March 2021

Tuesday’s Best Deals | Kinja Deals

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Traditional co-op gaming experiences can sometimes feel similar to solo play: another player picks up a controller, and a second avatar pops onto your screen that works almost exactly in the same way you do. This can be a blessing for people with limited time to game, but it can mean that the impact your partner has…

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Cyberpunk 2077 got a big patch yesterday, aimed at improving its gameplay and fixing its many, many bugs. In an investor call today, developer CD Projekt Red said it’s up to Sony whether this means the game will be ready to return to the PlayStation store any time soon.

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It’s sad to say, but I’ve gotten used to disappointment when it comes to spiritual successors of iconic games made by their original creators. For every return as impressive as Bloodstained, there seems to be a far less successful attempt like Mighty No. 9. So, I’m disappointed but not surprised to see that Balan Wonderworld, the latest 3D platformer from Sonic the Hedgehog co-creators Yuji Naka and Naoto Ohshima, is a fundamentally flawed shadow of its predecessors. Its character designs, cutscenes, and music are certainly charming, but charm alone isn’t enough to make this half-baked platformer any less boring to actually play.

When you’re hopping around Balan Wonderworld’s simultaneously imaginative yet bland stages, it doesn’t necessarily feel like a total trainwreck. Some of its barebones obstacle courses can occasionally produce hints of what I might call fun, and it’s not much more than a total bore the rest of the time. But when you take Balan Wonderworld as a whole, it sinks lower than the rudimentary platforming that barely props it up. From its misguided one-button control scheme, to its haphazard transforming costume mechanic and the levels that use them, to the half-hearted Chao Garden-like hub world between them, it gets a lot wrong – and very little of what it gets right helps to balance the scales.

[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/balan-wonderworld-opening-movie"]

Like all good detective stories, what appears simple at first becomes so much more than that in Disco Elysium – and here it gets so, so much weirder, too. It takes the age-old mechanics of tabletop RPGs like Dungeons & Dragons and twists them in strange ways around a macabre tale of violence, poverty, and a society on the brink of collapse. Through sharply written dialogue and an expertly crafted world, it uses some unique game mechanics - such as debating against 24 different sections of your own brain - to create a story that will stay with me for a long time. And, somehow, it manages to make all of this fun and, surprisingly often, funny. Now with the addition of a fully voiced cast and even more side quests to embark on, The Final Cut makes an amazing game even better.

Monster Hunter Rise’s noisiest weapon is also its best

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Hades is the roguelike for even those that don't necessarily like roguelikes. The art style, the characters, the satisfying weapons upgrade system? It all comes together to offer a stellar gaming experience. What's also stellar? This Hades cosplayer bringing his A-game when it comes to bringing this impressive Zagreus cosplay to life. 

Zagreus is the protagonist of Hades and is the Prince of the Underworld. As Hades' son, his relationship to the underworld is anything but easy. The game itself sees players take on the role of Zagreus as he makes numerous attempts to escape the underworld. While that's not the easiest of tasks, he engages with many exciting characters along the way. He can even romance a few of them.

The main character is brought to life with this incredible Hades cosplay from Taryn_Cosplay. You may know of him; he's been a major presence in the cosplay community at large. His attention to detail and expert craftmanship over effects makeup and stylization make him an incredible figure to follow for those that enjoy the craft. He's also an outstanding inspiration for those looking to dive all-in within the waters of this creative pastime. 

When Marvel's Avengers was first unveiled, many were quick to point out that the characters and skins looked like knock-offs of the heroes' counterparts in the wildly popular Marvel Cinematic Universe movies. Not only that, but the storyline's setup followed similar beats to that of Avengers: Endgame, with the Avengers failing in a mission, followed by a jump ahead in time. When Crystal Dynamics announced that it was finally embracing the film side of the world of Marvel, fans were excited to equip the MCU looks of their favorite heroes. However, a tweet from the Marvel's Avengers account resulted in some confusion among the fan base regarding how these skins can be obtained.

We'll be introducing the Red Room Takeover event this spring!

