After just having beaten Diablo II, I found myself looking for another ARPG looter game to fill its void. Diablo III was severely lacking in environmental and atmospheric tension, and I’ve already played the crap out of that, so that wasn’t an option. Then the Lost Ark closed beta dropped right into my lap. Perfect timing, I thought. While it doesn’t feature a world as interesting or thoughtfully fleshed out as some of its contemporaries, there’s no denying that the gameplay of Lost Ark is just pure, unbridled fun.

Right off the bat, the character creation and customization show a lot of promise. There are plenty of fun hairstyles to play around with, and while the facial and body tweaking settings may leave a little to be desired, Lost Ark makes up for it when it comes to choosing your play style. There are a handful of different classes to choose from, and within each of those classes are a few different combat styles you can pick as well.

I went with the martial artist as I was a fan of close-quarters combat, and was delighted to see that choice fork off into three other paths I could take. I ended up going with the Wardancer path and doubled down on close-range melee combat, but it’s nice to know that I could’ve built my martial artist in different ways if I was so inclined, which brings us to the meat and potatoes of Lost Ark: the combat.

The simple act of fighting and punching things in this game feels pretty damn satisfying. You hit the right-mouse button to perform a standard attack, and use your keyboard to execute various abilities at your disposal. They’re all on a cooldown timer, of course, so it quickly becomes key to chain them effectively to build long combos that can keep your opponents stunned.

We’re holding you to that one, chummer Believe it or not, it’s already that time of year, as preparations begin...

The post Geoff Keighley: Over 40 titles and no ‘NFT stuff’ from The Game Awards 2021 appeared first on Destructoid.

Another set of demons will join the roster of playable characters.

The post Demon Slayer: The Hinokami Chronicles Free Update Will Add Yahaba and Susamaru appeared first on Siliconera.

If you’re someone looking for a PlayStation 5 in time for the gift-giving season, or even before the end of March, it’s now going to be even harder. 

Buying a PS5 already feels like an arduous task. Unfortunately, according to a new Bloomberg report, it’s going to be even more challenging as Sony has reportedly cut its PS5 production numbers target by at least 1 million. The company initially aimed to assemble and manufacture more than 16 million PS5s before the end of March 2022, but that number was trimmed to roughly 15 million. 

Bloomberg’s report states that the original 16 million target was named to achieve its sales goal for the period and get a headstart on production for next year. As expected, the reason is “logistics issues and part shortages,” which have grown to be more severe for Sony, according to its chief financial officer Hiroki Totoki in an investors call in October. 

The PS5 is the first Sony console that reached 10 million units sold the fastest; Sony achieved this milestone in July. Still, Bloomberg reports that the pace has fallen behind due to production issues. Now, the PS5 is lagging behind the PlayStation 4. 

New Lies of P gameplay shows some opponents Pinocchio will face as he lies and fights his way through a Souls-like quest to become human.

The post Dark Souls-like Lies of P Gameplay Shows Pinocchio’s Search for Geppetto appeared first on Siliconera.

The most advanced M model will come with a Ryzen 9 5900X, RTX 3080, and a capture card.

The post Hololive’s Houshou Marine PC Will Be Sold in Three Models appeared first on Siliconera.

YouTube has announced plans to hide the dislike count for videos, and is now slowly rolling out the change across its platform.

A dislike button will still be shown to all, and a channel owner will still be able to privately view the number of dislikes on a particular video. The only change is that the count will no longer be public.

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Call of Duty: Vanguard on PS5

For years now, the Call of Duty series’ entries could be divided into three distinct pillars. There’s the single-player campaign, offering up a story of a personality-deprived soldier who embarks on an epic quest to save the world/ their country/ stop a really bad guy. It’s filled with explosive set-pieces that make it a memorable, albeit familiar feeling experience each year. Then you’ve got the multiplayer, Call of Duty’s bread and butter with its silky smooth, fast-paced action and bucket-loads of progression to keep you playing for hundreds of hours. Finally, there’s the ever-rotating third chair, often occupied by an offering of unloading thousands upon thousands of bullets into the undead as players try to survive as many rounds as they can. It’s a meaty collection and one that’s resonated with fans since the days of Call of Duty: World at War back in 2008. Now, 13 years later, Call of Duty: Vanguard takes us back into the World War II era with those familiar three pillars offering a mixed bag for players.

In this review, I’ll be covering everything CoD Vanguard has to offer, from the campaign through to zombies and my experiences in the multiplayer thus far. Keep in mind that balance changes and patches can adjust the gameplay in multiplayer, though, so there’s a good chance things could be improved upon further down the line.

