January 2021

Head to Nessus for some Exotics

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It’s a strong character study that still feels like a stage exercise

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I'm not here to convince you that Ultimate Epic Battle Simulator is anything more than that name implies, but if you think you'd get a few laughs from sending thousands of mishmashed warriors into battle and watching the chaos unfold, the Steam title is free to claim until Monday, February 1.

People have gone wild with mods – Star Wars, The Lord of the Rings, Digimon, Knuckles the Echidna, take your pick – and I've enjoyed skimming through the community screenshot feed this morning. 

Of course, games aren't given out for free for no reason. In this case, the promo is meant to bolster the announcement of Ultimate Epic Battle Simulator 2, which developer Brilliant Games Studios says can handle "100 times more characters on screen than its predecessor, and in far greater detail and quality."

Marvel's Avengers is a really, really strange "live service" game.

We're sort of in this holding period now, waiting for Square Enix and company to blink. Avengers launched with a host of problems (prolonged fun being a chief issue), and the studio had to take time to fix those before all of that aforementioned live service stuff rolled out. Then delays put a damper on everything else, most notably a delay for the "next gen" editions on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.

So we're sort of still waiting for all that to happen. Kate Bishop came out! But the playerbase was dropping steadily by the time she actually arrived, so she never really got her true moment in the sun. Maybe this PlayStation Plus bonus will help? I'm not sure anymore.

By heading to this link, you can grab a new Kate Bishop outfit ("touch of purple"), as well as 100 Units (currency) and a Kate Bishop nameplate. Basically, everything you see from the landing page below. It's not much! But it might be something worth logging in for if you still have the game installed.

I think like a lot of people, I'm waiting on that upgrade to hit. While the Hawkeye duo probably isn't enough to convince most people to give it another go (is Spider-Man even enough at this point, especially when you add in the exclusivity nonsense?), as a Hawkeye stan, I'll gladly boot it up more than once a week (my current schedule) just to see what's going on.

Marvel's Avenges PlayStation Plus Reward [PlayStation]

Anybody currently popping the heads of the undead in Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War might need to check they have a good restock of Jugger-Nog, as Treyarch is preparing to drop an entirely new map on February 4, which will see the strike team touch down in post-war Vietnam.

As showcased in the new trailer below, Firebase Z will whisk players from the subterranean world of Die Maschine and deposit them deep into a jungle outpost, where they continue to follow the footsteps of operative Samantha Maxis. At Firebase Z, players will fend off another decaying horde, utilizing anomalies to teleport around the battlefield, while uncovering new lore and discovering secrets, such as a powerful new Wonder Weapon. Given some of the Elites on show in this video, you're gonna need it.

It took me quite a while to "get" Zombies. For the longest time I just saw it as a poor man's Left 4 Dead, (a not wholly unfair argument). But as I explored deeper into the mode's lore, secrets, hidden weapons, and strategic use of funds and resources, I really started to get a kick out of its ebb and flow, though I still think you need to play in a well synergized team in order to really make the best of it. Regardless, I'm definitely up for more. Brrrap.

We just recently reviewed Cyber Shadow, and found it to be a pretty good modern retro-tinted platformer!

Amazingly, it's one of those "basically one person did it" kind of games, and we can thank the mind of Aarne Hunziker for that (as well as Yacht Club Games for publishing it and bringing it to the masses). But apparently Hunziker loves this world so much that they created an expansive set of lore for it: so much more than what appeared in the game. Tolkien style!

Speaking to Goomba Stomp, Celia Schilling of Yacht Club Games had a lot to say on the matter: "What you guys get in Cyber Shadow currently is only 25% of the story that Aarne [Hunziker] had written for it." Hunziker would get so into this universe that they'd even focus on what the player character does in their spare time. You gotta love that sort of passion: it comes out in the final version.

Ever wonder what a publisher does in its many potential capacities? Well Schilling also elaborates on that element of the relationship, stating: "With certain publishing, you can just take the game as it is, and you just throw it out in the world. And you’re like, there you go. But we like to have a hands-on approach, we treat it like how we would market our own games, but with the creator’s vision. So it’s one of those things where we did give advice on certain levels, we did review leveling and giving [Aarne Hunziker] feedback. And marketing-wise, we cultivated his vision to help push it out. That’s what differentiates our experience and our collaborating with him. But with everything, like design, Aarne has his final say of how he wants something."

PlatinumGames has expanded a little on its teasing fifth reveal, which was added to the "Platinum4" website. The Bayonetta developer notes that the mystery announcement is definitely "smaller in scale" than the studio's previous reveals but is something that the fans "will get a kick out of".

