This year's Game Developers Choice and IGF Award ceremonies were really heartening stuff. Getting to see so many great developers have their games celebrated by their peers will always warm the old cockles, especially when we celebrated so many of them in our own RPS Advent Calendar at the end of last year. Well, I say 'see'. In truth, I was tucked away backstage at this year's IGF and GDC Awards, clutching my dictaphone with a single question in mind: if each winner had to give away their award to another game in their category, who would it be and why?

It's an idea Brendan (RPS in peace) came up with back in the primordial mists of 2018, and it was so good I just had to knick it and do it again. It might be cruel to wrench these awards away so soon after receiving them, but it's all in the name of spreading good vibes and extra shoutouts, I promise. So here are the games of the year 2022, according to the people who just won awards for games of the year 2022.

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Gathering is one of the most important and fundamental actions in Atelier games. With Atelier Ryza 3, her staff isn’t enough, and you’ll need to make things like a Woodcutter’s Axe to get different items. Fortunately, it’s one of the easiest gathering tools to make and you’ll probably have everything you need after a quick trip into the Pixie Forest.

While you’d think an axe would need something for the blade, that’s not so with the Atelier Ryza 3 Woodcutter’s Axe! All you need to make one is Eiche. It’s the most basic kind of wood you can get from large logs laying on the ground in Pixie Forest. Hit it with Ryza’s staff, and you’ll get some chunks. 

Once you have two pieces of Eiche, head back to Ryza’s workshop to start making a Woodcutter’s Axe in Atelier Ryza 3. You put one piece in the Effect 1 slot, and the other in Effect 2. This is all you need to finish one. Add it to your on-hand equipment by going to Items in the main game menu, and you’re all set. Make sure you experiment when you’re in the actual field, as sometimes items you wouldn’t expect could be hit with an axe, like a big rock, can be and will yield items.

Atelier Ryza 3: Alchemist of the End & the Secret Key is available for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and PC.

Before you head into the remake, a note for nervous dog lovers

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Defeat the Village Chief in the Slaughterhouse during Chapter 6

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Take down the Giant in the Quarry during Chapter 4

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Fight a bunch of arbalists (and learn what the hell an “arbalist” even is)

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Rotate the Hexagon Pieces to solve the Lake puzzle

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Plus, here’s how to open locked drawers

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Nail the combo to open the Crystal Marble lock

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Leon learned quite a few new moves

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More handgun ammo, resources, and red herbs

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Stay one step ahead of every tripwire

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Capcom’s remake of Resident Evil 4 is finally out, and it’s fantastic (read about why in our review here). It features some interesting changes and new additions, sure to keep Resident Evil 4 fans on their toes, and plenty of returning things. Whether you’re new to this game or someone that’s played it a dozen times, here are 13 tips and tricks we think every Resident Evil 4 player should know heading into this remake.

Shoot Projectiles

Throughout your journey through the quaint and totally not dangerous at all Spanish country, you’ll encounter hundreds of enemies. Many will utilize standard melee attacks and grabs to stop you, but almost just as many will have projectiles. Enemies can throw axes, torches that light you on fire, Molotov cocktails, dynamite, and more. You’ll want to avoid getting hit by these projectiles (you can parry the axes!), and one way to do that is to kill the enemy before they throw them.

However, that requires some speed, and if you don’t have time to do that, shoot the projectile. In the case of Molotov cocktails and dynamite, doing this can cause an instant explosion, damaging the projectile thrower and potentially other enemies around them. 

Let’s all get on the same page before going any further: this is not canon. This is not hidden lore, endorsed by Nintendo, that you should arm yourself with and take with you on an official basis every time you play a Mario game from now on. OK?

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Park Beyond - Tropico developer Limbic Entertainment's physics-defying theme park management sim - has a release date and will be bringing a dash of impossification to PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC on 16th June.

On a basic level, Park Beyond delivers pretty much everything you'd expect from a theme park management sim, asking players to plop down rides, set up shops, hire employees, and slap down scenery in a bid to create the most appealing - and lucrative - tourist attraction they can.

The twist, though, is "impossification", which lets players create ludicrous, gravity defying rides reminiscent of Till Nowak's wonderful short The Centrifuge Brain Project - perhaps unlocking a version of the classic pirate ship swing ride capable of splitting into three independently looping segments, or rollercoasters that can fling cars across gaps using cannons.

