April 2020

We all need a little nostalgia

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A rival museum is open for business

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As any Final Fantasy VII fan would tell you, the classic RPG's soundtrack is as much an integral character as Cloud, Tifa, or Aerith. A sweeping score of beautiful, emotive tunes, effectively punctuating the drama of the story, and staying with you long after the final credits roll.

Square Enix also understands this, and as such is giving the regal treatment to the upcoming Final Fantasy VII Remake's accompanying OST release. The soundtrack set features seven CDs, packed with over 150 music tracks taken from the new edition of this timeless adventure. The full track listing is available right here, but watch out for potential spoilers.

The two big things of the moment come together

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Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is continuing its spirit week relevance train, as they move from Ring Fit Adventure on to Animal Crossing: New Horizons. The latest AC entry is blowing up the charts as folks continue to build up their island, and now they can experience the love in yet another Nintendo game by way of a Smash event.

As usual it'll run on Friday for five days, and will contain four new spirits: Orville & Wilbur, Flick, Daisy Mae and C.J. More SP rewards will be doled out during the duration. Man, sometimes these official spirit tallies really throw me off. It's four spirits, right? But look at the above image: there's five people up there! Remember though: it's Orville & Wilbur, they only count as one!

Also, some of the new Animal Crossing: Horizons residents rule, and I think they picked some good ones here. I really dig Flick's design, and Daisy Mae seems like she'll be a recurring character.

SmashBrosJP [Twitter]

The DreamWorks movie is more popular than ever

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Collect eggs to make DIY furniture and clothing

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Europe's biggest video game convention, Gamescom, is currently still scheduled to go ahead in Cologne, Germany this summer, despite the many, many industry events that have been forced to either alter or completely cancel their plans due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

As noted in an official press release, Gamescom has not yet made a decision on whether to cancel its physical trade show, which saw almost 400,000 visitors gather in 2019 to catch a glimpse at the latest and greatest games the world's publishers had to offer. The official decision of whether or not to go ahead with a physical show will be made in May.

Gamescom is unlikely to be cancelled entirely, however, as plans are already being made for the event to have a "significantly expanded" online presence. This will include a bumper edition of the "Opening Night Live" show, and a much more feature-packed "Gamescom Now" streaming schedule. So while it seems increasingly more unlikely that a physical event will take place, video game fans will still be able to tune in online for a whole week of demos, developer talks, trailers, reveals, and more.

The Sonic the Hedgehog movie is out digitally following a stint in theaters, where it beat the coronavirus  drought and managed to score $306 million at the box office, well over its estimated $80-95 million budget with plenty of room to factor in marketing costs.

It was a rip-roaring success with families, and now the movie Sonic (well not that movie Sonic, the new/fixed one) is coming home to roost: literally, in your home, as an Xbox One. Microsoft has unveiled this gaudy but silly blue Xbox One, which has Sonic's giant face emblazoned on the top and a tacky "Sonic" logo that covers the faceplate (and part of the controller), which is just as overt as the Olive Garden advertising in the film.

Microsoft says you just need to retweet this one tweet with an end date of April 14, and one person will be chosen to take the console home: that's literally all there is to it. As a note, this is a recent-design Xbox One X custom. Oh! And it is real: Microsoft even has a legalese page and everything, plus it was revealed late last night before April Fools took hold in the US.

Xbox [Twitter]

Silly ragdoll game Totally Reliable Delivery Service is arriving on the (digital) doorstep of anyone who wants it today. It’s got the jello-like little humans similar to the goofs of Gang Beasts and Human Fall Flat. Turns out delivering packages efficiently is nigh impossible when you’re basically an invertebrate. For its first week in the wild, you can grab Totally Reliable Delivery Service free for keeps.

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Paradox Interactive are pitching in on Covid-19 coronavirus relief efforts with a sale on several of their big management games and RPGs until Friday, April 3rd. You can snag some mighty hefty discounts on things like Cities: Skylines, Pillars Of Eternity, and BattleTech. Paradox are committing proceeds from the sale to the World Health Organization’s Covid-19 Solidarity Response Fund.

