A Good Single-Player Star Wars Game!?! — Jedi: Fallen Order

ISSUE 18 — 14 April 2019

by Shahan Ahmed and Dale Hurst

Top Story: JEDI: FALLEN ORDER REVEALED

What comes as a surprise move from EA is the reveal of Jedi: Fallen Order. This is the company who brought you the micro-transactions-riddled Battlefront games. It will be developed by Respawn Entertainment. Yes, the same people who surprised everyone by bringing us Apex Legends out of nowhere as a viable competitor to the goliath that is Fortnite. And of course the same people who made the beloved Titanfall games.

It is confirmed by both Respawn and EA that the game will have no micro-transactions and no multiplayer. A sad state of affairs that a lack of micro-transactions makes headlines in current times, but it is welcome news all the same.

Shahan’s Opinion: While the trailer is not on the level of my personal favourite SW game trailer — The Old Republic’s “Sacrifice” trailer, it is still very good! I’d say Respawn is a great choice as a developer.

PSN NAME CHANGE IS HERE!

A feature that’s been asked for by the players since the early PlayStation 3 days is finally here! You can now change your PSN ID; the username that you use on your PlayStation 4. The first name change is free (as can be seen here in this humorous name change) but it will cost you from then on. Changing your PSN ID can be done via your PS4 or a web browser. Not on a PS3 or Vita. Check out the official blog post here on exactly how to do so as well as any answers to questions you may have.

We’d best mention that not all games support the name change. Lists have been made that include which games have no known issues, which do as well as the select few that have critical issues. If you come across any issues, try re-linking/signing back into your account in the game. Otherwise another option is reverting to your old username but that may not guarantee that your issue is resolved.

Shahan’s Opinion: FINALLY! I can change my PSN ID that I made as a child, which is a mess of alternating lower and upper case.  But I am going to wait until PSNProfiles.com is able to accommodate name changes. It’s my go-to site for showcasing trophies.

NEW FOOTAGE OF LEGENDARY GAMING MOMENT DUG UP!

One of the most memorable moments in competitive gaming history is the match between Daigo Umehara and Justin Wong at Evo 2004. Daigo was playing as Ken and he was one hit away from losing the match. Justin unleashes Chun Li’s Special Art move and Daigo’s only options were to block (easy) or parry (hard). However, Daigo had a miniscule amount of health, so blocking was not an option as each hit defended against still takes a tiny amount of damage. Parrying was the way to go. A parry requires precision timing and Daigo needed to do it 14 times as that’s how many hits Chun Li’s move performs. He does it. Daigo follows it up with a counter combo ending with one of Ken’s own Special Arts. The crowd went wild and this moment (known as Evo Moment #37 or the Daigo Parry) forever influenced the fighting game community. Justin Wong has even said in a past interview that the moment has saved the fighting game community, which was declining at the time.

Recently Mark Julio found old tapes and discs that contained footage he has recorded of this moment. You can hear the discussions being made nearby. Check it out!

Shahan’s Opinion: I never get tired of seeing this awesome moment. I love a good crowd reaction.

STAGE BUILDER LEAKED FOR SUPER SMASH BROS. ULTIMATE

Nintendo has leaked a level creation mode known as Stage Builder for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. It can be seen in the advert above when one of the kids goes to grab a controller. Stage Builder has been featured on past Smash Bros. titles.

Shahan’s Opinion: Oh no. I wonder what hellish lands Dale will create or download for us to try.

Dale’s Opinion: A dedicated Smash player I may be, but the Stage Builder modes from Brawl and Smash 4, I have never very much cared for. I guess my creativity has a limit, but I’ll be interested to see what other people manage to come up with. I always liked that about the LittleBigPlanet games…

MEETING HELD AT BIOWARE

After the recent Kotaku article revealing all that was wrong with Bioware and the subsequent promise that a meeting will be held, progress seems to have been made. Jason Schreier, the journalist who wrote the infamous piece, Tweeted as can be seen above. Presumably being told by his contacts within Bioware, a meeting has been held to discuss the issues that have been raised. Some are optimistic, while others are sceptical.

Shahan’s Opinion: I feel like this shows the good and bad side of journalism. A lot of people worked on Anthem and Mass Effect: Andromeda and they were hurt by the emotional negativity towards those titles in the article. But if it wasn’t for the article, this meeting and open dialogue to tackle these problems may not have occurred.

GLOSSING OVER…

Sekiro Hits Two-Million Mark

In an astonishing ten days, Activision’s Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice has managed to sell two million copies. That’s worldwide, by the way!

Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds Banned in Nepal

The Nepal Metropolitan Crime Division has enforced a ban on Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds. This is based on the assertion that the game is making people aggressive in real life.

Octopath Traveller PC Release Date Announced!

We can reveal Square Enix’s award-winning RPG Octopath Traveller will be released on PC on 7th June this year.

PLAYING THIS WEEK…

Shahan has been playing…

STREETS OF RAGE (2009) (PLAYSTATION 3)

After the nostalgia hit of seeing the new Streets of Rage 4 gameplay, I couldn’t resist going back to the first in the series. I booted up the ol’ PS3 and threw in my copy of the Sega Mega Drive Ultimate Collection. We reached the final stage where I was gunned down by Mr. X himself while my friend was defeated just outside. That’s all we had time for before we headed to the cinema. But damn — the game is still an absolute blast to play. We’ll get you next time Mr. X!

BAFTA Games Awards 2019 Special

ISSUE 17 — 7 April 2019

by Shahan Ahmed and Dale Hurst

Special Feature: BAFTA GAMES AWARDS 2019

The 15th British Academy Games Awards was held this week at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London. The event was hosted by comedian Dara Ó Briain. This year, a new category was introduced: the EE Mobile Game of the Year award. It may be similar to the Mobile Game award, but unlike it and the other categories, this one is voted for by the public instead of the BAFTA committee and the trophy is a solid yellow rather than the standard golden mask.

God of War took home the most awards (with a total of five) including the coveted Best Game award. The list below shows the winner of each category. Check this page for all of the nominees that came close to winning an award.

Award

Winner
Artistic Achievement Return of the Obra Dinn
Audio Achievement God of War
Best Game God of War
British Game Forza Horizon 4
Debut Game Yoku’s Island Express
Evolving Game Fortnite
Family Nintendo Labo
Game Beyond Entertainment My Child Lebensborn
Game Design Return of the Obra Dinn
Game Innovation Nintendo Labo
Mobile Game  Florence
Multiplayer A Way Out
Music God of War
Narrative God of War
Original Property Into the Breach
Performer Jeremy Davis
EE Mobile Game of the Year (voted for by the public) Old School Runescape

Shahan’s Opinion: It has reminded me to try and get around to certain games (God of War and A Way Out) as well as putting some on my radar (Return of the Obra Dinn and Florence).

Dale’s Opinion: Working for or at least being involved with BAFTA is something of a dream job for me so it has been good to look at the Games section of their awards. I’ll be keeping a close eye in future…

New Character Spotlight: KOLLECTOR (Mortal Kombat 11)

The newest fighter to join the day one roster of Mortal Kombat 11 has been shown. Kollector will make his debut in MK11, which releases on the 23rd of this month. He is said to value his own wealth and status.

Kollector works for Shao Kahn and collects tributes for him like a form of tax. Similar to Goro and Kintaro, he has four arms. Two are out in front while the other two are in his backpack ready to bring out what he has collected to fight his opponent with. Not afraid to get close while also having ranged attacks plus the ability to teleport? Kollector will no doubt be a strong fighter to contend with.

Right before Kollector, another character was shown this week. Namely, Cetrion – an Elder Goddess with control over the elements. Her power to use ice, fire and earth comes from her bond to the Earth. Check her out on this GameInformer video.

Shahan’s Opinion: Kollector is one of the more unique characters in the MK11’s roster and Cetrion’s fatality is out of this world!

Dale’s Opinion: He is definitely a character I can see me playing a lot. That is, if I get the game when it comes out…

BORDERLANDS 3 IS AN EPIC STORE EXCLUSIVE

After the positive reactions to Borderlands 3’s unveiling, some bad news has arisen. Epic Games continues to upset PC gamers as they acquire exclusivity rights to Borderlands 3’s launch. Steam users will still be able to obtain the game, but they’ll have to wait six months after BL3’s release date of 19th September 2019. To be clear, console gamers are unaffected.

Shortly the review bombing was underway on Borderlands 2’s Steam page. However, for the first time, Valve is now actually taking action against it. They have introduced a system to mark ‘off-topic review activity’ that excludes reviews that are deemed to be review bombs. Users are able to disable this feature in their settings. Valve has promised to manually check detected review bombs for any reviews that shouldn’t be hidden.

Going back to some good news for Borderlands. After the trailer for Borderlands 3 dropped, the player count on all Borderlands games on Steam increased by over quadruple. Also BL3’s box art and its different editions have been revealed and ready for pre-orders.

