tuesday, September 24, 2024 8:19 AM  Dead by Daylight developer Behaviour Interactive has acquired Darkest Dungeon studio Red Hook. The DBD team says Red Hook will remain "fully independent" despite the acquisition, with Behaviour aiming to support the studio in all future endeavors. This comes less than a week after Behaviour canceled its PvE game Project T, and closed developer Midwinter Entertainment alongside it. Continue reading DBD creator buys Darkest Dungeon dev, 6 days after closing Midwinter MORE FROM PCGAMESN: DBD killer tier list, Best horror games, DBD codes |
PCGamesN Tuesday, September 24, 2024 9:36 AM  When is the next Once Human server wipe? Losing all your in-game progress can be a difficult pill to swallow, but in a seasonal live-service survival game like Once Human, it's a necessary evil to make way for new content. The best way to ahead of a server wipe is to be prepared and keep an eye on the calendar so it doesn't come as a nasty shock when the season rolls over. Thankfully, we can tell you exactly when to expect the next Once Human server wipe, and offer some handy tips on how to save some of your hard-won items in the free PC game. Each Once Human server has a seasonal scenario that offers specific objectives and mechanics that lasts for a certain period of time. The Once Human server wipe frequency varies from season to season, and developer Starry Studio will be integrating a permanent, regular scenario in the future. For now, here's how Once Human server wipes work and when to expect the next one. Continue reading When is the next Once Human server wipe? MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best sandbox games, Best open-world games, Best survival games |
PCGamesN Tuesday, September 24, 2024 8:01 AM  If I were to put together a list of all the most relaxing places to spend my time, a zombie apocalypse wouldn't be on there. Especially not the kind of apocalypse that you'll find in World War Z Aftermath, with fast zombies and near never-ending tides of the undead hungry for flesh. If, however, you've begun to find things a little tame, then the newest update for the game is for you as the developer behind Space Marine 2 has been hard at work on a new mode. MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best zombie games, Best co-op games, Best action-adventure games |
PCGamesN Tuesday, September 24, 2024 7:52 AM  Shadows of Doubt is a voyeur's dream. You're a P.I. trying to scrape a living in a harsh alternative past where megacorporations run the country and the sea levels have risen and birthed filthy, neon-soaked city islands. You're a nobody in a city full of nobodies; ideally, that's how it'll stay. MORE FROM PCGAMESN: The best detective games, The best open-world games, The best indie games |
PCGamesN Tuesday, September 24, 2024 7:50 AM  A new leak regarding the AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme suggests the upcoming gaming handheld chip will feature eight cores, which would be the same number found in the Z1 Extreme that powers several current gaming handhelds. That would mean no extra cores for new handhelds, but would still mean double the number of cores of the Steam Deck. The current AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme powers the likes of the Asus ROG Ally X and Lenovo Legion Go, earning them spots on our best handheld gaming PC guide thanks in part to the sheer power of AMD's chip. The Z2 Extreme is expected to power the next generation of these devices, so some users might have been expecting an upgrade on its CPU core count. Continue reading New AMD Ryzen CPU leak hints at power of future Steam Deck 2 rivals MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Ryzen 7 7800X3D review, Best gaming CPU, Radeon RX 7800 XT review |
PCGamesN Tuesday, September 24, 2024 7:38 AM  GTA Online and Red Dead Online have suffered server outages seemingly as a result of DDOS attacks following Rockstar's implementation of BattlEye in GTA 5. While a promised reduction in cheaters online is something to be celebrated, the arrival of anti-cheat has brought its own fresh issues. MORE FROM PCGAMESN: GTA 5 RP servers, GTA 6 release date estimate, GTA 5 cheats |