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Big numbers are light yet refreshing, rarely leaving one full of knowledge but welcome as an effervescent sensation flowing over the lobes. Here’s a new one for you to enjoy for a few seconds: 50,000, which is the number of permanent bans issued in Call Of Duty: Warzone for cheating so far. All big multiplayer games are in an endless arms race with cheatmakers, and cheaters will keep returning particularly to free-to-play games, but still: 50,000 cheatybans? That big number is a lovely tingle through the ol’ skullgoop.

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As I wrote in my review of Resident Evil 3, one of my favourite things about the game is the level of detail that’s gone into making Raccoon City feel like a real place, despite all but a few streets of it being mysterious blocked off by walls of rubble and trashed police cars. It’s a strangely generic location, with that faint sense of white-label, delocalised Americana that often comes about when a Japanese production team sets something in the USA. If you had a dream set in “an American city”, your mind would come up with something like this place. But just as in a dream, when you start to look at the details, things get a bit weird. I’m going to take you on a quick tour of Raccoon City’s downtown, where the first act of RE3 is set, and show you some of my favourites. Keep up, or the bin bag man will get you.

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Another month, another fresh selection of titles waiting in the wings for PlayStation Plus subscribers to download, and April is a particularly strong showing for the service, ushering in Uncharted 4: A Thief's End and Dirt Rally 2.0.

Starting next Tuesday, 7th April, eligible humans can plot a course for adventure, courtesy of Nathan Drake's latest (and last) treasure hunting escapade, which initially released on PS4 back in 2016. It's a good 'un too, packing in the series usual set-piece heavy bouts of exploratory action, albeit with the 'spectacular' dial cranked right up to the maximum.

"As accomplished as Uncharted 4: A Thief's End is - as heroically as it bests its predecessors, as gracefully as it sidesteps their pitfalls - it's not possible for it to have the seismic impact and far-reaching influence that Uncharted 2 did," said Oli Welsh in his Recommended review, "Nor does it redefine the storytelling scope of the blockbuster action game like The Last of Us."

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The usual announcements at this year's now-cancelled E3 will be replaced by various publisher digital events - but don't expect a showcase from Bethesda.

The Fallout and Elder Scrolls publisher has today announced it will not host a June livestream due to the "many challenges" the company now faces amid the ongoing coronavirus crisis.

Fans keen to hear more on the studio's upcoming projects - especially those slated to hit the next generation of consoles - will now need to wait a little longer.

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Sublime platformer Rayman Legends is currently available to download for free and keep forever on PC, courtesy of the Ubisoft Store, but you'll need to move swiftly, as the offer expires at the end of the week.

And if you're in the market for some free entertainment to break up the monotony of roaming your halls forlornly, occasionally peering out the windows in sweet reminisce, you could do considerably worse than Rayman Legends, as it's an absolute treat.

Released in 2013, it's the follow-up to the only marginally less delightful Rayman Origins, and like that game, takes the Rayman series' classic 2D platforming and re-invigorates it with some consistently wonderful presentation and relentlessly inventive level design.

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Numerous Nintendo fans (and fan sites) this week fell foul of a fake Flipnote Studio revival - and now the person behind the intended April Fool's joke is receiving a torrent of abuse.

It all began at the weekend, when a detailed set of images popped up online purporting to be of a Switch remake for the DS and 3DS doodler. The screenshots were said to have been posted by a Japanese user who gained access to a beta version, and included illustrations of obscure Nintendo characters from forgotten games such as Giftpia and Chibi-Robo. Some fans took these to be teases for new games in those series, too.

Flipnote Studio was a popular animation app made by Nintendo originally for the DSi, with a sequel for 3DS. It lets artists showcase simple drawings and animation, and grew to have a cult following.

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Balance is everything in multiplayer games, and pushing players to earn/buy new cards is a big part of games with loot boxes and microstransactions. Clash Royale checks both of those boxes, and for the game's 10th season, developer Supercell is removing a card to make room for another. Heal Spell, which debuted in 2017, will no longer be in decks in a few days.

Taking its place is a new card called Heal Spirit, which has the same movement speed, hit points, and general design as the ice spirit, but when it explodes, it delivers a powerful burst of healing. Supercell says it produces total healing of 181 percent, which is far more powerful than the Heal Spell.

