August 2021

Monster Crown is a neat little RPG that shares more than a few things in common with Pokémon. The presentation harkens back to the GameBoy games of old, and you’ll form bonds with dozens upon dozens of monsters to help you save the world from tyranny. After spending a year working out the kinks in Steam Early Access, the game is almost ready for primetime. On October 12, Monster Crown goes 1.0 and is also heading to consoles. 

The game takes place on Crown Island, which is threatened by a power-hungry young woman looking to assert her dominance. The island has a long history of being ruled by tyrants, and unless you want to live under the thumb of yet another evil lord, you’ll need to stop her before it’s too late. Doing so involves forming pacts with over 200 monsters, which you train to battle other monsters as well as other human tamers. Players can also fuse monsters to breed entirely new species. Want to socialize with friends and other players? Monster Crown also features online battles and trading. For an idea of what's in store, take a gander at the original Early Access trailer below.

"There†™s depth in the Death Trash world," says creator Stephan Hövelbrinks. "It's just consumed in a different way." ...

Leaks out of an internal developer conference have revealed new details about Sony's second PlayStation VR headset, including some tech specs and Sony†™s plans for the platform. ...

Blizzard's Overwatch League is at risk of losing major sponsors like Coca-Cola and State Farm in the wake of a major lawsuit targeting alleged harassment and discrimination at the company. ...

Typically, big companies batch their announcements. Maybe that’s by way of a digital showcase, or issuing a press release. In those long-ago, very precedented times, it could even involve shuffling hundreds of folks into an auditorium where they might catch a glimpse of Keanu Reeves. Today, Sony used a different…

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A man creeps up to a group of cowboys who are dressed in white from head to toe. They’re all wearing hats—pointy ones. In the background, a remixed folk song plays. Right as the beat drops, the man shoots them down one by one, in style. As the video captions tell it, these aren’t just any Red Dead Online…

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Ash Parrish, Kotaku’s co-host of Splitscreen and esteemed expert on all things Lady Dimitrescu, Final Fantasy, and hornt, has left us.

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On July 20 California filed a lawsuit against Call of Duty and World of Warcraft maker Activision Blizzard alleging widespread workplace issues over the years including sexual harassment and gender-based pay discrimination. A week after employees formed a worker group to push for better working conditions, management…

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The past few years have seen several good detective games released. The past few years have seen several games in which you can pet the dog. Now, I am asking you, game developers: combine your new skills. Make a videogame or several about these rad pet detectives.

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Twitch have made the price of subscribing to streamers cheaper for UK users. The change is part of a sweep of pricing revisions made by Twitch which are designed to make local pricing "better align with their local cost of living." As a consequence, a subscription which previously cost £4.99 will now cost £3.99.

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Skyrim is more than the sum of its parts, which is another way of saying that many of Skyrim's parts are janky. High on the list is its third-person camera, which was rough around the edges in 2011 and feels extremely old fashioned here in 2021.

Enter, as always, the modders. The True Directional Movement mod available from Nexus Mods offers "modernized third person gameplay", and it looks like a huge improvement.

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Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl is on the way, and so is a massive Piplup plush.

The post Pokemon Center Online Lists New Oversized Piplup Plush appeared first on Siliconera.

CrisTales is a game with a lot to do and say, all while looking gorgeous, but it isn't without its flaws.

The post Review: Cris Tales Offers Style and Substance appeared first on Siliconera.

Hitman 3's latest event, out today, is the Dartmoor Garden Show. Doesn’t it just look serene.

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Last week, a BBC commentator struggled mightily to try and explain what the big robot was that triathletes kept cycling past during the Olympics. Now the broadcaster’s social media team is running into the same problem.

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There are all sorts of ways for The Last of Us Part II’s infected to kill you, but one of the more entertaining ones never made it out of production. According to pre-alpha gameplay, the game used to have death by ass blast.

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Saber Interactive's Evil Dead game will no longer release this year as originally planned, and is now targeting a PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, and PC launch in February 2022.

Evil Dead: The Game casts players as familiar faces from all across the Evil Dead franchise, bringing them together in co-operative union to battle the forces of darkness - chainsaws (and other assorted melee and ranged weapons) in hand. Adding an extra wrinkle to the core co-op action is a PvP component in which another player becomes the Kandarian Demon itself, able to roam the map in a bid to thwart the humans' plans.

According to the gameplay trailer released earlier this year, human players will need hunt down pages of the Necronomicon, Raymond Knowby's tapes, and other artefacts in order to cast the spell needed to vanquish the demon and win a match, all of which sounds very much in the Dead by Daylight/Friday the 13th: The Game mold.