PCGamesN Tuesday, September 24, 2024 7:21 AM  What are the best Minecraft skins? There are countless Minecraft skins available online now, as imaginative creators have spent years building an extensive library of avatar customizations for the sandbox game. With OCs, Disney characters, superheroes, celebrities, cartoon characters, and even memes now available for your Minecraft skin the choice can be overwhelming, but we've gone through them all to find the best. If you'd rather rock something a bit more unique than the defaults, we recommend one of the custom Minecraft skins below. You can even build from one of these options or create your own from scratch with our instructions at the bottom. If that's a little too much effort, find out how to change your Minecraft skin, then pick from these free NameMC Minecraft skins. We're always adding to this list, too, so be sure to keep checking back for a fresh look! Continue reading The 101 best Minecraft skins 2024 MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Minecraft seeds, Minecraft skins, Minecraft mods |
PCGamesN Tuesday, September 24, 2024 7:17 AM  What are the best Cyberpunk 2077 mods? CD Projekt Red released its own REDmod tools for free, allowing everyone to install Cyberpunk 2077 mods through a dedicated client they can download from Steam or GOG. This release comes as we also see Cyberpunk 2077 mods that alter the range of facial features, change your looks in small ways after character creation, and even access stuff we were never meant to see. That last one's important as it adds new functionality to the cyberpunk game. What starts with a shove one day could evolve into giving your character superpowers. Continue reading The best Cyberpunk 2077 mods MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Cyberpunk 2077 Phantom Liberty review, Best Cyberpunk 2077 mods, Buy Cyberpunk 2077 |
PCGamesN Tuesday, September 24, 2024 7:20 AM  When is The Outer Worlds 2 release date? It's been a while since Obsidian Entertainment's first space venture, but it had much of the same DNA as the Fallout series. This isn't necessarily surprising, as the creators of the Fallout series, Tim Cain and Leonard Boyarsky, were the game's directors. The Outer Worlds 2 was announced a few years back, leaving us to wonder when it will launch. As a result, the first in Obsidian's space adventure series was an enjoyable RPG game, perhaps hampered by the studio's upcoming Microsoft acquisition. Sadly, though we know The Outer Worlds 2 is in active development, there's very little else to go on right now. So let's get into the details about speculating what The Outer Worlds 2 release date could be, as well as any further information or trailers about the upcoming space game sequel. Continue reading The Outer Worlds 2 release date estimate, trailer, and latest news MORE FROM PCGAMESN: RPG games, The Outer Worlds 2 release date, Space games |
PCGamesN Tuesday, September 24, 2024 7:21 AM  What are all of the Starfield planets? Starfield features over 1,000 planets spread across more than 100 star systems. On average, each system will have around ten celestial bodies for you to explore. We know you can build outposts in Starfield, hire characters to staff them, and harvest resources. Every planet likely has at least one point of interest worth delving into or valuable materials potentially difficult to find elsewhere. Not every Starfield planet is loaded with content, and some don't have life on them at all due to their procedurally generated nature. Some are home worlds of the many Starfield factions, and you can visit their main headquarters in Starfield cities like New Atlantis on the planet Jemison. Many other worlds are desolate places ripe for exploration, though you'll have to set out on foot, which is just as well as the sole concern of Constellation, one of the primary groups, is to push the frontiers of human understanding. We've split the many known destinations into planets and moons and given information on which system you can find them in below. Continue reading Starfield planets - all systems, moons, and worlds MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Starfield mods, Best RPGs, Best space games |
PCGamesN Tuesday, September 24, 2024 6:41 AM  Sure there's Ahri, Jinx, Garen, and Vi, but there's no League of Legends champion that's quite as iconic as Teemo. The adorable Swift Scout is one of the MOBA's most beloved (yet simultaneously hated) characters, and in the right hands he's an absolute menace. His visual style, however, is a little clunky, and as a result Riot has been working on an extensive ASU (art and sustainability update) over the past couple of years. Shown off yesterday in an extensive dev update, the new Teemo will drop with League of Legends patch 14.20, but it's a rework that's proven divisive. Continue reading After years of waiting, League of Legends' Teemo ASU proves divisive MORE FROM PCGAMESN: League of Legends ranks explained, League of Legends Mythic shop rotation, League of Legends tier list |
