March 2020

The roguelike-like survival game Below was a bit more difficult when it came out than its moody, fog-filled trailers suggested, even to me who had been following it for multiple years. Capybara Games announced a while back that they’d heard community feedback and had decided to add a second mode to the game dubbed Explore Mode. Capy are giving PC players a chance to try out the new mode early by opting into a beta branch through Steam from today until next Tuesday, April 7.

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This shouldn't be a surprise, but COVID-19 is starting to affecting the release of several upcoming games. Previously, Square Enix promised that the spread of the virus would not delay the release of the game on April 10, and the company is still holding to that. However, the publisher recently released a statement updating how the game will roll out.

In short, Final Fantasy VII Remake has already shipped to Europe and Australia. Square Enix hopes this will gives fans a greater chance of getting their hands on the title. This applies to the physical version of the game, and the company has made no statements regarding the digital release, which is still set for release on April 10.

With the spread of the pandemic, many gamers are hunkering down in their gaming dens to play games. If you're hoping to get your hands on Final Fantasy VII remake soon, we wish you luck, and if you go snag a copy before the rest of the world, please don't spoil anything.

Free currency and upgrade materials will be given to players as part of War of the Visions' 1 Million Celebration Campaign.

The post War of the Visions: Final Fantasy Brave Exvius Celebrates Over 1 Million Downloads appeared first on Siliconera.

The JP eShop page for Xenoblade Chronicles: DE confirms that the Switch version won't include the New 3DS collection mode.

The post Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition Will Not Include the New 3DS Extra Features appeared first on Siliconera.

Dead or Alive Xtreme: Venus Vacation's next collaboration is with Colopl's mecha girl customization action game Alice Gear Aegis.

The post Dead or Alive Xtreme: Venus Vacation Gets Mecha Girl Items in Alice Gear Aegis Collaboration appeared first on Siliconera.

Blue Reflection character designer Mel Kishida left a message for the game's third anniversary that hints at something in the works.

The post Blue Reflection Character Designer Mel Kishida Hints Something Is in the Works appeared first on Siliconera.

Cygames is celebrating the Dragalia Lost anniversary with art! Specifically, with a huge wallpaper saluting favorite Dragalia Lost characters.

The post All Dragalia Lost Characters Get Their Moment in This Dragalia Lost Anniversary Art appeared first on Siliconera.

A new Steam coronavirus response has been made, essentially making some small changes to how the PC platform's auto-updates work.

The post Steam Addresses Increased Traffic With Automatic Update Changes and Bandwidth Settings appeared first on Siliconera.

One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4 may have already set sail, but that hasn't stopped Bandai Namco from dropping even more character trailers for the game's burgeoning roster of sea-dogs and scallywags.

The latest quartet of trailers includes Beast Pirates Governor and "Strongest Creature in the World" Kaido, Captain of the Blackbeard Pirates Marshall D. Teach, the dangerous and psychopathic Eustass Kid, and finally the debonair Shanks, who is not only one of The New World's four Emperors, but is also responsible for the nurturing of protagonist Luffy's pirating ways.

You can check out the four fighters in action in the videos below. If you want to see the rest of Pirate Warriors 4's huge roster, then check out the official website right here. One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4 is available now on PS4, PC, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch.

The world has been such a dark place as of late that it was nice to see something as nice and wholesome as a Nintendo Direct last week. It's a great way to take your mind off the troubles at hand and focus on all the games you'll be spending your "corona check" on this Spring.

That's just one of the topics on hand for this new episode of Podtoid. CJ, Chris, Dan, Occams, and Charlotte gather round to talk about Good Job!, Doom Eternal, El Capitan, Disney+, weed farms, safe sex practices, and pee napkins. All that, plus Dan sends a shiver down our spines as he recounts his encounter with Jeff in Half-Life Alyx, on Podtoid Episode 438.

We're due a new Resident Evil in just four days (read our review, by the way!), but that hasn't stopped people from looking one game ahead. There are new rumors regarding the next Resident Evil, and they allude to a very different experience than we're used to.

Capcom insider Dusk Golem says that the next Resident Evil game is "by far the biggest departure the series has ever taken, to the point that [he expects] a lot of people will be pissed off about it when it gets revealed." However, Dusk Golem also mentions that internal testing indicates it's "high-quality."

We'll possibly find out what all that means sooner rather than later. This next Resident Evil is allegedly launching in 2021 and has been in development since late 2016. Further, Dusk Golem says that Capcom's reveal will be "really soon." We're working with short timelines here.

If you're looking forward to diving into the colourful world of Ninjala, then you'll be pleased to hear Gung-Ho Entertainment is producing a run of short animations in the lead-up to its release, giving people a chance to learn a little about Ninjala's wacky world ahead of its May release.

