Today Sega announced another AC Scratch collection for the western version of its popular MMORPG Phantasy Star Online 2.

This time around the “Proud Monarch” set pretty much gets you ready to go to a toga party in style.

You can check out a video introducing them below, and check out the official post for the full list.

The collection will be available starting on November 4 and untilDecember 2.

If you’re unfamiliar with AC Scratch, that’s basically the game’s loot box-like mechanic that you can get through tickets purchased with Arks Cash.

Phantasy Star Online 2 is available in the west for Xbox One and PC. A few months ago, we heard that the western version enjoyed a “strong start” and that it passed one million players.

Developer Jasper Byrne's acclaimed indie horror Lone Survivor is getting a remake, complete with a brand-new scenario, and will be making its way to PC and Switch next year.

Lone Survivor initially launched back in 2012, combining distinctive 2D visuals with a thread of exploratory survival horror - in which players must stay alive and stave off madness in a world ravaged by a mutagenic infection - tonally reminiscent of Silent Hill, with a splash of woozy David-Lynch-like surrealism thrown in.

"Lone Survivor never once made me jump, nor did it especially disturb me, but I can't think of another game that's made my heart race quite so much upon opening a door," wrote Eurogamer contributor Lewis Denby back in 2012, "It achieves this primarily through some incredible sound design...but also through immaculate pacing, abject confusion, and some tremendous artistry crammed into the few pixels it possesses."

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Mondays are the absolute worst, am I right? Hopefully this compilation of funny gaming memes will help to put a pep in your step on this, the low-tier day of the week.

Enjoy!

Today Bethesda and  Zenimax Online Studios revealed a new trailer of the upcoming expansion for The Elder Scrolls Online dubbed “Markarth.”

We while the trailer is defined as showing “gameplay,” it definitely comes with a cinematic cut, showcasing characters and locations, not to mention plenty of monsters.

Markarth is be the conclusion of the “Dark Heart of Skyrim” saga. It releases today for PC, Mac, and Stadia and will come on November 10 for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

You can watch it below.

Here’s how the expansion is described by the developers. You can also check out the previous trailer.

“The Dark Heart of Skyrim epic concludes with The Elder Scrolls Online: Markarth. Explore a dangerous new zone with the Reach, gather a band of unlikely allies, and confront a Vampire Lord and his ancient army. Markarth also introduces a new solo arena, Vateshran Hollows, designed to test the strength, wits, and resolve of players with challenging bosses, multiple unlockable paths, and powerful, hidden secrets.

Markarth will release on November 2 for PC, Mac, and Stadia and November 10 for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, and it will be available free as part of an ESO Plus membership or available from the in-game Crown Store.

There's a lot of hours of gameplay to enjoy in regular ol' Dragon Quest XI. There are many more in this edition. Definitively.

The post Save Progress from New Dragon Quest XI S Definitive Edition Demo will Transfer to Full Game appeared first on Siliconera.

Newell and Rocket Lab team up for charity/science

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‘Being hopeful means believing that when things break down, we can rebuild them.’

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Do you suppose Gabe Newell himself has earned the Half-Life 2: Episode 2 achievement for carrying a garden gnome to the end of the game? He’s planning to snag a real-life achievement, apparently, and has partnered up with Rocket Lab to blast a real Gnome Chompski into space. Not for nothing, Newell is planning to donate to Starship Children’s Hospital based on the number of folks to tune in to watch the launch.

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Among Us is an indie treat that launched two years ago, but only recently saw a second lease on life with booming popularity taking over the gaming world. This "sus" filled game centers around deception while playing a colorful and meme-ified astronaut jelly bean and honestly? It's the fun gaming adventure we deserve in 2020. It's so fun, in fact, that one YouTube channel decided to reimagine the world of Among Us as a reality show! 

The Among Us reality show comes by way of the YouTube channel 'Laugh Over Life' and it puts a realistic spin on the popular lying game. 

