"Selene" is going to make her platformer debut, as Returnal DLC is coming to Sackboy: A Big Adventure in May 2021.
The post Returnal Sackboy items Headed to Sackboy: A Big Adventure appeared first on Siliconera.
It's always entertaining to see classic tales reimagined in video games. But today, Neowiz and developer Round8 Studio have announced a mash-up I never thought I'd see: the story of Pinocchio, in the form of a Souls game.
Lies of P is an upcoming entry in the "Souls-like" genre, hit me with a one-two punch. First was the trailer, which appears to show Geppetto entering a fallen city and presumably beat up an automaton? We only smash-cut to the aftermath, but Geppetto certainly seems to have given the robot a good walloping.
We then cut to Punished Geppetto, as I'm calling him, standing over a small boy he calls "son," who has a mechanical arm. And after the title drop, the "son" is seen walking towards a wall of various weapons.
This is already a wild trailer, but then you can over to the Steam page for Lies of P, which gives us some more solid details. Playing as Pinocchio, a mechanoid puppet, you seek out Mr. Geppetto in the city of Krat and find a way to become human. Alongside the late 19th century aesthetic and swapping out body parts for new skills, there is also a "lying" mechanic. According to the store listing, quests will play out depending on how you lie, and those choices can affect the story's conclusion.
I have to say, I'm intrigued! It feels like a throwback to dark fairy tale games like Alice: Madness Returns, so a Pinocchio Souls is honestly not that hard to imagine. But the lying system is another level, adding some nuance that's both thematic and really wild.
Valheim was originally a survival game where you, a dead Viking, must prove yourself to Odin by conquering the eponymous realm of Valheim. But after you summon and slay all the bosses, there’s not much to do. Nowadays, the game has pretty much become Viking Minecraft, where players show all their elaborate,…
SteelSeries is currently running one of their seasonal Member Madness Sales, which offer up to 40% off their rather excellent peripherals in exchange for signing up for an account on their site. We've done just that to bring you word of the best sale items available inside...
Before we get into the highlights, please note that this sale is available to the US, UK, EU and many other regions that can access the SteelSeries global store - but for the sake of convenience we'll just share the UK prices. You should see similar discounts in the currency of your choosing!
Zelda & Loftwing lets Link head to the skies at any point in the game
Developer People Can Fly's co-op-focussed looter-shooter Outriders received a bit of a mixed critical reception at launch, but publisher Square Enix seems pretty happy with the public response, saying the game is "poised to be the company's next big franchise" after 3.5m unique players flocked to the experience in its first month.
Things didn't exactly start off smoothly for Outriders when it launched on PlayStation, Xbox, and PC at the start of April, of course, with server woes leaving many players unable to access the game for almost three days. Despite those early wobbles, Square now says Outriders has seen over 3.5 million unique players since launch, amassing an "average play times of over 30 hours" and "extremely high engagement for co-operative play".
At least some of its success can probably be attributed to its day-one launch on Xbox Game Pass, but regardless, Square says Outriders is now on track to become the company's "next major franchise", suggesting more instalments could eventually be on the way - not bad for a game many had written off after some early, rather underwhelming reveals.
This remaster will feature an update visuals and a tweaked control scheme.
The post Demon Gaze Extra Will Release for the PS4 and Switch in September appeared first on Siliconera.
After Man of Medan and especially Little Hope, which had a div-i-sive ending, I'm curious to see how Supermassive Games frames House of Ashes — and how the supernatural elements will manifest.
The next standalone game in the Dark Pictures Anthology has revealed more of its buried Sumerian temple setting, the "awakened" evil, and the folks we'll try to keep alive (for a few hours, anyway).
Today's video is just a teaser trailer, and Bandai Namco says it will share the gameplay reveal on May 27. The last teaser, from November 2020, called to mind The Descent. We don't know quite what this underground threat is, but the creature (?) can see in total darkness. Spooky adventures await.
Where are you at with The Dark Pictures Anthology? I hope the series keeps going for at least a few more entries, if not the ambitious eight-game run that was suggested originally. We don't get many shared-experience "movie night" adventure games with this scope, so I'm cherishing these cornballs.
If nothing else, I want the Curator to step out of the shadows and his story to really go for it.