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Jennifer Park is an artist from Korea.

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Niantic, the studio behind Pokémon Go, has responded to player criticism and threats of a boycott after proposed changes to some of the game’s rules in the USA and New Zealand did not go down very well.

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Season 3 in Rocket League is coming to a close on August 11, and Psyonix has revealed what we’ll be able to look forward to in Season 4. There will be two additional types of competitive tournaments added; specifically, there will be tournaments for 2v2 and Extra Modes.

2v2 tournaments will function exactly like 3v3 tournaments currently do in which players can join the tournament bracket with teammates or alone. Instead of replacing the 3v3 games, there will be additional tournament times added to the daily schedule, so you’ll be able to participate in whichever you prefer.

There will be between eight and 13 extra tournaments each week, so you’ll need to look at the Rocket League daily schedule to see which ones are coming up so you can plan to participate.

The addition of these extra tournaments means that even more types can be added to the schedule. Not only will there be 2v2 and 3v3 tournaments, but there will be competitive brackets in Extra Modes as well.

This will rotate between the following Extra Modes: Rumble, Hoops, Snow Day, and Drop Shot. The featured Extra Mode for these types of tournaments will change each day, so it will always be something different.

Psyonix shares that it plans to monitor Rocket League’s new competitive schedule of these new time slots and modes, so changes may occur if needed.

In addition to these new tournament types, Season 4 will introduce an updated user interface for the Tournaments History tab. This will show your competitive rank history.

If you want to read more about these changes coming to Season 4, as well as find out everything you need to know about your last chance to score Season 3 rewards, you can do so right here.

Riders Republic is the new extreme sports game from Ubisoft, which was recently pushed back to a September release. However, with its new release date fast approaching, it looks like the company is ready to launch a closed beta for the game to give players a taste of what to expect.

You can check out the beta announcement trailer down below:

The beta will run from Aug. 23 to Aug. 25, and players will be able to participate in various game modes, and also play with friends and compete against other riders online. This should be a good chance to not only test the servers, but also see what kind of cool tricks you can pull off in the various different environments in the game.

You can sign up for the closed beta at Ubisoft’s website here.

Riders Republic is set to be released for PC and consoles on Oct. 28.

The post Riders Republic Closed Beta to Kick Off on Consoles & PC this Month appeared first on Twinfinite.

Oxenfree II: Lost Signals is a follow-up to Night School Studio’s indie hit, and it got announced a few months back. The game has just been confirmed for a PS4 and PS5 release as well, via the PlayStation Blog, and we’ve also gotten some more details and screenshots for the game.

Lead Writer Adam Hines took to the PS Blog to reveal more information about the new protagonist Riley, along with her background and motivations.

“In Oxenfree, our characters were just finishing high school, and entering that period of time in their lives when they get to decide who they really want to be. Riley had that moment long ago, and is now grappling with the repercussions of post-adolescence. Were the choices she made the right ones for her? Is she who she really wants to be?

Born and raised in Camena to a veteran father and an absent mother, Riley moved away at the first opportunity, bouncing around between cities and jobs in an attempt to conjure up some direction in her life. Now, a recent change has pushed her to return to her old hometown, to take an entry-level job as an environmental researcher.”

PlayStation Blog

Hines goes on to confirm that Lost Signals will make use of the same gameplay mechanics we saw in the first game, such as a robust conversation system and the radio, which can be tuned to listen out for clues and other mysteries.

Oxenfree II: Lost Signals is set to be released for PlayStation, Switch, and PC in 2022.

Today Level-5 provided a new update about its upcoming mecha game Megaton Musashi, on top of the dedicated anime.

First of all, we get a release date. The game is going to be released in Japan on November 11, 2021. On top of that, any and all references to the PS5 version that was announced in December 2020 have disappeared. All past trailers that referenced it have been taken offline and all new marketing, including the official site only mention a PS4 and Nintendo Switch release. If you wanted a native PS5 version, you may be out of luck.

The price will be 6,340 yen plus taxes for both platforms, and it’ll be the same for both digital and packaged versions.

Secondly, we get a trailer showcasing gameplay, cutscenes, and the cast of characters you’ll meet in the game.

Then we also get an air date and a trailer for the dedicated anime series, which will air in Japan on October 1.

You can watch it all below.

Pre-orders for the Gawr Gura Nendoroid opened, though she won't be headed to our shores until 2022.

The post Gawr Gura Nendoroid Pre-orders Open Ahead of Her 2022 Debut appeared first on Siliconera.

