Kotaku Monday, November 4, 2024 9:30 AM  If you want to play the brand new class Diablo IV: Vessel of Hatred introduced, this Spiritborn build guide has you covered. The Spiritborn is a brand new class in Vessel of Hatred, and Blizzard did a fantastic job with them. Every build is viable when leveling, but my two favorites are Centipede and Eagle. |
Kotaku Monday, November 4, 2024 8:00 AM  Amazon MGM's Like A Dragon: Yakuza has the unenviable task of taking RGG Studio's beloved Yakuza video game series and translating it into prestige television. The Yakuza games are as much studies of bizarre secondary characters and unlikely encounters as they are narrative-driven crime stories. And while side quests… |
PCGamesN Monday, November 4, 2024 9:45 AM  Once you're done with Elden Ring, the soulslike genre can feel incredibly daunting. Yes, you can tackle FromSoftware's previous games like Demon's Souls, Dark Souls, and Bloodborne, but there's a whole world out there. In recent years we've had Lies of P, Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty, Remnant 2, and even Jedi Survivor. There's too much to choose from, and while that's a great problem to have, there's one game I need to recommend above all else. 2023's Lords of the Fallen reboot has turned into a spectacular game, and even if it feels too familiar to Dark Souls at first, that'll change the more you play. Even better, it's just had another free update and is about to be 50% off on Steam. MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Lords of the Fallen bosses, Lords of the Fallen review, Lords of the Fallen classes |
PCGamesN Monday, November 4, 2024 8:12 AM  What are the active Fortnite codes? It's been some time since we've had a random code distribution for Fortnite, but at the beginning of Chapter 5, we got a new redeemable item exclusive to the first 25 million people who use it. Naturally, people are scrambling to determine how to redeem the Nanner Ringer emote - if it's even still available. So, in order to redeem the freebies for the battle royale game, you'll need to follow some specific instructions, which we have a detailed guide on below. While you're here, you might as well check out the brand new Fortnite map to see all the significant changes and the currently available Fortnite weapons you can now use in-game. Continue reading Fortnite codes and how to redeem MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Fortnite map, Fortnite skins, Fortnite weapons |
PCGamesN Monday, November 4, 2024 7:48 AM  What are the best Warhammer 40K games? Games Workshop's grimdark futuristic universe, where everything is at war with each other, is an ideal setting for plenty of games. While the miniature war game company's licensing history has seen plenty of digital adaptations, the fact of the matter is that some have been hit or miss. It should come as no surprise to fans that plenty of the best Warhammer 40K games ever made are from eons ago, but more recently, we've seen some excellent and unique adaptations. Genre variety is a big thing here as we're also being treated to space games and even action-adventure RPGs. We're not here to highlight our ancient battle brothers of 40K games of yore - they've had their time in the sun. Instead, we want to highlight the best Warhammer 40K games that have been released in more recent times. Continue reading Best Warhammer 40K games on PC 2024 MORE FROM PCGAMESN: The best FPS games, Best Warhammer games, Best Warhammer 40k games |
PCGamesN Monday, November 4, 2024 7:14 AM  What is the best Black Ops 6 KSV loadout? SMGs continue to run rampant on Black Ops 6's smaller maps, tearing through enemies with ease as players zip about the place at Mach 10. SMGs also make fantastic companions to long-range weapons, and the best Black Ops 6 KSV loadout excels in both roles. Though the C9 currently sits on our best Black Ops 6 loadouts list, the KSV is quickly becoming a popular meta pick. Thanks to its fast fire rate, reload quickness, and swap speed, the Black Ops 6 KSV innately excels over the C9 in a few key metrics in the FPS game. These stats also lend themselves nicely to a snappy Overkill-based class setup such as the one we lay out below. Continue reading Best Black Ops 6 KSV loadout and class build MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Black Ops 6 guns, Black Ops 6 missions, Black Ops 6 loadouts |
PCGamesN Monday, November 4, 2024 6:59 AM  What are the new Fortnite weapons? We're heading back to Chapter 2 with the latest OG season of Fortnite: Chapter 2 Remix. Following a return to the very first Fortnite map in Chapter 4, we now have a revamped version of a map including locations like Lazy Lake, Slurpy Swamp and Dirty Docks - and plenty of classic guns to boot. Once you're done having a gander at the new (old?) Fortnite map, you should probably brush up on what new Fortnite guns and weapons are available the lastest season of the battle royale game. This includes all the exotic weapons sold by Fortnite NPCs, and even some new items that can help you greatly when it comes to sprinting across the island towards safety. Continue reading New Fortnite weapons - all the guns in Chapter 5 MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Fortnite map, Fortnite skins, Fortnite weapons |