Earlier this year, Nintendo announced it's bringing The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword to the Nintendo Switch through a new HD remaster version. While details have largely been scarce since its announcement, we got a quick glimpse at the game in action through the unveiling of a new Amiibo featuring Skyward Sword Zelda with a Loftwing.
Throughout the existence of Amiibo figures, only the Super Mario series has been featured more prominently than The Legend of Zelda. To this point, the only Skyward Sword figure we've received has been of Link. Through the new Zelda & Loftwing Amiibo, players can add an extra convenience to the Skyward Sword HD experience. In the original game, players could only travel between the surface and sky at certain points, but if they call Fi and use the newly announced Amiibo, they can make the jump at any time. The functionality even works while in dungeons and buildings.
You can see the effects the Amiibo has on Skyward Sword HD in the trailer below.
Click here to watch embedded media
Wacky gag games aside, the trend of '𝒳 Simulator' games demonstrates a great truth: mundane manual tasks can be great fun. I'm the first to volunteer to help pals with DIY, bodge-y builds, stripping wallpaper, or shed clearouts. Sadly, I live on the top floor of a tenement and I don't think my landlord would appreciate me hiring a powerwasher just to have a go. So thank goodness for PowerWash Simulator, a game which launched in early access today and (to borrow an old DIY slogan) does exactly what it say on the tin.
Click here to watch embedded media Nintendo has announced the latest batch of games to come to Nintendo Switch Online's ever-growing library of classic games. While the SNES and NES libraries have a ton of classic games featuring some of the most iconic 8- and 16-bit games ever released, this batch of games isn't quite so recognizable. However, this month represents a major milestone for the service.
This month, Nintendo is adding four SNES games and one NES game to subscribers' libraries. The 1991 action game Joe & Mac (or Caveman Ninja) probably headlines this month, giving players plenty of stone-age adventuring. In addition, players can take the field in the outlandish baseball game Super Baseball Simulator 1.000, then throw other kinds at magical balls of enemies in Spanky's Quest. The Super Nintendo offerings are rounded out with Magical Drop2, a puzzle game that hit Super Famicom in 1996, but never received an English release. Players who prefer the NES can look forward to Ninja JaJaMaru-kun, an action-packed ninja game that previously only released in Japan.
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In this 2019 GDC talk, 11 bit studios' Aleksander Kauch discusses the data driven gameplay architecture of 11 bit studios'in-house technology and how it affected the gameplay code of Frostpunk. ...
The new Tales of Arise screenshots look at Balseph, an antagonist Alphen and Shionne will face. He's known for stealing fire astral energy.
The post Get a Better Look at Tales of Arise’s Balseph appeared first on Siliconera.
The launch of the Mass Effect Legendary Edition has offered us a unique opportunity: to re-examine this trilogy in a new light, and replay these games in one package, to see the through-lines and how they illustrate a shift in a studio and an industry.
They're also a great reminder of how much Mass Effect's big moments still stand out, and the well-known intro to Mass Effect 2 is absolutely one of them.
Taking place not long after the conclusion of the first Mass Effect, Mass Effect 2 starts off with a conversation. Miranda Lawson, an agent of Cerberus, laments that Shepard did everything right, and yet they're being shipped out to carry out skirmishes against lingering Geth.
The Illusive Man, silhouetted against the massive space-window facing into a sun, chimes in when Miranda mentions what losing Shepard might mean: "Make sure we don't lose [them]."
We bump over to the Normandy to see the bridge bickering, but it's not long until the ship comes under fire. Shepard rushes to put out what they can, and once the player has control, they step out into the vacuum of space. They save Joker, but at the cost of their own life; and as the Normandy is reduced to scrap and salvage by an immense cruiser, Shepard writhes in zero-G for a few moments, and then finally, stops.
We're two games into developer Supermassive's Dark Pictures Anthology horror series, with a third - titled House of Ashes - on the not-too-distant horizon. Supermassive says it'll be revealing more on this latest instalment next week, but first, there's a new teaser trailer.
House of Ashes, as befits the Dark Pictures anthology format, offers up a new standalone story with its own particular take on fear. Gone is the nautical horror of the series' first outing, Man of Medan, and the time-hopping witch-y terror of last year's Little Hope, replaced by something aiming to be a little grittier based on what's been shown so far.