"We want to reveal it at the right time, but what we can say at the moment is that this was always intended as the ‘Platinum Four,’ so I think that the expectations should be for something extra," said Platinum co-founder Hideki Kamiya in a VGC interview. "That being said, this is something that we’ve had in the works for a while."

"We wanted to get this out a little sooner, but then the coronavirus happened, which I know is a common excuse, but we hope that when we can start talking about it, it will bring a smile to our fans’ faces and we’ll get a good reaction like, ‘ah, we love those Platinum guys!'"

This week on GameSpot After Dark, Jake, Kallie, and Michael are joined by the incredibly talented Jessica Howard, managing editor of Uppercut, for a conversation that really runs the gamut. We talk about why Ichiban from Yakuza: Like a Dragon might very well be the best protagonist ever; Jess and Kallie discover that they both haven't played Hitman or Alan Wake for the same hard-to-explain reason; and, of course, we tackle GameStop's stocks.

Michael gives a spirited breakdown of what short-selling means and what's going on with the (sigh) stonks. We should probably note that we're not exactly finance experts, but we did a lot of research, and also we don't really care for billionaires.

Kallie also gives an update on Animal Crossing: New Horizons, including her latest in-game achievement and the forthcoming Festivale event. Does anyone still care about Animal Crossing besides her? Who knows.

Update: Epic Games officially confirmed Snake Eyes for Fortnite on January 30. The character's set is available in the item shop, sporting a katana, tactical suit, mask, and weapon holster. You can even pre-order a Fortnite-style action figure of the character now.

As The Game Awards pointed out, you can actually see a Snake Eyes figure in the background of a video featuring Epic Games' Donald Mustard. He truly is a master of stealth.

Original story follows ...

Pokemon Sword and Shield are kicking off a new Max Raid Battle event next week. The event begins at 4 PM PT / 7 PM ET on February 3 and asks players to defeat Cramorant, with different rewards available depending on how many of the Pokemon are beaten.

Serebii reports that level 100 Cramorant will be appearing during the event. If players manage to defeat 1 million of these, everyone will receive a Gold Bottle Cap, three regular Bottle Caps, and three Pearl Strings as a reward. The Bottle Caps can be exchanged to Hyper Train a Pokemon at the Battle Tower, while the Pearl Strings can be sold at shops for a lot of money.

Besides Cramorant, Serebii reports that Quagsire, Golurk, Flygon, and Indeedee will also be appearing in Max Raid dens throughout the event. Additional details will be announced soon.

Another weekend is here in Destiny 2, which means Xur has returned and the Trials of Osiris are back in the rotation. Destiny's toughest multiplayer challenge will test your mettle, but the rewards--unique armor and powerful weapons and mods you can't earn anywhere else--are worth the sweat of struggling to go Flawless.

Here's the Crucible map you'll face in Trials, plus all the rewards you can earn in this rotation. Trials ends with the weekly reset on February 2, so get your matches in or you'll have to wait for another weekend to roll around. There are only two more weeks of the Season of the Hunt remaining, so you'll want to finish earning your Trials rewards ahead of Bungie rolling out new Trials armor next season.

Hitman developer IO Interactive has indicated that it is not done with the franchise yet, teasing ongoing DLC support for Hitman 3 and a potential sequel.

Hitman 3 launched earlier this month, with strong launch sales allowing IO Interactive to recoup all development costs in just a few days. This is the biggest launch the studio has experienced since going independent, and the largest for the series. With that in mind, executive producer Forest Swartout Large says there's more to come for Hitman.

"We're continuously working on Hitman so we are already looking to the future," said Large in an interview with The Gamer, when asked about the potential for another Hitman sequel.

Valentine's Day is coming up, and for those who would normally schedule a date night out, things are going to look pretty different this year due to the pandemic. However, there are still plenty of ways to spend quality time with your loved one indoors this Valentine's Day, and one of the best options is finding a co-op video game you can both enjoy together. To that end, we've rounded up the best games for couples to play this Valentine's Day, but of course, these are great games to play together any night of the year that you want to spend some time together. For the purposes of this roundup, we've focused on games that offer local co-op so you can cuddle up on the couch while you play.

We recognize that in some couples, one person may have more gaming experience than the other, so keep that in mind when picking a game. None of the titles we've included here are particularly taxing, but some of them may be more suited for people who are already comfortable using a controller. (We have a separate guide on games to play with people who don't normally play games if you find yourself needing more options.)