PCGamesN Monday, November 4, 2024 6:36 AM  Be quick and you can grab a pair of true wireless Bluetooth earbuds for under $60, thanks to this massive Samsung buds discount. The Samsung Galaxy Buds FE are the buds in question and they include loads of features for their incredibly low price. While we normally recommend one of the best gaming headsets for peak gaming audio, if you're on the move or space is limited, a much more compact option is what you want. Plus, with built in microphones, these Samsung Galaxy Buds FE ensure you can still chat while you play. MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Samsung 980 Pro review, Best SSD for gaming, Best gaming monitor |
PCGamesN Monday, November 4, 2024 6:25 AM  November 4, 2024: We've added the latest 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 November 2024 MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best board games, Monopoly Go events, Monopoly Go dice |
PCGamesN Monday, November 4, 2024 6:14 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 Monday, November 4, 2024 6:08 AM  There were several moments of the League of Legends World finals that had me (and the rest of the cinema) stunned into dumbfounded silence. At the end of game one, T1 were looking pretty shaky, but by game two, they were back. Then it was a similar story for games three and four, bringing everything down to the wire with game five. In the middle of the fourth match, however, it felt like something stirred in Faker, who'd been having a relatively rough performance on Yone and Sylas. Something just clicked, and he just transformed into the Unkillable Demon King that we know and love. That toplane 1v1, that glorious midlane flank that effectively ended the series: all roads do, indeed, lead to Faker. MORE FROM PCGAMESN: League of Legends ranks explained, League of Legends Mythic shop rotation, League of Legends tier list |
PCGamesN Monday, November 4, 2024 6:08 AM  What are the best Fortnite skins? Everyone has their personal preference, but in the years since the debut of Fortnite, Epic has rolled out tons of iconic original skins and partnered with artists, movies, and TV shows to attract more fans to the multiplayer game. The sheer amount of Fortnite skins is astounding, giving players a near endless way to express themselves in the battle royale game before they've fired a single shot. Each event and update brings multiple skins to help cosmetic lovers stack up their inventory, and then there's Fortnite Festival skins and Lego Fortnite skins to boot. So, to help you figure out who to buy when they next appear in the Item Shop, here are over 100 of the best Fortnite skins ever. Continue reading The 178 best Fortnite skins MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Fortnite map, Fortnite skins, Fortnite weapons |
PCGamesN Monday, November 4, 2024 5:59 AM  The first few weeks of every Call of Duty game are filled with an ever-changing meta. The best guns, perks, and loadouts shift as things are nerfed and buffed, eventually leveling out as things, in theory, become more balanced. Black Ops 6 is no stranger to this, as one perk has already proved so overpowered and unfair that Treyarch is about to bring it back down to Earth. I'm of course talking about Recon, a brand new perk that essentially gives you brief wallhacks every time you respawn. MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Black Ops 6 guns, Black Ops 6 missions, Black Ops 6 loadouts |
PCGamesN Monday, November 4, 2024 5:38 AM  It may not have the action of Resident Evil, the customization options of Dead Space, or the unyielding tension of Alien: Isolation, but Silent Hill 2 - the 2001 original - is the greatest horror game of all time. In fact, it's more than a horror game. It's a spiritual journey. It's the story of James Sunderland, Angela, and Eddie venturing to the darkest recesses of their own souls, and then fighting to get back out. Silent Hill 2 Remake pays homage to Konami's superlative OG in dozens of different ways, but there's one mystery, seemingly linked to the 2001 game, that's plagued players since October. Now it's finally been solved - even Bloober Team's own creative director confirms that it's real - and depending on how you interpret it, it completely transforms SH2 Remake's story. MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Silent Hill 2 remake system requirements, The best horror games, Silent Hill 2 remake review |