The game's 10th season also brings a new tower skin, emotes, and arena. To learn more about how the Heal Spirit came online, check out Supercell's fun announcement video.

In a sea of sitcoms, it takes a lot to stand out amongst the crowd in the current market. Since 2009, Modern Family has done just that, thanks in part to loveable characters and an interesting family dynamic.

Across its 11 year run, the series has created an abundance of wacky and weird plotlines, often resulting in zany trivia to accompany them. Below, we’ve taken all of the info across show’s lifespan and created the hardest Modern Family trivia quiz you’ll ever take.

Buckle up everyone; it’s time to make lemonade out of lemons.

(Images Courtesy of ABC)

Many gaming events have been canceled or risk to be canceled or postponed due to the Novel Coronavirus pandemic, but quite a few developers and publishers are working to offer online replacements via livestreams. Yet, Bethesda won’t be one of them, at least in the usual E3 period in June. 

Today, senior vice president of global marketing and communication Pete Hines took to Twitter to announce that the publisher won’t host any digital showcase in June due to the challenges created by the pandemic.

That being said, he also mentioned that Bethesda has “lots of exciting things to share” about its games, and will share more in the coming months.

You can see the brief announcement below.

This comes hot on the heels of the cancellation of QuakeCon, which was supposed to come in August. That being said, in that case, Bethesda did leave the door open to the possibility to replace the event in some way.

If you love Fire Emblem: Three Houses, I have a feeling that you’re going to love this. The latest issue of Weekly Famitsu included a dedicated calendar.

Not only it comes with lovely artwork representing the next twelve months in the continent of Fódlan, but it also includes all the birthdays of our favorite heroes, which is great to keep track of them.

To be precise, the calendar covers the period between April 2020 and March 2021, and it looks really great.

You can find all the pages of the calendar in the gallery below. Of course, if you want it nicely printed in full color, you’ll have to buy the magazine, but I’m sure this is better than nothing.

"It's like eating mac-and-cheese in video game form." Slime Rancher dev Nick Popovich says that capturing that comfort-food feeling is key to bringing players back to your game time and time again. ...

In this GDC 2020 virtual talk, Gearbox Software's Andre Bair discusses how accessibility features were embedded into the design of Borderlands 3 at an early stage in development. ...

From developers behind Metro: Exodus, Ghost of Tsushima, World of Warcraft, and more comes Mortal Shell--an action-RPG with Dark Souls influences, set for launch later this year on Xbox One, PS4, and PC.

From developer Cold Symmetry, Mortal Shell includes the deliberate combat that has been popularized by From Software's Souls series, with role-playing elements that let you upgrades weapons and skills as you explore a non-linear open-world. The reveal trailer below sets its tone well, with a more horror-focused atmosphere than that of its influences.

One aspect of Mortal Shell that stands out is the shells themselves. You'll physically wear the empty bodies of fallen warriors, each of which will play with different fighting styles and abilities. You can get comfortable with a shell and upgrade it further, letting you choose your style of play and adapt accordingly with items and weapons on top of it.

April is officially underway, which means Pokemon Go developer Niantic has once again refreshed the game's Field Research list. Many of April's Field Research tasks are the same as March's, although some offer new rewards, and you won't find many tasks that require you to hatch eggs (which is helpful as many part of the world are under lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic).

Unlike the more story-focused Special Research quests, Field Research tasks are distributed via PokeStops. You'll receive a random task when you spin the Photo Disc, and each one you complete will net you rewards, which can range from helpful items like Berries to encounters with certain Pokemon.

On top of that, the first Field Research task you complete each day will earn you a stamp. If you collect seven stamps, you'll achieve what's called a Research Breakthrough, which will net you additional rewards as well as an encounter with a special Pokemon. April's Research Breakthrough reward is the rare Alolan Exeggutor; you'll get a chance to catch the Pokemon each time you achieve a Research Breakthrough this month.

With coronavirus (COVID-19) concerns continuing to mount and social distancing mandates getting extended, the organization behind the annual gaming convention RTX has rescheduled this year's event.

Instead of taking place from July 3-5, entertainment production company Rooster Teeth has moved RTX to Labor Day Weekend: September 5-7. It doesn't seem like any other changes are being made to the convention at the moment, but refunds will be offered to those who change their mind.