Sony has reportedly reduced its production forecast for the PlayStation 5 again because of "component and logistics constraints".

Sony had previously targeted more than 16m units assembled in the year ending March, but that has now been cut to 15m units, according to Bloomberg sources. This will make its target of 14.8m PS5 sales by March more difficult.

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Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition is here, a mouthful of a title for a fittingly gigantic collection, a bundle of GTA 3, GTA: Vice City, and GTA: San Andreas remasters, three of the most culturally resonating games of the modern era.

These are the games that inspired the modern open world, pushed (and were promptly pushed back from) the boundaries of what was acceptable, and changed video game ratings systems forever. Naturally, we're feeling a little nostalgic today, and so to mark the occasion we've gathered together a handful of our favourite features on the trilogy, from GTA 3 and a sweeping history of the open world phenomenon to the incredible story of the San Andreas "Hot Coffee" scandle.

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Some cheats have been removed from the GTA's remastered trilogy due to technical reasons.

Back in the day, players had plenty of fun with cheat codes in the original games, from adding infinite health, to netting a bank load of cash, and even tanks falling from the skies.

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The friendly neighborhood hero is heading to Marvel's Avengers later this month.

The post Avengers Spider-Man DLC November Release Date Revealed appeared first on Siliconera.

Can you believe it? The PlayStation 3 launched fifteen years ago today. It was an expensive console and a messy launch, with hype overload and some truly bad press conferences. But Sony didn’t give up on the PS3, and neither did gamers.

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SNK previously added Whip as a DLC character in KOF XIV.

The post KOF XV Whip Trailer Shows Her Off in This Entry appeared first on Siliconera.

The Game Awards host Geoff Keighley has shared more details about December's show in an interview with Epic, and said it will place an emphasis back on video games (shock, I know!).

"You know, it's great to have celebrities, it's great to have music, but I think focusing really on games is important," Keighley said. "What we really learned last year was at the end of the day, it really is the games and the trailers that drive the show."

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The distillery has collaborated with other popular anime and manga series such as Golden Kamuy and Cells at Work.

The post SMT V is Getting Its Own Sake in Japan appeared first on Siliconera.

The last three nights I've been pottering about with Battlefield 2042's various modes, from traditional Conquest through to the all-new squad-focussed Hazard Zone and the roll-your-own Portal mode editor. What do I make of it? It's near impossible to tell after three nights of action of a game that's all about grand scale and near limitless ways to play (and even harder when we've not seen the progression system or much by way of how the battle pass works, with all specialists and items unlocked from the off in the review build).

A weekend with the final release once it's out in the wild on Game Pass and EA Play should help that come into focus - at least I hope it does, because we're planning the full review for early next week - but even before then one thing is abundantly clear. I've never played a Battlefield that's quite as all over the place as this one. Whether that means it's a rich tapestry of different experiences or whether it means it falls apart as it's torn in countless directions I'm not really also sure, as from those three nights it seems this does seem a very mixed affair.

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Battlefield has always been the largest, loudest, and most chaotic multiplayer experience in the business. It’s the Texas of video games, and whether you love it or hate it, its bombast cannot be overstated. For better and worse, Battlefield 2042 continues this trend, offering a dizzying amount of on-screen explosions, firefights, and objectives to capture. The game’s 128-player matches and gargantuan maps guarantee dramatic moments – and some of my favorite gaming clips from 2021 – but there’s a thin line separating spectacle and confusion. 

There’s never been a Battlefield game released without Conquest, the signature mode which tasks two opposing teams to capture and defend objective zones across the map. The popular match format is alive and well, but honestly, it’s my least favorite way to play Battlefield 2042. Without the presence of a Commander (an organizational role from past entries), Conquest’s massive battles often feel disorganized compared to Breakthrough, a multiplayer mode replacing Rush from previous games. Breakthrough offers more focused engagements by separating the map into multiple segments, each containing two Control Points. If the attacking team can successfully capture all of the objectives in a zone, they can force the defending team to retreat to the next area. I love Breakthrough.

After months of rumours, the world of Naruto has now been officially confirmed as coming to Fortnite.

The enormously-popular anime has long been top of fans' wishlists for characters to include in Epic's battle royale. Earlier this year, rumours persisted that Epic was attempting to negotiate the rights - and that at one point Mr. Naruto himself was part of a seasonal battle pass.

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Update 11/11/2021 16:32 p.m. ET: A GoFundMe is collecting money to put toward the wellbeing of the three daughters Kyanka left behind. Here is the corresponding thread on Something Awful. Original story continues below.

