September 2020

In 2017, we saw the release of blockbuster titles like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Horizon Zero Dawn. Because of this, Nier: Automata flew under my radar. Nevertheless, last spring (2020) was the perfect time for me to finally traverse Automata’s desolate and beautiful open world. If someone had told me four years ago that Platinum Games’ thought-provoking action/RPG would play a large role in influencing my decision to pursue a master’s degree in game design, I wouldn't have believed them. And yet, here I am – back in school, and discovering all the ways Automata continues to influence my creative process.

With the Mass Effect Legendary Edition just around the corner, longtime fans are finally getting their chance to play a more optimized Mass Effect experience on modern consoles. Being a massive Mass Effect fan myself, I've had more than a few people reach out wondering if the remaster would be a good reason to jump into the franchise for the first time. My answer? Heck-to-the-YES, here's why. 

A little backstory: I've been gaming for over 30 years and enjoy all sorts of genres and tales. From full-fledged single-player narratives to just shooting a few rounds in Battlefield, gaming is my life and I've experienced some amazing adventures out there. That being said, no franchise has made quite the impact on me that the Mass Effect series has and a big part of that is due to the incredible craftsmanship of the story and Commander Shepard's legacy. 

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Razer Kraken X Ultralight Wired Gaming Headset | $40 | Amazon

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If we've learned anything from Marvel's comics and cinematic universe, it's that the world is always expanding. New villains are always emerging and new heroes are always swooping in to stop them. Crystal Dynamics is taking this same approach with its game starring Earth's Mightiest Heroes. Marvel's Avengers launched with six playable characters, but that's far from all the heroes we'll be able to take control of when it's all said and done. Crystal Dynamics has said that all playable characters will be added at no additional cost, but additional upgrades for those characters could cost money.

Check out all the characters you can play as in Marvel's Avengers, as well as all the heroes still to come.

Ms. Marvel

Following a disaster in the opening of the game, Kamala Khan discovers new powers that allow her to grow and stretch her body in ways that help her fend off enemies and traverse the environment in unique ways. As the main character of Marvel's Avengers, her goal is to reassemble the outlawed hero team to once again save the world.

If you're like me, the wait for Dragon Age 4 is pretty unbearable. We have justice that needs to be seen with a certain egg and taking on Tevinter is mighty enticing. While we still have a nice little wait time before we get a DA4 launch date, we figured these Dragon Age mods for Skyrim might help pass the time. 

Bethesda sure does know how to make moddable games. Both Skyrim and Fallout have arguably the biggest mod libraries out there. With so many, it's easy to find a few Dragon Age-inspired ones that take us back into the world of Thedas while not leaving Tamriel, and here are a few of my personal favorites as a massive PC gamer. 

Fenris

Fenris is the broody elf that escaped slave life in Tevinter and became a loyal follower of Hawke in Dragon Age 2. Though rough at first, he eventually became one of my favorite elves in the entire Dragon Age franchise, which is why this Fenris Follower mod is a must-have in my book. 

"Fenris, a former slave in Morrowind, served the House Dres for most of his youth. His Dunmer masters forced him to endure a Daedric ritual which resulted in the unique magic markings on his skin. One day he was finally able to escape, and he ended up in Skyrim."

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With the Super Mario series celebrating its 35th anniversary, Nintendo has been particularly nostalgic, announcing Super Mario 3D All-Stars, as well as other Super Mario-related announcements and merchandise to help ring in the major milestone for its flagship franchise.

In the first 35 years of the Super Mario series, Mario and his friends appeared in hundreds of titles, but in the core “Super Mario” series, the plumber was present in just under 20 titles. Since Super Mario Maker and Super Mario Maker 2 are such a unique experiences that are more along the lines of a creation toolset than an actual game, we decided to leave them off of the list.

Even so, the Super Mario series doesn’t have a bad entry to date, so this list proved difficult to put together in an order we all felt comfortable with. In 2018, we ranked the top 300 games of all time in our 300th issue. While that list was more about ranking games in terms of quality, importance to the industry, and cultural relevance, this list is just about our favorite games. So check out our rankings of the first 19 Super Mario games below!

Season 2 was full of emotional moments

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Preorder Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury

• Get it at Amazon - $59.99
• Get it at Best Buy - $59.99
• Get it at GameStop - $59.99
• Get it at Nintendo eShop (digital) - $59.99
• Get it at Amazon UK - £49.99

In the past few months, in the wake of several sets of video game-themed sake being announced, I’ve been getting questions from people who are interested in learning more about the Japanese drink.

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The best LMGs in Warzone offer a very special collection of traits that few other weapons can match. High DPS and large magazines allow you to drop entire teams quickly, while the excellent damage dropoff values and low recoil of certain LMGs give you an extremely potent answer to long-range encounters. And now, there’s a new player in the field – the eminently customisable FiNN LMG.

Our Best LMG in Warzone guide will not only walk you through the stats of each LMG, but also discuss the place of each LMG in the current Warzone meta, and answer the question: is the FiNN the new best LMG in Warzone?

This guide was written by Ollie Toms and James Law.

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When does the next MCU movie hit theaters? Here’s the up-to-date schedule.

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A new Assault Rifle seems to be pretty much par for the course at this point, with the AS VAL being the 13th, by my estimation. Still, the Warzone team are finding interesting things to do with the gun class, and the AS VAL is a solid addition to the pantheon. With its integral suppressor a default part of the gun’s kit, our in-depth AS VAL loadout guide will help you make the most of the rest of the weapon’s attachment slots.

