Last year, Fortnite received a performance and resolution boost for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X when those systems launched. While that makes sense with the added capabilities those systems bring to the table, despite the swirling rumors about a potential "Switch Pro," Nintendo is still operating with the same horsepower it has been since 2017. However, Epic Games has announced that the Nintendo Switch version of Fortnite is also receiving a boost.

The new update aims to make better use of the Switch's GPU. As a result, those who play on Switch will notice multiple improvements during gameplay. With the update, images will be sharper without any loss of performance. In fact, the framerate will be more consistent, delivering a smoother experience for Switch players. On top of that, the resolution will improve in both handheld and docked modes; handheld resolution will jump from 1000x560 to 1170x660, while docked resolution will go from 1390x780 to 1560x880. Epic Games touts the 38% increase in handheld-mode pixels. The file size is getting slightly smaller to top it all off, saving players 140MB of storage space.

Higher resolution, smoother frame rate, and less storage

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Fascinating detective RPG Disco Elysium today becomes bigger and fancier with its Final Cut, released as a free update. The Final Cut adds voice acting (one million spoken words, they claim) as well as new quests and heaps more newness. A fine time to return to Revachol.

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Get your tickets for The Great Tourney at Harrenhal

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A new PS5 and PS4 update arrives for Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales today and brings with it not only some new gameplay tweaks but a new Spidey suit as well. Insomniac Games revealed our first look at the Advanced Tech Suit that is swinging into Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales, adding one more addition to a long list of suits to choose from. 

Insomniac Games took to Twitter to share our first look at the Advanced Tech Suit in addition to a confirmation that a PS5-only update targets realistic muscle deformation for specific Spidey looks. 

Rolling out today, our new #MilesMoralesPS4 #MilesMoralesPS5 update adds the Advanced Tech Suit and includes various fixes. Additionally on PS5 only, the update adds realistic muscle deformation on select suits. pic.twitter.com/1nnSvgJB2P

Frictional Games' desert horror Amnesia: Rebirth has just received a free new Adventure Mode, stripping out the game's life-threatening monster encounters, jump scares, and darkness for those keen to experience its story without fear of fainting dead away.

Amnesia: Rebirth - the third game in the series, following on from Frictional's 2010 original and the Chinese-Room-developed A Machine for Pigs - launched last year, taking players on an unsettling adventure across the Algerian desert in the 1930s.

Its tale - focusing on protagonist Tasi Trianon as she traverses the hostile expanse, pulling together fragments of her past - earned much praise on release (Eurogamer reviewer Vikki Blake called it an "impressive horror subversion" and a story that "gripped me right up until the credits rolled"), and Rebirth's new Adventure Mode aims to make it more accessible to all.

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Fortnite on Nintendo Switch is getting a significant upgrade that will improve the battle royale game’s overall graphical performance, Epic announced Tuesday.

As of today, a new update to Fortnite on Switch is upgrading the resolution and framerate on both docked and handheld mode. Handheld mode is moving from 1000x560 to 1170x660, while docked mode’s resolution is moving from 1390x780 to 1560x880.

If those numbers mean nothing to you, Epic has provided an image to illustrate the upgrade’s effects. You can obviously see a decent upgrade to the foliage of the tree in the foreground, allowing for sharper looking leaves and other details.

As for framerate, Epic promises “fewer hitches, resulting in a smoother experience overall.” Fortnite on Switch features dynamic resolution to help ensure a consistent framerate, but Epic says this will be less necessary with the new update.

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One final change is that the new update frees up about 140MB of storage. That’s not a lot by any stretch, but every byte counts on the Switch’s smaller internal storage.

As a big stupid baby who is compelled to play horror games I know will freak my nut out, I am grateful to see Frictional Games add a less-spooky mode to another of their games. Today they blessed Amnesia: Rebirth with an 'Adventure Mode', an optional difficulty level which stops monsters murdering you while throwing in some extra puzzles for folks who just wanna explore somewhere strange and awful. That's nice, that. The game has a big discount to celebration the launch too.

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Things continue to be rough in Night City

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With Amnesia: Rebirth Adventure Mode, people who normally would avoid it because it's scary can still have a way to experience its story.

The post Amnesia: Rebirth Adventure Mode Removes Its Scarier Elements appeared first on Siliconera.

I'm beginning to look at the monthly Games with Gold lineups less out of real interest and more out of fleeting morbid curiosity. There's no denying that Xbox has been killing it with the Game Pass library lately... and by "killing it," I mean Games with Gold – it's really been suffering. It's a lot of filler titles.

For April 2021, Xbox Live Gold and Xbox Game Pass ultimate are getting four freebies:

• Vikings: Wolves of Midgard (April 1–30)
• Dark Void (April 1–15)
• Truck Racing Championship (April 16–May 15)
• Hard Corps: Uprising (April 16–30)

Just follow these links to queue up the games as needed.