Shahan’s Opinion: Even though I’ll be getting this on console for the split-screen co-op, the Epic Store exclusivity is a bummer. This is likely going to be a continuing trend for PC releases in the near-future. Will Valve do anything to entice publishers and developers and prevent delayed releases to Steam…? Time will tell.

BIOWARE’S ISSUES WITH ANTHEM AND THE PRESS

Kotaku has done an impressive article covering Bioware’s woes regarding Anthem. Stemming from the project initially being named Beyond; a name with meaning that was relevant to the premise. Changing it to Anthem caused confusion amongst those who worked on the game. The article goes on to discuss more last-minute changes like this, as well as the game’s being panned by fans and critics alike, plus many more issues. From understaffed departments to tension between two studio locations, difficulties with EA’s Frostbite engine and much more. Staff went on stress leave and some never came back; they were termed as ‘stress casualties’. It was also quoted that:

“Depression and anxiety are an epidemic within Bioware…”

Read the story for more — it’s a long but fascinating read.

In response to the article, the studio’s management did not discuss the topic with members of staff. Rather, the company sent out emails saying, “Don’t talk to the press.” Following this revelation, Bioware’s Casey Hudson sent out an email to all in the studio that an all-hands meeting will take place discussing all of the raised issues.

Bioware has written a response to the article that you can read here. But it has been speculated that the time they had posted their response means that they must not have read the lengthy piece. Polygon have also weighed in on the issue.

Shahan’s Opinion: Revealing such damaging work environments is important otherwise nothing will be done for the well-being of those who work in the gaming industry.

ENTER THE GUNGEON: A FAREWELL TO ARMS LAUNCHES

Dodge Roll’s bullet hell dungeon crawler got its final update: Enter the Gungeon: A Farewell to Arms. The update is free and available on all platforms you can play the game on (PC, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One). New features include:

  • Two new characters: The Paradox and The Gunslinger.
  • New guns, items and synergies.
  • Rainbow Mode – community inspired mode where each floor offers a rainbow chest but only one gun/item can be picked.
  • New secret floor w/ unique enemies and boss.
  • Starting weapons have new alternate art to unlock.
  • New Beholster shrine.
  • Pet the dog!

Various changes and improvements have been made to the gameplay as well.

Shahan’s Opinion: I don’t have the precision or reflexes for bullet hell games like Enter the Gungeon. Nevertheless, it is awesome to see games getting additional content without the devs charging for every new character or weapon. Excited to see what their next project will be.

GLOSSING OVER…

Netflix Announces “Playing Hard”

A documentary will be released on Netflix later this year entitled Playing Hard. It will be an in-depth look into the four-year production process of the game For Honor.

Yet Another UK Game Setting

Not only will the setting for the upcoming Pokémon games be loosely based on the UK; Ubisoft’s Watch Dogs 3 has also been announced to be set in London.

Microsoft to Investigate Historic Sexual Harassment Claims

A recent employee uproar and human resources nightmare has gone on at Microsoft recently. Relating to historic and otherwise-overlooked sexual harassment complaints. In response, Microsoft has begun investigations into these claims.

PLAYING THIS WEEK…

Dale has been playing…

PIKMIN (2001) (GAMECUBE)

On a real GameCube nostalgia trip these days. When I found and played ZooCube a couple of weeks ago, I also found the disc for Pikmin in there, which to my amazement worked just fine. It had been aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaages since I played it last so it was virtually all new to me again. And then I remembered it is so addictive, so fun and so infuriating all at the same time.

Announcing… Borderlands 3!

ISSUE 16 — 31 March 2019

by Shahan Ahmed and Dale Hurst

Top Story: BORDERLANDS 3 REVEALED!

After nearly seven years of waiting since Borderlands 2 (let’s put aside The Pre-Sequel), Gearbox Software have officially unveiled Borderlands 3! CEO Randy Pitchford was on the stage at PAX East 2019 to present the game to fans. However, it had a troubled, laggy reveal, possibly due to technical issues on the provided equipment. The trailer packed the usual Borderlands charm and humour. It provides a glimpse at the new characters, such as the new Siren. She is likely to be the mêlée-based character as she boasts plenty of muscle and can summon six arms made of pure energy. Plenty of old, familiar faces also showed up. Lilith, Marcus, Maya, Tiny Tina (who’s not so tiny anymore) and Mad Moxxi appear, as well as Brick conducting a sax solo. Characters from Telltale’s Tales from the Borderlands also make an appearance. The game will have over a billion guns, which is actually not surprising knowing how the series procedurally generates its guns and their properties. But what is surprising and hilarious is Gearbox showing off a gun with legs! No one asked for this, but the mad men did it anyway. Borderlands 3 has yet to be given a release date, but the not-so-subtle Pitchford may be implying it’s not far off.

Gearbox also announced at their PAX East panel a Game of the Year Edition for the first Borderlands on PS4, Xbox One and PC. For PC gamers who already have the game on Steam, you can upgrade to the GotY Edition for free! It boasts improved visuals (4K and HDR, improved lighting, textures and character models), a Borderlands 2-like minimap, new inventory system and auto-pickup, 6 new Legendary weapons and 5 new character head options. It’ll be available in a matter of days; specifically 3rd April!  If you’re interested in other games that showed up at PAX East this year, check this out.

Shahan’s Opinion: This series is one of the best for some couch co-op fun. The Sirens are always my go-to characters when available. Burning everything as a Firefly-build Lilith was glorious. Maya looks great with her updated look too. Super excited to try out the new, buff Siren.

APPLE ARCADE ANNOUNCED

After Google revealed their gaming-related plans with the Stadia (see last week’s issue), Apple are following suit. Not doing exactly the same thing, mind you. Apple Arcade is not a streaming service. It is a premium, monthly subscription service in which all games will have no ads or in-app purchases and can be played offline on an Apple device. The initial line-up for the service will have games by Sega, Konami, Mistwalker (Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi’s new company), Annapurna Interactive and other developers. Apple says that more than 100 exclusive games will be available as part of the service. Apple Arcade is coming autumn this year.

Shahan’s Opinion: I’d rather pay as few subscription services as I can. Regarding Apple phones in general, I’ve gone back and forth from theirs and Android phones. Ultimately, iOS is too restrictive for me. Apple phones look nice and premium but now even the hardware has a down side after they implemented that screen notch. Picked up a Google Pixel and never looked back.

STREETS OF RAGE 4 GAMEPLAY

During the summer of 2018, beat ‘em up fans rejoiced as a ‘90s gem from Sega’s glory days made a return. Streets of Rage 4 was revealed featuring a fully-bearded Axel Stone and a never-aging Blaze Fielding. It was announced by DotEmu and Lizardcube (publisher and developer of Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap) in partnership with Sega. Guard Crush Games (developer of Streets of Fury) will also be involved.

The new gameplay reveal this week gave a familiar feel, as if the developers are honouring the series’ past. The fighting is reminiscent of its predecessors, fly kicks and all. Throw your enemies and pick up weapons from the ground like before. But let’s move on to what’s new! Journalists who have had a hands-on experience with an early build of the game last year have said special moves take away health (like in SoR2) but regular attacks will restore that lost health. The new hand-drawn art style is a departure from the pixels of yore and look incredible. The devs have said SoR4 will have its own unique score and effects to help make it stand out from the original game. Does this mean the original composer Yuzo Koshiro won’t be making a return? They’ve been quiet on this matter…

Streets of Rage follows a group of young ex-cops who fight their way through a crime-ridden city to get to Mr. X in an attempt to stamp out the corruption once and for all. If you want to know more about the series including the multiple other cancelled attempts at a Streets of Rage 4, check out this video.

Shahan’s Opinion: I adore the original on the Sega Mega Drive so much. The characters. (Blaze! First video game crush.) The levels. (Freight elevator!) THE MUSIC. (YUZO KOSHIRO!) I NEED A RELEASE DATE. (And bring back Adam!)

SEGA MEGA DRIVE / GENESIS MINI

If all that Streets of Rage talk has got you feeling nostalgic, well we’re not letting up! Sega are joining Nintendo and Sony in creating their own mini console. On 19th September 2019, the Sega Mega Drive Mini (or Sega Genesis Mini for the US) will release. It comes with 40 titles ready to plug-in and play. Ten of the games have been announced. They are:

–          Ecco the Dolphin –          Toejam & Earl
–          Castlevania: Bloodlines –          Comix Zone
–          Space Harrier II –          Sonic The Hedgehog
–          Shining Force –          Altered Beast
–          Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine –          Gunstar Heroes

Shahan’s Opinion: I’ve not really been tempted by all of the Mini consoles when there are other, cheaper methods to play old games. But this one I’ll admit, I am sorely tempted. There’s always been Sega Classics Collections to play their gems on many platforms. But if this does well, could Sega be tempted to make another console? A Dreamcast 2!?! Sigh… Just a pipe dream maybe…

CD PROJEKT RED ON E3 2019

A conference was held by CD Projekt Group for their financial results for 2018. It covers not only their games but also their digital distribution platform GOG.com that even though it’s great, it only made $7.8K net profit in 2018. On the bright side, the Polish company has informed the conference they have obtained a new office building in Warsaw in close proximity to their current offices. This will enable them to expand and hire another 250-300 developers.