While quality time can often be the best gift someone can ask for, others like to receive physical tokens of affection on Valentine's Day. If you're still pondering what to get your partner, see our suggestions for the best Valentine's Day gifts, with ideas for gamers and more. We also have recommendations for cozy, feel-good Valentine's Day movies to watch with your loved one this year.

If you held off on picking up Watch Dogs Legion during the busy holiday gaming season, now's your chance to snag a copy for only $25. Though we've seen Legion for pretty low prices before since launching in October, this is the best price we can recall. The deal is available on console versions of Watch Dogs Legion today only at GameStop. As is the norm for these things, Amazon is matching GameStop's deal, but we imagine the online retailer will sell out fairly quickly.

Watch Dogs Legion takes place in dystopian London and once again follows the hacker group DedSec, who is trying to clear their name after being wrongfully accused of committing a series of terrorist attacks. London has been plunged into a police state by a shadowy hacker group who has teamed up with a private military force to exert its will over the city. It earned an 8/10 in our Watch Dogs Legion review thanks to its powerful message, innovative hacking gameplay, and gorgeous open world.

Valve Inc. finds another lawsuit on its desk as a putative class action filed earlier this week alleges that the video gaming giant is abusing Steam by requiring developers to sell their games at the same price across all platforms once it enters the PC game distributor's store.

The suit, spotted by The Hollywood Reporter and handled by attorneys at the Ohio-based law firm Vorys Sater, states that Valve's "Most Favored Nations" clause in its Steam Distribution Agreement forces developers to agree that "the price of a PC game on the Steam platform will be the same price the game developers sell their PC games on other platforms." The attorneys note that Valve is abusing the MFN clause by making it difficult for other platforms--such as the Epic Games Store, itch.io, and Microsoft Store--to compete against Steam.

"The Steam MFN also hinders innovation by creating an artificial barrier to entry for platforms," the lawsuit claims. "When a market, such as this one, is highly concentrated, a new entrant can benefit consumers by undercutting the incumbent’s prices. The ability to provide PC games to consumers at lower prices is one way a firm or new entrant could gain market share. If this market functioned properly--that is, if the Steam MFN did not exist and platforms were able to compete on price--platforms competing with Steam would be able to provide the same (or higher) margins to game developers while simultaneously providing lower prices to consumers."

Sony has now issued an update to the PlayStation Store as it appears on PS5, which adds a Deals tab to the interface. The new tab houses all the current discounts available, including ones available through your PlayStation Plus subscription.

You can find the new tab in the navigation bar between the Collections and Subscriptions pages. Promoted deals appear right at the top, like the current remasters and retro games sale. You can scroll down to find Plus deals along with breakdowns by platform.

The PS5 handles its store page differently than past PlayStation platforms, integrating it right into the standard interface instead of launching a separate store app. That makes for much faster loads when you want to pop out of a game to start a download, but a Deals section was conspicuously missing. Now you'll be able to quickly access anything on sale.

The long-awaited “Snyder Cut” of 2017’s Justice League is arriving March 18 to HBO Max. Director Zack Snyder shared the news on Twitter today, giving fans of the fabled re-release a light at the end of the tunnel.  

For those not in the know, Snyder was originally at the helm of Justice League before his daughter’s tragic suicide forced him to step down during post-production. Director Joss Whedon took over production of the troubled film, creating the final version that was largely panned by fans and critics alike when it released in November 2017. 

Since then, fans petitioned for the release of the “Snyder Cut”, Zack Snyder’s version of the film containing scenes that had been cut/altered after Whedon took over. After spending years gaining traction online, Warner Bros. announced in May of last year that the Snyder Cut would indeed happen and release exclusively to HBO Max. Since this version features a fair amount of both cut and entirely new content, the film tops at a whopping four hours, which you can watch all at once or as a four-part miniseries. Justice League centers on Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and other heroes in DC's pantheon fighting to protect Earth from an invading Steppenwolf, as well as the newly included De Saad and Darkseid. 

Hitman 3 just released a little over a week ago, and it is an excellent game by most reports (including ours). Not only does it provide all-new scenarios for Agent 47, but it also allows access to legacy content from the previous installments of Io Interactive's World of Assassination trilogy. With that wealth of options at your fingertips, you might be satisfied – but even if you are, Io Interactive is going to give you more anyway in the form of DLC.

In a recent interview with The Gamer, Io Interactive clarified some of its plans for post-launch support of Hitman 3. And though it didn't reveal any specifics about what the DLC might be, the studio confirmed that it is in the works and discussed the overall approach.

"We are definitely going to be doing some DLC, but we haven’t defined what that is," executive producer Forest Swartout Large tells The Gamer. "I think for now we are not looking at new maps like the bank and the island. We’re more looking at using existing locations and reimagining them, twisting them."