As a refresher, Vikings is a middle-of-the-road action-RPG that can be straightforward fun with the right mindset. You know the one. Dark Void, a jet-boosting sci-fi shooter, is a reminder of Capcom's wild Western-centric approach to greenlighting games in the Xbox 360 era. Truck Racing Championship is a sim racer, and I remember enjoying Arc System Works' run and gun Hard Corps: Uprising at the time.

The PC release of Kingdom Hearts offers the latest hiccup in the insidious world of video game pre-orders. Four games in Square Enix’s long-running plot maze are officially out on PC today via the Epic Games Store where they’re currently marked down by 20 percent through April 6. But if you pre-ordered any of the…

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Cyberpunk 2077 maker CD Projekt Red will change how it operates to develop multiple AAA games and expansions in parallel, and only begin promoting its creations much closer to release.

The change in strategy - what CD Projekt calls its new "strategic development framework" - comes in response to the disappointing launch of Cyberpunk 2077 in December last year, and is detailed in a lengthy corporate update video released this afternoon.

"We want to improve the way we make games," company boss Adam Kiciński said. "We want to continuously improve the working environment for every team member. We want a sharper focus on how we work together to make great games." The word "crunch" is not mentioned within the video at any point, though there's mention of training for staff on matters of mental and physical health, and word of a group of employees from across the company which will liaise with CD Projekt's board.

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You can now grab Ubisoft's first-person-shooter XIII for free as part of GOG's Spring Sale. That's the good XIII, by the way, not the recently released XIII Remake, which is so full of bugs you're best off avoiding it at all costs.

Originally released on the Nintendo GameCube, PlayStation 2 and Xbox in 2003, XIII is a quality (and sometimes frustratingly difficult) espionage game that's loosely based on the Belgian graphic novels of the same name.

It brings the visuals of the graphic novels to life, filling the screen with comic-book-style panels when you whizz a throwing knife into someone's face and phonetic visuals for sound effects, whether that's the TAT-TAT-TAT of chugging through machine gun clips or the approaching taps of enemy footsteps.

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Final Fantasy XIV is soon going to receive a new update numbered 5.5 and titled “Death Unto Dawn Part 1” and today Square Enix released a new gallery of screenshots and art.

We get to see the new trial tithed “The CLoud Deck,” a celebratory update to the Ishgardian Celebration that will pay homage to our efforts, and a look at the PS5 open beta that will come with the update.

Yesterday afternoon, CD Projekt Red made a blog post detailing the next patch for Cyberpunk 2077. And while we certainly expected a lot of improvements, no one could have guessed the 1.2 patch would have over 500 changes.

Those changes include everything from quality-of-life touch-ups to major updates that’ll improve the flow of the game. To read through all of them would probably take you a bit, though.

In fact, Cyberpunk 2077’s 1.2 patch is so gigantic that a Redditor managed to format it into its very own Star Wars title crawl. In the video, the user, named Axerol, included every single one of the implementations, which you can see below.

Following the successful return of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Disney is continuing its hot hand in animation with Star Wars: The Bad Batch. This new ongoing series is created by Dave Filoni, who pretty much has a hand in all of the great Star Wars shows, including The Mandalorian and Clone Wars. The first episode of the season kicks off on Disney+ on May 4 (Star Wars day) with a lengthy 70-minute premiere.

The Bad Batch is another name for Clone Force 99, a team that fans have wanted to see more since their debut in a Clone Wars episode. In a new trailer, we see Tech, Crosshair, Wrecker, and Echo in action, and they are joined by two surprising cameos that bridge the gap between various Star Wars properties. All of these clones are voiced by the phenomenal Dee Bradley Baker, who gives each one a distinct personality. Their differences are what makes this group so much fun to follow.

A new Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales Advanced Tech Suit is now available in the game via a free patch, following its Funko Pop debut.

The post Spider-Man: Miles Morales Advanced Tech Suit Added in New Patch appeared first on Siliconera.

Today Square Enix released an extended cut version of the recently-released trailer of Foprspoken, which was originally titled Project Athia.

The trailer features Ella Balinska, who will play protagonist Frey Holland, and it differs from the original one (which is actually of similar length) because it shows a few more tidbits of gameplay.

You can check the trailer out below.

The game is coming for PS5 and PC in 2022 and more news have been promised for later this year.

“Introducing Forspoken, the new narrative-driven adventure set in a beautiful yet cruel world.

Play as Frey Holland, an ordinary young woman who must harness her magical abilities to survive in the fantastical yet dangerous world land of Athia.

Enjoy an extended sneak peak of new exhilarating gameplay and meet Ella Balinska, the voice and performance capture actor portraying Frey.

