GamersHeroes Tuesday, October 15, 2024 9:40 PM MAGFest, together with Mega Cat Studios, have announced that submissions are now open for the Indie Retro Homebrew Showcase. The post MAGFest Indie Retro Homebrew Showcase Submissions Now Open appeared first on GamersHeroes. |
GamersHeroes Tuesday, October 15, 2024 9:03 PM A new book and companion website that honors the legacy and rich content archive of one of the most influential and longest-running video game magazines, the Kickstarter for the Electronic Gaming Monthly Compendium is now live. The post Electronic Gaming Monthly Compendium Bringing 25 Years of Gaming History to Life appeared first on GamersHeroes. |
GamersHeroes Tuesday, October 15, 2024 4:30 PM Based on the popular horror movie franchise, players will be tasked with surviving in silence when Stormind Games and Saber Interactive's A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead launches on October 17. The post A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead Launching October 17 appeared first on GamersHeroes. |
GamersHeroes Tuesday, October 15, 2024 2:23 PM Now available for the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch, players can get to dancing with the release of Just Dance 2025 - gear up with the launch trailer for the title. The post Just Dance 2025 Launch Trailer Released appeared first on GamersHeroes. |
Kotaku Tuesday, October 15, 2024 5:45 PM  20 years ago, SyFy (which was still known as the SciFi Channel) premiered a hidden camera prank show called Scare Tactics. The premise behind the series was placing real people into terrifying, often paranormal or bizarre situations, and then watching them react. I loved the show when I was younger. And I'm so happy… |
Kotaku Tuesday, October 15, 2024 5:30 PM  Another Mario Party is upon us. Does this one finally deliver an unqualified masterpiece of board game antics and mini-game fun? Maybe, almost, not quite? Initial reviews for Super Mario Party Jamboree are here and while they're mostly positive, there are also plenty of critiques. |
Kotaku Tuesday, October 15, 2024 5:10 PM  With nearly three decades worth of games, movies, and more to pull from starring one of gaming's most recognizable heroines, you'd think a TV show based on the Tomb Raider franchise would be a sure hit. Yet Netflix, the streaming giant responsible for powerhouse game adaptations like its Castlevania series and Arcane,… |
Kotaku Tuesday, October 15, 2024 4:50 PM  Back in 2016, Nintendo tweeted out an image of a person in a Mario costume peeking out from behind a curtain. The tweet was meant to tease the upcoming reveal of the Switch. But the odd image was seen as creepy by some and quickly became a meme online. And according to two people who used to work for Nintendo, the… |
Kotaku Tuesday, October 15, 2024 4:15 PM  A lot of new information about the Pokémon series is surfacing this week after developer Game Freak suffered a data leak that exposed information and assets dating back decades. This unfortunately included some personal information about members of its staff, but the majority of the leak consists of information about… |
Kotaku Tuesday, October 15, 2024 3:35 PM  Twitch streamer and famous YouTuber Zack "Asmongold" Hoyt has had his zackrawrr account banned after a racist rant about Muslims and Palestinians killed in Gaza went viral on social media. "My bad," he shared on X (formerly Twitter) following an online backlash. "Looking back on it, I was way too much of an asshole… |
Kotaku Tuesday, October 15, 2024 3:10 PM  Last weekend, Joker: Folie à Deux arrived in theaters with poor reviews, negative fan reactions, and a much lower opening box office weekend than the first Joker movie. And now the $200 million sequel has dropped about 80 percent in its second weekend while Terrifier 3, an indie horror flick, became the biggest movie… |
Kotaku Tuesday, October 15, 2024 3:00 PM  My patience with Overwatch 2 is wearing thin, and it's only getting thinner as the hero shooter enters its 13th season today, October 15. The Halloween-centric season is full of recolors of old skins and a lot of the cosmetic favoritism that has plagued the game in the past year. But it also has a new patch, one that… |
Kotaku Tuesday, October 15, 2024 2:50 PM  For most of the latest episode of HBO's The Penguin, Sofia Falcone (Cristin Milioti) suffers at the hands of men. We learn how she was forced into Arkham Asylum by her father after she questioned how her mother died, and was then repeatedly violated by the male doctor there and stripped of her rights until she did, in… |