In the meantime, Rooster Teeth is working with the city of Austin, Texas--where RTX is held--to ensure that facilities are clean and well-sanitized for when the event returns this September.

The Urban Jungle Apparel Event is now live in The Division 2. Running until April 20, the latest event gives you a chance to earn new apparel for your agents via time-limited Apparel Caches.

There are 35 new apparel items included as part of the Urban Jungle event. Earning cache keys is done by leveling up your SHD levels (one key is awarded for every four levels), or by purchasing them outright using Premium Credits. Anyone who logs in will receive one key to get started, and you can gift keys to other players as well.

The event contains a collection of four full cosmetic outfits: Reconnaissance, Hazard, Gorilla, and Chrome. It also includes additional clothing items, four weapon skins, and one mask. If you manage to collect every item from the event, you'll be awarded the unique Purifier Face Mask. Fortunately, Event Caches don't contain duplicates, so there's no RNG preventing you from getting your hands on everything.

The Elder Scrolls Online is preparing to close the book on its Skyrim story as it transitions into the Greymoor season. The new content isn't live yet, but the prologue chapter is now available alongside a patch on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.

The patch notes across all three platforms make some of the same changes, especially across the two console platforms. On PC the patch has fixes for some abilities and a game crash, but the notes say the developers are still investigating ability desyncs and lag. On PS4 and Xbox One, there are input delay and desync fixes, and a fix to the Coldharbour questline.

A free prologue chapter for Greymoore is now available in advance of the story's launch. Paired with a limited time free-play period, you can dip a toe in the new content. Parent company Bethesda also recently announced that it is canceling the digital showcase that it had planned to give in absence of its E3 appearance.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons has tons of fish and bugs to catch all day, every day, but not all of them are available year-round. It's April and that means there are new seasonal fish and bugs to fill up your museum and your Critterpedia.

Some of the new fish and bugs arriving in April will be around for a few months, but for some, this month will be your last chance to catch them for a while. April also sees the arrival of a few Animal Crossing newcomers, like the Madagascan Sunset Moth, which--unlike its nocturnal counterparts--can be spotted during the day.

For a more comprehensive list of Animal Crossing's wildlife, check out our fish and bug guides, where you'll find tips on how to catch them, how weather affects availability, and more.

Alongside a brand-new game mode, developer PUBG Corporation has dropped a quick hotfix update for PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. We've compiled the patch notes below.

The hotfix update is pretty small, addressing a few minor issues with the game to make the console experience a little smoother. Notably, Xbox players should now be able to search for PS4 players so that they can play together and people should be able to invite their friends to custom matches. The patch also makes some adjustments to Team Deathmatch, particularly re-introducing the maps Sanhok and Vikendi, fixing issues the user interface and player damage, and more.

Elsewhere in the update, PUBG's shotguns shells should display correctly on the UI, players should climb stairs appropriately in TDM, weapons should no longer move after pulling the pin out of a throwable explosive, and more.

Nihon Falcom's Trails of Cold Steel series has made waves among hardcore RPG fans for years now. Today, the company announced that the fourth entry in the series will come to North America this autumn on PS4, with a PC and Nintendo Switch release coming in 2021.

If you haven't heard of The Legend of Heroes, it's a series of loosely-connected RPGs that run back to the late '80s. Though all of the games in the series have found fans on Western shores, the fanbase for the series exploded after the release of Trails in the Sky on PSP back in 2011. The Trails of Cold Steel series takes place after the events of Trails in the Sky, and differentiates itself through its high-school setting.

Let's see how the changes even influence the earliest portions of the game during a 12pm PT/3pm ET/9pm CET Persona 5 Royal stream.

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Overwatch googly eyes may just be one of the best possible gags for an April Fools' day that doesn't have a lot of room for pranks.

The post The Overwatch Gang gets Googly-eyed Over April Fools’ Day appeared first on Siliconera.

One of Capcom's April Fools' Day 2020 jokes is a 690,000,000 yen Mega Man ring made by Dr. Light Lab.

The post A 690,000,000 Yen Mega Man Ring Is Capcom’s April Fools’ Joke appeared first on Siliconera.