Let’s move on to their games. Gwent, the card game born from the Witcher series, will finally be heading for mobile phones. It will launch on Apple’s App Store this autumn, and a later date for Android phones. The Witcher 3 continues to make strong sales. Alongside Thronebreaker, it has made over $28.6M net profit in 2018. They’ve also acknowledged their talks with Andrzej Sapkowski who wanted more money from the developer as creator of the Witcher books. Negotiations are ongoing with the author, but they are unable to comment further.

Now let’s talk about Cyberpunk 2077 and E3 2019. After its initial showing at last year’s E3, Cyberpunk’s marketing has reached over 250 million people! Via their own channels and invited influencers who have tried a demo of the game behind closed doors. CDPR were asked if E3 is the best place to announce release dates of games. They agreed it is. They’ve gone on to say their E3 presence this year will have a surprise, but no pop artist will show up! It will be the most important E3 in CD Projekt’s history, according to CEO Adam Kiciński.

Shahan’s Opinion: E3 is going to be good this year! What surprise do you think they have in store for us? A trailer for a secret project they’ve been working on? Or maybe Cyberpunk 2077 goes gold? I can’t wait.

Dale’s Opinion: So, no Lady Gaga surprise appearance? That’s a shame – was wondering what she’d come dressed as…

GLOSSING OVER…

Shantae 5 Announced

A brand new adventure in the Shantae series is confirmed for later this year. Shantae 5 will be available on all major home consoles, and also the newly-announced Apple Arcade.

Layoffs at EA

350 employees in the marketing and publishing departments (among others) of EA have been let go this week. Also, EA Russia and EA Japan have both closed down.

Anthem Woes Continue

Looting issues with Anthem have been described by fans to be a regression from what they were before with the recent update. No masterwork weapons for you this update, freelancers!

PLAYING THIS WEEK…

Shahan has been playing…

Overwatch

I’ve hopped back on to Overwatch to check out the most recent character to be introduced to the roster.

Baptiste went live last week. He’s a combat medic with a difficult past. One of 30 million orphans from the Omnic War. He did what he could to survive and ended up as a Talon agent. After realising he has a choice and making a living wasn’t good enough, he chooses to fight for a better world and leaves Talon.

For the brief period that I’ve played him, it’s clear you’d need to spend some time to get to grips with this healer. He’s definitely one of the more complex heroes in his class. For example, it’ll take some time getting used to the healing grenade’s projectile and landing it on your allies. But hey, Baptiste’s DBZ scouter is looking super cool though!

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice Launches

ISSUE 15 — 24 March 2019

by Shahan Ahmed and Dale Hurst

Top Story: SEKIRO: SHADOWS DIE TWICE HAS LAUNCHED

 

 

 

FromSoftware, the infamous developer behind the challenging Souls series, has released their latest game. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice has launched to universal acclaim. Critics are raving about it and Souls fans are delighted to see that it seems to be more difficult than any of the preceding games.

Sekiro’s setting is a fantastical reimagining of Japan’s Sengoku period, replete with samurai and shinobi, as well as incredible beasts like great serpents and giant apes. The protagonist was a nameless orphan found by the wanderer Owl, who adopted him and gave him the name Seju. He grew up to become a proficient shinobi and the personal bodyguard of the young lord Kuro, who he serves with utmost loyalty. However he fails in his duty. Genichiro Ashina slices off his left arm and Seju falls. Thus Kuro is kidnapped. Seju awakens in an abandoned temple. A former shinobi known as The Sculptor resides here, carving Buddha statues. He has provided Seju with a unique prosthetic arm and dubs him Sekiro (meaning Lone Wolf). Our protagonist then sets off to rescue his lord.

Shahan’s Opinion: If you’re looking for great atmosphere, FromSoftware always delivers. I started with Eternal Ring on the PS2 and have played every ‘Soulsborne’ game since. Check out Dunkey’s video on the game. If the end of the video doesn’t sell you on it, nothing will.

GOOGLE REVEALS THE STADIA

Streaming continues to be the future of not just the music, film and TV industries, but gaming too. Google is banking on this after revealing Google Stadia at the Game Developers Conference 2019. Stadia continues on from last year’s Project Stream that invited testers to try running Assassin’s Creed Odyssey in the Google Chrome browser.

Is Google the first to provide a game streaming service? Not at all. OnLive is considered to be the first, but it failed to meet its full potential and Sony ended up buying its patents. Speaking of Sony, they’ve had their own streaming service since 2014. PlayStation Now holds a library of over 600 games to stream or download.

Jeff Gerstmann, gaming journalist, has shared his views on the Stadia. It may be exciting, but he states that:

“There’s something scary about handing Google, or any one company, the keys. The minute you’re streaming, they can shut it off whenever they want and wherever they want for a variety of reasons. It checks so many boxes for a dark future…”

Also, BBC News has an interesting article that speculates on what the Stadia may bring in the future.

Shahan’s Opinion: I doubt my terrible Wi-Fi connection will be able to support the service! It will probably be a subscription service. And that controller? A Google Assistant button? Ugh. I’m very sceptical but it is Google… One of the Big Four…

VAMPIRE: THE MASQUERADE – BLOODLINES 2 ANNOUNCED

What came as a surprise to fans of the first game, Paradox Interactive announced Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2. The release date will be during the first quarter of 2020. Some would say this is their Half Life 3 and they thought it would never see the light of day, much like the denizens in the games themselves. As the devs have confirmed it will always be night time just like in the first game.

For those of us who are unaware, let’s have a quick look at the setting of the first game. It takes place in 21st century Los Angeles in the World of Darkness where supernatural creatures like vampires and werewolves pave the path of human history. There is the Camarilla, the vampire government, and seven unique vampire clans each with their own unique traits or abilities. The protagonist is a freshly-turned vampire getting used to his/her new way of life while making allies and enemies along the way.

Shahan’s Opinion: Prior to this announcement I’ve not even heard of these games. Vampire action RPGs set in the modern day? I got to check the first one out ASAP!

FULL TRAILER OF FFXIV: SHADOWBRINGERS RELEASED

Square Enix has dropped the full trailer of Shadowbringers, the upcoming expansion of their popular MMO Final Fantasy XIV. It boasts impressive visuals for a cinematic that is befitting the series (Agni’s Philosophy from seven years ago, for example). It gives you a glimpse of what’s to come and there’s even a reference to Magus’ famous line from Chrono Trigger! Here’s a brief look at most of what Shadowbringers will include:

  • New gender locked races: Viera (♀) from FF Tactics Advance and FFXII and Hrothgar (♂) who are based on the Ronso from FFX.
  • New cities and areas.
  • New jobs: Gunbreakers and Dancers.
  • New 8-player raids and alliance raids.
  • New dungeons and trials.
  • New Game+
  • Level cap increased from 70 to 80.

There has been an outcry by the FFXIV community, primarily over two things. Namely, the two new races being gender-locked, and dancers not being a new healer class.

The devs cite the lore that explains Male Viera do exist; they don’t appear in public. To make up for it, they announced the male-only Hrothgar to a Japanese audience at the Tokyo Fanfest. Some would say they did this because a Western crowd would not be afraid to boo them off-stage (see: the Diablo Immortal débâcle).

Regarding dancers being ranged DPS, this means that another expansion arrives with no new healer class. The latest one was the Astrologians in the Heavensward expansion back in 2015. The next expansion after Shadowbringers is speculated to be in 2021, so it will be six years without a new healer class. On the other hand, some fans are relieved that dancers are not healers. Probably because they don’t want to be responsible for keeping their team alive.

Shahan’s Opinion: I love a good cinematic and this trailer is an absolute spectacle. I need that soundtrack as that trailer music is incredible, especially when it resembles FF3’s Legend of the Eternal Wind. Wait! There’ll be a class that wields gunblades??? I’m subscribing again.

HALO AMA REVEALS NEW DETAILS

 

 

Ske7ch, 343 Industries’ community director, conducted an AMA (Ask Me Anything) on Reddit’s Gaming subreddit for the Master Chief Collection, Halo Reach and the Halo Insider program. He was joined by lead producer Michael Fahrny and they answered redditor’s questions for approximately two hours.

A comprehensive summary of all the details that have been revealed over the AMA can be found here. Some highlights of the info include Halo Reach will still have its mix and match armour customization and their goal is to support uncapped FPS on all titles and 144Hz+ for all of the MCC games.

Gabe Newell, President of Valve, was emailed by a fan about the Master Chief Collection and the efforts it took to bring it to Steam. He replies:

“The credit for this goes to Phil Spencer and his team at MS. They made it happen, so, yes, it was simple for us.”

Shahan’s Opinion: It is always good to see positive communication between developers and gamers. Transparency is always welcome.