Pokémon Unite is blowing up right now, and with a new patch hitting servers in early August, many players have followed the associated accounts to keep up with news of the MOBA. But the game isn’t handled by The Pokémon Company or Game Freak, and is instead developed by Chinese developer TiMi Studio Group. The …

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Today Sega released its financial results for the first quarter of the fiscal year, which ended on June 30, 2021.

First of all, we get some news about Phantasy Star Online 2 and its spin-off Phantasy Star Online 2: New Genesis, which share their userbase.

The games have generated cumulative sales of 100 billion yen (about $911 million) worldwide. Registered users have passed 9 million (6.5 million in Japan and 2.5 million overseas), and the release of New Genesis achieved the largest number of monthly active users ever for the game both in Japan and overseas in June 2021.

Moving on to Sega’s overall results, net sales were ¥59,447 million (+22.9% year-on-year), while operating
income was ¥3,844 million, which basically reverts the previous year’s result which was an operating loss.

The Entertainment Contents business, which includes games, exceeded expectations due to steady sales of new games and repeat sales of older titles.

According to the forecast for the full fiscal year, Sega expects an increase of launches of new games and also an increase of R&D and advertisement expenses.

Sales for the Entertainment content business were ¥47,440 million (+5.1% year-on-year) and ordinary income was ¥8,533 million (+3.1% year-on-year).

Every so often, the Epic Games Store offers up a couple of games that players can get for free, and it’s almost always a good deal. This time around, the two games up for offer are A Plague Tale: Innocence and Minit.

A Plague Tale: Innocence was one of the bigger sleeper hit games when it first released, and featured an engaging story about two siblings trying to survive while outrunning deadly disease-carrying rats. There are puzzles to solve, along with light action elements that help keep the experience feeling fresh.

Innocence was so well-received that it quickly got greenlit for a sequel, A Plague Tale: Requiem.

Minit is the other free game available via the Epic Games Store. This is an indie action game that takes inspiration from Zelda games and other top-down action games, but the catch is that you’re caught in a time loop with only a minute to make as much progress as you can.

Both games will be available for free on the Epic Games Store until Aug. 12.

The post A Plague Tale: Innocence & Minit Available for Free Via the Epic Games Store appeared first on Twinfinite.

Today Bandai Namco released a new trailer dedicated to Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2, nearly five years after the game’s release.

The immortal game is getting a new Legendary Pack DLC this fall, and we take a look at Jiren in the trailer.

At the end of the trailer, you can also see the tease of the next character, and I’m sure you won’t need me to tell you who that is.

Apparently, this game is pretty much immortal. There aren’t many cases of titles that receive DLC five years after their launch. The funny part is that Bandai Namco initially promised additional content only for one year (and that’s still listed as a feature on Steam, over four years after).

You can check out the video below.

Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 is currently available for PS4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC. If you want to read more about the game, you can check out our review.

Chernobylite on PC

As a big fan of the Fallout, S.T.A.L.K.E.R, and Metro series, I’m always on the lookout for more interesting games with post-apocalyptic settings. So when I saw Chernobylite for the first time during Gamescom 2019, it was safe to say my mental Geiger counter was already ticking. 

Just as the name would suggest, Chernobylite takes place following the devastating events of the Chernobyl Nuclear Plant disaster of 1986. In this exaggerated, sci-fi version of the event, players play as Igor, a physicist that was formerly employed at the plant. 

Chernobylite introduces Igor 30 years after the event as he returns to the area, now called the Exclusion Zone, with the hopes of finding his long-lost fiancee, Tatyana. To do so, the physicist must put together a team capable of pulling off a heist on the Chernobyl power plant, which is heavily guarded by a shady private military company. 

Like any great heist, preparation is key. This is where the survival element plays a huge role in Chernobylite. To recruit and improve the necessary team Igor needs to succeed, I had to go out on missions, gathering resources and essential supplies along the way. 

Sounds pretty straightforward, right? Well, for the most part, it is. A lot of missions involved either sneaking or fighting my way to a certain area to get food or ammo, managing my health, and low resource count all the while.

Every now and then, though, Chernobylite throws in these fascinating little side stories and interactions. Since the game is semi-open, Igor is able to explore around each mission area, with points of interest popping up on the map sporadically. 

Kadokawa Games had more images, videos, and details to share about its upcoming strategy simulation JRPG Relayer.

This time around we meet Isaac, director of GT Labo’s defense division. He is an extremely capable man who supports the Asterism in every way he can. Since he’s a massive workaholic, he’s often scolded by his colleague Neil, the director of the intelligence division.