Features rewards like animated nameplates, outfits inspired by the Marvel Cinematic Universe, a deadly HARM Room hacked by Yelena Belova, and more secrets to decrypt. pic.twitter.com/WsuYxSaOAa

Walking down the street to check the mail at my hometown’s post office is an eerily different journey today than it was a year ago. I still pass the local pizza joint on the town square—a literal cornerstone of a small town community—but time has changed more than just ourselves. Despite the marks near the building’s roof acting as a reminder of its survival from the fire years before, the restaurant is still there, but not really. It’s hollowed out. Empty. It’s closed, for good, thrown to the void of to-be-forgotten establishments from before the pandemic.

As I walk by, memories of being a kid in that restaurant come flooding back: playing Dig Dug and Streets of Rage and some random bowling game with a physical ball to spin that controlled the virtual ball on-screen. Head down, wandering forward and lost in thought, I watched the sidewalk pass me by—square by square—and found myself thinking about Loop Hero.

On its face, Loop Hero is a curious amalgamation. Tower defense mechanics fuse naturally into a roguelite framework with a deck-building aspect, and if that sounds like a lot of bullshit, it’s because it is. At some point, diluting a game down to the cogs that construct it removes its identity as much as it informs it. Loop Hero is so much more than the sum of its parts, and its story ties together a patchwork only possible in the video game medium.

Plunging the depths of Loop Hero’s lore wasn’t only worth my time—it gave me my sense of time back.

[Update: Dead Cells' Whack-a-Mole update released today on PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.]

New weapons? More mutations? Hard-hitting balance tweaks? Where do your eyes dart when scanning the patch notes for a major Dead Cells update? It probably depends on your goals for the game and where you're at with them. For folks stuck in Boss Cell hell, the revamped difficulty curve is a big deal.

In today's Whack-a-Mole update, the difficulty in Dead Cells was rebalanced again:

• BC0: Health fountains in every transition.
• BC1: Health fountain every other transition, with one minor flask when the fountain is missing.
• BC2: No more health fountain, one minor flask in every transition.
• BC3: One minor flask after the first boss and before the second.
• BC4: No more health in any transition, enemies teleport to your position.
• BC5: No more health, enemies teleport, malaise added.

For those who haven't kept up lately, these changes are meant to make things "easier."

Elsewhere in the Whack-a-Mole update, we're getting three amusingly beefy weapons: a doom-inflicting Tombstone, a last-hit-chaining Oven Axe, and a hold-to-charge club called the Toothpick.

There's also three tempting mutations to mull over, two of which speak to me as a tactics player:

Publisher Koei Tecmo has proudly announced that the combined shipments of its JRPGs Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout and its sequel, Atelier Ryza 2: Lost Legends & the Secret Fairy, have hit one million combined shipments since the titles' respective 2019 and 2020 releases.

Alongside developer Gust, Koei Tecmo revealed the milestone on its official Twitter, accompanied by new artwork of cheerful protagonist Resalin "Ryza" Stout literally jumping for joy. The publisher also announced that both titles will receive a special celebratory DLC skin, to be released at a later date... Are they gonna charge for it? Surely they aren't gonna charge for it...

The Atelier Ryza titles follow the exploits of Resalin, as the young girl and a party of pals embark on high-fantasy adventures. The two games place an emphasis on crafting, combat, and alchemy, and have received praise from both critics and fans for their strong characters and engaging visual design. Both Atelier Ryza releases are available now on PS4, PC, and Nintendo Switch.

If you've been holding off on playing the latest Hitman, this week might be a good opportunity to test the waters. Hitman 3 is getting a free starter pack, which includes two locations and a time-limited trial of Hitman 3's first major locale, Dubai.

The Hitman 3: Free Starter Pack includes the ICA Facility and Hawke's Bay, the tutorial levels from Hitman (2016) and Hitman 2. Dubai, the first location of Hitman 3, will also be available in the starter pack from March 30 through April 5. In a blog post, IO says it will also be releasing more free content to the pack for a limited time in the future.

Hitman 3 launched earlier this year as the conclusion to IO Interactive's rebooted Hitman trilogy. It was fittingly filled with plenty of global intrigue and goofy assassinations, and was quite the send-off for Agent 47.

Though it has had some level transfer troubles on PC, most of the wrinkles seem to have been ironed out between the platforms. It's worth doing so too, because as engaging as Hitman 3 was, the previous two games' levels still stand tall. Locales like Sapienza, Paris, and Mumbai still stick out to me.