GLOSSING OVER…

Twitch Streamer Completes the Soulsborne Lot!

The_Happy_Hob, a Twitch streamer, has completed back-to-back playthroughs of all the Soulsborne games. WITHOUT taking a SINGLE hit from enemies! Not even hits that would heal damage!

Epic Store Unpopularity Increases

This comes with the news that The Outer Worlds, among other games, are to be released on Epic Store only. Steam do not get a look-in.

More Details on COD: MW4 Multiplayer

It was confirmed last week that the multiplayer mode of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 will neither feature a Battle Royale mode, nor any specialist characters. This is apparently an attempt to bring the COD franchise back to its roots.

PLAYING THIS WEEK…

Dale has been playing…

ZOOCUBE (2002) (GAMECUBE)

Okay, I know this may seem a little bizarre but there’s an element of nostalgia to the story. Animal-based puzzler ZooCube was the first game I ever owned on Gamecube, alongside Luigi’s Mansion. I was sorting through my cupboards and came across it — to my amazement, it still works perfectly fine despite being nearly 17 years old! And is still a lot of addictive fun.

For those not familiar, it’s a basic match-two game featuring shapes based on different animals, which get attracted to the eponymous ZooCube. You have to match as many as possible to clear the levels and proceed – no airs and graces about it at all. I like it – there’s a charm about it that I can’t quite resist…

Master Chief Collection Coming to PC

ISSUE 14 — 17 March 2019

by Shahan Ahmed and Dale Hurst

Top Story: MASTER CHIEF COLLECTION FOR PC ANNOUNCED

The famed Halo series is back! It’s coming to Steam and the Windows store later this year. Pricing is yet to be revealed. Each game in the collection will be released one by one. Halo Reach will be in 4K, 60FPS and has HDR. The Steam page for the collection is already up.

Fans were so happy with the news that they’ve bombarded the developer, 343 Industries, with pizzas. This happens after redditor ‘thewombinthesky’ pre-emptively promised pizza to a responding 343 employee if MCC for PC is announced.

Shahan’s Opinion: Halo isn’t for me personally, but it’s always great to see fans of a time-honoured game series come out of the woodwork to celebrate this announcement. And it’s always great when fans send boatloads of food to devs. Another example of this happening is when Blizzard received hundreds of cookies from Overwatch fans years ago.

ANTHEM FANS CONDUCTED A BLACKOUT

After the latest update for Anthem was released and when the player base experienced the ins and outs of all the new changes, they were not happy. Therefore, a protest went underway to send a message to the developers, investors, etc., directly referring to the rate of loot drops in the game, as it does not adequately reward the amount of time that a player invests in the game. It also mentions the fact that it’s a game with real money transactions for cosmetics, even though there are barely any cosmetics.

And like salvaging parts from a fallen freelancer in-game, the developers are currently underway salvaging Anthem, but not as simply or successfully. This week on the EA Help Twitter, they are looking for help in identifying issues in quickplay missions currently. It just comes across like the game was released far too early and players are just paying to be beta testers. This is far too common in the gaming industry. Understandably game development is more costly and complex from the days of Atari or Dreamcast, but it’s not entitled of consumers to ask for a polished and complete product.

Shahan’s Opinion: Oh boy. To be honest, I’ve been unintentionally conducting a blackout on the game since I last played it. I’ll hop back on if/when Bioware manages to turn things around.

ANOTHER GOKU COMING TO FIGHTERZ

New characters continue to fly into Dragon Ball FighterZ, the DBZ fighting game that many consider to be the best amongst them all. The latest to be revealed is another form of Goku. Specifically his appearance in the non-canon series, Dragon Ball GT. His moves include the Super Kamehameha and the Super Spirit Bomb as well as the Reverse Kamehameha and the good old Power Pole! He is also said to have a hidden attack. Could it involve GT’s infamous Super Saiyan 4 form? We’ll have to wait and see!

For anyone unaware what Dragon Ball GT is and how it fits in with the other Dragon Ball series, here’s a quick run-through. First came the original Dragon Ball; a charming, goofy adventure that followed a little Son Goku and the friends he made as they searched for the Dragon Balls. Dragon Ball Z was next and is the most famous series in the franchise. It introduced the golden, spiky Super Saiyan form, fusions and more. What followed after this was Dragon Ball GT. It brought the focus back on the Dragon Balls and the consequences of them being excessively used since the very beginning. GT was vilified for Goku being turned back into a kid, the minimal involvement of creator Akira Toriyama and various other reasons. Thus it became non-canon. Dragon Ball Super is the current series and continues on from DBZ.

Shahan’s Opinion: They’re acknowledging GT in this game? Ugh. I’d prefer if it was just Kid Goku from the original Dragon Ball with a little Chi Chi throwing her helmet blade or Young Bulma gunning opponents down!

HAS THE PUBG CREATOR LEFT PUBG?

The answer is… no!

Brendan “PlayerUnknown” Greene has released a statement that you can read above. The creator of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds is moving on to create a new division within the PUBG Corp. He will head up the PUBG Special Projects division that will focus on research. He is still tied to the Battle Royale game as a ‘consulting creative director’.

Shahan’s Opinion: Naming your company after your product can be a risky move. It may be simple and easy to understand like Google or Amazon. But then there’s this… PUBG (Game). PUBG Corp. PUBG MadGlory, LLC. PUBG Special Division. What’s next?

SOLAR ASH KINGDOM REVEALED

Heart Machine, the developer of award-winning game Hyper Light Drifter, have announced their next game, Solar Ash Kingdom. Unlike HLD, which is a 2D action RPG, Solar Ash Kingdom is full 3D with third-person camera view. Disasterpeace returns for the game’s soundtrack. The dev has confirmed it is not a sequel to Hyper Light Drifter, but it is set in the same universe.

Shahan’s Opinion: It can be rough seeing a studio go from making a 2D game to 3D. Judging from the trailer alone they are well on their way to pulling it off because it looks MAGICAL.

GLOSSING OVER…

Warner Bros. Interactive and Turtle Rock Studios announce Back 4 Blood

The spiritual successor to Left 4 Dead has been announced earlier this week. It is otherwise, not a sequel, but a zombie co-op FPS “built from the ground up as an original, premium title…”

DMC5 Tops UK Retail Charts

It only launched last week and Devil May Cry 5 has already hit the #1 spot on the UK retail charts. It is the first time a game in the DMC franchise has topped a chart since 2013.

Could Cyberpunk 2077 Feature Lady Gaga?

The Oscar-nominated singer and actress Lady Gaga is rumoured to be in collaboration with CD Projekt Red on their hotly-anticipated game Cyberpunk 2077. Nothing is confirmed for certain yet, but there’s chatter going around in France that she could be doing motion capture for the game, even featuring as a character. Who knows? Watch this space, I guess…

PLAYING THIS WEEK…

Shahan has been playing…

SUPER PAPER MARIO (2007) (Wii)

Dale has introduced me to the Paper Mario games and this week we started Super Paper Mario. It pales in comparison to The Thousand-Year Door (which we completed previously) but it still has its own charming characters. It’s great that Peach is a mainstay in the party, but I sure do miss Goombella…

“Capcom is Back!” says CEO

ISSUE 13 — 10 March 2019

by Shahan Ahmed and Dale Hurst

Top Story: DMC5 LAUNCHED — “CAPCOM IS BACK!” CEO SAYS…

Dante is back with the release of Devil May Cry 5. It has received rave reviews and many claim this to be the best the series has to offer. On Steam, the game has had the second best launch for Capcom, only being beaten out by Monster Hunter: World. DMC5’s producer, Matt Walker, has recorded the CEO of Capcom USA, Kiichiro Urata, saying:

“Capcom is back!”

In Devil May Cry 5, you get to play as three different protagonists, each bringing their own unique style of gameplay:

Nero – The Young Devil Hunter. He’s gained more experience since the incident at Fortuna and opening a Devil May Cry branch there.

V – The Mysterious One. He is Dante’s latest client. A human that seems to have demonic ties.

Dante – The Legendary Devil Hunter. He’s back with his sword Rebellion and his trusty guns Ebony and Ivory for plenty of demon-killing action.

If you’re thinking of picking the game up, there are certain things to keep in mind when it comes to different versions of the game. For example, the Deluxe Edition allows you to swap in the pre-vis live action cutscenes. It feels like you’re watching a DMC movie! Also the west’s PS4 version of the game is more censored than on PC and Xbox One. There are some scenes containing nudity that is hidden by lens flares in the PS4 version.

Shahan’s Opinion: The series looks to be in top form in the latest instalment. I love Nero’s new look. It definitely differentiates him from being the Dante lookalike he was in DMC4. Speaking of, Dante looking like a grizzly old badass is great.