Kotaku Tuesday, October 15, 2024 2:40 PM  Bandai Namco may be the latest big gaming company to face cutbacks. According to a new report by Bloomberg, the Japanese publisher behind the fresh hit Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero, which sold 3 million copies in its first day,recently canceled a project it was working on for Nintendo, as well as other internal games,… |
Kotaku Tuesday, October 15, 2024 2:30 PM  In retrospect, it is a little weird how that otherwise ridiculously generous multi-hour demo for Metaphor: ReFantazio just kinda decided, "You've had enough," after a random boss in Regalith Grand Cathedral. Over a million people have since told Atlus, "We'll tell you when we've had enough," and bit the bullet on the… |
PCGamesN Tuesday, October 15, 2024 6:33 PM  While co-op shooters are all the rage right now, and Warhammer games always generate a fair amount of engagement, even I'm surprised at just how successful Space Marine 2 has been. While there's plenty to sink your teeth into in the base game, Saber Interactive has now given fans a look at what's to come in the game's post-launch updates, and they include new weapons, gruelling modes, and the addition of a colossal new enemy type. MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Space Marine 2 review, Space Marine 2 system requirements , Best Warhammer 40k games |
PCGamesN Tuesday, October 15, 2024 5:29 PM  While Season 2 of XDefiant is now in full swing, there's been a lot of talk in recent weeks that the future of Ubisoft's FPS game is rather uncertain. Following a new rumor that claimed it could be axed at the end of its fourth season, XDefiant's lead dev has come out to strongly deny any and all reports that the game faces being shuttered. MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best XDefiant loadouts, All XDefiant factions, Best XDefiant weapons |
PCGamesN Tuesday, October 15, 2024 4:25 PM  Riot Games co-founder and chief product officer Marc Merrill has posted an update about how the studio is "evolving" League of Legends and making it a futureproof experience - and it involves laying off dozens of the MOBA's developers. MORE FROM PCGAMESN: League of Legends ranks explained, League of Legends Mythic shop rotation, League of Legends tier list |
PCGamesN Tuesday, October 15, 2024 2:31 PM  Sure, it now leans on its 2019 remaster, but it's incredible to think that Age of Empires 2 is still going super strong 25 years on from when it first graced our PCs. It is undisputable strategy game royalty and expansions are still arriving thick and fast for it. In an exciting new announcement World's Edge has revealed AoE2's next expansion - however, it's unlike anything we've seen before, and it's not even World's Edge that's making it. MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Age of Empires 2: DE review, Best strategy games on PC, Best RTS games on PC |
PCGamesN Tuesday, October 15, 2024 2:26 PM  What are the new Pets Go codes? This is the latest spinoff from BIG Games Pets' series of Pet-themed Roblox experiences. This one lets you fulfill your dreams of collecting cube-shaped critters. When codes for free items or boosts are thrown into the mix, though, the experience for Pets Go will get even better. Just like when using Pet Simulator 99 codes or Pet Catchers codes, the opportunity to grab free rewards for Go should add even more fun to the pet-tapping RNG experience. For Roblox players searching for the latest Pets Go codes, this is the guide for you. Continue reading Pets Go codes October 2024 MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best Roblox games, Roblox promo codes, Roblox music codes |
PCGamesN Tuesday, October 15, 2024 2:27 PM  What are the best archetypes in New World Aeternum? This re-branding of Amazon Games' MMORPG into more of a co-op action RPG comes with seven starting classes, or 'archetypes,' to choose from. From the straightforward Soldier to the unique Musketeer, it's a hard choice to begin with - luckily, we've put together a tier list of the best archetypes so you know which one is for you. That said, archetypes are little more than starting weapons and equipment, meaning there's nothing stopping you from investing in other weapons from other archetypes. If you're just starting out in New World Aeternum, you might want to dive into our in-depth guide to the best New World Aeternum builds for the early and mid-game in PvE and PvP. Continue reading Best New World Aeternum class and top weapons for all archetypes MORE FROM PCGAMESN: New World server list, Best MMORPGs, New World review |
Siliconera Tuesday, October 15, 2024 8:00 PM
In a new journal post for Dragon Age: The Veilguard specifying PC requirements, Electronic Arts revealed that there will be no DRM in the game. This means that there won't be a preload period for PC players.