We also see a video introducing Isaac’s voice actor Takehiro Hasu, whom you may know as Hayato Maeda (or the absolutely weird localization of his name Chumley Huffington) in Yu-Gi-Oh!

We also get to see a couple of screenshots of one of the game’s Stella Gear mechas.

Today Sega released another gallery of screenshots and details about the upcoming action game Lost Judgment, the sequel of the popular Yakuza spin-off Judgment.

First of all, we take a look at the EX Boost status, which makes you impossible to knock down and enables special attacks. It’s useful against large groups of enemies or bosses.

For instance, in the new Snake style throwing techniques will be more powerful and continuous attacks will be enabled, letting you throw enemies one after the other also involving more of them in each throw.

Your EX gauge can also be spent by performing EX Actions. There are several of them and depend on the style you’re using, but they’re quite devastating.

Another interesting element is the “afraid state” for enemies, which triggers certain conditions. For instance, underlings may be scared if you hit their boss first, or when you disarm them in the Snake style.

When they’re afraid, the Snake style has a special attack that will stop just short of hitting the enemy’s face and will cause them to faint out of terror.

Last, but not least, we take a look at the EX Pet Dog Helper. Under certain conditions, your good boi will intervene in the battle and dispatch the enemy for you.

You can check out the screenshots below.

Today Nihon Falcom released a new trailer of its upcoming Trails JRPG The Legend of Heroes: Kuro no Kiseki.

This one focuses on the music providing samples of eight tracks that will be included in the mini soundtrack included in the limited edition.

As usual with Falcom games, the music is great, and you can listen to it below. As a bonus, the trailer also shows plenty of screenshots, many of which are new.

The Legend of Heroes: Kuro no Kiseki is the next game of the Trails series. It’ll release in Japan on September 30, 2021, for PS4. At the moment, no additional platforms have been hinted at, even if Trails games do tend to get ports down the line.

Golf Rival amassed 6 million downloads in 2021 alone and is currently being touted as the "second-largest mobile golf game in the world." ...

Hello! Welcome back to our regular feature where we write a little bit about some of the games we've found ourselves playing over the last few days. This time: beads, Blood Angels and an endless runner for the ages.

If you fancy catching up on some of the older editions of What we've been playing, here's our archive.

I've been hooked on Mancala for a while now - the ancient game in which you move beads around a board. It's a lovely thing to look at, as the beads are often brightly coloured and the boards are often beautifully carved. And it's lovely to listen to, because of that percussive click-clack of movement and play.

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Focus Home Interactive has bought Streets of Rage 4 publisher Dotemu for €38.5m (£32.6m), with an additional payment of up to €15m (£12.7m) conditional on certain revenue targets.

AA publisher Focus bought 77.5 percent of the share capital of Dotemu, the French company that focuses on developing and publishing retro-themed games.

Dotemu, which is made up of about 30 staff, worked alongside Lizardcube and Guard Crush Games to publish the critically-acclaimed Streets of Rage 4. Martin dished out a coveted Essential badge in Eurogamer's Streets of Rage 4 review, calling it "a sequel that manages to best its forebears". Streets of Rage 4 has now been played by two-and-a-half million people.

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UPDATE: All the Back 4 Blood early access beta keys have now been claimed. Thanks to all who entered the competition!

The Back 4 Blood early access open beta kicked off last night, and we're thrilled to give away 500 Player One (P1) codes to our lucky readers!

Back 4 Blood is a cooperative first-person shooter from the creators of Left 4 Dead. You and your friends tackle terrifying creatures and try to fight against humanity's extinction.

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Monday morning I went surfing across a rounded hill of snow, threading a series of large stone hoops together. The hoops were set in the ground, so they resembled arches, and as I moved through each one a light on top of it shone the way towards the next in the sequence. Flap of cloth, rush of wind: the world knew I was there. The final arch lit up a magical panel on a piece of rock - a large piece of rock, I would discover, but it seemed a tiny thing in the distance. I squinted at the rock and saw movement. Getting closer I realised that a mechanism had been triggered, and a strange, invisible force was now picking and placing platforms of stone across the empty air of a nearby chasm, a pathway created for me with the lazy ease of a stranger dealing cards.

Lots of people I've spoken to about Omno recently have told me it looks a bit like Journey or those sorts of games. Empty spaces, just you and the environment, sweeping soundtracks and the various distant cries of carefully arranged nature. Epiphany and a decent light show as your reward for hitting your marks and moving forward. When I look at that opening anecdote I've just written about, it even sounds a bit like Journey or those sorts of games. You can surf over the ground, angling between arches. Magical panels and ancient rock!