ANTHEM CRASHING PS4s

Bioware’s latest game, Anthem, has had a launch that may be giving Fallout 76 a run for its money. Prior to launch, the ‘VIP demo’ (basically a beta test) revealed plenty of bugs and glitches. The launch also had plenty of bugs and glitches. And the reviews have not been great. One example of a huge bug is that the Level 1 Defender gun (a default weapon) has been discovered to be the best weapon in the game possibly due to how they’ve designed the scaling in the game. But moving on to the biggest concern right now…

There has been reports that the game has been crashing PS4s! It’s been mistakenly reported to be ‘bricking’ them. This is an incorrect term, as that would mean the PS4s are permanently broken and, hence, would basically be bricks. As the news and number of crashing PS4s became widespread, Sony started offering refunds for the game.

EA and Bioware are trying to resolve the situation. They’ve asked fans to discuss and identify the issue over on their EA Answers HQ message board. Regarding Anthem’s in-game issues, Bioware are making changes. But judging from the rioting happening by the player base over on the game’s subreddit, they are going to have to pull off a miracle to turn things around.

Shahan’s Opinion: I’ve actually given this game a shot a while ago. The gameplay is definitely fun and makes you feel like Iron Man! But the story is nowhere near Bioware’s best work. And the loadings screens really are ridiculous. A fan actually compared them to the infamous game Sonic ’06 and its loading screens.

AMY HENNIG’S VIEWS ON THE GAMING INDUSTRY

You know Amy Hennig? She’s the writer who’s been in the gaming industry for 30 years, which won her a Lifetime Achievement Award. She is known for her work on various games, from Legacy of Kain to Uncharted. And now, she has shared her opinion on the current state of AAA games development.

Hennig has taken a break from being part of a huge team that is common in triple-A games development and may not return to it. After hearing stories of game companies laying off hundreds of people, it’s understandable when she says that these are red flags and things are not working the way they used to. Her solution is to look to the TV and film industries. Less in-house production and more external contractors. If you want to see her views in full detail, check it out here.

If you want to know more about Amy Hennig, she’s recently shown up at the DICE Summit 2019 for an interview. That’s the video at the top of the section, by the way.

Shahan’s Opinion: One example that contradicts some of her views is Capcom. Years ago they were considered to be failing and their games were disappointing many of their fans. This was seen to be because they hired external companies to develop their games. They decided to bring everything back to work on them in-house and now they’re more popular than ever! In any case if Legacy of Kain ever returns, she needs to be on that development team!

NINTENDO CARDBOARD USED FOR VR

Remember the Nintendo Labo? No? Those kits with cardboard cut-outs that you build and then use in combination with your Nintendo Switch? For more info, check out this educational video on the construction toy.

Nintendo has announced the Nintendo Labo Toy-Con 04: VR Kit. Build it. Slot your Switch in. Buy some accessories and make a cardboard elephant for example. The release date is 12th April.

Shahan’s Opinion: Bundle this with a new Pokémon Snap. Do it Nintendo!

 

GLOSSING OVER…

Rape Day Not Coming to Steam, says Valve

Gaming publisher Valve has confirmed, after a lengthy silence and mounting controversy, that the indie game set around the violent sexual assault of women will not be released on Steam. They have claimed that the game poses unknown costs and risks.

Kamek and Dry Bones Come to Mario Tennis

The roster of characters for Mario Tennis Aces continues to grow, with the announcement of two further new players. Both of them making their debut in the sub-series, the chief Magikoopa Kamek and the undead Koopa Troopa Dry Bones will both take to the court in April and May respectively.

Annual “Return to Yharnam” Event is Underway

The two-week mass-community Bloodborne gameplay event began today. You can find out more about the event and get involved via this Reddit thread.

PLAYING THIS WEEK…

A new section we’re trying out; keeping you up-to-date with our gaming lives.

Dale has been playing… 

CALL OF DUTY: MODERN WARFARE REMASTERED (2017) (PS4)

I am a total COD novice – I’ll say that now. Giving me a PS4 controller and telling me to play a first-person shooter is like giving a chainsaw to a kitten. If you care about your stats, avoid me at all costs.

All that being said, it was certainly a fun first-time experience. A lot of COD fans may not have even touched the COD: MW Remastered. Indeed, I discussed the Prop Hunt mode with a couple of my friends, who had never even heard of it!

It’s so much fun – ideal for parties where you can just pass the controllers around. One team hides, disguised as inanimate objects – depending on the map, this could be something as mundane as a barrel, a chair or a signpost, to something more zany such as a watermelon or an inflatable dolphin. The other team then has to find you, basically by shooting any and all inanimate objects on the map. Gets you thinking. “Should that toolbox be on top of that barrel? I’ll shoot it to find out”. Best one I saw: a watermelon hidden under a seat on a bus. Genius.

Prop Hunt is basically an FPS-infused game of hide-and-seek. Great fun; highly recommended.

Pokémon Sword and Shield Announced

ISSUE 12 — 3 March 2019

by Shahan Ahmed and Dale Hurst

Top Story — POKÉMON SWORD AND SHIELD VERSIONS: WHAT WE KNOW SO FAR

The next generation of Pokémon has been announced! Pokemon Sword and Shield will be part of the core series (unlike Let’s Go Eevee and -Pikachu) and will be available late-2019 on the Nintendo Switch.

The three new starters have also been shown off in the announcement trailer. They are:

Scorbunny – A Rabbit Pokémon that is always running about, bursting with energy.

Sobble – A somewhat timid Water Lizard Pokemon that shoots out attacks as it hides itself in the water.

Grookey – A mischievous Chimp Pokemon that is full of boundless curiosity.

Sword and Shield will be set in a region called Galar. It is loosely based on the UK and promises to include many environments including “idyllic countryside, contemporary cities, thick forests and craggy, snow-covered mountains”.

Fans are already making tons of artwork of the new games. One example being the new starters depicted as Game Boy sprites. Regarding the starters, a fan has also pointed out that they look strangely similar to the Powerpuff Girls!

A lot of jokes are also being made in relation to the game taking place in British-inspired location. As the game seems to start you off in the fields of Scotland, Scottish fans have been making phonetic dialogue for the female protagonist. A voice actor has even gone ahead and voiced some.

Shahan’s Opinion: The new region looks pretty picturesque! I initially liked Scorbunny most out of the starters but the anxiety-ridden chameleon is really growing on me. It all depends on the final evolutions of course.

Dale’s Opinion: At first glance, I’m quite excited. Haven’t enjoyed a home console Pokémon game since Colosseum! I can usually make a decision about which of the starters I’d choose, but it’s quite difficult this time around. And as for the UK-inspired setting, there had better not be any British stereotypes in there. Old-fashioned slang and so on will not be appreciated!

ISSUES ESCALATE BEYOND GAMING FOR DEVOTION

 

 

 

 

Red Candle Games, the Taiwan-based indie developer who made the award-winning game Detention, have recently released their second game Devotion. It hit the #1 position on Steam’s Top Selling chart with thousands of positive reviews, giving it an ‘Overwhelmingly Positive’ overall rating. The Chinese gaming community were loving it just as they did with their first game.

The Rising Political Tension

However, things start to take a turn for the worse. Certain art assets were discovered in-game that were deemed insulting by Chinese gamers. Talismans that insult mothers, as well as a political insult that brings up the comparison between the Chinese President and Winnie the Pooh.

There is also a name from a pre-launch ARG event that has been interpreted to mean the citizens of mainland China and the game is allegedly cursing them. This is dangerous as it is a time of great political tension between Taiwan (an island with its sovereignty being a major topic) and China (who view Taiwan as a province and part of their “One China”.)

On 23rd February, the review-bombing on Steam started, crashing the overall rating down to ‘Mostly Negative’. The same was done to their first game Detention. Chinese streamers and Internet personalities have changed their opinions to negative ones after hearing about what’s been discovered and talked about. Red Candle Games was considered to be politically attacking the Chinese president and people. What’s more, Chinese gamers felt backstabbed after supporting the dev and their games.

Devotion was delisted from Chinese Steam store and all mention of Steam, Devotion and Red Candle Games were removed from Chinese gaming forums completely. Afterwards, as more of Taiwan heard of the incident, Taiwanese gamers were hostile and mocked Chinese gamers. The situation continued to grow from a gaming issue to a major political one in which the general public that knew little about the dev or the issue started sharing their opinions.

Devotion’s Current Status

As of writing, the game is still not available on Steam. It was taken down to fix technical issues that are causing crashes, as well as to conduct another complete QA check. The team have also said they will check for unintended materials again so focus can be back on the game itself when it returns. Check out their official statement here.

If you want to know more about the situation, Spiel Times have made an impressive report attempting to cover the different perspectives (Chinese, Taiwanese and neutral) on the story.

Shahan’s Opinion: It’s a shame this is happening with Devotion. It is an amazing game that will resonate with fathers/parents in general. It’s also an incredible insight into Taiwanese culture as was their first game.

BOWSER IS PRESIDENT AS REGGIE STEPS DOWN

 

 

Reggie Fils-Aimé has made the decision to retire from his position as President of Nintendo of America as of April 15th 2019, having been with Nintendo for 15 years. He left a message for all Nintendo fans on the Nintendo of America Twitter.