There are a few parts to this hilarious Among Us parody. Here's a first look at episode one's synopsis: 

Kotobukiya announced a new wave of Fate/Grand Order Saber Alter figures. Check out the full gallery and preorder links here.

The post More Fate/Grand Order Saber Alter Figures Are on the Way appeared first on Siliconera.

Monday’s Best Deals | Kinja Deals

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The Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity demo plays like a game that inherited more from its Zelda: Breath of the Wild parent than its hack-and-slash parent Hyrule Warriors. Developer Koei Tecmo repurposed major elements of Breath of the Wild’s gameplay—from the Sheikah slate, to cooking, crafting, and even Korok…

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Animal Farm, the video game adaptation of George Orwell's classic allegorical novella, is making its way to Steam and unspecified mobile devices on 10th December.

Orwell's Animal Farm, as the adaptation is officially titled, is the work of developer Nerial - the studio behind Tinder-inspired monarchy sim Reigns - and features writing by Failbetter's Emily Short and narration from Abubakar Salim, the voice of Bayek in Assassin's Creed: Origins.

Nerial describes its Animal Farm adaptation as a "narrative, choice-based adventure game that puts the player at the centre of an allegorical animal revolution", noting that players can influence critical events of Orwell's "story of absolute power and corruption" by choosing who they follow, and who is ignored or sidelined.

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Complicated, but genius, design leads the newest form of haptic feedback

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PlayStation 5's DualSense controller looks to enhance the future of interactive console gaming. An unanticipated consequence of its adaptability is twitter user BrokenGamezHDR's short video of the DualSense working with the Nintendo Switch. Of course an adapter — namely, the 8BitDo — was used to optimize everything but, it's definitely interesting to see. BrokenGamezHDR even shows off some short menu footage from Mario Kart 8 Deluxe for all the skeptics out there. Funnily enough, the DualSense can be used on a plethora of consoles and devices, but it won't work with the PlayStation 4. You can see the video below.

Dualsense works on the Nintendo Switch pic.twitter.com/jQhSwUbUbE

— BrokenGamezHDR (@BrokenGamezHDR_) November 2, 2020

The PlayStation 5 drops on November 12. Be to watch our unboxing video to see how massive the console is and what equipment comes along with your purchase.

Trails of Cold Steel IV is a confusing mess for newcomers of the series that somehow ends with a whimper and less with a bang.

The post The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV Will Intimidate Newcomers appeared first on Siliconera.

It’s Monday and time for Ask Kotaku, the weekly feature in which Kotaku-ites deliberate on a single burning question. Then, we ask your take.

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Complete tasks to get a special Pokémon encounter

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What’s the saying? “With great horsepower comes great framerates?” The next generation of gaming sure promises some great horsepower, which will allow many games from across generations to hit a framerate of 60 frames per second (fps). But some games will be able to run at double that, achieving a very pleasing 120…

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Steam accidentally cooked up something truly frightening for the end of its Halloween sale. At some point today the store’s payment system appears to have crashed, preventing users from making purchases around the time the sale was scheduled to end. Sorry to you last-minute shoppers. The ability to purchase games through their store seems to currently have mixed results.

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New Atelier Ryza 2 gameplay footage and a theme song trailer were revealed during "Gust's Fall Special Program" earlier today in Japan.

The post Atelier Ryza 2 Gets a Theme Song Trailer and New Gameplay Footage From Gust appeared first on Siliconera.

Houston, we’ve got allergies. Or rather my wife has allergies and I’m suffering the consequences secondhand. After introducing her to my good friend Claritin over the weekend—and after she fell asleep due to its famously “non-drowsy” effect—it became abundantly clear we need to finally shell out the money for a decent…

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Tuning into Byron “Reckful” Bernstein’s recent daily Twitch streams, you wouldn’t immediately suspect something’s amiss. He’s front and center, playing World of Warcraft, Hearthstone, League of Legends, or any number of other games. Fans frequently make playful remarks, use emotes, and laugh at or with him. But the…

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With just a week to go until Microsoft and Sony’s anticipated next-generation consoles release, Epic Games has today provided a full overview of exactly what new performance enhancements PS5 and Xbox Series X/S Fortnite players can expect.