The preload times for Dragon Age: The Veilguard are as follows:
For reference, the game comes out on October 31, 2024. While the lack of DRM means that PC players aren't able to preload the game, it also means that you'll be able to keep the game even if something occurs and Electronic Arts decides to remove it from the online space. DRM can also cause performance issues, such as making loading times longer.
Information other than DRM on Electronic Arts' new journal entry for Dragon Age: The Veilguard focuses on specifications. There are two tables so you can see what the game demands with Ray Tracing on or off. Electronic Arts also noted that it made the game as accessible as possible on the minimum settings, meaning that even those with low end machines should be able to run it.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard will release on October 31, 2024 for the PS5, Windows PC, and Xbox Series X.
The post Dragon Age: The Veilguard Won't Have DRM appeared first on Siliconera. |
Siliconera Tuesday, October 15, 2024 7:30 PM
Hololive VTuber La+ Darkness announced that she would take a brief hiatus from streaming activities for health reasons. She should be back on October 20, 2024.
According to her announcement, she was streaming at full power for the past few months but her doctor diagnosed her with vocal cord nodules. These nodules aren't curable with medicine alone. Since La+ wants to be able to perform at her best for the anniversary event next month, she will take her doctor's advice and rest up for a bit. She also mentions that up until today, she often had to go to the hospital and voice rehabilitation for her vocal cord nodules.
This has been an ongoing issue for La+. Back in January 2024, she had to take about a two-week break because of her vocal cord nodules. Vocal nodules develop if you use your voice too much and they can affect how your voice sounds. The best way to get rid of them is to rest your voice, though it may be difficult for La+ to do so, as a streamer naturally has to project their voice for several hours multiple times a day.
La+ Darkness will go on a brief hiatus to rest her voice and she should be back on October 20, 2024.
The post Hololive Vtuber La+ Darknesss on Hiatus for Health Reasons appeared first on Siliconera. |
Siliconera Tuesday, October 15, 2024 7:00 PM
The Japanese Genshin Impact account on X (formerly known as Twitter) revealed the voice actors for Ifa and Ronova. Showtaro Morikuto will voice Ifa while Fumiko Orikasa will voice Ronova.
Ifa is a Saurian veterinarian from the Flower-Feather Clan, and he's both an efficient and sociable worker. Several characters such as Kachina and Kinich have voice lines about Ifa, and the Natlan Archon Quest in Genshin Impact also references him. Morikubo is a veteran voice actor and singer whose prominent roles include Shikamaru from Naruto, Okita from Hakuouki, and Yosuke from Persona 4. He has also released several albums and singles, with some of his songs appearing as themes in the Rockman series.
Ronova is one of the Four Shades of the Heavenly Principles and like Ifa, she appeared as a mentioned character in the Natlan story. She is the god who controls the power of death, and helped the Yohualtecuhtin to create the Night Kingdom. Orikasa is also a veteran voice actress. Some of her more notable works include Rukia from Bleach, Riza Hawkeye in Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, and Kyubei in Gintama. She's also the voice actress for Chun-Li in entries past Street Fighter IV.
Genshin Impact is readily available on the PS4, PS5, Windows PC, and mobile devices.
The post Here Are the Japanese Voice Actors For Ifa And Ronova in Genshin Impact appeared first on Siliconera. |
Siliconera Tuesday, October 15, 2024 6:00 PM
Bandai Namco joins a number of game industry companies that have begun canceling games and firing staff in recent months. In a report by Bloomberg, Bandai Namco has begun to fire 200 of its 1,300 employees, with 100 resigning so far. [Thanks, Bloomberg!]