Doug Bowser 1

He will be succeeded by current Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Doug Bowser.

Yes. His surname is Bowser. While Reggie was loved by many who are sad to see him go, Nintendo fans couldn’t help but make the same jokes on social media regarding the fact that Mario’s nemesis has taken over the company.

Doug Bowser 2

Shahan’s Opinion: Not only did Reggie represent Nintendo at events with plenty of charisma, he was truly a gamer himself. He’ll be missed.

THQ NORDIC APOLOGISES FOR 8CHAN AMA

 

The publisher was invited to do an AMA (Ask Me Anything) on 8chan, a site that has been delisted by Google multiple times in the past. To put it into perspective, the site broke away from 4chan for being too full of censorship.

The AMA proceeded to include plenty of offensive content and questions, some of which the publisher’s employees actually responded to. Examples of what could be found in the AMA include racial slurs, Hitler references, pornography and much more.

Hours later, the PR and Marketing Manager Philipp Brock made a statement on Twitter, apologising and taking full responsibility for the decision to do this AMA. This has understandably caused damage to the publisher and developers who are owned by THQ have said they are ashamed to be associated with them as their reputations may be tarnished as well.

Shahan’s Opinion: Another gaming industry PR disaster. How does a PR manager not know anything about a site they’re going to do an AMA on? I feel sorry for the innocent devs who will be linked to this incident.

RED DEAD ONLINE’S FIRST MAJOR UPDATE

 

 

 

Rockstar has released a new update for the Red Dead Online ‘Beta’. It brings new clothing, weapons and emotes but no new missions. It also has new features that attempt to tackle the griefing issue. This includes changes to player blips, parleys and feuds as well as changes to the law and bounty system. Weapon balances have been implemented and yes that includes changes to the Varmint Rifle. Check out IGN’s RDR2 wiki to see the full list.

However, many fans are not happy. One in particular has translated Rockstar’s update and how it comes across to the community. One of the points it makes include how they’ve backpedalled and made it harder for players to make in-game money and therefore promoting their micro-transactions. Read it here.

Shahan’s Opinion: I loved Red Dead Online but soon ran out of things to do. I’m honestly disappointed with how it’s being handled and I hope Rockstar manages to breathe new life into it as I am not impressed with its current state.

CYBERPUNK 2077 CONFIRMED FOR E3 2019 SHOWING

CD Projekt Red have revealed on Cyberpunk 2077’s official Twitter that the game will have a showing at this year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo. Will there be a release date? We’ve come a long way from the teaser trailer at the beginning of 2013.

An adaptation of Cyberpunk 2020, a 1988 tabletop game by Mike Pondsmith, the highly anticipated game is set in Night City of the Free State of North California, a futuristic dystopia that continues to perpetuate the American dream.

You play as a mercenary named V, who can be greatly customised. From their gender and stats to their clothing and backstory. If you want to know more there’s the trailer from E3 last year as well as 48 minutes of alpha gameplay, which looks amazing as is but the devs are saying it’s still not indicative of the final product!

Shahan’s Opinion: This is without a doubt at the top of my list of anticipated games. I can’t wait!

GLOSSING OVER…

Anthem Tops UK Sale Chart in First Week…

…But with only half as many copies sold as BioWare’s last game, Mass Effect: Andromeda. This stat is all the more disappointing, given that Andromeda in turn sold only half as many copies in its first week than its own predecessor, Mass Effect 3. Hopefully this won’t be a pattern BioWare continues to follow in future…

Second Anniversary to Horizon Zero Dawn

And with this milestone comes another — Horizon Zero Dawn has hit the 10 million copy mark. Twice the reason to celebrate.

PS Vita Production Ends in Japan

They have been going since December 2011, and now it’s time to say goodbye to the PS Vita. Shipments for the final two models being produced in Japan ended on Friday 1st.

Terry Crews Simulator Launches

ISSUE 11 — 17 February 2019

by Shahan Ahmed and Dale Hurst

Top Story — TERRY CREWS SIMULATOR IS HERE!

Crackdown 3 launched a couple of days ago. I’m sure you couldn’t miss the advertising campaign for the game, featuring Terry Crews in his sci-fi armour being his usual amped up self. Now you can finally BE him as his character, Commander Jaxon, in the futuristic city of New Providence with its holograms and Hot Wheels-looking space cars. You can also play as one of his agents… but that would be silly.

After all the hype and build-up, was it worth the five-year wait? Well, so far it has received a mixed reception. Many feel that the graphics and gameplay are very outdated. The multiplayer, ‘Wrecking Zone’, is said to be simple with no progression system but future updates will be coming so the potential is there. Whatever the case if you enjoyed the first Crackdown, this is more of the same and is considered to be the sequel that fans deserved more so than Crackdown 2.

Shahan’s Opinion: It may not be the prettiest looking game but it looks like simple, mindless fun! I’ve not played the previous two but it reminds me a little of Saints Row. I’d prefer to play this on console rather than PC. Which is unfortunate as it’s a Microsoft exclusive, their console being the one I don’t have.

LINK’S (RE-)AWAKENING

Nintendo Direct this week showed off plenty of exciting news of upcoming games and updates. It included Deltarune, Fire Emblem: Three Houses, Final Fantasy and much more (sorry; still no Animal Crossing).

The news broadcast ended with an amazing reveal. Link’s Awakening, a beloved Game Boy classic from 1993, is being reimagined and brought to the Nintendo Switch this year. It boasts a new art style that is still incredibly faithful to the original. If you want to see how the new graphics compare to the old, GameXplain have recreated the trailer in the original Game Boy game.

On a side note, Super Mario Maker 2 was also revealed at the Nintendo Direct. To be released in June, it will allow a New Super Mario Bros. U art style for your levels. Luigi and Toadette wearing Cat Suits have also been seen. Hopefully more information won’t be too far away…

Shahan’s Opinion: I absolutely love the old 2D Zelda games, especially the Oracle ones. I’m liking the new style. Hearing Marin hum the Ballad of the Wind Fish at the end of that trailer. Oh. Lord. Can’t wait to relive this game and be crushed by its sadness again. It’s kinda like re-watching the intro to Pixar’s Up on YouTube. Am I right? No? It’s just me? Okay.

HOLLOW KNIGHT: SILKSONG REVEALED

Team Cherry, the small indie dev from Australia, are making a sequel to their acclaimed and beloved game Hollow Knight. What started out as DLC, Hollow Knight: Silksong has you playing as Hornet. She made an appearance in the first game as a recurring boss and one of the protagonist’s siblings presumably. Hornet is very acrobatic and wields a needle and thread.

If you’re unfamiliar with Hollow Knight, here’s a quick look at what it’s about. It is set in an ancient kingdom in an underground world. The inhabitants are insect-like beings who used to worship The Radiance, until the arrival of The Pale King, who was reborn from a dying wyrm. The Radiance brought unity but she made the bugs a hive mind without thought. The Pale King expanded their minds under his influence. He made a plan to supplant The Radiance using the Void, a substance from The Abyss that The Radiance considers her ancient enemy. The plan goes awry and an infection spreads across the populace. They lose their expanded minds and turn to husks. The Knight set out to seal The Radiance once and for all.

Shahan’s Opinion: What a mesmerising world Team Cherry have created. The characters make me think of No-Face from Spirited Away and the Kodamas in Princess Mononoke.

THE LATEST BATTLE ROYALE…: TETRIS!?!

Forget Apex Legends. Forget Fortnite. The latest Battle Royale is here only on Nintendo Switch and it’s… Tetris 99! Yup, that’s right.

You face off against 98 other players at the same time, clearing rows and sending ‘garbage’ to other players in a race to be the last one standing. While you play, you can see the boards of all other players. You can choose specific players to target or let the computer choose for you. Knocking players out with garbage earns you badges. More badges means you can send more garbage at a time. There is a sense of progression in the game as you can level up from the experience you earn from matches. Tetris 99 also promises to have special events.

Shahan’s Opinion: This is undoubtedly a great way to test how you fare with your Tetris peers.

UPDATE: MCN SITUATIONS

A couple of weeks back, we informed you on two situations occurring with two different multi-channel networks; Machinima and DEFY Media. Here’s an update on both.

Rooster Teeth, the company behind animated series such as Red vs. Blue and RWBY as well as YouTube channels such as Achievement Hunter and Funhaus, worked hard to save all of the lost gaming video content and series that were lost when Machinima shut down. Some of the more popular videos were done by a group called Inside Gaming. The original crew of Adam Kovic, Bruce Greene, James Willems and friends left Machinima years ago after witnessing signs of its downfall first-hand. They went on to create Funhaus with the help of and being under the umbrella of Rooster Teeth. Now everything has come full circle and they have Inside Gaming back in their hands. Machinima’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts are converting to Inside Gaming. On YouTube itself, what used to be Rooster Teeth’s channel ‘The Know’ is now Inside Gaming’s official YouTube channel. All of their old videos are available on the Rooster Teeth website under ‘Classic Inside Gaming’.