PCGamesN Monday, November 4, 2024 6:12 AM  What are Hades 2 Chaos Trials? Hades 2 gives players plenty of tools to change the way each run plays out, but if you're looking to drastically alter your experience, you're going to want to look for Chaos Trials. These special runs only become available once you're able to see into the Pitch-Black Stone, so keep that in mind before you seek out an additional challenge. During each of your runs, it's important to watch out for the best Hades 2 Boons, so you can ensure Melinoë is well-equipped to take on the enemies in the Underworld. Hades 2 introduces a number of essential combat mechanics that alter the way you approach combat, like the Arcana Cards that give you permanent power-ups before each run. Suffice it to say, you'll need all the help you can get to take on the all Chaos Trials in Hades 2. Continue reading All Hades 2 Chaos Trials MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best roguelike games, Hades 2 boons, Hades 2 Gods |
PCGamesN Monday, November 4, 2024 5:13 AM  November 4, 2024: We checked for new NBA 2K25 codes. What are the active NBA 2K25 codes? It's another year in the NBA 2K calendar, and as is tradition there are plenty of freebies to collect. Over the lifetime of each game in the storied basketball series, 2K dishes out a slew of locker codes that can be punched in, rewarding you with everything from free packs to top-rated stars as the season progresses. In NBA 2K25, you can expect a similar slurry of goodies to come your way, helping you make the most of your time in the sports game. Of course, NBA 2K25 locker codes don't last forever, so you'll have to act fast when a new code does pop up. Fortunately, we're keeping our eagle eyes eagerly on the latest codes, which you can find below. Continue reading NBA 2K25 codes November 2024 - all locker codes MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best sports games, Best multiplayer games, New PC games |
PCGamesN Monday, November 4, 2024 4:56 AM  How do you get BO6 double XP tokens? Unless you're topping the scoreboards in every match by over 60 kills, it's going to take you a while to reach level 55, the max level in Black Ops 6. In addition to your player level, you've also got your weapons to level up, and then there's the battle pass which is scheduled to launch later this month. Thankfully, there is a way to accelerate the process, providing you can get your hands on BO6 double XP tokens. BO6 double XP tokens are vital if you're planning on going through the Black Ops 6 Prestige system, cutting the lengthy process in half, though that depends on how many tokens you can get your hands on. While previous Call of Duty games made it easy to get double XP tokens, it's certainly not as simple in Black Ops 6 where these tokens might as well be gold dust. Here's how you can get BO6 double XP tokens, weapon tokens, and Battle Pass tokens. Continue reading How to get BO6 double XP tokens and weapon tokens MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Black Ops 6 guns, Black Ops 6 missions, Black Ops 6 loadouts |
PCGamesN Monday, November 4, 2024 4:57 AM  November 4, 2024: We've updated the Throne and Liberty server status. What's the Throne and Liberty server status? Launching a new MMO is always a challenge, and Throne and Liberty has had to overcome its fair share of them server side. Fortunately, developer NCSoft and publisher Amazon Games have been quick to act, making great strides in improving the player experience. If you can't currently log into the game, there's a good chance Throne and Liberty maintenance is currently underway. Typically, this process takes several hours, meaning you'll just have to find another great MMO game to play until Throne and Liberty is back online. The T&L team usually announces maintenance ahead of time, so we'll be sure to keep this guide updated with the latest developments. Continue reading Throne and Liberty server status and maintenance times MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best MMORPGs, Throne and Liberty codes, Throne and Liberty weapons |
PCGamesN Monday, November 4, 2024 4:48 AM  When is the Infinity Nikki beta? The next installment of the Nikki series is coming to PC, bringing developer Infold's world of dress-up to a whole new audience. Playtests offer the chance to experience Nikki's next adventure in Miraland ahead of time, and we've got all the latest news for the beta. The Infinity Nikki release date is fast approaching and closed beta testing has already taken place. Whether you were invited to the last playtest or not, find out if there's likely to be another Infinity Nikki beta before release. If you're a long-time Nikki fan or just looking for a relaxing game to unwind, an Infinity Nikki beta is the perfect chance to discover if the self-styled "coziest open-world game" is for you. Continue reading Infinity Nikki beta details and how to sign-up MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Infinity Nikki codes, Infinity Nikki banners, Infinity Nikki events |