Firing began in April of 2024, following the cancellations of numerous internal Bandai Namco projects. A special note was taken of the cancellations and shifting away from mobile and PC projects. During the Summer of 2024 Bandai Namco shuttered the smartphone entry in the Tales of series Tales of the Rays and has already made plans to close out Blue Protocol in January of 2025.
Development on other titles has also been slowed, paused, or in some cases outright canceled. This includes titles based on the Naruto and One Piece IPs being cancelled or shelved indefinitely, according to Bloomberg. In addition, a title commissioned by Nintendo has also been put on ice, according to this same report.
Bandai Namco is not the first studio to announce steps back from live-service and mobile games. Square Enix announced the shut downs of several of its mobile titles, including Dissidia Final Fantasy: Opera Omnia, NieR Reincarnation, and Final Fantasy Brave Exvius during the course of 2024. In addition, layoffs and employee firings have continued to hit across Western game development studios, including the likes Bungie, Activision Blizzard, and SEGA of America.
At this time, there is no information about what this means for the studios underneath Bandai Namco's umbrella or what could happen to other games currently in development.
The post Bandai Namco Is Canceling Games and Firing Staff appeared first on Siliconera. |
Siliconera Tuesday, October 15, 2024 5:30 PM
Even more video game music is coming to concert halls across the globe. Sony Entertainment announced that the PlayStation Concert World Tour will take place in 2025, and include songs from their expansive catalogue of games. PlayStation Concert World Tour tickets will be available to purchase on October 16, 2024 at 7AM PT/10AM ET/4PM CET.
In a PlayStation blog post by Sid Shuman, Senior Director of Sony Interactive Entertainment Content Communications, stated that the concert series is a joint venture between Sony Interactive Entertainment, RoadCo. Entertainment, and GEA Live, the latter being a company who's projects include live concert performances alongside films like Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse. The key entries of the concert series will be music from the Horizon series, The Last of Us, Ghost of Tsushima, and the most recent God of War entries, alongside entries from other parts of PlayStation's 30 year history of games.
The concert series is kicking off the global tour in Europe, beginning in Dublin, Ireland on April 19, 2025. The current open dates for the tour are only for Europe and the United Kingdom, but Shuman states the the tour will be headed to more than 200 cities across the world. Starting in Dublin, Ireland, this first run will head from Ireland to Glasgow, London, Brimingham, Manchester, Leeds, and Newcastle in the UK, into Amsterdam, Netherlands, Paris and Amnéville, France, Brussels, Belgium, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Berlin, Hamburg, Dusseldorf, Leipzig, Munich, Oberhausen, Germany, Zurich, Switzerland, Bologna, Italy, Budapest, Hungary, Sofia, Bulgaria, Vienna, Austria, Bratislava, Slovakia, Prague, Czech Republic, Lodz, Poland, Copenhagen, Denmark, Gotenburg, Sweden, and, finally, Oslo, Norway for the European leg.
https://www.gamedeveloper.com/audio/game-composer-nobuo-uematsu-will-retire-after-fantasian-s-console-launch?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=bluesky
The PlayStation Concert World Tour will take place in 2025. Tickets will be available to purchase on October 16, 2024.
The post Sony Announces PlayStation Concert Series World Tour appeared first on Siliconera. |
Siliconera Tuesday, October 15, 2024 5:00 PM
In a new video celebrating the 15th anniversary of the Steins;Gate series, MAGES revealed that the visual novel sci-fi game series will continue in the future and teased a new Steins;Gate project.
The anniversary video is a bit over 3 minutes long and it showcases all of the video game titles in the Steins;Gate series, starting with the original visual novel released in 2009, and continuing with the romantic comedy spin-off Steins;Gate: My Darling's Embrace, the short story collection Steins;Gate: Linear Bounded Phenogram, the 2015 sequel Steins;Gate 0, and the 2018 fully animated remake of the original, Steins;Gate Elite.