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As Sony and Microsoft continue to battle over the latter’s proposed $69 billion dollar purchase of Activision Blizzard, more and more people—relatively powerful and influential people—are being drawn into the debate.

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Square Enix shared a new character render from patch 6.35 of FFXIV or someone who can be found at the end of Eureka Orthos. This render is none other than Excalibur, the final boss of Eureka Orthos, which can be found in floors 99 and 100 of the new Deep Dungeon. Other previous renders include some of the bosses fought in the new storyline added to FFXIV 6.35, and the bosses found in the new Euphrosyne raid.

Editor’s Note: Spoilers for FFXIV Eureka Orthos will appear below.

You can take a better look at Excalibur's FFXIV character render by clicking on the image below.
[gallery columns="1" size="full" ids="956912" link="file"]

While Excalibur is the final boss of floors 99 and 100 of Eureka Orthos, he should not be confused with the Paladin weapon of the same name. That is a level 125 unique one-handed sword that was added with the rest of the Zodiac Brave Weapons in patch 2.45.

Eureka Orthos is the latest Deep Dungeon included in FFXIV, and the first one added since Heaven-on-High, included in the Stormblood expansion. For those players eager to face off against Excalibur, you can check out the requirements needed to access Eureka Orthos.

It's day one of PAX East and what better way to kick off our show coverage than highlighting a great indie game! We first came across Demonschool back at PAX West last year and have loved it ever since. It's a slick, tactical Persona-like where you play as a band of university students navigating school life by day and beating up ghosties and ghoulies by night.

I had a chat with Demonschool's Jenna Stoeber who talked me through what Demonschool is about, the game's many horror inspirations, and what spooky shinanigans players can expect. If the giant skeleton lad in the game's trailer and demo is anything to go by, we're in for a treat. You can watch the full interview by watching the video below:

If you've haven't yet, set your peepers on Demonschool's slick trailer to see what demon hunter Faye and her gang of misfits are up against. There's no concrete release date, but like Jenna said, Demonschool should be out sometime in 2023 with a playable demo available in May.

We've got plenty more interviews, demos, and highlights lined up for the rest of the week and you can find all our PAX East coverage by checking out our RPS@PAX tag.

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Omega Force has shared more on monster-battler Wild Hearts' major April update, which introduces a new "petal-manipulating fox" Kemono, new Karakuri, and more. Additionally, the developer has added new the Grimstalker Kemono variant in a smaller update launching today.

Omega Force previously teased a big Wild Hearts update as part of the game's post-launch roadmap earlier this month, but now the developer has slapped it with a 6th April release date, and provided more details on what it'll bring.

First up is Murakumo, the aforementioned fox-inspired Kemono with the power to manipulate petals (and also the first brand-new Kemono to join Wild Hearts since launch), which drops materials needed to craft a selection of new weapons and armour sets. Additionally, it brings a new Spinning Top Kakuri, the first new Karakuri to be introduced to the base game.

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Fans of Xenoblade Chronicle 3 can now learn how Monolith Soft made the game’s characters lighting, shading, and facial expressions. Japanese gaming outlet Game Makers recently released to the public the contents of a lecture detailing the process behind creating Xenoblade Chronicles 3’s two toon-style light shaders. The lecture was held at the CEDEC+KYUSHU 2022 conference on November 12, 2022, and Monolith Soft programmer Kei Tateno was in charge of it. [Thanks, Game Makers!]

Because the main theme of the game is “Life and Death,” the developers at Monolith Soft wanted to use lighting and shadows to reflect these themes in the characters facial expressions. In order to achieve this, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 uses shadows with higher contrast on characters, which results in a more distinct look when compared to previous entries.

This was accomplished with the use of a two-light shading system. Xenoblade Chronicles 3 uses point lights, which reflect effects like fire or lamps, combined with directional lights from sources like moonlight. Meanwhile, previous Xenoblade Chronicles entries use a different, more simplified method for representing light sources and shadows on characters.

Ahead of tomorrow’s Diablo IV open beta, Blizzard warns that—as was the case last weekend—players will likely suffer from long waits and other server issues as even more folks than last weekend all queue up to try to play the super-hyped sequel.

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The latest Hololive product from Good Smile is the Nakiri Ayame Pop Up Parade figure. Orders from the US store will cost $38.99 and are expected to ship in the fourth quarter of 2023 (October-December). Japanese store orders will on ¥5,500 and are set to ship in September 2023. Pre-orders will remain open until April 23, 2023.