Set in Iraq, 2003, House of Ashes focuses on a military unit which comes under fire from Iraqi forces in the region of the Zagros mountains.
The Last of Us 2 players now have the ability to experience the game at a smooth 60 frames-per-second on PlayStation 5, Naughty Dog’s director of communications Arne Meyer announced today.
The first Summer Game Fest event will kick off right before E3 2021 begins. There will be about a 2 hour event with over 12 announcements.
The post Summer Game Fest 2021 Starts Before E3 2021 appeared first on Siliconera.
As if Epic Games wasn't already in and out of the courtroom enough, the company has filed a new lawsuit against augmented reality firm Nreal. The Fortnite developer is suing the Chinese company over the similarities between its name and Epic's game engine "Unreal".
"Nreal was and is well aware of Epic and its Unreal marks," reads the suit, which was filed last week in a North Carolina court. "Nreal does not just sell glasses, it has already developed and sold a game to be used with those glasses. Nreal is willfully trading off Epic's rights, causing confusion, and acting with callous disregard for Epic's prior rights."
Once again, "customer confusion" is the lawyer-panicking problem here, with Epic concerned that people will confuse Nreal's Smart Glass products with its own "Unreal" engine and gaming brand. While Epic has been in protracted talks with Nreal since the latter filed the trademark in 2018, Epic has decided to take the matter to the courts.
Epic is seeking damages and legal fees for "the harm it has suffered, is suffering, and will continue to suffer as a result of Nreal's infringement," in addition to Nreal cease-and desisting with its use of the term. Meanwhile, Epic Games continues its industry-changing trial with Apple. Busy times for the multi-billion dollar corporation.
I thought Xbox Game Pass for PC had stacked its calendar enough when it added Final Fantasy X/X-2 and Psychonauts earlier this month, but wait! There's more. Game Pass is folding in several games to the library on their launch days before this month is over, including dodgeball 'em up Knockout City and a D&D-based RPG. No, not that one. The other one. No, the other other one. It's Solasta: Crown Of The Magister. Alongisde the new games, Xbox have revealed some oldie goodies that are getting packed in this month as well.
There's so many great talks in the Advocacy track at the all-digital GDC 2021, here's a few you shouldn't miss. ...
I have reached my lowest ebb. As I write these words, out the corner of my left eye I can see the eternal rocking motion of my cell phone as it sways within its cradle. I have become all things terrible. I have fallen. I’m trying to trick Pokémon Go into thinking I’m far less lazy than I am.
Bandai Namco released a The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes teaser trailer ahead of its gameplay reveal next week.
The post The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes Teased in a Trailer appeared first on Siliconera.
Divinity: Original Sin 2 is now available on yet another platform, one that might seem surprising at first. That’s right, the giant sprawling CRPG is on iPad. This definitive edition of the game supports touch controls, features a new UI that suits the platform, and also works with connected devices like gamepads or a mouse and keyboard. And yes, the co-op features that make playing Divinity a blast with friends are also intact here.
Divinity: Original Sin 2 has sort of led the way in what has been a resurgence and revival of the classic CRPG era. “Divinity: Original Sin 2 is one of the greatest PC RPGs of all time, and Larian’s continued dedication to creating incredible freeform adventures inspired by tabletop lineage is inspiring and commendable,” I said in my Game Informer review. “A few bugs and frustrating encounters are small prices to pay for a lavish ensemble of the genre’s best and a one-of-a-kind experience.” I scored the game a massive 9.75, and the game has only gotten better since release with more additions and tweaks. If you like RPGs, freedom of choice and consequence, or trying to come up with ridiculous builds, Divinity: Original Sin 2 should absolutely be on your radar.
Game Awards head honcho Geoff Keighley today announced his Summer Game Fest marketing extraveganza will return on June 10th, running alongside (and egging on) the virtual E3 2021. The Summer Game Fest will kick off with a livestreamed event which includes a games showcase and a performance from Weezer, the American band known for having the music video to their song 'Buddy Holly' on the Windows 95 CD-ROM. I honestly had not expected Geoff Keighley to show support for PC gaming with such a deep cut for the dads out there. You remember Windows 95, eh?