At the end of the video, an English message appears thanking players and fans for their patronage and support over the last 15 years, ending with the sentence "Steins;Gate will continue." After the message, the Japanese voice of Okabe Rintarou's voice can be heard saying "El Psy Congroo" shortly before a mobile ringtone plays over a black screen. The video then ends after the teaser.
You can check it out here:
As a reminder, during the series 10th anniversary celebration in October 2020 MAGES announced a new title in the Science Adventure game series that would be tied to the Steins;Gate universe. The game hasn't received any new information ever since its original announcement. Additionally, the Steins;Gate 0 Elite remake was also announced back in January 2020.
Steins;Gate celebrates its 15th anniversary in 2024, and MAGES confirmed that the video game series will continue in the future.
The post Steins;Gate Series Future Teased in Anniversary Video appeared first on Siliconera. |
Siliconera Tuesday, October 15, 2024 4:30 PM
Bandai Spirits announced a new figure of Chun-Li from Street Fighter 2 inspired by her victory pose in the game that will release as part of a new Ichiban Kuji merchandise lottery. The release date for the figure and other items in the lottery lineup is set for February 25, 2024.
The new Street Fighter 2 Ichiban Kuji lottery is now available in Japan and each entry costs 880 yen (or about $5.89.) Aside from the Chun-Li victory pose figure as the main A prize, the full line-up for the new SF2 Ichiban Kuji lottery includes an acrylic stand set as the B price, a big towel as prize C, a sound voice collection CD as prize D, a rubber coaster as prize E, an acrylic charm collectable for prize F, and an acrylic stand collectable as Prize G.
As of writing this, Bandai Spirits has only shown what the new Chun-Li figure looks like. You can check it out here:
The new Street Fighter 2 Ichiban Kuji lottery is coming to Japan Japan, and the Chun-Li victory pose figure and other items in the lineup will release on February 25, 2024. The most recent game in the series is Street Fighter 6, and it is available on the PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC.
The post Chun-Li Victory Pose Figure Appears in Street Fighter Ichiban Kuji appeared first on Siliconera. |
Siliconera Tuesday, October 15, 2024 4:00 PM
Having only spent time with the Mario Party games on Nintendo 64, it was high time to change that with Super Mario Party Jamboree. This latest entry on the Switch is packed full of an impressive level of content. While not all minigames and modes are worth a look, this is generally the most fun I've had with a party game in a long time.
After a short introduction, you get to explore the hub island. It is here in Super Mario Party Jamboree where players can shop, take in the vistas, and find the different modes. Each island in this title hosts a different game mode. There are quite a few to check out from the minigame island to Bowser's Challenges to the normal Mario Party island.
It is on Mario Party island where most of the action happens. Players pick between one of 20 (plus two unlockable) characters from across the pantheon. This is a pretty solid cast, with the usual suspects of Mario, Peach, and Bowser. But also some more intriguing additions like Ninji and Shy Guy, who I like to play.
There are also seven different game boards — four at the start — to pick from. Each game board has a completely different feel when compared to the others. In addition, there are mechanics with each board that help them stand out. For instance, there is the Mega Wiggler board. Here, players go around a simple forest with only a handful of red bad spaces to land on.
The main crux of this board is the Mega Wiggler in the middle of the forest. Players can hop on the back of it but he could move at any point. This would result in the player ending up in a different part of the board than they might want to. It is a neat risk-and-reward system. Do you hop on the Mega Wiggler's back for a possible shortcut? Or do you play it safe?
The other boards you get, including two returning ones from N64 titles, also come with their own exciting gimmicks. Rainbow Galleria (my personal favorite) is a huge colorful mall with escalators to zip from floor to floor and unique stamps to collect. Roll 'Em Raceway is an odd map with everyone racing around in cars that doesn't get too out of hand, thankfully.