PCGamesN Monday, November 4, 2024 4:24 AM  What are the best Stardew Valley mods? The mod scene for ConcernedApe's acclaimed life sim has been thriving on PC despite having no official Steam Workshop support. Dedicated modders have been working to alter almost everything available in the game, from adding game-breaking cheats like god mode to texture overhauls that turn Stardew Valley into a pixelated fairytale. Despite thousands of daily concurrent players enjoying the base indie game, Stardew Valley is getting on a bit, so we can't blame you for wanting to shake things up. Thankfully, the modding community is here to help bring other IPs to the life game, along with new maps and improvements to married life. We've compiled our favorite Stardew Valley mods that celebrate the creativity of the modding scene. Here are our top picks that provide visual overhauls, gameplay changes, and, yes, even some cheats, making one of the best PC games even better. Continue reading The 28 best Stardew Valley mods November 2024 MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Stardew Valley multiplayer, Stardew Valley realism, The best Stardew Valley mods |
Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed Monday, November 4, 2024 9:51 AM  Twitch have introduced a new "Politics and Sensitive Social Issues" label for streams that "focus" on topics like "elections, civic integrity, and war or military conflict". As with the streaming giant's existing labels for M-rated material, sexual themes or depictions of gambling, the idea is that viewers can filter out such streams in advance by altering their settings. Advertisers, similarly, can "make better choices about the content they want to advertise next to" - in other words, pull their ads from a whole swathe of material if they don't want to be associated with anything controversial. Twitch's hope is that "the labels will allow advertisers to have more context to inform which types of streams they show their ads alongside, which we expect to increase brands' confidence in running ads on Twitch, and could bring new advertisers to our service." |
Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed Monday, November 4, 2024 9:30 AM  It's tempting to frame Straftat as a throwback to an older, better time for the multiplayer FPS, when the lingo was coded in frags and gibs and sucking it down, when satisfaction was drawn entirely from performance rather than some convoluted, artificial system of progression. Not only would this be inaccurate, but it would also do a disservice to what Straftat truly is, namely a wild overcorrection in response to the direction of modern multiplayer gunfests, one that careens straight through retro stations to arrive somewhere new and exciting. |
Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed Monday, November 4, 2024 9:14 AM  The mystery surrounding Deadlock, Valve's work-in-progress MOBA shooter, has largely evaporated. Its freely extendable invite system is about as effective at controlling player headcount as a disinterested football steward, meaning pretty much anyone with a clued-in Steam friend can get in and start poking around its secrets. And yet, being a lane-pushing wizard fighter in the Dota 2 vein, it's already a vast tangle of interplaying abilities, items, strats, and often unspoken rules, of the kind that even experienced gankists will take hundreds of hours to learn. It's been too much for poor Brendy, at any rate. Still, Brendy is but one man. What if we had but four men, working in tandem to crush lanes and flatten Patrons just as Gabe intended? To find out if Deadlock is indeed more comprehensible as a team sport, Graham, Ed, Ollie, and James joined forces, promptly getting fucked up yet emerging from the warlock hospital with a deeper understanding of its workings. Or, at least, if anyone would keep playing. |
Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed Monday, November 4, 2024 8:10 AM  When nightmarish sci-fi extraction shooter The Forever Winter launched into early access in September it was somewhat messy. Bugs and maddening enemy spawns diminished the tension of being a fleshy human scavenger in a mech battlefield. But one feature annoyed some players much more - fresh water. See, you need to keep your headquarters stocked with water, as it gets steadily used by your settlement's inhabitants. The catch being that this water diminishes even while you're not playing the game. If it runs out completely, then everything you've collected gets wiped. The developers have listened to complaints about this most Farmville of mechanics, and they've answered in an interesting way. Water thieves! Now, on top of the usual downward trickle, burglars will come to steal your H2O as well. It's not as bad as it sounds. |
Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed Monday, November 4, 2024 6:17 AM  I didn't sleep last night for entirely self-inflicted reasons and my brain feels like that one accursed hoover bag you refuse to empty, because there is no way of doing so that won't turn the neighbourhood into Silent Hill. I need to avoid any complicated write-ups, or my brain will detonate similarly and paint north London grey. Ah, a minigolf game! I think I can just about hack the concept of minigolf, on this most desperate of Mondays. It is golf but mini. Bonzai golf. Digestible! Intuitive! Why, I've managed to write 100 words without even looking at the Steam page. Let's do so now. Wait a minute, this isn't minigolf. It's Mini Mini Golf Golf. What is Mini Mini Golf Golf? "Destabilize the present and plunge into a neon psychohistory of a bizarre entity in distress," the Steam page explains. "This is not a game about minigolf." It is too late to flee. |
Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed Monday, November 4, 2024 6:01 AM  I was excited for Slitterhead, an action adventure game by Bokeh Studio, a studio founded by none other than your boy Keiichiro Toyama: the creator of Silent Hill, Gravity Rush, and the Siren series. And within that first hour, Slitterhead's body-possessing and Hong Kong-inspired streets had me thinking, "Is this it, the sleeper hit of 2024?!" No, sadly not. It's no doubt built a compelling universe filled with brain-sucking aliens that masquerade as humans, and it attempts plenty else besides: bouncing between bodies as you stealth around dingy apartment blocks, fighting with blood katanas, and gorging on pools of red plasma to refuel skills, many of which require more body-flitting. Thing is, they are ultimately just attempts, attempts that fall victim to an emptiness and jitteriness that quickly reveals Slitterhead's true, irritating form. |
Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed Monday, November 4, 2024 5:42 AM  I didn't get much further in the extremely popular beta for the haute-couture-asaurus action of Monster Hunter Wilds than perfecting the exact orange-to-white ratio of my cat. Not because I wasn't having fun, but because I immediately started looking up GPU prices after playing for ten minutes. As such, I didn't spend enough time with the combat to get a proper feel for it. Cultural osmosis has once again allowed me to form an uneducated take, however, and I'm getting the sense there's been some mixed reactions re: bonk quality. According to a clip shared on X by user Blue Stigma, there's a good reason for those misgivings. It's all about frames, you see. |
Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed Monday, November 4, 2024 4:14 AM  One of my lesser quality tests for an RPG is whether the shopkeepers complain at you for not buying anything. Grumpy shopkeepers, good RPG. This most specific of litmus tests has served me well, although I must admit that I'd happily upgrade it to 'shopkeepers you can attack', would that not disqualify 99% of games. But not turn based dungeon crawler Thysiastery, it turns out. This "dungeon crawler RPG featuring traditional roguelike and turn-based gameplay" apparently trusts you enough to let you recklessly batter its friendly wandering lizard merchants. You'd be a monster for it, of course, but it's nice to have options. |
Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed Monday, November 4, 2024 4:09 AM  Put your hand up if you'd forgotten that every Assassin's Creed game is, strictly speaking, set in the present day. I know I had. That's not the actual distant past you're parkouring through. That isn't actual Renaissance architecture you're clambering on. It's a holographic Animus simulation, conjured from ancestral memories flash-frozen within your DNA - convenient, inasmuch as it means that any inconsistencies are your DNA's fault, not Ubisoft's. If the ledge-mantling animations are glitchy, that's simply because you have bad genes. We can both be forgiven for losing sight of Assassin's Creed's modern day narrative frame. Ubisoft themselves have downplayed it since the era of Desmond Miles, the watery Peter Parker figure who served as puppetmaster protagonist for AC games up to Assassin's Creed 3. In Assassin's Creed Shadows, however, they're planning to bring back the modern day setting in a big way, though details are scanty. |
Twinfinite Monday, November 4, 2024 9:37 AM  |
Twinfinite Monday, November 4, 2024 5:10 AM  |
Siliconera Monday, November 4, 2024 9:30 AM
Square Enix announced that the Final Fantasy XIV Dawntrail: The Art of Succession - Relics of Heritage art book will come with a Wind-Up Erenville Minion for FFXIV. The book debuts on April 29, 2025, and pre-orders are open through Amazon and the Square Enix Store. It will cost $39.99, which is the typical price for the MMORPG art books.