We all knew that Ikora had been recast when the Destiny 2: Season of the Splicer was revealed, but now we know who the new voice talent is taking up that mantle. Gina Torres was the original voice of Ikora Rey, the Warlock Vanguard in Destiny 2, but as has happened in the past, there's been a casting change.
Meet Mara Junot, the new voice of Ikora. While Bungie itself has not confirmed the news, the actress couldn't wait to share her new role with Guardians everywhere. Her social media is plastered with Destiny imagery, including a new Ikora profile picture and Destiny 2: Season of the Splicer header image on Twitter. When she shared a Destiny post from Bungie, she captioned it with a quote from Ikora. She's also been retweeting fan posts celebrating her in the role of the best-damned Warlock around. She also confirmed exclusively to Game Informer that she is the new voice.
“It’s been a long time, Guardian…“ –Ikora Rey #Destiny2 https://t.co/U3lvsnUZ5z
A new The Last of Us Part 2 PS5 performance patch is rolling out and, when people get it, they can choose their targeted framerate.
The post The Last of Us Part 2 PS5 Performance Patch Launches Today appeared first on Siliconera.
A free new update has arrived for The Last of Us Part 2 and it brings with it more frame rate options for players to choose from when looking for a more optimized gaming experience. Arne Meyer, the director of communications over at Naughty Dog, took a few moments to outline what players can expect with the latest patch.
Despite criticisms, The Last of Us Part 2 smashed through sales goals and has won an impressive amount of awards surrounding a more grown-up Ellie, and the horrors that she faced in a terrible world made worse so by the impact of revenge. For those that were lucky enough to score a PlayStation 5, the PS5 version of the game has received a new update that targets performance, giving fans a chance to toggle between two options.
Click here to watch embedded mediaThe new update is free to download right now and offers an addition to the display options for those looking for improved performance. Now, players can toggle between a framerate target of 30 FPS or 60 FPS in addition to the other PS5-driven features like faster loading times, improved resolution, and more.
PlayStation 5 performance patch adds new ‘frame rate target’ options
UPDATE 19/5/21: Rocket League has now detailed its Formula 1 Fan Pack, to launch on 20th May. It includes an F1 2021 car with unique decal, ten further F1 team decals plus Pirelli wheels - and you can see a glimpse of it in action below:
ORIGINAL STORY 28/3/21: Rocket League's "high octane" Season 3 will drop, for free, on 7th April, 2021.
"Players, start your engines! Rocket League Season 3 is fueled up and ready to roll on April 7!" developer Psyonix teases in the description of a new video on YouTube. "Get ready for the most high-octane season yet, featuring a new Rocket Pass, Challenges, and content from NASCAR and Formula 1 coming in May!"
Take-Two Interactive unleashed a torrent of sales figures during its recent earnings call for some of its biggest titles and new releases. ...
The Last of Us Part 2 has finally received its long-awaited PlayStation 5 upgrade, 11 months to the day since Naughty Dog's epic sequel launched on PS4 and Pro. It's a free upgrade takes the form of a 299MB patch - version 1.08 - that automatically updates the PlayStation 4 version of the game, offering PS5 users the chance to play the game at 60 frames per second. We've had the patch for a week now, allowing us to extensively test and re-test the game from start to finish.
It's an interesting release: The Last of Us Part 2 stands as one of the most technically ambitious titles released for the PlayStation 4 and we wondered how well this sort of performance patch would work out. After all, no matter how you feel about the game, it's a stunning technical achievement that flirts with the limits of its original platform - and capping to 30fps was required in order to deliver its beautiful visuals. With this in mind, we were curious to see how it would fare on PS5 with its frame-rate limited removed. Can PS5 really lock to 60fps?
When looking at this update, it highlights a change in the marketplace compared to the last generation. With no backwards compatibility path for PlayStation 3 games on PS4, Naughty Dog extensively revamped The Last of Us for the Gen 8 console, using the exercise to establish the technological foundations of its new engine. The Last of Us Remastered debuted 13 months after its original launch, mostly delivering frame-rate and resolution advantages. One generation on, the tables turn. Additional resolution was already delivered via Sony's mid-generation console refresh - PlayStation 4 Pro - meaning that frame-rate was effectively the only big upgrade left, short of a total engine revamp.