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Mikkelsen and Thomas Vinterberg have created a tour de force

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During a Nintendo Direct Mini: Partner Showcase today (or should I say Monster Hunter direct), Capcom unveiled a brand-new Monster Hunter title exclusively for the Nintendo Switch called Monster Hunter Rise.

It features similar action-RPG gameplay that MH fans will feel familiar with but thanks to the new Wirebug mechanic, players will be able to pull themselves toward objects for fast traversal and it can even be used to pull off combos during monster encounters.

Rise will also have brand-new monsters added to the game as well as many fan-favorites from past titles. Here are the monsters confirmed so far for Monster Hunter Rise.

The latest film from Cartoon Saloon is a masterpiece

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It’s fall and not just any fall. It’s election year fall. It’s two brand-new video game consoles fall. It’s tentatively stepping outside to see if everything is okay fall. We’d probably be better off staying inside baking pies and playing video games. Fortunately, there are plenty of games on the way.

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[Update: Codes for all eight caps are below!]

Today during this morning's special Pokémon stream, The Pokémon Company unveiled a new promo for Sword and Shield. Naturally, it involves Pikachu.

From here on out, special Pikachu will be distributed for Sword and Shield, tailored around the idea of it being "Ash's Pikachu" with eight different hats. The first one is available today, with more coming later "through various means." If history is anything to go by, codes doled out during tournament streams and the like are a safe bet.

To get the first rat, enter "P1KACHUGET" into your copy of the game.

To unlock the second version, use: "1CH00SEY0U."

A third version has been released: "P1KAADVANCE."

As well as a fourth version: "V0LTTACKLEP1KA."

And the fifth version: "P1KABESTW1SH."

And the sixth: "KAL0SP1KA."

Here's the seventh: "ULTRAP1KA."

And the eight: "K1NP1KA1855."

There's even going to be a full website for it! It's not live at the time of publication, but The Pokémon Company says more info will be available here. You can also take a look at the array of hats below.

Spooky season is upon us

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PlayStation 5 users will have access to a new PlayStation Plus benefit known as the PlayStation Plus Collection, today’s showcase revealed, which will provide a wide variety of PlayStation 4 games on the new console.

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UPDATE: Sometimes, we just can't leave well enough alone. I returned to Xbox Series X to take a look at more Xbox One and Xbox One X titles running under backwards compatibility, as Microsoft releases more games to journalists in its preview programme. It's an opportunity to check out some of Xbox One's most challenging games, including one of the most CPU-limited games of the generation - Just Cause 3. Can the power of the Zen 2 CPU architecture rid an excellent title of its terrible performance problems? The answer is yes. On top of that, we look at games like Ark: Survival Evolved and Assetto Corsa Competizione - the hardcore driving simulation that fails to impress mostly because of its performance issues.

On top of that, we take a look at games that don't benefit so much from the new machine - mostly owing to them already being well optimised for the performance targets they have - Red Dead Redemption 2 being a good case in point. However, this does mean that some big opportunities for genuinely transformative experiences don't happen. So, Batman: Return to Arkham is still limited to 30fps in Arkham City while Arkham Asylum retains its baffling 45fps frame-rate cap. Clearly, it's still the games that have unlocked frame-rate modes that benefit most: The Evil Within 2 delivers a night and day improvement, while The Vanishing of Ethan Carter can finally be enjoyed at a locked 60fps at native 4K resolution.

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The best panels, news, and interviews

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This story takes place a long time ago and most video games don't age like fine wine. The rare, great ones do but most don't. The ones that are merely good have a shelf life before they turn. Playing an open-world shooter from 2002 leaves about the same taste in your mouth as chewing the bubblegum that came with 1950s baseball cards.

Mafia: Definitive Edition is a prime example of how those good games can have great foundations. A lot of all-timers like Final Fantasy VII, Link's Awakening, and Resident Evil 2 have gotten the remake treatment lately, and no one is surprised when they're excellent the second time 'round. Mafia, which had to live in GTA III's shadow back in 2002, gets its first chance to be truly excellent in 2020. 

I’m nostalgic for many things old tech. I miss the Game Boy Advance SP’s nifty clamshell design. I long for my Motorola Droid’s slide-out keyboard, despite the fact I’m probably faster at typing on my touch screen at this point.

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From the return of Haikyuu!! and Inuyasha to original series

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[Update: It's Steve/Alex from Minecraft!]

Thanks random retail advertisement! You were right.

As fans speculated, a retailer display that showcased the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Fighter's Pass had an interesting proviso: it would be changed out on October 4 for a new leaflet. Hey! That could mean an imminent Smash DLC reveal. And so it is.

This morning Nintendo spilled the beans and gave us a heads-up for yet another surprise "Direct-like" stream: they will announce the next DLC fighter on October 1 at 10AM ET. Typically, this involves Sakurai giving us a dramatic reveal trailer, followed by in-depth gameplay footage and developer commentary. This video will allegedly be "three minutes long, followed by a brief message from Sakurai."

As Sakurai showed off back when Min-Min was announced, he has a full setup to 'cast from his home, so everything should be good to go. As far as a release date goes, Smash DLC typically is released a week-ish away from the reveal. So the new fighter could enter the fray as soon as October 8.

I hope it's not another Fire Emblem character! Just joking, I won't jinx it.

Nintendo of America [Twitter]