The figure stands approximately 170mm tall and comes set in a mischievous pose held up by a stand. In this depiction, Ayame wears her original outfit. This includes her Oni mask and red and white rope belt.

You can get a look at the figure below. There are no pose options or accessories included.
[gallery link="file" columns="2" ids="956866,956867,956868,956869"]

Ayame is a member of Hololive's second generation of talents, along with Ozora Subaru, Murasaki Shion, Minato Aqua and Yuzuki Choco. Ayame is one of several Hololive members to get new figures from Good Smile Company, including Yukihana Lamy and Houshou Marine who have scale figures on the way. Designs for Nendoroids of Roboco, Mososuzu Nene and Tokoyami Towa have also been teased.

Men Of War 2 doesn't do anything by half measures, as I discovered during a recent tussle with its online multiplayer modes. Whereas Relic's recently released Company Of Heroes 3 will let you pick from its four broad faction types in its WWII RTS battles, Men Of War 2 takes a much more granular view, offering up 14-15 different unit types for each of its three playable nations. That's a dizzying array of infantry, tank and artillery battalions to choose from, and that's before you account for all the individual nuances between its Soviet, USA and German army types. Throw in seven game modes across several different maps, and it's a veritable strategy smorgasbord to stuff your face into.

Crucially, though, everyone gets access to some sort of tank, which let's face it, is always going to be the MVP of any WW2 strategy game, and probably the sole reason why we're here in the first place. As Men Of War 2 heads into its first open multiplayer tech test on Steam today (running until March 27th), here's my full report of my mildly doomed multiplayer tankventures in its Combat, Front Line and Incursion modes.

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Respawn just announced its new Apex Legends Sun Squad Collection Event which will give players a chance to earn some sweet, swimsuit-themed character skins. But Apex Legends fans want more—specifically, a slutty swimsuit for character Loba.

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The more I learn about the creator of Chainsaw Man, the more I like his vibe. His art assistant just had their explicit work published in a manga anthology featuring gay men, and Tatsuki Fujimoto wants his fans to check it out.

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This week, Epic Games revealed Unreal Editor for Fortnite, a toolset that expands on the battle royale’s existing creator resources and could completely revolutionize the game in the process. Players have wasted no time offering glimpses into that potential, using the new tools for everything from recreating scenes…

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The Jump Comics Channel on YouTube uploaded a video showcasing the Akatsuki organization from Naruto. All of its members get a little bit of stage time showing off their personalities. But Itachi Uchiha is the one who has the most prominent place in the footage.

The Naruto Akatsuki promotional video is just over a minute long. It does contain some spoilers if you are not caught up with the series, such as Obito’s identity and Sasori’s true face. You can watch the video here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swq--rdN-2k

In the Naruto series, Akatsuki was an organization of shinobi who did not have an affiliation with a village. Its members have changed since its creation, and the ones in the video are from Nagato’s time as the leader. These are also the members that the audience first sees when Akatsuki starts becoming a more active threat at the beginning of Shippuden.

Though the main Naruto series ended some time ago, it’s been a busy time for its fans. Not only is there a VR attraction, but there was also a popularity poll to decide the main character of a short spin-off. Jump Comics will announce the winner in April 2023, but when it last revealed the interim results, the top three characters were Minato Namikaze, Itachi Uchiha, and Sakura Haruno. Itachi’s popularity might have lent to his screentime in the Akatsuki trailer.

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At GDC 2023 this morning, New York Times executive producer Zoe Bell detailed the company's journey since acquiring hit word game Wordle in January 2022, and how it transformed its games business.

The success of Wordle drove engagement across the NYT's entire games portfolio, Bell explained, shedding light on what the company is looking for in its titles. She highlighted that Wordle ranked higher in search results in 2022 than Ukraine or the Queen.

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Resident Evil 4’s long-awaited remake is out tomorrow. And while this soon-to-be-released horror game is a mostly faithful adaptation of the original Capcom classic, not everything from the original game has been recreated in the remake. For example: You monsters who like murdering the mysterious merchant will be…

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Developer Frogwares has shared a new Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened trailer, highlighting an expanded role for Watson in the remake of its Lovecraft-inspired 2007 original.