Moving on to the situation involving DEFY Media’s shutdown and content creators such as Game Theory and SMOSH. Ally Bank, the current holders of the $1.7 million, made a tweet saying they also lose out in this situation and a professional has been hired by Defy’s board of directors to liquidate the company. Matpat goes on to explain that Ally Bank is using false equivalence to show itself as victims just as much as the content creators who might as well be considered small-time business owners. Check out his video for a full and well-spoken explanation.

Shahan’s Opinion: It’s great news to be able to watch the old Inside Gaming content. I highly recommend their Drunk Mario Kart video.

GLOSSING OVER…

Massive Layoffs at Activision-Blizzard

This should have been a much bigger section in this issue, but once you trawl through all the corporate jargon, you don’t come out with much useful information. In short, nearly 10,000 employees at Activision-Blizzard are being laid off as of last Tuesday’s report. Apparently, the staffing cuts are not affecting game development departments.

Darksiders III Breaks Even

Following on from us covering the game’s launch, we’d like to bring some good news for the Darksiders series’ potential future. The game has recouped the money spent on development and marketing. Surely we’ll get to play as Strife, the final Horseman, in his own game.

Apex Legends Tops on Twitch

It was a great first week for Apex Legends on Twitch, as it beat out Fortnite on viewership figures. The only question is now… will the success continue or will it be short-lived?

Apex Legends: the next Fortnite!?!

ISSUE 10 — 10 February 2019

by Shahan Ahmed and Dale Hurst

Top Story — APEX LEGENDS RELEASED

Respawn Entertainment, the creators of the award-winning Titanfall series, have taken their plunge into the Battle Royale genre with the release of Apex Legends. It is free to play, has loot boxes and is available on PS4, Xbox One and PC. PS+ subscribers can also get the ‘PlayStation Plus Play Pack’.

The launch was a success with a million unique players reached in under eight hours. In 24 hours, they reached 2.5 million players, which dwarfs Fortnite’s 1 million from their first day. Now, Apex has exceeded 10 million players. Executive producer Drew McCoy has written a letter to the community discussing what their aim was, what they’ve been through and thanking all of the players.

One of the aspects that the game is being lauded for is its game mechanics and how they have dealt with some of the biggest problems in the Battle Royale genre. One mechanic being the ability to revive your teammates or be revived by them yourself. It means that time isn’t wasted watching teammates attempt to win matches that can take up to half an hour. Another that many are talking about is the in-depth ping system. It makes the language barrier a non-issue and allows anyone without a mic to contribute just as much to the team.

There’s bad news for anyone waiting for Titanfall 3 — it’s not happening. In an effort to be open and transparent, Drew McCoy has gone on record stating that the world thinks they are making Titanfall 3 but they are not and are making Apex instead.

He also said:

“We’re doing a free to play game, with essentially loot boxes, after we were bought by EA, and it’s not Titanfall 3. It’s the perfect recipe for a marketing plan to go awry, so why have that – let’s just ship the game and let players play.”

A very clever move (feels unusual for the gaming industry) that has, no doubt, avoided a lot of potential backlash. As Respawn will be working on Apex Legends as a live service game, Titanfall 3 is not likely to be seen in the near future, if at all.

Shahan’s Opinion: I’ve mentioned previously that Battle Royale games aren’t my thing. However, the characters are likeable; them and their ults somewhat remind me of Overwatch. Also the PS+ incentives might just about pull me in.

THE WITCHER ARRIVES TO MONSTER HUNTER: WORLD

Ciri isn’t the only one travelling between worlds. After his stint in Soulcalibur VI, Geralt has arrived in Monster Hunter: World with Doug Cockle reprising the role as voice actor. The event puts you in control of the protagonist from The Witcher series as he solves new mysteries. There’s new gear and weapons to craft for both your hunter and Palico. An upcoming quest called “Contract: Woodland Spirit” will be available for hunters over the rank of HR50 from 15th February to 1st March. This will reward you with the Ciri full armor set and matching dual blades!

This crossover (which is already being deemed a perfect combination) shows the efforts Capcom continues to display in supporting Monster Hunter: World. This event boasts enough content to match or even surpass the crossover with Final Fantasy XIV.

Shahan’s Opinion: Last year I spent literally hundreds of hours on Monster Hunter: World. I’ve still got a few gold crowns to collect before I achieve 100% completion. This event will definitely get me back on the hunt.

PHYSICAL RELEASE CONFIRMED FOR THE OUTER WORLDS

Many are waiting for Obsidian Entertainment’s sci-fi RPG, The Outer Worlds. Especially after the débâcle that is Fallout 76, which is claimed by some to possibly be unfixable. As can be seen above, the game’s official Twitter account has announced that it will be getting a physical release.

Game Informer are doing a full month of exclusive coverage on The Outer Worlds including interviews with the original creators of Fallout, Tim Cain and Leonard Boyarsky. Here are just a few details that have been revealed regarding the game:

  • No third-person camera view
  • No morality system, only a reputation system
  • No hacking or lock-picking mini-games
  • Everyone can be killed. (No children in the game.)
  • Companions only die on the hardest difficulty (named Supernova).
  • Companions have a side quest each. Combat ability rises upon completion.
  • Companions don’t ruin stealth.

Shahan’s Opinion: Call me old-fashioned but I like physical discs for my video games. I like them in steelbooks and I don’t have any space left on my console for these digital copies.

NORMAN REEDUS’ VIEWS ON DEATH STRANDING

Last year in March, GameCentral Metro spoke to Norman Reedus on the set of his TV show ‘Ride with Norman Reedus’. He revealed details on his experience on Hideo Kojima’s highly-anticipated Death Stranding that have been embargoed until now.

Regarding the Metal Gear creator himself, Reedus says,

“That guy is such a genius, Hideo Kojima. I’m like, ‘Oh so they’ll be playing me?’ And he’s like, ‘No they are you. We will make them cry as you.’ I’m like, ‘What are you talking about? It’s a video game. … It’s kind of a new movie. I’ve never seen anything like what we’re doing. Guillermo Del Toro introduced me to him, who is also working on the game; he’s also a character in the game. I saw that video game director at the Video Game Music Awards, walk down the steps and they lit up underneath his feet like Michael Jackson and he goes, ‘I’m back.’ And the place is like, ‘Oh my god.’ Like grown men in tears. ‘I was like who is this god – whatever he wants to do I’ll do it. He’s a genius.”

Check out this article for more.

Norman will play the lead role and his fellow cast members include Mads Mikkelsen, Guillermo Del Toro, Lea Seydoux, Lindsay Wagner and Troy Baker.

Shahan’s Opinion: WHAT IS HAPPENING IN THIS GAME?

Dale’s Opinion: What Shahan said…

ASSASSIN’S CREED III IS GETTING REMASTERED

Ratonhnhaké:ton, better known as Connor Kenway, is back. Assassin’s Creed III Remastered has been announced this week for a release on March 29th for PS4, Xbox One and PC (no news for a Switch release). Relive Connor’s journey as he parkours across snow-covered tree branches and fights through the American Revolution.

In addition to AC3 you can obtain a remaster of Assassin’s Creed III: Liberation. This was a PS Vita exclusive that features the female assassin Aveline de Grandpré as the protagonist. This collection also includes the fascinating Tyranny of King Washington DLC series. They all have 4K HDR upgrades and various other enhancements for PS4 Pro, Xbox One X and PC.

For anyone who’s been playing Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, they can pick up the entire collection for free if they have the season pass. Otherwise it can be bought standalone.

Shahan’s Opinion: It’s often looked down upon after Connor had to follow Ezio Auditore’s life story. But I remember having a great time with it, which was impressive as Colonial America as a setting doesn’t interest me at all. The soundtrack was also phenomenal.

CRASH TEAM RACING NITRO-FUELED GAMEPLAY SURFACES

Gameplay has been shown this week for Beenox’s Crash Team Racing: Nitro-Fueled. It is a remaster of Naughty Dog’s Crash Team Racing. It’s being built from the ground up and will have new tracks, kart customisation and online play. The release date is June 21st this year and it is coming to PS4, Xbox One and even the Nintendo Switch! Once a PlayStation mascot, he will soon appear on a Nintendo console not unlike Sonic.

Check out this video to see more gameplay of the kart racer, including three different levels and how all of the characters handle. Avoid Polygon’s gameplay video as the person behind the controller is the journalist who infamously struggled with Cuphead’s tutorial for 26 minutes and caused an Internet uproar.

Shahan’s Opinion: As much as I love Crash, Mario Kart is the only kart-racer I am familiar with. I’m excited to see how this compares. The visuals are already looking incredible.

Dale’s Opinion: I do have a fair few good memories playing the original Crash Team Racing on the PS1 years and years ago. Like the Spyro remaster, this is the sort of nostalgia I’ll be looking for when I (eventually) get a PS4.