This will be a paperback art book that should cover things we encounter and see in FFXIV Dawntrail 7.0. The description specifically cited that it will begin to go over the new characters, both major and minor NPCs, we encountered in Tural. We'll see how some of the new locations and dungeons were designed, as well as bosses. New equipment designs will show up as well. These will be covered over 304 pages total.
Square Enix did tease some of the designs we'll see here. It showed off new art for classes like the Pictomancer on social media, as well as some spots in Tural.
And here's how the cover looks. It features members of the Scions of the Seventh Dawn, as well as Wuk Lamat.
As for the FFXIV Wind-Up Erenville Minion, it's a character you can equip in-game and have follow you around. It's common for Square Enix to include these with art books. For example, the one for the Endwalker expansion included Wind-Up Ragnarok.
Final Fantasy XIV is available for the PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC. So is the Dawntrail expansion. The FFXIV Dawntrail: The Art of Succession - Relics of Heritage art book will debut on April 29, 2025.
The post FFXIV Dawntrail Art Book Comes With Erenville Minion appeared first on Siliconera. |
Siliconera Monday, November 4, 2024 7:00 AM
When writing game reviews, it's usually an important factor to consider the game within its intended context. For example, if a game's geared toward online multiplayer, or if it's for late night scares, or perhaps it's supplemental for fans of a particular franchise? That has to be central to your process.
We bring this up because Mario & Luigi: Brothership also really benefits from meeting it in its intended place: as a work for children.
Of course, children across the world have always loved Mario games, and that's not fundamentally an issue! Because there are three primary ways to approach "children's" entertainment. There's the way made most famous by Pixar: making a compelling movie for all ages, while keeping themes and plots accessible to all ages. (This is how a lot of tentpole Mario releases handle it.) Or you could do things the Dreamworks way, using the narrative equivalent of parallax scrolling to tell a kids' story in the foreground and layer references and plots behind that for older viewers.
But the third way? That's the land of the Saturday morning cartoon. These are built not just primarily but truly exclusively for kids, and they put no stock in their capacity to remember or pay attention. It must make viewers feel like a lot is going on, but not require much from them. Episodes have to be self-contained. And characters are one recurring quirk and nothing else!
So yeah, Mario & Luigi: Brothership feels like part of this last group. The game is broken up into small islands with one episodic quest each, and these quests are almost invariably solved by "Luigi logic." It's talked up in the game like these are brilliant and wacky ideas! But in practice, they're "Luigi solves the problem in a cutscene or quick-time event." They're either ways to block you off from solving the problem yourself until the game wishes you to do it — "weird, there are invisible walls preventing you from jumping on that platform-looking tree next to the objective" — or they're ways to circumvent the need for gameplay — "we don't have development time to make this playable, so just animate Luigi doing it and call it a day."
We spent our first few hours with Mario & Luigi: Brothership figuring this was just another Nintendo hand-hold, an overly tutorialized early game that would open up and relax a bit over time. Instead, it basically doesn't? Be ready to be told what to do three times for each step in the story, and don't even bother trying to go off the beaten path. Oh, and there's a story scene skip button for videos, but the overly verbose characters (admittedly a Mario & Luigi trademark) can only be slightly sped up text box by text box.