Developed by Luminous Productions for the PlayStation 5 system and PC, Forspoken will take players on a magical and perilous journey.”

Everyone loves a good brawl from time to time, and in the world of Fire Emblem Heroes, perhaps no nobility is up for the ruck as much as Princess Dagr, who joins the mobile battler this week as its newest Mythic Hero.

Debuting in Fire Emblem Heroes itself, Dagr is the twin sister of Nott and the youngest princess of the kingdom of Jotunheimr. Bedecked in regal splendor and wielding a mighty, full-length battle-axe, Dagr hopes to use her fighting spirit and prowess in battle to prove to her mother that she should be next in line for Jotunheimr's throne, stepping ahead of her older and more demure and thoughtful sibling.

Earlier today, CD Projekt Red revealed that they’ve come to terms with the Vancouver-based game dev studio Digital Scape. According to the blog post, the two have been in close cooperation since 2018.

The deal was finalized yesterday, resulting in the official creation of CD Projekt Red Vancouver. The studio will be lead by Marcin Chudy, who had the following to say regarding the acquisition:

We are very excited to join a studio that forges the incredibly engaging, vastly scoped experiences, such as The Witcher trilogy and Cyberpunk 2077. We believe our contribution in the area of gameplay and technology can make them even more captivating. Being a Polish Canadian, I personally take great satisfaction in building bridges between Canadian and Polish game development industries. This is a great opportunity for Canadian developers to get involved with CD PROJEKT RED’s incredible IP and for CD PROJEKT RED to tap into Canada’s deep talent pool and game-making craft ­­– remarks Marcin Chudy, Vancouver studio head.

CD Projekt Red Vancouver joins three existing development teams at the company – based in Warsaw, Kraków and Wrocław. The studio will work in tandem with the other dev teams on its upcoming projects.

In addition to the new studio, CD Projekt Red also revealed that they are working on a brand approach to how they create and market their games, titled Red 2.0.

With Easter coming up, and Discount Easter egg Day soon after, I'm curious: what's your favourite Easter egg in video games? I suppose this world must house some edutainment game which would let you answer this literally, but I'm more interested in those hidden jokes, references, and oddities which surprise and delight. Tell me your favourite and who knows, maybe I'll eat a Cadbury Buttons egg in your honour. Next Tuesday, once they're cheap.

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When I reviewed Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate for the Switch back in 2018, I loved it, but stated that it felt a little dated by that point because of the loading screens between sectors. Especially if you were coming from World, MHGU felt sluggish by comparison.

It was still a fantastic MonHun portable experience, though, and it looked good, but with the release of last week’s Monster Hunter Rise, it feels like the series has finally reached its full potential on Nintendo’s newest console.

My first thought when I booted up Monster Hunter Rise on Switch was that it looked surprisingly gorgeous. Built with Capcom’s impressive proprietary RE Engine, Rise is graphically and aesthetically pleasing to the eye. The environments aren’t as detailed as what you might be used to in World, of course, but it’s still easily one of the prettiest games you can get on the Switch right now.

The cutscenes and animations are fluid, the character models look good, and most importantly, everything feels really freaking smooth.

Gone are the archaic sector load screens from MHGU, Monster Hunter Rise features seamless worlds that you can explore freely. The levels here are much smaller than the vast ones in World, but that makes it perfect for a compact experience.

Today Type Moon released the first trailer of its upcoming 2D fighting game Melty Blood: Type Lumina.

We get to see plenty of stylish battle action, which will be mixed with a visual novel-style story.

You can watch it below and take a look at the original announcement.

Melty Blood: Type Lumina, that will release worldwide in summer 2021 for PS4, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox One, is developed by French Bread, that originally created the Melty Blood series and is also known for the Under Night franchise.

It’s based on the upcoming remake Tsukihime: A Piece of Blue Glass Moon mixing the visual novel and 2D fighting game genres.

Below you can read an official description:

In following with the free prologue trend set by the earlier two games of the Hitman reboot, coming today is a free Hitman 3 Starter Pack for all platforms.

Within the Starter Pack are two locations: The ICA Facility and Hawke’s Bay. Starting today, March 30, playing the Hitman 3 Starter Pack will mean you have access to Dubai, the first mission of the game. However, the Dubai mission is only available to Hitman 3 Starter Pack players until April 5.

You can find the trailer for the Starter Pack here and below:

For those wanting a taste, a press release summarizes the mission thusly:

“Dubai is the first location in HITMAN 3 and starts with Agent 47 literally on top of the world. Skydive down onto the tallest building in the world and experience the breath-taking scenery before hunting down your targets. Explore the top floors of this exquisite building – both inside and out, complete your objectives and then find a way out. Welcome to the World of Assassination.”