The first episode is titled "Episode 0: Ninja-Gum is born!" and introduces us to three of Ninjala's poster characters: Burton, Berecca, and Ron. These extraordinarily eccentric scientists work for WNA Research, where they tirelessly experiment on "Ninja-Gum" a chewable foodstuff to unlock powerful abilities of time's hardest warriors. This is apparently their "2,503rd" attempt... I have zero idea why any institute would foot the grant money for this.

Anyway, as you can see from the mini-movie, the team hit a breakthrough, but not all goes quite to plan *cue sad trombone*. It's a cute little short. I particularly like the cat, and Berecca's sweet hair. It's a wholesome few minutes of harmless fun, so check it out below. Jordan Devore tried out a (very early) build of the game back at E3 2018, and you can check out his thoughts right here.

Ninjala launches on Nintendo Switch May 27.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons lets you customize pretty much every aspect of your island life. You can change your clothes, your town tune, your island’s structure itself, and you can even change your island’s flag design with pretty much any image that you want.

If you’re struggling to come up with a great idea for your island flag, here are the best flag designs for Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

Pikachu – Pokemon

The surprised Pikachu meme deserves to be the first thing that people see when they arrive in your town, especially if your island is Pokemon-themed. This excellent flag design was created by Canielele.

Sonic the Hedgehog

Sonic the Hedgehog’s design is instantly recognizable by most, so why not put up this custom flag design in your town to praise the blue blur in all of his glory? This one was created by Asancu.

Nintendo 64 Logo

Oh man, I can hear the startup sound of Super Mario 64 and Ocarina of Time right now. This Nintendo 64 flag design comes courtesy of Shawn.

Tom Nook – Animal Crossing

We all know that Tom Nook owns us on this deserted island so you might as well put his face up on the town flag. This one is made by a user named Tom Nook –how suspicious.

J.R.R Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings series has the most in-depth stories, characters, and world that literature has ever seen. And it was from those building blocks that Peter Jackson was able to adapt the series into incredible movies as well.

Being huge Tolkienites, we’ve taken it upon ourselves to create a quiz devoted to the vast well of info and trivia that appears throughout both The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. Do you think you’ve got what it takes?

Keep in mind that this quiz features questions from The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit movie trilogies. That means some answers may be different from what Tolkien wrote in the books versus what Peter Jackson adapted into the movies.

(Image Credit New Line Cinema)

Today Marvel Games and Netmarble released a brand new trailer of their upcoming mobile game Marvel Future Revolution.

The trailer doesn’t just show more of the upcoming open-world online RPG, but it also provides insight from some of the minds behind the game who talk about the vision behind it.

And I mean “vision” in terms of philosophy since we don’t yet know if Vision (the character) will be in the game. For now, just a handful of heroes and villains have been revealed.

We also hear about the possibilities offered by the game, that will let players meet and play versions of familiar heroes from different universes, all working together or clashing in the same world.

You can check out the trailer yourself below.

At the moment, there is no relese date for Marvel Future Revolution, but we know that it’s coming for iOS and android.

If you’d like to see more, you can enjoy a bunch of trailers that have been released during the reveal of the game at PAX East.

Digital collectible card game Artifact will be receiving a “Beta 2.0” that will revamp some of the game’s features and gameplay, Valve announced today.

In a blog post, the company revealed a small roadmap on how the new beta will roll out without giving any dates. Valve is currently testing Beta 2.0, then will send out invites to players to own the original release before eventually transitioning to an open beta.

One of the biggest changes in the Artifact beta is that cards will not be sold outside of the game. Cards will be unlocked by playing the game, and a new Hero Draft mode will allow players to construct decks “without all the pressure.”

The company noted it has plans to sell extra content for the game, but none involve cards or packs.

The other gameplay change is zooming the game board out to show all three lanes. Each lane will still have to be individually maintained though “it’s less likely that a player will get shut out in the same way they used to,” according to the studio.

Artifact originally released in November 2018, which was Valve’s first released game since Dota 2 in 2013. Five months later, the studio halted updates to reassess the “deep-rooted issues” of the game after the player base dropped significantly soon after launch.

The post Valve Announces New Beta for Card Game Artifact appeared first on Twinfinite.

Borderlands 3 events tend to be hit or miss. The current one, “Door Busters,” isn’t just a hit. It’s a headshot.

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One of the most interesting things about Artifact is that you could buy and sell cards on the Steam marketplace. It was one of the more controversial aspects of the game though, and Valve says it’s getting rid of it.