PCGamesN Tuesday, September 24, 2024 6:23 AM  Who are the best Dead By Daylight killers? Seven years in, the Dead by Daylight character roster is bigger than ever, boasting a massive 37 killers and 44 survivors at the time of writing. Thanks to that huge list of names, and regular changes to perks and add-ons, it's certainly difficult to keep track of who you should main. Among the best PC games out there, the joy of asymmetrical horror games has always been the ability to be the bad guy. While there's certainly something thrilling fighting for your life in survival games (there must be a reason we all wonder how we'd do in a zombie apocalypse, right?), nothing gets the heart racing like shirking the lawful-good responsibilities of real life and taking on the role of a blood-thirsty killer. Every one of the following DBD killers has their own terrifying unique power, from ranged axe throws, to infectious bile and close-range chainsaw attacks. But which is best? Find out with our tier list of all Dead by Daylight killers. Continue reading Dead by Daylight killer tier list: all 37 deadly DBD killers ranked MORE FROM PCGAMESN: DBD killer tier list, Best horror games, DBD codes |
PCGamesN Tuesday, September 24, 2024 6:19 AM  Which League of Legends skins are currently on sale in the store? LoL is a free-to-play game in the truest sense - you can enjoy everything the MOBA offers for absolutely nothing. Now if you were to ask a seasoned League player if that were true, they'd probably have to stifle a few tears as they check how much their bank account has suffered buying skins since they started battling on the Rift. Riot rotates a series of skins in the store, with the savviest of us holding out until the cosmetic they want ends up in the discount section store or even the League of Legends Mythic shop. The shiny new cosmetics are only available briefly, so act fast if you want to snag the new hotness. Here is every League of Legends skin on sale right now if you want to know what's in the store without booting up the client. Continue reading Which League of Legends skins are currently on sale? MORE FROM PCGAMESN: League of Legends ranks explained, League of Legends Mythic shop rotation, League of Legends tier list |
PCGamesN Tuesday, September 24, 2024 6:16 AM  As of Zenless Zone Zero 1.2, HoYoverse is completely removing the much-maligned TV mode from the narrative. In a brand-new presentation, the team addresses player complaints about the game mode, like how it's sluggish, interrupts combat, and happens far too often in the early game. This means all players won't have to deal with the TV mode in the main story going forward, even though HoYoverse has plans to reintroduce the mechanic at some point. MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Zenless Zone Zero review, Zenless Zone Zero codes, Zenless Zone Zero banners |
PCGamesN Tuesday, September 24, 2024 6:23 AM  When is the ZZZ 1.2 release date? Now that ZZZ 1.1 is winding down, it's time to start looking ahead to future updates. HoYoverse has already begun drip marketing new characters and teasing how the story might continue following the previous update. If you're already saving up your Polychrome, we've got a full itinerary of everything coming to HoYoverse's urban fantasy in the next update. ZZZ 1.2 is the second major update to hit the gacha game following the Zenless Zone Zero release date, and we expect some major developments on the outskirts of New Eridu. Now we've got the full rundown of all the upcoming events and content thanks to the official Zenless Zone Zero 1.2 livestream, there's plenty of news to get stuck into, including brand-new characters for our Zenless Zone tier list, banners, and more. Continue reading ZZZ 1.2 release date, launch times, new characters, and events MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Zenless Zone Zero review, Zenless Zone Zero codes, Zenless Zone Zero banners |
PCGamesN Tuesday, September 24, 2024 5:53 AM  What are the new Black Desert Online codes? Since its graphical overhaul, BDO has seen a new lease of life. Not only does it have one of the best character creators for an MMO, its fantasy world is a thrill to explore, and it's full of complex mechanics for combat, trading, and diplomacy. This can be intimidating for new players, but there's a way to get a head start. If you want helpful rewards for Black Desert Online, one of the longest-running MMO games, then you've come to the right place. These BDO codes give rewards such as Memory Fragments, Cron Stones, Enhancement Kits, and more. All of these items are handy for your next session, so we've also detailed ways you can redeem them without being logged into the game. Continue reading BDO codes - all active Black Desert Online codes MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Black Desert Online guide, Best MMORPGs, Free MMOs |