The general goal of each Super Mario Party Jamboree board game is to have the most stars at the end. Every player takes turns rolling the dice. You could land on a spot with an exclamation point that will grant a random item. But you could also land a red space and have negative effects, like losing coins.
Along the way throughout the board, there are also random stops like shops. Here, you can buy extra dice, custom dice, or even items to hinder your opponents. After all four players take a turn, it is then time for a minigame. There are more than 110 minigames so it took a few matches before I even saw a repeat minigame.
Minigames have a lot of variation to them, such as free-for-all or even 3-vs-1 modes. For instance, a free-for-all game mode might be Light-Wave Battle. Here, every player is essentially battling against the others. You can jump to hop over the waves your opponents send out to avoid defeat. But you can also double jump to ground pound classic Mario-style and send waves. The last person standing wins coins.
Even a simple minigame like this one has a neat level of depth to it. Do you focus on defense purely by just jumping? Or do you risk a ground pound, which has an animation that leaves you vulnerable to waves for a moment? Then there are the fascinating minigames like the three on one modes. Here, you might have a player control a Bomber Bill and try to eliminate the other three players before five rounds are up.
There are still more minigames, such as ice skating to collect coins or a hide-and-seek take on whack-a-mole. The variety is pretty impressive and each minigame pretty fun. I often looked forward to the minigame at the end of each round as one of the highlights of the games I did.
However, I will say the more you play, the more you realize there is a bit of repetition in the minigames. Sure, there are more than 110, but there are a lot of similar modes. One of the oddest parts is there are a lot of run away modes where you have to escape something. And each of these minigames does little to differentiate from the other besides a simple palette or map swap.
Outside of the core board game island, there are other modes to extend your time with in Super Mario Party Jamboree. This is where the game largely loses its quality and my interest. There are different islands for special game modes like flying around in the Paratroopa Flight School or the Overcooked-like Rhythm Kitchen. The former is horrid, where the player uses motion controls to act like they're flying around. It is ridiculous and frustrating to control.
Rhythm Kitchen is a cooking battle mode where you engage in different food-related minigames to score the highest. But it is a bit too hard to understand how the scoring system works that it feels a little off. Then there are the other forgettable modes like Toad's Item Factory where you maneuver balls to their destination and the motion control-only minigame location.
The Koopathlon even sounds great a glance, being the showstopping 20-player online mode. Unfortunately, it gets a bit too messy quite fast. 20 players in minigames is a bit too much and overwhelming at times, and the minigames here repeat way too often. Minigame Island with only minigames to play over and over fares a bit better but even it loses its shine after a bit.
The only extra mode that truly captured my attention beyond the normal board games is the new Bowser mode. Here, seven players work together to take down the Impostor Bowser through minigames. The creativity of these unique minigames really shine through, such as stopping bombs from Impostor Bowser. Having everyone work together in a sort of PvE mode feels unique, but it does have its limitations due to only offering 10 minigames in total.
That said, the extra modes are just that: additional content to enjoy. The quality of them matter little when the actual board games at the center of Super Mario Party Jamboree are exceptional. I enjoyed all seven of the board games and would gladly go back to them. Playing this game offline in person with others is the most fun I've had in a party game ever. The sheer level of variety and chaos ensured that every match I did was completely different from the last. Even playing alone against bots, which I usually don't enjoy in a party game, was fun against the CPUs.
Super Mario Party Jamboree is up there for the best in the series. It boasts the most amount of content from high-quality boards to characters to minigames. The variety is enough to carry this game on its own, but the quality of the core experience is exceptional as well with how each board works and the many different types of minigames. Though the additional modes, with the exception of Bowser Kaboom Squad, are all pretty much misses, they do nothing to take away from the top-tier solo and multiplayer party experience Super Mario Party Jamboree has.
Super Mario Party Jamboree releases exclusively for Nintendo Switch on October 17, 2024.