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The Xbox Series X is more or less a suped-up Xbox One, so if you’ve had trouble getting your hands on the newer machine, don’t fret. In fact, given the absence of next-gen launch exclusives, most of the best games you could play on the thing are Xbox One games, anyway. Over its seven years and three major hardware…

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Death Stranding developer Kojima Productions announced today that all staff currently working will be doing so from home for the foreseeable future after a sick employee was diagnosed with COVID-19. ...

Pokemon Go is a game that thrives on people going outside, so you might not expect it to do well during a pandemic when players are stuck indoors. And yet, despite COVID-19 forcing people worldwide to self-isolate, Pokemon Go's revenue has gone up recently, according to a report from gamesindustry.biz.

For the week ending March 16, according to data taken from Sensor Tower, Pokemon Go's gross revenue hit $23 million--a 67% increase on the week before. In fact, 13% of revenue earned by the game so far in 2020 was earned during that week, despite people not being able to play as they usually would.

It was by far the biggest week of in-game spending the game has had in 2020, and it indicates that the game will continue to turn a profit as the way it is played necessarily changes.

One enduringly controversial topic for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is that, despite the game using a skill-based matchmaking system, there is no ranked mode. Call of Duty professional player Nadeshot stoked the flames of this debate recently when he spoke openly about his frustration with the lack of a ranked mode. And now, former Call of Duty executive Michael Condrey has responded, saying he, too, was frustrated by some of the decisions about Call of Duty that were made outside of his control.

"I'll never understand why Call of Duty goes through all the trouble to implement skill-based matchmaking but won't add a ranking system," Nadeshot said. "If you're going to match me up against better players, why can't I have a rank to be proud of and work towards?"

For his part, Condrey said it was never his decision to not include a ranked mode. Instead, decisions about analytics, skill-based matchmaking, monetization, and dedicated servers, came down from Activision corporate. Condrey said he had "frustratingly little influence" on those decisions, "despite their impact on our games and the Call of Duty community."

In Animal Crossing: New Horizons, the fish and bugs you can catch change with the seasons. As each month ends, there will be a handful of fish and bugs you won't be able to catch again for several months, so it's a good idea to catch them as soon as possible so you can donate them to your museum and enter them into your Critterpedia.

These are the fish and bugs that are leaving at the end of March in both the Northern and Southern hemispheres. See our full fish guide for details on these March fish and our bugs guide for what you need to know about bugs.

Northern Hemisphere

March isn't a big month for fish and bug departures in the Northern Hemisphere, but you'll definitely want to get a stringfish if you're able. These ultra-rare fish only appear in the rivers on your cliffs; the exact elevation doesn't matter. Stock up on fish bait and be prepared to fish for a while.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Warzone continue to evolve. Activision has announced that both modes have received new variants that give you a new way to play.

Starting off with Modern Warfare, there is a new "Pro" version of Cyber Attack for standard multiplayer. The twist with this version of the mode is that players can now respawn instead of needing to be revived by teammates. According to Activision, this creates "frenetic and fast-paced gameplay" as players juggle between killing enemies and playing the objective.

The other new variant is "Blood Money," which is for the Warzone mode Plunder. In this twist on what we're used to, players get even more cash than before for killing enemies. Additionally, taking down enemies with a finishing move and completing contracts earns more money than before. This should make Plunder and even more chaotic, as players scramble to get extra cash.

The next game in the SteamWorld series is in the works. The popular series, which has spanned a few genres (most recently the RPG genre with SteamWorld Quest) and received critical acclaim, will return at some point.

This news comes via the Twitter page of developer Image & Form, which tweeted about the company looking for two experienced 2D artists to work on the next game in the SteamWorld franchise. In a follow-up tweet, the account clarified that it did not know when the game would be announced, let alone released, so there's no further news at this point.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Warzone will offer double XP this weekend, Activision has confirmed. In addition to standard double XP for progression, there will be double weapon XP and double tier progression for the game's battle pass.

The double XP bonuses apply to multiplayer, spec ops, and Warzone. The double XP bonus goes live on April 3 at 10 AM PT and runs through April 6 at the same time. You are probably staying at home more than ever these days, so this is a nice treat for Call of Duty fans looking to level up faster.

The double XP comes at a key time, as Modern Warfare's Season 2 is entering its final full week. As announced previously, the Season 2 Battle Pass ends on April 7, so now is your last chance to reach tier 100 to unlock all the extras. Alternatively, you can spend real money to unlock the items right away.

Leo likes systems – the more, the better. There, I said it. The original Mount & Blade kept his interest for a while, but there was one problem: It's a little on the ugly side. Fortunately, TaleWorlds has come to the rescue, with today's early access release of the sequel, Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord. 

