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Today, during a reveal event teased a few days ago, ZeniMax and Bethesda showcased this year’s saga that will come to The Elder Scrolls Online.
This time around the story will focus on political intrigue, with the mysterious Ascendant Lord threatening the peace of the ancestral islands of the Breton people.
We’re also getting a new card game, Gwen… ahem… Triple Tr… ahem… Tales of Tribute. It’s a deck-building game that you’ll be able to play against other players and NPCs. If it sounds familiar, that’s because it is.
A dungeon DLC titled Ascending Tide is also coming, including two dungeons titled The Coral Aerie and Shipwright’s Regret.
Below you can check out the cinematic trailer for High Isle and a summary of its content.
Today Spike Chunsoft revealed the release date and a new trailer for its upcoming game AI: The Somnium Files – nirvanA Initiative.
The game will launch in North America and Europe on June 24, 2022, for PS4, Xbox One, PC, and Nintendo Switch.
The new trailer provides a look at the story and its character, including the newly revealed duo of protagonists and their AI-Ball partners.
The accompanying press release also included an introduction of AI: The Somnium Files – nirvanA Initiative and a message from director Kotaro Uchikoshi. If you want to see more, you can also take a look at the original announcement trailer.
Final Fantasy XIV’s final expansion in the Hydaelyn and Zodiark saga, Endwalker, has a mountain of pressure on it. For starters, it’s trying to neatly wrap up a decade-plus long story. Ask around some of the other publishers in the industry like BioWare how difficult it is to end a long-running story in a way that makes everyone happy.
Endwalker has to follow Shadowbringers, easily the strongest expansion to an MMORPG in recent memory, and for my tastes at least (and I will wager many others), one of the best video game stories ever told, full stop. So yeah, no pressure!
Let’s jump right to the end of Endwalker. It may be a strange place to start off the review, but it’s without a doubt the most critical part of the success of this expansion. It doesn’t matter how pretty the areas are (they are all very pretty), how amazing the soundtrack is (the score is absolutely incredible), or anything else; did the development successfully stick the landing of this ending? Yes, they did.
Ubisoft has announced that its free-to-play battle royale game Hyper Scape will be shut down on April 28, after less than two years of operation.
In a short blog post, Ubisoft announced it has made “the difficult decision to end development of Hyper Scape and shut the game down as of April 28th.”
The company says that its vision of creating a vertical, fast-paced shooter may not have gone as far as it could but that Ubisoft “will be taking key learnings from this game into future projects.”
There is no word on whether current players will receive any sendoff bonus, but Ubisoft thanked the community for their devotion and passion.
Hyper Scape was Ubisoft’s answer to the battle royale boom following success seen by games like Fortnite and Apex Legends. Unfortunately, Hyper Scape didn’t have what it takes to stand out in the field, despite its map design and vertical gameplay.
Ubisoft hasn’t completely given up on the genre, however. In October 2021 the company announced Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Frontline, a battle royale game set in the Ghost Recon universe.
Elder Scrolls Online's next expansion will be heading to a brand new region. Earlier today, Zenimax Online announced The Elder Scrolls Online: Legacy of the Bretons, a new DLC set that will take the popular MMO to the never-before-explored Systres Archipelago.
The expansion was introduced via a new trailer that you can watch below. It serves to set the mood for a more traditional medieval fantasy this time around, spotlighting the Bretons in a story that will focus more on the politics between the world's various factions.
"The Bretons are the one race that has never really had an opportunity to shine in the sun," Elder Scrolls Online creative director Rich Lambert said in a recent interview with PC Gamer. "They've never had a spotlight in any Elder Scrolls game. Even when we did bits and pieces of them in both Glenumbra and Stormhaven, we never really focused on their culture. So that was something we wanted to rectify."
In addition to cloak-and-dagger politics, Legacy of the Bretons will introduce a new card game in the vein of Gwent, Triple Triad, and other in-game CCGs. Called Tales of Tribute, it will allow players to take on both NPCs and ranked opponents. Players will be provided with four starter packs that can be earned by completing a tutorial.
The new expansion will begin in March with the Ascending Tide DLC, which will add two new dungeons and provide backstory for the new content. It will be followed by the High Isle chapter, which will begin the expansion proper.
Ubisoft’s official foray into the world of Non-Fungible Tokens has not had the best start; the announcement was trashed by fans, and the company’s “garbage” NFTs were largely ignored upon release. In a new interview with Australian site Finder, though, Ubisoft say the blame for this lies with us, not them.
Apex Legends' 12th season, titled Defiance, is almost upon, and developer Respawn Entertainment's usual pre-release stampede continues this week with a new Defiance launch trailer, showcasing a little more of new hero Mad Maggie and teasing things to come.
Maggie was, of course, confirmed as Season 12's new hero earlier this week in her very own Stories from the Outlands animated introduction, and Respawn's new launch trailer picks up pretty much right where that left off, with Maggie being flown into the Apex Games, as decreed during her trial. From there, it's as chaotic as ever, with Maggie showing an unsuspecting solider what for, and, eventually, having a brief reunion with Fuse - who fans might recall was a long-time friend until a disagreement that left Fuse minus one arm.
NFTs seem to be the flavor of the month when it comes to PR landmines in the gaming industry. Fans get one whiff of any kind of possibly positive sentiment towards NFTs or the crypto space, and it lowkey becomes a PR mess for anyone involved. Case in point, the official German Valorant Twitter account recently came under fire as they posted an image of Killjoy, the Genius of Germany, admiring the computer-generated art of Martin Houra at the museum.