The post Review: Super Mario Party Jamboree Offers an Impressive Amount of Content appeared first on Siliconera. |
Siliconera Tuesday, October 15, 2024 3:30 PM
Furyu's Team Noir, the developer behind Monark, announced it is working on a new game project. The announcement coincided with the third anniversary of Monark's release and was accompanied by a commemorative illustration by artist Ohajiki celebrating the milestone. [Thanks, Famitsu!]
While details are still limited, the team shared that this upcoming project will focus on themes different from those explored in Monark. We also don't know anything about possible platforms for the new Furyu and Team Noir game.
You can view the official social media post with the Monark anniversary illustration below:
The third-anniversary celebration includes two campaigns on the official Monark developers social media account. Those in Japan who are interested can participate by using the hashtag #Happy3rdAnniversaryMonark or reposting the campaign post for a chance to win autographed cards from 16 of Monark's voice actors.
This follows the recent release of Furyu's latest RPG Reynatis, which launched globally via NIS America. The game follows the story of a wizard named Marin who finds themselves in modern-day Shibuya, navigating the decision to use magical powers or blend in as an ordinary person. Additionally, extra DLC has been released to add to the story after launch.
Furyu and Team Noir's new game is in development, though details about the project are slim at the moment.
The post Furyu Monark Developers Working on New Game appeared first on Siliconera. |
Siliconera Tuesday, October 15, 2024 3:00 PM
On first glance, Neva is a cozy game about nature and woodland friends. However, as soon as you load the game up, it quickly reminds you that nature is brutal. Within minutes, a bird has died and turned into a black husk, while a majestic wolf-deer is murdered by horrors.
This tone is not surprising when you realize who the developer of Neva is. It's the latest game from Nomada Studio, whose previous game Gris was a beautiful yet harrowing exploration of grief. Neva feels like that the natural extension of that game. It takes the combination of beautiful visuals and dark subject matter and turns it towards the brutal conflicts of nature. And with it, the puzzle platforming now gets tougher and gains more combat mechanics.
You play as a woman named Alba, who is not directly named in-game. She serves as a protector for a vast forest, along with her wolf-deer hybrid companion. However, at the start of the game, this companion is killed, leaving behind a cub named Neva. The game then chronicles a year in the life of Alba and Neva, as she raises this pup into an adult so it can become the forest's new protector.
The game itself is a puzzle platformer. You venture through the often-surreal wilderness, leaping across platforms, air dashing across gaps and climbing vast structures to progress. Along the way you encounter dark, corrupted enemies that threaten the sanctity of the forest. With each season, Neva takes a more active role in combat and can be called on to stall enemies with bites or damage enemies Alba can't reach.
There's an obvious Ghibli inspiration within all this. It's not hard to look at our protagonist's fierce defense of the forest, accompanied by a large wolf creature, and immediately see Princess Mononoke's San and Moro. Similarly, the corrupted enemies, with their writhing black bodies and mask-like faces, bear more than a little resemblance to No-Face from Spirited Away.
That said, the game avoids feeling like an imitation, and more a work that exists in the same headspace. For a start, its visuals avoid the Ghibli style entirely. This is definitely the studio who made Gris, with its painterly aesthetic and minimalist design. You could take a screenshot of any part of this game, and it wouldn't look out of place on a gallery wall.
However, the moment-to-moment gameplay is a huge contrast to the slow-paced, meditative puzzle-solving of Nomada's previous work. The emphasis on combat adds fail states that Gris lacked, and the primary emotional state of the game is anger rather than sadness. There's a sense of something profoundly wrong happening to these woods, and Alba and Neva must right the wrongs. It's defiant and aggressive.
This means Neva is a lot more challenging than it might appear. I went into the game fully expecting the kind of slow, relaxed experience of a lot of artsy, narrative-driven projects. You walk a lot and solve puzzles. Sure, that is here too, but the extra difficulty adds an exciting new layer. Combat offers a tiny health pool, the limited moveset can make encounters with large groups tense, and some platforming segments combined Alba's moveset in specific ways that must be figured out with some ingenuity. By no means is this Dark Souls, but anyone coming into this expecting to casually walk through it with ease may find themselves surprised.