Leo's only had a few hours to get acclimated to this new world, but he likes what he's seen. Check out today's NGT for a look at some of the exploration, town interactions, and several ill-advised raids and combat encounters. It looks like the road to becoming a full-fledged bannerlord is going to be a long one. Oh well.

Take on the raid sized Alexander honey toast at the Eorzea Cafe.

The post Eorzea Cafe Adds New Items to the Menu, Including an Alexander-inspired Honey Toast appeared first on Siliconera.

GungHo has released Part 1 of an animated video series explaining the backstory of the upcoming arena fighter Ninjala.

The post Ninjala Introduces the Origin of Ninja Gum With an Animated Short appeared first on Siliconera.

Could Next-Gen Consoles Be Delayed to 2021?

Riot Games is giving select players a chance to try Valorant, its upcoming five-vs.-five tactical shooter, on April 7, 2020. The developer is launching the "first wave" of closed beta access in the United States, Canada, Europe, Turkey, Russia, and CIS countries, with more regional support planned "if possible."

It's not quite as simple as signing up for the beta and hoping for an email to hit your inbox.

Let's run through the hurdles. First, you'll need to create a Riot account and link it to a Twitch account if you haven't done so already. Then, when the time comes, you'll need to "watch specific Valorant closed beta streams highlighted on Twitch" and hope you're one of the lucky viewers who's given access.

The Valorant closed beta launches at 6:00 a.m. Pacific on April 7. Riot wants to keep the beta "as short as we can while getting additional regions online," but "a lot of unexpected feedback from players" could slow down the timeline. It's also worth noting that player progress won't carry into the full game.

More housekeeping: "At full launch, we will give you all of your [closed beta] Valorant Points back, with an additional 20% bonus as a thanks for engaging with our work-in-progress skins and store."

In today's contest, we're giving away Switch copies of RPG title Sin Slayers: Enhanced Edition!

Everyone knows that RPGs are classic time-wasters. They're chock full of battles, exploration, endless dialog, and incessant grinding. Point being, they're the perfect genre for when you're stuck indoors.

We've got a turn-based RPG up for grabs today! All you Switch owners will be happy to have Sin Slayers: Enhanced Edition in your life for these trying, boring times. So, win a copy and get to work taking out those pesky sins!

Square Enix is making the most of Nier's tenth anniversary. Fresh off the reveal of a Nier Replicant "version up" and a new Nier mobile game, Square Enix is doing what it can to get more people acclimated with the wacky worlds of Yoko Taro.

That's why 2017's Nier: Automata is being added to Xbox Game Pass on April 2. Soon, subscribers can experience a game with 26 endings, one of the balls-craziest stories I've ever seen, and so many emotions even though everyone's a robot.

People who love Nier: Automata really love it, and they'll sing its praises as loudly as they can. I'm one of them, and here are some stray observations I had a mere 15 hours in. It was too early to truly understand Nier: Automata and those last few hours came down like a sledgehammer on my heart.

If nothing else, Nier: Automata deals with virus attacks and, uhh, that's pretty on the nose.

A few more details about the Borderlands Legendary Collection have come out since last week's Nintendo Direct Mini announcement. Most notably, we have a resolution and frame-rate target.

As spotted by Reddit, developer Turn Me Up Games posted a description on its corporate site for Borderlands 1 and 2 on Switch indicating "full 1080p, at 30 FPS, and with no downgrading of art assets." The studio says it worked tirelessly with 2K and Gearbox, and along with "all the trimmings of the [Game of the Year releases]," the Switch versions have "newly-developed motion controls."

Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, the other game in the Legendary Collection, wasn't mentioned – but that shouldn't be cause for concern. Turn Me Up just spoke about its role in the multi-studio collaboration.

I was anxiously wondering about the broad-strokes performance of Borderlands on Switch, so that's nice to know. (Based on the trailer footage, I was expecting 30 FPS.) As for my other big question, the Borderlands Legendary Collection on Switch has two-player split-screen and four-player online co-op.

Fans have also been asking about the Commander Lilith DLC; unlike the other add-ons, it won't be included here. If you're still up for another excursion on Pandora, May 29 is the date to remember.

I think I am, just probably not on launch day.

Valve has made some adjustments to the way Steam currently deals with game downloads in order to reduce bandwidth usage during the coronavirus outbreak.

"We know a lot of you (like us here at Valve) are stuck at home right now trying to work or attend school remotely," the company wrote, "Or maybe you're just playing a bunch of great games on Steam. Whatever the case may be, we know that with so many people at home trying to get things done at the same time, it can put a stress on your home's internet bandwidth."

With that in mind, Steam will now prioritise and schedule game auto-updates slightly differently to normal for the foreseeable future.

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