In a blog post over the publisher’s website, Epic Games breaks down enhancements across all three consoles:

4K Resolution At 60 FPS (PS5, Xbox Series X)

Experience Fortnite on PlayStation like never before on PlayStation 5 with stunning 4K running at a smooth 60 FPS. The Series S will run a 1080p resolution at 60 FPS.

Dynamic Visuals and Physics (PS5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S)

Experience a more dynamic and interactive world with grass and trees responding to explosions, enhanced fluid simulations for smoke and liquid (cooler-looking smoke and liquid effects), and all-new Storm and cloud effects.

Dualsense Controller Immersion (PS5)

Haptic feedback makes it feel like you’re holding the Suppressed SMG or Bolt-Action Sniper Rifle. In addition to general vibration support, we’ve integrated haptic trigger feedback for ranged weapons on the new DualSense controller.

Select Your Favorite Mode From the PS5 Home Screen (PS5)

Fortnite supports PS5’s Activities, starting with the ability to go straight into the Battle Royale Lobby with either Solo, Duos, or Squads selected. Once in the Lobby, choose to queue up for your selected mode!

Get Into Matches Faster (PS5, Xbox Series X)

Loading performance has been significantly upgraded, not only improving texture loading but also helping you get into a match from game start-up much faster.

The Mandalorian season 2 has begun and the Baby Yoda show is back in full force. The debut episode for the new season was met with immense positivity, marking a successful return to Disney Plus for Star Wars fans. While the new episode has a ton of Star Wars nods across books, movies, and comics, Knights of the Old Republic fans may have noticed a neat little nod to the BioWare game as well. 

The Mandalorian season 2 spoilers ahead 

It should be obvious, but we can't talk about an Easter egg without talking about the actual Easter egg, so there will be spoilers below. For those still on the fence, we won't be going in deep with dialogue or anything like that, but the nod does relate to an important part of the returning season. 

This is your last chance, no angry comments at me, I tried to warn you. No seriously. (Click on the lines below to reveal the Easter egg content)

One of the coolest moments of the first episode is the Krayt dragon. This creature is one that has made a pretty epic showing in various mediums of the Star Wars universe, including the movie A New Hope, books, and the expanding comics. While the Krayt itself is cool, it's what is hidden within him that makes a cool KOTOR nod. 

Red Dead Online

went on a bit of a dry spell earlier this year before its Naturalist role was added this summer. Rockstar have now said players won’t be waiting too long for another update. This time around they’ll be focusing on an action-oriented update to a current role, which sure sounds like Bounty Hunting. With RDO’s Halloween event still ongoing, it’s good to hear Rockstar already talking about what’s next.

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Turns out, Watch Dogs: Legion is pretty good. Legion's hook is that everyone walking around its open-world London can be recruited to your hacker terrorist cell Dedsec. Not only that, but you can also play as every person you recruit, each bringing their own special abilities and traits to your team. Personally, I think that Legion is a pretty run-of-the-mill open-world game, but its “recruit anyone” mechanic is truly impressive. 

Rather than hand-make the thousands of people you encounter and potentially recruit to your team, Legion seems to mix and match from a variety of phrases and keywords (some mundane, some deeply strange) to make its individual citizens. Because of this, you can find some real freaks walking around London. I love them all. 

After many, many hours scanning every person I can in Legion, here are the weirdest, funniest, and most disturbing characters I found.

Xbox already has an astronomical amount of streaming apps for players to choose from and engage with: Netflix, Disney+, HBO Max, Crunchyroll, Funimation, Spotify, YouTube, YouTube TV, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, NBC Peacock, Vudu, FandangoNow, Twitch, Sky Go, NOW TV, Sky Ticket and many more. In a new post on the official Xbox blog, Microsoft announced that Apple TV will be joining the expansive collection too and that it will be available on the Xbox Series X/S at launch. 