This was welcome, as it created for some great moments. Sections where the scenery breaks open during combat, shifting the environment you're trying to position yourself on. Sometimes enemies will use the scenery itself to fight you, or flying enemies will enter the fray. These enemies force you to change your tactics and make you focus on your positioning.
I also really loved how Neva shook up its platforming sections. The scenery shifts are a big way the game keeps you on your toes, but then some sections also require you to send Neva to attack switches while you're in mid-air or combine your double jump and air dash in new ways. There's also a section during the Winter chapter that deliberately screws with your perspective, and it's easily one of the best parts of the game.
The real shining moments of the game are the moments of peril where you're helpless and Neva jumps in and saves the day. These moments are the real heart of the game. Mechanically, they usually add something new to your kit that you'll be using during the next section. Narratively, they show the building relationship between Alba and Neva in a way that's highly effective despite the lack of words.
This minimalist approach to story is something that Neva does incredibly well. The only word spoken in the entire game is "Neva" whenever you call for her. Otherwise, the game's narrative is communicated entirely through gestures and moments. We never get long exposition about the origins of the corruption, we just know it's bad and must be stopped. Anything left unexplained is for the player to interpret as they see fit. Is it a reminder of the cruelty of nature that must be respected? A critique on pollution and its effect on wildlife? Or could it be seen as an allegory for death and rebirth? It's all valid, and you'll be left pondering these questions long after the game is over.
In fact, I struggle to find much I didn't like about Neva. Any critique I have feels either like I'm nitpicking or trying to turn the game into something it's not. Could the moveset be a little more expansive to make some sections feel less repetitive? Sure, but the game's simplicity is a major asset in how the game delivers its narrative. Are there sections where the scenery can sometimes get in the way of the path a little too much? Sure, but these are rare and usually during quiet times where you're simply walking. I certainly don't recall any moments where fog obscured combat, for instance.
The game is, admittedly, short. My playthrough took just shy of four hours to complete, and aside from some optional plants you can make bloom, there's little incentive to replay the game. However, those four hours are beautiful and heartfelt, and something you'd likely want to experience again.
Neva is a sweet little game that left a significant impression on me. Every frame looks like a painting, there's a surprising amount of challenge and the way it builds these characters without saying a word is masterful. If you're a fan of short, artful experiences in games, you need to play Neva.
Neva is out now for PC, PS5, Switch and Xbox Series X/S.
The post Review: Neva is a Beautiful Tale of a Girl and Her Wolf appeared first on Siliconera. |
Siliconera Tuesday, October 15, 2024 2:30 PM
Hakutsuru Sake Brewing Company will release a special collaboration sake in order to commemorate the 20th anniversary of Capcom's Monster Hunter franchise. The limited-edition Monster Hunter x Hakutsuru collection will go on sale nationwide in Japan starting on November 8, 2024.
Each anniversary sake product features a design inspired by the Monster Hunter universe, with special packaging that, when lined up, forms the 20th-anniversary key visual. The limited-edition Monster Hunter x Hakutsuru collection includes three varieties. The first is the Hunter Edition Daiginjo Sake for ¥2,500 (~$17). Another is the Monster Edition Special Junmai Sake, which is also ¥2,500 (~$17). The cheapest option is the Felyne's Secret Plum Wine for ¥1,500 (~$10 USD).
Here are the official images of the three types of drinks:
The Monster Hunter 20th anniversary features a number of different events and types of merchandise. For example, there is the Monster Hunter: The Field event at Nijigen no Mori in Japan. As part of the event we saw Zinogre, one of the most popular monsters in the series, added to the Autumn 2024 training quests.
Pre-orders for the collection are available starting October 15, 2024, with people able to order from Hakutsuru's official online shop. General sales are set to begin on November 8, 2024. Monster Hunter Wilds is in development for the PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC, and it will be released in 2025.
The post Hakutsuru Selling Monster Hunter 20th Anniversary Sake appeared first on Siliconera. |
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