PCGamesN Tuesday, September 24, 2024 5:45 AM  What are all the active Destiny 2 codes? Emblems are essential to authentic Guardian flair. They offer an opportunity for expression among your fireteam, the random Guardians you encounter in the tower, and your opponents in activities such as Crucible. Each emblem has a specific meaning, some being ubiquitous seasonal emblems and others so rare that only a fraction of a percent of players own them. Whether you're a hardcore collector or someone who appreciates the opportunity to express yourself through your Guardian, there's never a good reason to say no to a free Destiny 2 emblem or shader We've compiled all the active Destiny 2 codes in a list that we'll update periodically as Bungie makes more emblems available in the FPS game. Continue reading Destiny 2 codes for free emblems and shaders MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Destiny 2 classes, Destiny 2 The Final Shape review, Destiny 2 builds |
PCGamesN Tuesday, September 24, 2024 6:00 AM  What are the best survival games? The Steam charts are filled with all kinds of examples, including classic survival horror games and new hardcore survival sims. To help any bewildered adventurers, we've gathered together the best survival games to help you pick and choose which emergent stories and unexpected adventures to undertake. If you've got the grit to outlast the likes of the terrifying The Long Dark or the underwater wonder of Subnautica, our picks will help steer you toward the (not so) safe pastures of the best PC games that call for you to fight for your life. Whether you like surviving the horrors of war or you're into the new breed of hunger and disease management games, get ready to endure agony and plenty of pain in these scintillating survival games. Continue reading The best survival games on PC 2024 MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Minecraft seeds, Minecraft skins, Minecraft mods |
Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed Tuesday, September 24, 2024 9:52 AM .png?width=1920&height=1920&fit=bounds&quality=80&format=jpg&auto=webp) These apparitions and portents, Crystal Dynamics - what game are you playing now? It turns out the game they are playing is: a remaster of amazeballs vampire odyssey Legacy Of Kain: Soul Reaver, together with its less amazing but sturdy sequel. Said remaster project was rumoured earlier this year, when Sarafan scouts caught sight of a telltale plaque at San Diego Comic-Con. Consider that rumour strongly trending towards the status of a Real Thing, because Sony are in the habit of publishing Real Things, and they've just (accidentally, I guess) popped a bunch of screens and a trailer with a release date - 10th December 2024 - on the PlayStation website. |
Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed Tuesday, September 24, 2024 8:00 AM  Look out, it's Spiders. It's fun to write about Spiders, because you get to frighten people for a moment, before they realise you're talking about the game development studio, Spiders. They have just released GreedFall 2: The Dying Land into early access. For those who don't remember the first GreedFall, it was a colonial-styled RPG about landing on the magical shores of another continent and getting into scrapes with monsters and frontiersfolk. This time the story is furthering the fantasy Columbian exchange by putting you in the role of a native who's been uprooted against their will and taken to the "old world". The game's release comes against a backdrop of dissatisfaction in the studio. But workers have gained some concessions in talks. |
Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed Tuesday, September 24, 2024 6:45 AM  For years, a dangerous and charismatic game has evaded the grasp of many designers. Some say it doesn't exist, that no publisher would ever back it. I'm talking about the one city block RPG that Warren Spector has often mentioned. Sure, we've seen a few usual suspects already - Deus Ex Mankind Divided, Disco Elysium, even Else: Heart.Break - they all grimace in the line-up but nothing ever sticks. Now, out of the gloom of indie development, comes another perp ready to have his mugshot taken. Shadows Of Doubt is an open world detective sim that comes perilously close to being our guy. Its clothes, stature, gait, and fingerprints match the description of what Spector often describes. And yet, if you tilt your head, something is just a little off. The game isn't confined to one block. It's not an RPG precisely. And its simulation has plenty of bugs, jank, and unintentional comedy. But after all this time, in the absence of a smoking gun, shouldn't we just put this guy in the slammer and call the case closed? I say yes, let's. Officers! Arrest this game, it's brilliant. |
Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed Tuesday, September 24, 2024 6:33 AM  The in thing when it comes to dinosaur conversations now is this: "Yeah but did you know that they weren't all like, lizardy, but covered in feathers". You might want to chuck in that chickens are basically dinosaurs, because their feet have a "Triassic Flange", a (made-up) term that will make you sound authoritative. If you really want to showcase your knowledge, though, you may want to mention that dinosaurs may have actually fought with large swords lodged between their teeth. Dinoblade demonstrates this! And no, they haven't discovered swords alongside dinosaur fossils yet because palaeontologists have been unlucky thus far. "Soon", you tell them. |
Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed Tuesday, September 24, 2024 6:16 AM  We liked Jusant, Don't Nod's clamber-upper masterpiece, and we also liked Banishers, their colonial ghost-busting action-adventure, but it seems that not enough people did. The company have posted a profit warning, reflecting an 11% decline in operating revenue for the first half of 2024. They've also "paused" two unannounced games in development, and altered other unannounced games to be more appealing to a "wider audience". Beyond that, they're considering "all possible options regarding our roadmap", which sounds just a touch ominous. |
Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed Tuesday, September 24, 2024 5:30 AM  I'm not someone who's ever been on board with the "Can You Pet The Dog?" craze that swept and/or still sweeps video games. As a heartless individual, I am more concerned with whatever the dog's capable of: general savagery, a howl that replenishes my HP bar, letting me climb atop its glorious mane as it strides across the barren wastes. If it's none of these things, I would much rather have a shiny turret on spindly steel legs skitter besides me. Nomada Studios have, incredibly, thrust their hands into my chest cavity and given me a blood-pumping mechanism. Having spent some time with upcoming action-platformer Neva (the game) and Neva (the dog from the game), I have to admit: I did enjoy petting Neva (the dog). |
Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed Tuesday, September 24, 2024 5:08 AM  This one's a very simple build at the moment, but neat enough that I wanted to shout it out. Near Mint is a roguelike deckbuilder where you advance through a tower fighting slightly stronger iterations of the exact same skeleton. Ok, nothing too captivating so far. The twist comes from the cards: someone's left them in their Oodie pouch, spilt BBQ sauce down it, then stuck it in the wash before taking the deck out. Now, all the cards have split apart into three pieces. It's name-your-own-price on Itch here, and it'll only take you a couple minutes to get acquainted, but I'll explain the gist below. Gist is a good word. Satisfying to say. Gist. |
Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed Tuesday, September 24, 2024 4:59 AM  While I've been known to enjoy a few of them in my time, I tend to view a lot of more mundane simulator games in the same way I view sports games: Looks fine, but I could do this stuff in real life, were I inclined and also social and also vaguely limber instead of owning a spine with roughly the flexibility of a rib n' saucy Nik Nak. |
Twinfinite Tuesday, September 24, 2024 5:33 AM  |
Siliconera Tuesday, September 24, 2024 9:00 AM
It occurred to me the other day how many of my friends own Pomeranians. I get it: they're a cute and sassy little breed. It's still a funny coincidence considering how many dog breeds there are in the world and how little friends I have that somehow, about 75% of the dog owners I know have the same type of dog. Whenever I think about pomeranians though, there's one thing that comes to mind: Tokyo Jungle. What kind of world do we live in that Tokyo Jungle is trapped on the PS3 and PS Vita? A world in which Tokyo Jungle 2 does not exist? The PS4 is on its way out, but before it becomes as defunct as the PS3, I sure would like to see a PS4 or PS5 port of Tokyo Jungle.