[Update: They meant it! If you try and look for Mario 3D All-Stars on the official site, it leads to a 404 when you attempt to buy it digitally. The Super Mario 35 page redirects to the main site and does not exist anymore. Welp! Maybe it'll come back on the next anniversary! Good night, sweet plumber prince!]

The time has come.

We've been talking about it for ages. We knew it was coming! Mario is dead tomorrow. At least, several newish games about him are.

As re-iterated multiple times, Nintendo is putting an end to several Mario titles on March 31. That includes physical and digital sales for Mario 3D All-Stars and physical Game & Watch devices being pulled from sale. Yep, they're even shutting down physical sales and aren't shipping more copies to stores. Savage.

You basically have today to make your peace with it. If you've been wanting to buy All-Stars via the eShop, do it now. If you want to get some final (?) games in with Super Mario 35, do it today. If you're on the fence for a new Game & Watch device, consider it before the eBay prices jump.

Or skip it all and don't play into Nintendo's hand. I can't tell you what to do!

Lidia Sobieska, the Prime Minister of Poland, is now available in Bandai Namco fighter Tekken 7, following several weeks of hype and fan fervor. Already the pugilistic politician is making her impact felt, quite literally, thanks to her mastery of karate, which she has been perfecting since childhood.

Ms. Sobieska's mocap actor, Tatsuya Naka, has released a video showcasing footage taking at some of the martial-arts expert's motion capture sessions. It's a rare sight, as not all Tekken characters go down the mocap route. But it's pretty fascinating to see Naka demonstrate his exceptional skill both in the studio and in his school, before we see some of his strikes and holds juxtaposed with Lidia wrecking heads in the digital world.

Sega just revealed another AC Scratch collection for Phantasy Star Online 2 titled Arks Elite.

As usual, it includes a variety of fashion items and accessories, from full outfits to swimwear and even CAST parts.

It’ll become available tomorrow, March 31, and it’ll disappear on April 28. As usual, you can take a look at the trailer below to see the main items, while the full catalog is published on the official website.

If you’re unfamiliar with AC Scratch, that’s basically the game’s loot box/gacha-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.

Today Creative Assembly released a new trailer of the upcoming strategy game Total War: Rome Remstered.

The trailer provides a handy comparison of the new visuals with the original Rome: Total War, which is arguably the most beloved game of the series, at least among its veteran fans.

We get to see renewed environments, units, effects, and much more.

You can watch it below.

Total War: Rome Remastered launches on on Steam on April 29 and those who already own Total War: Rome will receive a 50% discount on the purchase.

If you’re not familiar with the game, you can take a look at the original announcement and read an official description.

“Total War: ROME REMASTERED lets you relive the legacy that defined the award-winning strategy game series. Remastered to 4K with multiple improvements to visuals as well as refinements to gameplay, it’s time to revisit a true classic. Not everyone gets a second chance to conquer the Roman Empire.

Dark Alliance, which only recently finally came out of hibernation, showed a bit more of the Hagedorn boss battle which was teased in the last trailer they released.

The trailer highlights more gameplay this time around and gives prospective players a better look at the game’s new combat system.

The gameplay shown leans heavily into the action half of action-RPG and, at least in this particular clip, almost has some Monster Hunter vibes as players seem to need to respect the powerful attacks that are emanating from the Hagedorn and aren’t able to just so easily Zerg rush it down.

It’s a flashy bit of combat, that much is true, but it’d be nice to see more of the RPG elements next time around as that was also a core part of the previous Dark Alliance games.

I’m curious to hear what fans of the original PS2 games think of the changes and what has been shown so far. Let us know down in the comments below.

Dark Alliance is due to be released later this year on June 22

Nostalgia just seems to me like pandering, but Narita Boy's '80s, neon, CRT aesthetic is delivered with enough verve that its trailers almost win me over. It's a metroidvania about a boy trapped in a videogame world, trying to restore the memories of the game developer with the aid of their weapon, the Technosword. It's out now via Steam.

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Wallpaper Engine is one of the most popular utilities available via Steam. It's a tool that lets you run animated or interactive desktop wallpapers, and download those made by the community from the Steam Workshop. I bought it at the weekend because I was bored.

One of the first community-made wallpapers I found? Shrek, the movie, in its entirety.