The gods in Gods Will Fall are not benevolent ones. They're evil, malevolent entities that are bent on torturing the humans they rule over. Worship is demanded, with suffering rippling throughout the land. But that's all about to change, isn't it? You've had just about enough of their reign of misery, so it's time to go full barbarian and get in the mix in Clever Beans' new roguelike adventure, which is out today. What platforms is it on? You can beat down the wicked gods on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Switch, and PC.

As a roguelike, you have options when it comes to your deity assault. Skills, weapons, items, and more are all on deck as you battle through three deadly realms. The Celtic-inspired journey leans in heavy on brutality as you seek to enact vengeance on your less-than-benevolent dictators. Warriors of your tribe may even have specific fears against specific gods (there are 10 to take on), and if they can face down their specific scares you can glean boosted rewards. Enjoy using a diverse selection of weapons? Pick up weaponry from fallen 

Move over, Dead by Daylight. It's Dark Deception: Monsters & Mortals' turn to get some Silent Hill DLC.

The post Dark Deception: Monsters & Mortals Silent Hill DLC Announced appeared first on Siliconera.

Ys VIII-2: Electric Boogaloo

The post Review: Ys IX: Monstrum Nox Is Ys VIII Redux appeared first on Siliconera.

Ubisoft is throwing open the doors to Roller Champions - its free-to-play team-based skater - next month, with a European-exclusive closed beta for players on Xbox One, PS4, and PC.

Roller Champions, if you're unfamiliar, is Ubisoft's stab at creating the kind of raucous, knockabout sports mash-up that's made Rocket League such a perennial favourite, and it plays something like a fast-paced hybrid of competitive roller-skating, hockey, and football.

Each game see two teams of three players hurtling around a track in an attempt to wrestle the ball from one another. When the ball is finally in a team's possession, they need to complete at least one lap before pelting it into the goal. Additional points can be earned by holding onto the ball for multiple laps before taking a successful shot.

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New Pokémon Snap | $60 | Amazon, Best Buy, GameStop
New Pokémon Snap + Magnetic Photo Frame | $60 | Target

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Like most Souls games, Bloodborne can be pretty challenging. But hardcore players know there’s one place anyone can go to quickly gather the resources necessary for power-leveling, a magical playground simply known as the “Cum Dungeon.”

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You’ve gotta hand it to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: She sure knows exactly when to hit the “go live” button on Twitch. Once again, sensing the perfect moment to address the gamerly masses, she spent a chunk of last night on Twitch talking with experts about the subreddit WallStreetBets’ shiny new technicolor meme…

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Today Azur Lane publisher Yostar revealed two shipgirls that will join the roster of the popular mobile game.

Since we’re coming close to the Chinese Lunar New Year, the two shipgirls hail appropriately from the Dragon Empery, which is the in-game equivalent of China.

They’re Elite light cruisers Chao Ho and Ying Swei. Both belong to the Chao Ho class and were launched in 1911, and both were sunk by Japanese aircraft in 1937.

Interestingly, a third “sister” exists, originally intended to be named Fei Hung, she was ultimately sold to Greece instead and was named Elli. I’m actually quite curious to see if Yostar will introduce her at some point.

On top of them, we also get to see two “Spring Festival” skins following the qipao set that we saw yesterday, for Cheshire and Birmingham.

You can see everything below.

Season of the REDACTED gets a surprise Trials update

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Hey everyone! These are the results of the community GOTY - the results of which (resultingly) have been resulted below. This year, 3884 of you submitted a top ten list, for a total of 29664 votes (not everyone always puts in ten games, which is fine!) on 1115 different games. Wow! Amazing!

It's a landslide! Everyone loves Hades, to the point where it has almost 75% more weighted votes than the #2 game, The Last of Us Part II. That is one of the biggest margins of victory I've ever seen in these polls! (God of War handily beat Red Dead Redemption II a few years back, but not by this much.) It's great when people love games, in my opinion. Games are fun and we should enjoy them; that's my motto. Doom Eternal is on this list as well! What a great game. Heck, they're all great games, Brent.

Fallout 76 just got a fairly large update as far as inventory management is concerned: which...turns out is a huge part of this series!

Yep, the "inventory update" is currently being put through the paces by players, and overall, on paper, it does a whole lot right. One could argue that a lot of that functionality should have been there at launch; and some would state that the house of cards code prevented it from becoming a reality far longer than it should have. But we're past the point of all that. Fallout 76 has been fighting an uphill battle since it was first shown, and they're still trying to regain the confidence of Bethesda fans as a whole.