For those who are unfamiliar with Tokyo Jungle, it's a single or multiplayer action-roguelike. It takes place in post-apocalyptic Tokyo, in a world absent of humans. House pets and zoo animals roam free and must survive in this new natural order. Oh, yes, and dinosaurs are here too. Go figure. I personally really enjoyed the story, though playing the story mode was a whole other beast.
The ultimate goal of the main meat of the game—survival mode—is to make it to a hundred years with a species of your choice. You can choose to play as a herbivore or a carnivore. Each type has its own pros and cons. Carnivores need to kill their prey in order to eat, but you can find non-toxic food even in the endgame. Meanwhile, herbivores have more babies per litter, equalling a larger pack and higher survivability. You can also breed to pass on stat boosts to future generations. I've played through almost fifty generations of pomeranians in my file, for instance. The stat boosts I accumulated with the Pomeranian alone makes the fluffy little thing more powerful than a default tosa. This adds yet another layer of replayability value, as you can grind stats for your favorite animal.
When Tokyo Jungle first came out in 2012, it received a lukewarm response. Europeans loved it while Americans hated it. In its native Japan, people either adored it for its unique gameplay and replay value, or despised it for its lack of depth. Though I would love to see Tokyo Jungle come back on modern consoles like the PS4 or PS5, I had my own issues with the game, of course. The toxicity mechanic felt like a way to make runs way more difficult for no reason. For reference, if you stay in an area or eat something with high toxicity levels and you reach 100% toxicity, you will start losing HP. This really sucks. When I replayed my file to jog my memory for this, 90% of my deaths occurred for reasons other than toxicity.
While there were ways to manage toxicity, it felt like an unnecessary layer of difficulty in a game that's already quite hard. The controls aren't the greatest to handle. It's easy to lose control of a situation when enemies swarm you like ants on candy. Novices are sure to find it difficult to balance everything—age, hunger, toxicity, time-limited quests, calorie count for better mates, and whatnot. It definitely took me more than a few runs to stop dying in the first three decades or so. But the feeling of improving at the game and beating your own record kept me going back again and again. I'm sure enjoyers of difficult games can understand that sensation.
Tokyo Jungle felt unique in its setting and gameplay. Kataoka and the development team at Crispy's accomplished their goal of creating something that felt original in both idea and execution. Now, is the game fun? Well...I sure romanticized it in my memory. It's not fun, per se. It's an addictive time sink, though. When runs don't go well, I want to try again. When runs do go well, I want to play again to boost stats or clear more goals. Fun is subjective, but Tokyo Jungle in particular feels like a game that really appeals to certain personalities. Like people who enjoy the feeling of completing lots of little tasks for a greater reward at the end. Or people who like mindless games so they can turn off their brain for a while. And oh boy, am I smack dab in the middle of both audiences.
Rights are a complicated affair. Though I started this with hopes that a PS4 or PS5 port of Tokyo Jungle will show up, I know that I'm just huffing decade-old copium. Crispy's! hasn't made anything since 2014 and no longer exists anyway. Japan Studio became defunct in 2021. It's hard to say if the Freedom Wars remaster is a viable ray of hope, considering Dimps is around. But if Freedom Wars got to escape Vita jail, then hopefully one day, players will be able to explore the concrete greens of Tokyo Jungle once again.
Tokyo Jungle is readily available on the PS3, and Tokyo Jungle Mobile appeared on the PS Vita and mobile devices until PlayStation Mobile was shut down.
The post I Still Wish a Tokyo Jungle Remaster Would Appear appeared first on Siliconera. |
WGB Tuesday, September 24, 2024 9:41 AM Legacy of Kain Soul Reaver 1 & 2 Remastered is arriving on December 10, according to an accidental PSN listing |
WGB Tuesday, September 24, 2024 9:21 AM Frostpunk 2 celebrates 350,000 copies sold, and yet despite the seeming success, 11Bit Studios has lot significant market value. |