GLOSSING OVER…

Kingdom Hearts III hits 5 million mark

Shahan gave you the full lowdown in his special feature last week; it’ll come as little shock to you that the latest Kingdom Hearts instalment has already shipped over 5 million copies worldwide.

Dragon’s Dogma 2 lost out to Devil May Cry 5

Hideaki Itsuno has stated in response to queries regarding the long-awaited and long-desired Dragon’s Dogma sequel, that he chose to make Devil May Cry 5 first instead.

And the winner of Metacritic’s Best Publisher 2018 is… Capcom!

It was revealed at the beginning of this month that Capcom is the best-reviewed publisher for 2018, based on its scores on Metacritic. On average, Capcom has a score of 79.3.

 

Sora and Friends are Back! — Kingdom Hearts III Special

ISSUE 9 — 3 February 2019

by Shahan Ahmed and Dale Hurst

Special Feature — KINGDOM HEARTS III

by Shahan Ahmed

KH3 1

Kingdom Hearts III has finally launched this week (or last week if you’re in Japan)! We’ve been kept in the dark for so many years we may as well be one of the Heartless ourselves! The developers went through great difficulty due to a number of issues, such as changing to Unreal Engine 4 a year into development, but they have managed to pull it off! KH3 has garnered generally positive reviews and promises to provide long-awaited answers that we’ve been waiting for.

WARNING: POTENTIAL MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD!

FRIENDS

Sora sets out to regain his strength after losing it all at the end of Dream Drop Distance. As you join him on his journey, he will be meeting many friends – both old and new. Sora’s childhood friends (Riku and Kairi) and best buds (Donald and Goofy) are here. You’ll fight alongside Hercules and Captain Jack Sparrow once more. Examples of new friendships being made are Buzz and Woody in the Toy Box, Hiro and Baymax at San Fransokyo and Mike and Sully at Monstropolis.

FOES

Many enemies appear to test Sora’s mettle. The series’ staples Maleficent and Pete are back. They’re on the search for a mysterious black box. Hades reverts to his original age-old plan to rule the cosmos by enlisting the aid of the Titans and attack Olympus. Xehanort and the Organization are back of course! Some past members have actually become allies. Seemingly similar to KH2, a specific member is associated with or assigned to each Disney world.

FORM CHANGES

Let’s delve into the combat for a moment. Remember the cool drive forms in KH2? Well, they are back in a new fashion! Form changes can be activated during battles and most are dependent on what keyblade you are using (three can be equipped and switched between). Each have their own special abilities and they change Sora’s clothing. ‘Second Form’ is the first one available to you and it gives access to classic KH techniques like Sonic Blade and Ars Arcanum. Remember Anti-Sora? He’s back in ‘Rage Form’! Powerful but risky, it is accessible to Sora when low on health and out of magic points.

MINI-GAMES

Kingdom Hearts III brings a wealth of mini-games. You can find one near the beginning of the game after leaving Olympus. Backtrack to the Overlook in Thebes and there’ll be the Cherry Flan; one of the Flantastic Seven! Interacting with the flan lets you ride around Thebes on the Trinity Sled knocking out flans for points. The combat itself allows you to use links and attractions that are basically minigames themselves! From Blaster Blaze to the Magic Carousel. Each one makes every battle a big spectacular show!

Shahan’s Opinion: I literally got goosebumps watching the intro. I just can’t believe it’s actually here! I doubt I’ll feel like this again until the Final Fantasy VII remake. I’ll wait and see if it will surpass my personal fave: Birth by Sleep. But it is so beautiful! Near Pixar-quality visuals in the cutscenes and the environments. It’s even more awesome to know that Hayley Joel Osment (yeah The Sixth Sense kid) would be happy to voice-act Sora forever!

Negative Vibes: ANGER AND THREATS OVER METRO EXODUS EXCLUSIVITY

Metro Exodus is all set to launch this month on 15th February. It has been available to pre-order on Steam and other stores for many months now. However, it was announced that the game will be exclusive to the Epic Store for a year.  Steam pre-orders will be honoured. Unfortunately, the last-minute change that was made for profit has angered PC gamers to the point they review-bombed the other Metro games on Steam.

To further worsen customer relations, one of the developer’s employees has threatened that if PC players announce a boycott on their game, the next Metro game will not be coming to PC.

As much as Steam needs a competitor to combat its monopoly on the PC gaming platform, many would say Epic Games are going about it the wrong way. Check out this informative article over on Rock Paper Shotgun if you want to know more.

Shahan’s Opinion: The gaming industry is not doing well when it comes to PR. Maybe it would’ve been best to stay silent and wait out the storm in this situation. This same situation also supports the argument against pre-ordering.

New Character Spotlight: SNOW VILLIERS (Dissidia Final Fantasy NT)

The villains of Dissidia Final Fantasy will have Snow Villiers from the FFXIII trilogy join their ranks. His default appearance here lends itself from how he appears in the third game – Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII. Snow is already available for Dissidia Final Fantasy in arcades in Japan. He will be available for Dissidia Final Fantasy NT this month.

Shahan’s Opinion: I should point out I am a fan of the FFXIII trilogy, since I know how much it has split the fanbase. That being said, I have mixed feelings regarding Snow’s portrayal here.

I prefer the more upbeat, optimistic brawler in XIII and XIII-2 rather than the grim Lightning Return’s boss battle Snow. I also like his character design in XIII-2 the most. Sadly it is unlikely that will return, knowing each Dissidia character has two outfits each.

On the other hand, we already have Tifa to bring the punches for the good guys so Cie’th Snow on the villains’ side is still a cool way to represent the games he is from.

PIRANHA PLANT NOW AVAILABLE IN SMASH BROS.

It would be rude not to mention the update Super Smash Bros. Ultimate launched this week, which meant, among other things, first DLC character Piranha Plant is now available for play.

For the most part, its addition has not caused too many problems. That is to say, it isn’t quite perfect. You can’t use it for All-Star Smash without the game crashing, for example. Hopefully that will get fixed in the next patch, which should also bring Joker with it.

Dale’s Opinion: You may remember I did a little special feature on Ultimate when it first came out. Piranha Plant was on my list of five for a potential Squad Strike, and I’m happy to say it’ll stay there. It has great recovery and battering moves, plus spitting poison and summoning Petey Piranha is its Final Smash. Surprising for something I thought was a hoax, but a pleasant surprise all the same.

DRAGON BALL PROJECT Z ANNOUNCED

It’s time to relive the story of the mysterious Dragon Balls once again! Bandai Namco have released an announcement trailer, as well as a few details for Project Z. It is being developed by CyberConnect 2, who are known for the Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm and .Hack series. It is aimed to be released this year on PS4, Xbox One and PC. It will include both Japanese and English voiceovers.

Shahan’s Opinion: Massive Dragon Ball fan here. After watching Dragon Ball Super: Broly in the cinema, I hugely welcome this announcement. It’s exciting to see this is an action RPG and open-world too. It reminds me of fond memories I had playing Buu’s Fury on my Game Boy Advance SP.

POKÉMON PAIR UP IN THE TCG – TEAM UP NOW AVAILABLE!

Double battles are nothing new in the Pokémon video games but they’re here to be in the limelight in the latest trading card game expansion. Sun & Moon – Team Up features unique pairings of Pokémon to form the six new Tag Team Pokémon-GX cards. Check them out in the short video above. These cards are high-risk high reward. They have a lot of power and HP but if knocked out your opponent takes three Prize cards (six Prize cards equals a victory).

The expansion has 196 cards (including the secret rare ones) and it includes four Prism Star cards. There are also dozens of Trainer cards such as Erika’s Hospitality; the Full Art print of this card is glorious. The two theme decks for this expansion are called Relentless Flame (Charizard) and Torrential Cannon (Blastoise).

Shahan’s Opinion: It’s great that the focus is on the original 151 Pokémon. The pairings are great! I’m partial to the Latios and Latias pairing personally. If any were to be Dale’s favourite, it’s got to be the Gengar and Mimikyu duo.

Dale’s Opinion: Been a while since I even thought about Pokémon cards! But Shahan isn’t wrong – I do love my Ghost-types and Gengar (as well as Gastly and Haunter) is a personal fave.

GLOSSING OVER…

Resident Evil 2 Remake a Success

The remake of Resident Evil 2 has made it to the Top 5 Most-Played Games on Steam, a first for the franchise. Fans will also be happy to hear about three DLC stories coming soon.

Latest Fallout 76 Patch Reintroduces Old Bugs

The headline speaks for itself. Do you ever think they should just recall Fallout 76 and start again? Hasn’t been great for them so far, has it? One wonders if Bethesda are deliberately trying to alienate their players.

Sony Japan Patents New Backwards-Compatibility System

A system patented by Sony Japan is to be applied to a new console (at this time, hopefully the PS5). This system will enable that console’s CPU to interpret the central unit of previous PlayStation generations, from PS4 all the way back to the PS1.