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Chinese police have moved against a company billed as the “world’s largest” seller of video game cheats, arresting ten of its members and confiscating over $40 million worth of assets.

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Amnesia: Rebirth is so scary that the developers at Frictional Games added a new Adventure Mode to the PC version today, with a similar update planned for PlayStation in a few weeks.

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If you’re a Star Wars fan online, there stands a high chance that you’ve not only heard of Wookieepedia—the Fandom-owned community resource archiving eons of material from the franchise—but spent more time than you’d like to admit looking up everything from Ickabel G’ont to the history of the Grysk Hegemony. But an…

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How to Tame Raptors in Fortnite

Use The Hunter's Cloak to Tame Raptors

Now out on April 23

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Connor Alexander says his new world is for Native and non-Native audiences alike

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The bad news? The Mortal Kombat movie release date has been delayed. The good news? Not by long. The Mortal Kombat movie release date has been pushed back by a week, as confirmed by Warner Bros. 

Originally slated for April 16, Mortal Kombat is now set to arrive with a new April 23 release. This news was confirmed by Variety, though no reason for the pushback has been revealed at this time. 

The upcoming film reboot has a lot of longtime fans excited. While some expected creative liberties veer away from what we're used to, overall, the feeling captures what we love about Mortal Kombat perfectly. From the fantastically-executed combat kombat to the engaging way these fighters engage with each other, the upcoming Mortal Kombat movie reboot seems to be a faithful continuation of the franchise we all know and love. 

It's getting to be that time in the northern hemisphere. The sun angle is higher, the days are getting longer, baseballs are starting to sprout in the many outfields of America, it's spring! To celebrate surviving the (hopefully only) full Covid winter, GOG is kicking off a spring sale on many of its DRM-free games.

As is usual with these sales, the kick-off comes with a free giveaway, and this time around it's the classic comic-book-based shooter, XIII. From now until Thursday at 9 AM EDT, you can claim the game to keep forever, DRM-free, and forget about that remake that was released last year.

For those with a few coins to spare, there is a flash sale going on to start the sale that will last the length of the giveaway. Included in the flash sale is Moonlighter coming in at a dirt-cheap five dollars.

Some other highlights from the sale:

In a free update out today on PC and coming in a few weeks to PlayStation 4, Amnesia: Rebirth has an alternate game mode for anyone who wants a lighter, less deadly horror-adventure experience.

Similar to SOMA's Safe Mode, Amnesia: Rebirth's Adventure Mode will let you soak in the "narrative, atmosphere, story, and theme, without having to worry about monsters attacking." Going a step further, Frictional has also "brightened up" the darkest environments for navigation and mood reasons.

Here's a lighting comparison for the two modes straight from Frictional Games:

That's not to say so you can't get in your own head and freak yourself out anyway – the vibe is still described as "unnerving," and the monsters still exist – but it'll be more tolerable. On that note, Adventure Mode strips out the fear mechanic, so you can even take your time in poorly-lit areas. That said, don't get too bold – monsters won't let you "attack or annoy them" without repercussions.

Amnesia: Rebirth as it originally existed will continue to be playable in a so-called Original Mode.

One more update is coming to indie RPG CrossCode today, as a final send-off for the game. Developer Radical Fish Games announced today that one more small update, included as part of the A New Home DLC, will be the final piece of content coming to the game.

Version 1.4.1 will have three new quests, a couple of arena cups, and new Trade Offers in Rhombus Square. It will also be the final content addition, and the team plans further releases only to fix any remaining bugs or issues. But while this marks the end of over nine years of development on CrossCode, there's still more on the horizon for Radical Fish.

The team confirmed that it is currently prototyping its next game, currently called Project Terra. While it will be an action-RPG with a "gameplay mix similar to CrossCode," it will be in a new setting and story.

Here's a WIP sneak peak of @RadicalFishGame's #ProjectThatNeedsAHashtag's aesthetic and rendering. 2,5D is working excellent here I think.#gamedev #indiedev #pixelart pic.twitter.com/4RKRF2LJhh

I'm beginning to look at the monthly Games with Gold lineups less out of real interest and more out of fleeting morbid curiosity. There's no denying that Xbox has been killing it with the Game Pass library lately... and by "killing it," I mean Games with Gold – it's really been suffering. It's a lot of filler titles.