It's sort of heartbreaking that this is the case! There are some Mario & Luigi fundamentals here. The combat is still very Mario, with timing-based actions and dodges, and all that was rebuilt well here. The worlds are whimsical in the way you'd expect. Brothership comes from the Sparks of Hope school of making exploration like a little theme park, with collectibles and activities along the way. Are they perhaps superfluous? Yes. But the last thing the developers want is to leave you with nothing to keep your hands busy.
The game is structured as a series of islands. You'll direct the ship through a series of currents, finding islands and smaller locations as you go. There's no time pressure here, so feel free to use the fast sailing function and navigate all available areas when they unlock to see more of the map. Once you enter an island for the first time, though, you're stuck there, unable to return until you complete a quest and connect the location's lighthouse to your boat. These main-quest blinders always seemed a bit strange to us, and it didn't feel like the restriction of movement led to any clever puzzles or combat challenges. But hey, islands are generally short enough to get through without the passage of an hour.
It doesn't help that Mario & Luigi: Brothership has to follow the re-release of the best attempt at a Mario RPG, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. Remembering where the Mario & Luigi sat in the 3DS era with games like Paper Jam leads to a more favorable comparison; many (though not all) of Brothership's failings are part of a decades-long shift in Nintendo's approach to Mario RPG design.
Still, the combat is fundamentally engaging. It's mostly straightforward to choose the most effective move for the situation in the menu, but executing the timing and staying on guard to dodge and counter enemy attacks is genuinely fun. The "Bros. Attack" options you unlock are little quick-time events, sometimes designed with a bit of randomness to make sure you're paying attention. We skipped out on these for minor battles a lot, simply because of the time cost of using them, but they're useful for bosses and large enemy groups.
The leveling and equipment systems are also a bit deeper than you'd expect. Every batch of seven levels, you can essentially pick a perk for Mario or Luigi, making them specialize in particular stats or attack types. We did our best to take advantage of this, making Mario a hammer specialist with high attack damage and crafting Luigi as a jumping tank. Equipment also has a variety of secondary effects, but generally the optimal move is to just use the ones with the best stat boosts and hoping they do an additional helpful thing occasionally.
Since the game's built around an electrical wiring motif, there's a part of that in the gameplay systems too: Battle Plugs. You collect little shinies around the environments and use them to add elements to your attacks. These can be boosts to damage, recycling items and such. They each have limited uses before needing to recharge, so the idea is that you cycle through these and fights have a bit of extra variety. We certainly used the item recycler as an opportunity to burn the best consumables we had at will, since they just replaced themselves. It also serves as a much more effective reward for exploring environments than coins, which quickly pile up into the thousands and are largely used to buy equipment that becomes available at the shop at roughly the same time as you find it for free in the world.
There are a few specific story points that give you an actual choice. These seem to be a way to make multiple playthroughs different, at least at the margins. We won't spoil the narrative parts of these, but they seem to affect whether certain types of equipment are more available and how combat plays out for short stretches. This is genuinely a nice touch!
It took us some real adjustment to accept Mario & Luigi: Brothership for what it is, but once you do, there's genuine enjoyment to be found here. You have to learn to follow its pace and accept its shortcomings, because it won't change its ways and blossom into a top-tier Mario RPG. Still, the ride will be worth it for some to experience its bright points.
Mario & Luigi: Brothership launches November 7, 2024 on Nintendo Switch.
The post Review: Explore the Currents in Mario & Luigi: Brothership appeared first on Siliconera. |
MonsterVine Monday, November 4, 2024 8:33 AM Slitterhead can be a little janky, but its distinct mechanics and neat way of presenting the story make it stand out as a novel game that truly tries its own thing. The combat can be a bit wanting, but the atmosphere goes a long way in making it stand out amongst its peers. Slitterhead Developer: […] |