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People can prepare Chocobos for battle at the Chocobo Farm and earn Moogle skins via the Collection feature.

The post FFVII The First Soldier Chocobo Farm and Moogle Cosmetics Shared appeared first on Siliconera.

Today Good Sile Company made three new figures portraying characters from the ultra-popular RPG Genshin Impact available for pre-order.

Two are super-cute Nendoroids featuring the male and female travelers, Aether and Lumine.

Both cost 5,800 yen (Aether, Lumine) on Good Smile’s Japanese store, and $58.99 (Aether, Lumine) on the American store.

They’re 100 mm tall like all Nendoroid and come with weapons and base. They will release in July 2022 regardless of region.

The third figure is a Figma action figure portraying Mona. She’s available for pre-order on the Japanese shop for 9,500 yen, and the American one for $94.99.

She’s approximately 100 mm in height, and she comes with plenty of accessories including alternate faces, hands, and more.

You can check out what they all look like in the gallery below.

Another Good Smile Company figure of Mona is on the way, as the first Genshin Impact figma pre-orders opened ahead of her 2022 debut.

The post Genshin Impact Mona Figma Will Cast Spells Next Year appeared first on Siliconera.

Today SNK released a new trailer and screenshots showcasing another fighter that will be playable in its upcoming fighting game The King of Fighters XV.

This time around we get to see another returning character, Whip, who is back in the starting roster after having been part of a DLC batch in The King of Fighters XIV.

You can check out the trailer just below and see Whip in action alongside a few screenshots from the press release.

The Aether and Lumine Nendoroid pre-orders are now open, with the figures of the twins expected to ship sometime in July 2022.

The post Genshin Impact Aether and Lumine Nendoroid Pre-orders Open appeared first on Siliconera.

With Battlefield 2042 creeping ever closer to launch, there is an obvious hunger on fans’ part to learn more about what comes next. Although details are not exactly clear, EA and DICE have shared a little more about the upcoming first season of Battlefield 2042, alongside more about the battle pass system.

At launch, dubbed the Preseason period, there will be Weekly Missions and Rewards up for grabs. Players can also experience more Limited Time Modes, featured Creator Spotlights, as well as more Battlefield Portal shenanigans.

Following that, Season 1 of Battlefield 2042 will begin early next year, which will also bring the game’s first battle pass and new specialist. Players can expect to see a new operator with unique abilities and traits, and there remains a possibility of a new map as well. More Portal content will also be added.

In all, DICE is looking to deliver a total of four Seasons and four Battle Passes for Battlefield 2042 in the first year. That means a total of four new Specialists and even more maps for mayhem to unfold. If you much rather mess around in Battlefield Portal, the team will look to provide more updates as well.

Although DICE has not detailed the upcoming content further, knowing that a concrete plan is in place should put the minds of fans at ease for now. If everything goes according to plan, you will have more Battlefield 2042 enjoyment in the future.

We can expect to hear more from DICE and EA in the coming months once the first-person shooter has launched and found its sea legs.

Wondering why Forza Horizon 5's marketplace is suddenly full of shitty old Jeeps, when there’s a whole world of fast and expensive sports cars out there?

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Today Level-5 released new trailers and a TV commercial of its upcoming mecha action JRPG Megaton Musashi.

The first trailer outlines the differences in storytelling between the game and the anime, with some scenes that appear differently in the two media.

The second showcases the gameplay, and the TV commercial (which is the third video) transports the Musashi in the real world to celebrate the game’s release.

You can watch both below.

It was teased back in March, but today YouTube made it official: the platform will be removing the dislike counter. This means you’ll no longer be able to look at a video and think, gee, this isn’t a very popular video, I’m sure it’s just bad and not at all the result of a weaponised fanbase and/or political group.

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Epic Games really wants Fortnite to become a metaverse of sorts, where all IPs and popular franchises can come together and exist in a singular space. Now, that ambition has reached the anime world as well, as Epic has just announced that Fortnite will be getting some sort of Naruto: Shippuden crossover event next week.

Announced over on the official Twitter account, we don’t have a ton of details on what exactly the event will entail, except that it will start on Nov. 16.

But if past crossover events are any indication, you can expect new skins, bling, and other cosmetic items to become available for purchase in the shop for a short period of time. Fortnite is no stranger to crossover events, having previously hosted events for other IPs like Resident Evil, Marvel, and even Brandon Sanderson’s fantasy novel series, Mistborn.

Fortnite is now available on PC and consoles.

The post Fortnite Is Getting a Naruto Crossover Event Next Week appeared first on Twinfinite.