That strategy includes constant updates for Fallout 76, including a new PTS build that will be available "at the end of next week." It's more quality of life stuff, including the very welcome ability to "reboot" (respec) your character's SPECIAL attributes at level 25 and beyond for no cost. You can also save and swap between multiple loadouts and builds, RPG style. You'll do this at Punch Card Machines littered across the wasteland.

They're doing the same for CAMP (base) loadouts, too. Bethesda explains it all, stating: "Your characters will be able to build multiple different C.A.M.P.s, each with its own location, build budget, custom name, and even a unique map icon. While you will only be able to have one active C.A.M.P. at a time, you can easily switch among them using a new C.A.M.P. Builds widget or your C.A.M.P. icons on the map." That's kind of huge for role players! On top of that, more daily ops are coming to mix things up, as well as aim assist options for controllers, batch crafting (!), and the tuning up of melee abilities.

Valve Corporation is facing a lawsuit over allegations that it plagiarized the design of its Steam Controller hardware from a similar design already patented by another manufacturer.

Ironburg Inventions, acting on behalf of third-party controller maker SCUF, claims that it warned Valve back in 2014 that the design for its Steam Controller infringed upon Ironburg patents, but that Valve went ahead with the design anyway. The Steam Controller launched in 2015, where the pricey pad sold an estimated 1.5 million units. The device was then discontinued in the fall of 2019.

The patent in question refers to the Steam Controller's rear-side triggers, which sit on the reverse on the pad and can be operated by the player's middle fingers. A patent for such an invention was filed by Simon Burgess and Ironburg CEO Duncan Ironmonger back in 2011. Ironburg has since officially sub-licensed the design to the Xbox brand.

In opening arguments, Ironburg's lawyer Robert Becker called the situation "the classic David and Goliath story," claiming that "Valve did know that its conduct involved an unreasonable risk of infringement, but it simply proceeded to infringe anyway."

Valve, meanwhile, appears to have complete confidence in its defense. "Ironburg's case will be based on altered graphics, modified pictures, and skewed viewing angles [...] then they'll ask you to make that decision based on an altered reality," Valve lawyer Trent Webb told jurors. "Nothing you will see or hear from Ironburg will change what you can see with your own eyes and feel with your own hands when you get that Steam Controller. Alternative reality has no place here."

Fans of Nintendo's mythic series Mother, (or EarthBound for most of y'all), will be able to spend the coming weekend kicking back to some of the 1989 adventure's charming score, as the Mother Music Revisited album is now available to stream on Spotify.

Released on vinyl in Japan earlier this week, Mother Music Revisited features 10 tracks from the cult RPG series, lovingly rearranged by original composer Keiichi Suzuki, who is known for his majestic work on both the big and small screen. Given that this and previous Mother vinyl releases failed to make their way overseas, music streaming services remain the best way for westerners to massage their brains to Suzuki's iconic scores.

You can check out the track listing for Mother Music Revisited below. Another vinyl set, featuring a similarly rearranged soundtrack for 1994 sequel Mother 2/EarthBound, will release in Japan February 10. Hopefully this too will be made available on the Spotify service.

I'm not shy about my love for Astral Chain.

Sure it's not going to appeal to everyone, but it's one of my favorite action romps in recent years, and a very great effort from first-time director Takahisa Taura. I was not only excited to see more from them, but hoped for more Astral Chain in general. That may still happen! But a recent debacle has come up regarding the rights to the IP itself, and it's a fairly interesting saga.

Unraveled by way of VGC, Platinum fans who were studiously combing through the Platinum website and its various pages and code (for obvious reasons), found an anomaly: Platinum was no longer listed in the Astral Chain copyright notice. Atsushi Inaba, head of the studio, told VGC "it's as it looks," when asked why Platinum was removed.

It's odd because previously, we were led to believe that Platinum was a co-owner of Astral Chain alongside of Nintendo. Inaba says that "there are limitations on how much we feel we should talk about" when pressed, and a Platinum rep stated that they were "not in a position to answer this question."

Nintendo seems to hold some water for Astral Chain. Oddly, it's even one of the few games the publisher has added to their "scavenger hunt" My Nintendo program: among several other big first-party names.

The next Call of Duty zombie experience, Firebase Z, arrives on February 4. That's next week! So if you've been exploring the myriad secrets, weapons, and barrels of Juggernog that Die Maschine has been serving up, maybe you're ready for a new zombie map. The update is free and won't require any additional purchases on top of the core Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War. Get ready to head into the undead-filled jungles of Vietnam!