For April 2021, Xbox Live Gold and Xbox Game Pass ultimate are getting four freebies:

• Vikings: Wolves of Midgard (April 1–30)
• Dark Void (April 1–15)
• Truck Racing Championship (April 16–May 15)
• Hard Corps: Uprising (April 16–30)

Just follow these links to queue up the games as needed.

As a refresher, Vikings is a middle-of-the-road action-RPG that can be straightforward fun with the right mindset. You know the one. Dark Void, a jet-boosting sci-fi shooter, is a reminder of Capcom's wild Western-centric approach to greenlighting games in the Xbox 360 era. Truck Racing Championship is a sim racer, and I remember enjoying Arc System Works' run and gun Hard Corps: Uprising at the time.

Everyone loves a good brawl from time to time, and in the world of Fire Emblem Heroes, perhaps no nobility is up for the ruck as much as Princess Dagr, who joins the mobile battler this week as its newest Mythic Hero.

Debuting in Fire Emblem Heroes itself, Dagr is the twin sister of Nott and the youngest princess of the kingdom of Jotunheimr. Bedecked in regal splendor and wielding a mighty, full-length battle-axe, Dagr hopes to use her fighting spirit and prowess in battle to prove to her mother that she should be next in line for Jotunheimr's throne, stepping ahead of her older and more demure and thoughtful sibling.

Earlier today, Niantic announced the return of the Tricky Pokemon event in Pokemon GO. This is yet another event in an already busy April. This means creatures like Aipom, Croagunk, and Purrlion will be appearing more often in the wild among other exciting bonuses and ‘mons.

From Apr. 1 at 12 AM to 11:59 PM local time, the Tricky Pokemon Event will bring a bunch of mischievous ‘mons into the wild, including the elusive Ditto. The post hinted that Ditto will be transforming into a certain species more than other during this event, but it wasn’t specified which one.

On top of that, Team GO Rocket Grunts will only have teams of Shadow Aipom during the event. This will presumably make it much easier to obtain Rocket Radars for the Team GO Rocket Timed Research that will run from Apr. 1 at 12 AM until Apr. 8 at 11:59 PM local time.

You’ll also be able to find Grunts at more Pokestops than usual and GO Rocket balloons will appear in the sky more often.

During this Timed Research, you’ll be able to obtain a Super Rocket Radar and have the chance to battle Giovanni for his Shadow Zapdos.

The most intriguing change to PvP for this event is the decrease of the switch timer. During the Tricky Pokemon Event, the switch timer for the GO Battle League will be cut in half.

And just like with many other events, a special Pokemon will be photobombing any pictures that you take of your own ‘mons. There’s no indication who it will be, so give it a shot on April Fool’s Day.

First-person horror adventure game Amnesia: Rebirth received a new mode today that removes all of the horror from the game.

The free update added the new Adventure Mode which removes all of the life-threatening encounters with monsters alongside the sound and visual effects that could negatively affect the main character’s fear levels. Additionally, any location that contained pitch black darkness have been brightened up as shown below.

You can watch a sneak peek of Arcueid, Ciel, Shiki, and Akiha's special moves in this trailer.

The post Melty Blood: Type Lumina Teaser Trailer Shows a Glimpse of the Fights appeared first on Siliconera.

Europa Universalis 4, Paradox Interactive's dizzyingly rich grand strategy game, will be getting its 17th major expansion, titled Leviathan, on 27th April.

Leviathan is focussed on offering new ways to succeed beyond endless expansion and warmongering, introducing a range of new diplomatic and economic options to meet that goal. "Build a force of diplomats," explains Paradox by way of example, "and use your flattery as a weapon against others. Or draw wealth and power from the remote regions of your realm to construct a metropolis to be the engine of your economy."

One of Leviathan's most significant additions is the ability for diplomats to proactively gain Favours with a nation (previously they were accrued over time), which can then be used to perform useful diplomatic functions - such as abandoning an alliance, or having a nation return a core province - without having to declare war.

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Following a tumultuous launch last year for open world, neon-drenched RPG Cyberpunk 2077, leaders at CD Projekt addressed the path forward in a strategy update today aimed at investors. ...

iiRcade Bartop Arcade | $599 | Walmart

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