Reminder: Nintendo is about to stop selling Super Mario 3D All-Stars. Also, Super Mario Bros 35 is about to become unplayable.

The post Last Call for Super Mario Bros 35 and Super Mario 3D All-Stars appeared first on Siliconera.

This summer, a curated take on the Shadowverse card game and anime comes to Nintendo Switch. While Shadowverse is already fairly widely known in digital card game circles on mobile and Steam, this upcoming experience is more of an RPG where you take the role of the hero and battle against a bunch of opponents. If this sounds kind of like Pokemon or Yu-Gi-Oh! meets the Shadowverse universe, you're in the right ballpark! Check out the trailer below for a glimpse of what's on deck here...

You can play as seven different classes, and looking at the trailer they're modeled after deck archetypes that you can play in the Shadowverse card game right now. The single-player campaign looks quite traditional as you battle your way to the top and save the day, and there are also multiplayer components to battle other players online.

Unlock cards, deck options, and take on a variety of foes as you climb your way up the ranks of Tensei Academy. You might be wondering why you'd do that when you can already get a much more robust multiplayer competitive experience in the core Shadowverse game, but it does sort of change the metagame in terms of what kind of decks and cards are available. 

Today MiHoYo released another trailer for the massively-popular free-to-play RPG Genshin Impact.

This time around the focus is on the newest character you can add to your team, Rosaria.

You can see her and her frost abilities in action in the trailer below alongside the version with Japanese voice-overs.

Here’s how she’s officially described:

Today Xseed Games and Marvelous Euope announced that they will release Shadowverse: Champion’s Battle to North America and Europe.

The game, developed by Cygames, will release in summer 2021 exclusively for Nintendo Switch.

Shadowverse: Champion’s Battle is a spin-off of Cygames’ well-known card game Shadowverse. It was released in Japan last November alongside an anime series.

Below you can check out a trailer, screenshots, and an official description from Xseed.

Today Microsoft announced the new batch of Games With Gold that Xbox Live Gold and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers will receive during the month of April at no additional cost.

We’re getting Vikings: Wolves of Midgard, Truck Racing Championship, Dark Void, and Hard Corps: Uprising.

If you’re unfamiliar with any of them, you can find a trailer and official descriptions below.

“Vikings: Wolves of Midgard
Journey to the shores of Midgard, a world based on mythology with a fantasy twist. Join a notorious band of Viking warriors and take up the fight against the fearsome Jotan and the beasts of Ragnarok. Master mighty weapons including sword and shield, two-handed hammers, axes, and bows, and vanquish the fiendish creatures of Fimbulwinter which threatens to end all life.

Truck Racing Championship
Take the wheel behind giant 5-ton, 1,000 horsepower semi-trucks in a completely new racing experience. Featuring all the unique challenges of the European Truck Racing Championship, drive 45 different vehicles in 14 worldwide circuits. Consider the weight of the truck when cornering, monitor tire wear, and find the best tactics to win the race.

UPDATE 30/3/21 As the Easter-like Ostara event continues in Assassin's Creed Valhalla, publisher Ubisoft has provided more detail on the Godly Reward gift being offered free to all players - and which includes the cosmetic items from Christmas' Yuletide event.

"The Godly Reward is a gift to all our players to thank them for their continuous support," a Ubisoft spokesperson told me. "We included the Yule cosmetics so even those who might have missed the event could benefit from some of its rewards - an additional treat if you like. That does not mean it will be our template moving forward - we're always listening to the feedback from our community and adapt our plans and content accordingly. We might very well have other cool gifts for our players in the coming months, but nothing we can confirm at this stage."

Fans think Valhalla will soon dole out the fashionable robes of its Assassin character Basim, though we're yet to hear how and when this might be.

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There is still time to grab the Xbox Game With Gold March 2021 lineup, so if you haven't done that yet, you can learn more about what's available here. For those already looking ahead, Microsoft has revealed the Xbox Games With Gold April 2021 lineup. Just like with every month prior, Team Green offers a select few titles to give away for free, both for Xbox Live Gold and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members. Whether you want to live out that truck driver fantasy or become the Viking you've always wanted to be, here's what you have to look forward to on Xbox next month. 

Xbox Games With Gold April 2021 Free Games 

The latest lineup isn't going to be everyone's cup of tea, but the good news is that all of the below games are free. Try it, like it, keep it. Try it, don't like it, move on. It's the best of both worlds! Here's what is on the way: 

Touhou Hyouibana, the 15.5th Touhou Project game and a 2D fighter, will appear on the Switch and PS4 worldwide next month.

The post Touhou Hyouibana ~ Antinomy of Common Flowers Will Appear Worldwide appeared first on Siliconera.

Four very different games are coming to Xbox players

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