Frogwares' ground-up reimagining of The Awakened - which comes to Xbox, PlayStation, Switch, and PC next month - retools the original's story of Cthulhu cults and eldritch abominations into a continuation of the young Sherlock arc started in 2021's Chapter One.

While Sherlock's updated plunge into cosmic horror still whisks him around the globe - from the smoggy streets of Victorian London to the bayous of New Orleans - Frogwares' remake places a new focus on his relationship with Watson.

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Arkane Studio's upcoming shooter Redfall was previously in development for the PlayStation 5; it was scrapped after Microsoft bought Bethesda's parent company ZeniMax Media.

As reported by IGN, per IGN France, Harvey Smith, Redfall's game director, said that the development focus for the title shifted after the acquisition.

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GameStop looks to be shutting down stores in Ireland. Due to this, the company announced via its website that a number of services in their Ireland-based stores are no longer available as of March 22, 2023. In the wake of this news, the website announcement encouraged customers to use their existing gift cards and store credit as soon as possible in-store or on the official website.

The services that will no longer be offered or sold are as follows:

• Game Protection
• GameStop Pro Loyalty Memberships
• Gift cards
• Pre-orders(Existing pre-orders will result in a refund for the amount of the deposit.)
• Store credit will still be offered for some items.

This news comes as GameStop's stock price rose 35% on March 22, 2023, as noted by Markets Insider. The increase in stock price comes as the company posted a profit in the fourth quarter of 2022, the first such rise in profit in two years. In order to keep up this profitable operation, CEO Matt Furlong said the company would be cutting costs. As noted in the call notes on Seeking Alpha, part of this would include "exiting" operations in other European countries like Ireland. He also mentioned the company would focus on products like toys and collectibles going forward.

Remember Everywhere, that ambitious-yet-vague open-world game spearheaded by former Grand Theft Auto producer Leslie Benzies? It’s OK if you don’t. After all, the project had only the briefest of reveals during last year’s Gamescom Opening Night Live presentation. However, after half a year of silence, developer Build…

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Between my PC, PS5, Switch, GameCube (yeah, I still have one of those), iPhone, and my friend’s Xbox 360 (yeah, he still has one of those), it’s hard not to feel completely boxed in by screens leaking evil, sleep-disrupting blue light. Though I like playing games every day, I also have screen fatigue, and I’ve been…

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Compile Heart released an announcement trailer for Neptunia GameMaker R:Evolution. This is the newest entry in the Neptunia series. In the video, we can see some of the action that you will be able to perform, as well as some new characters. [Thanks, Dengeki Online!]

You can view the trailer for Neptunia GameMaker R:Evolution here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6qnfOpNNvc&t=6s

The trailer starts off introducing Neptune, Pipi-P, Jaguar, and Lideo. It then moves onto some footage of the game, ranging from exploration to combat to dialog between the girls. Since the game is still in development, these clips might not be what the final product will look like. For a brief moment, we can also see a screen that looks like it’s for character enhancement, as well as a central hub.

We also now know the prices for the game and its various special editions. The normal version will cost 8,580 JPY ($65.50), and the Digital Deluxe Version will cost 12,100 JPY ($92.35). There is also a Victory Special Edition for 12,100 JPY ($92.35) and a Newcomer Welcome Box version for 18,480 JPY ($141.10). More information on what each special edition will contain will appear some time in the future.

Neptunia GameMaker R:Evolution will come out in Japan on August 10, 2023 for the PS4, PS5, and Nintendo Switch.

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Wichita has settled for $5 million in a federal lawsuit against police detective Justin Rapp for the killing of Andrew Finch.

The settlement will be paid to the Kansas resident's family.

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Planet Zoo's slow, steady quest to have all the animals continues on 4th April with the arrival of the management sim's latest paid expansion, the Tropical Pack.

As its name suggests, the Tropical Pack - which will be Planet Zoo's 13th paid DLC expansion - is all about the rainforest, and introduces a total of five new animals. There's the Lar Gibbon, the Red River Hog, the Asian Water Monitor, the Fossa, and finally, the Brown-Throated Sloth - which arrives as a Walkthrough Exhibit addition.

Alongside its critters, Planet Zoo's Tropical Pack brings 200 new scenery pieces inspired by Southeast Asia, enabling players to construct everything from Tongkonan villages to Balinese temples. New tropical flora, meanwhile, includes the Rafflesia (better known as the corpse flower) and the carnivorous Attenborough’s Pitcher Plant.

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