Apple TV comes with Apple TV+, Apple TV channels, and a bevy of movies for you cinephiles to get lost in. You can purchase a subscription to the app for $5 a month through your Xbox console or test the waters with a 7-day free trial when the Series X/S drop on November 10. 

With next-gen practically in smelling distance, Epic has unveiled a host of technical enhancements coming to Fortnite as a part of a free Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5 update, including the ability to hop directly into a specific mode lobby on Sony's console.

As you'd imagine, many of Fortnite's next-gen enhancements are shared between Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5, including 4K support at 60fps and what Epic is referring to as "dynamic visuals and physics". The latter will manifest as a "more dynamic and interactive world", including grass and trees that react to explosions, enhanced fluid simulations for smoke and liquid, plus all-new Storm and cloud effects.

Xbox Series S, meanwhile, will run "most" of these enhancements (Epic isn't being any more specific than that at the moment, unfortunately) at 1080p/60fps. Notably, all platforms will support 60fps during split-screen play, and will feature improved loading said to impact both texture loading and the time it takes players to get into a match.

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A developer tweeting about an upcoming video game isn’t usually a big deal, but in the case of From Software’s Elden Ring, I’m willing to make an exception.

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Fans are always finding new and interesting ways to blend their favorite properties, and one in particular has brought True Detective and Ghost of Tsushima together in an amazing way.

In a video posted to YouTube on Nov. 2, user Fieldhouz offered a reimagining of the True Detective opening from season one using characters from the game.

As with the original, images can be seen in silhouettes of the title’s primary cast, with the images relating to key moments or events from the story. Images of Jin’s past memories of growing up beside his uncle play out over his silouhette, while Yuna’s contains images of her younger brother Taka following his rescue from imprisonment by the Mongols.

Not only that, but the credits for the game play in place of the credits for the show. Vocal talents like Daisuke Suji, Sumalee Montano, Leonard Wu and the rest of the English cast are all given their proper due, with their names appearing next to the silhouettes of their characters or alongside images of key moments they appear in during the game.

To top it all off, the original theme song – “Far From Any Road” by The Handsome Family – is playing all the while, and fits perfectly with the morose tone of the characters.

It’s an outstanding video, and any fan of Ghost of Tsushima will want to check it out in full down below.

The Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope is available now following the launch of Man of Medan, but there is more horror yet to come. Supermassive Games has revealed the next chapter on the way with a new trailer showing off House of Ashes. While the reveal trailer is short, it does bode well for continuing on the trend seen in the anthology thus far. 

“They say the souls of the dead went deep underground to the House of Ashes, where they lived on dust plagued by the demons of the underworld,” says the foreboding narration. For those that haven't checked out the anthology's previous two games with Man of Medan and Little Hope, no worries. This is an anthology, which means it's not a continuous storyline. While each game offers something unique for horror fans, it's not required to play the previous two in order to enjoy what House of Ashes has to offer. 

Check out the official chapter story reveal in the video below: 

A release date was announced, then redacted for Final Fantasy IX physical Switch copies. Check out the details, dates, and shop links.

The post Final Fantasy IX Physical Switch Carts Might Release Soon (Update) appeared first on Siliconera.

Well, this was wholly unnecessary. With next-gen consoles on the horizon, a remake of Demon's Souls launching alongside the PlayStation 5, and so much else happening in the world, Elden Ring has kind of gone forgotten about.

From Software is here to reopen that wound and pour salt in it.

A mod for the PC port of Silent Hill 2 recently got a big update that adds new features, improves graphics, and most importantly makes the fog look just as dense and spooky as in the original PlayStation 2 version of the game.

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Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time

It’s been a long time since we got a brand-new Crash Bandicoot game, but that’s exactly what 2020 and developer Toys for Bob has brought us