Seems innocent enough, until you learn that Martin Houra is an artist who mints NFTs with this art and sells them on popular NFT marketplaces like OpenSea. This invited a wave of backlash and disapproval from fans who were outraged that a character as smart as Killjoy could be into something so asinine like NFTs. The tweet from the Valorant account has since been deleted.
In response, the Valorant Twitter account put out a statement apologizing to fans, stating that it was not their intention to insinuate that their fictional video game character was into NFTs.
Kojima Productions announced last year that Death Stranding Director’s Cut would indeed be launching on PC in Q1 2022, and we’ve just gotten a set release date for the game. Publisher 505 Games has announced that it’ll be made available on Steam and the Epic Games Store on March 30.
In addition to that, if you already own the base game on PC, you’ll also be able to upgrade to the Director’s Cut version for $9.99. On the other hand, newcomers looking to experience the game for the first time can enjoy a 70% discount on the base game if you purchase it during the Lunar New Year sale on Steam, which ends on Feb. 3.
The Director’s Cut version adds quite a bit of content to the game, including a more streamlined tutorial section, as well as the ability to gain the more useful tools earlier on. Race tracks have also been added, along with new weapons, and a set of new missions that have a larger focus on stealth.
Death Stranding Director’s Cut is now available on PS5.
The post Death Stranding Director’s Cut Launches for PC in March, Discounted Upgrade Available for Existing Owners appeared first on Twinfinite.
Rocket Panda Games released a new trailer of the upcoming 2D fighting game Phantom Breaker: Omnia focusing on showcasing a playable character.
To be precise, we get the introduction of Ren, one of the very few male characters in this waifu-dominated game. This follows another trailer featuring Mikoto, one showcasing Itsuki, one featuring Waka, and one starring Yuzuha.
You can check him out in action below.
Phantom Breaker: Omnia releases for PS4, Switch, Xbox One, and PC via Steam on March 15, 2022. You can read an official description and feature list below and check out the previous gameplay trailer.
Every so often, Amazon comes out with some pretty attractive gaming perks for their Prime subscribers, and this month, there are a few things to look forward to especially if you’re planning on getting into Lost Ark in February. Announced via the Prime Gaming blog, Prime members will be able to claim a Battle Pack item with a Crystalline Aura, Amethyst Shard Pack, and a Battle Chest Bundle for Lost Ark in February.
While Lost Ark is a free-to-play game, it does have an in-game store that offers quite a few cosmetic and resource items that can help make your overall gameplay experience go a little smoother. They’re entirely optional of course, but getting your hands on any extra items will certainly help.
In addition to that, Prime members can also claim five games including Ashwalkers: A Survival Journey, As Far as the Eye, and Stellaris. You can check out the full details here.
Lost Ark is set to be released for PC on Feb. 11.
The post Prime Members Will Be Able to Get Free Lost Ark Goodies & Other Games this February appeared first on Twinfinite.
Welcooome to Nintendo Voice Chat, Pokemon fans! This week, join Seth Macy, Peer Schneider, Kat Bailey, and Rebekah Valentine as they discuss IGN's thoughts on Pokemon Legends: Arceus. Hear everything you need to know about the next evolution for the Pokemon series, including why we're torn on the game. Plus, an update to IGN's top 25 Switch games, why Shigeru Miyamoto hates Ocarina of Time's Navi, and more.
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You can listen to NVC on your preferred platform every Thursday at 3pm PT/6pm ET. Have a question for Question Block? Write to us at nvc@ign.com and we may pick your question! Also, make sure to join the Nintendo Voice Chat Podcast Forums on Facebook. We're all pretty active there and often pull Question Block questions and comments straight from the community.
Logan Plant is the Production Assistant for NVC. You can find him on Twitter at @LoganJPlant.
Up until now, the "main series" Pokémon games have been strictly turn-based RPGs following a young protagonist on a quest to become a powerful Pokémon trainer. Each successive game has layered on a slate of new Pokémon to wrangle and, more recently, increasingly absurd and bloated mechanics to try and spice up a system that fundamentally remained unchanged. So at last, we have Legends: Arceus: the reinvention we asked for. Developer Game Freak has scrapped nearly everything I’ve come to expect from a typical Pokémon game — Gyms, random encounters, an Elite Four, trainer battles on the overworld, an evil team bent on world domination — and started over, rethinking even its most basic systems like Pokémon encounters and evolution from the ground up. A lot of this impressive transformation pays off, in that we get to interact with creatures that have never felt more alive in more dynamic ways, but Pokemon’s evolution is not yet complete, because the semi-open world around all of that feels like an unimpressive afterthought due to its bland emptiness.
There are many and varied reasons why people come clamoring back to Pokemon year after year, but at the heart of it perhaps is the enjoyment derived from collecting a veritable army of interesting monsters, customizing and bonding with a specific team of powerful ones, and overcoming increasingly difficult challenges alongside them. In that regard, Legends: Arceus is still the Pokémon we know and love. But everything surrounding it — how you encounter these creatures and learn about them, how you fight against and alongside them, and the challenges you face together — has been flipped on its head.
Epic have put out their year-in-review, looking at how the Epic Games Store performed across 2021. The takeaways: the store now has 194 million PC users, up 34 million from 2020; the number of games on the store is now 917, nearly double from the year before; and the weekly free game giveaways will continue in 2022.
Hitman 3 had a rough launch on Steam last week, quickly gathering 50% negative user reviews. Many of the complaints related to price and confusion over the various editions on sale.
To make amends, Io Interactive are giving anyone who buys Hitman 3 on Steam before February 19th a free upgrade. If you buy the standard edition (£50/$60), you'll be bumped up to the Deluxe Edition (£75/$90). If you bought the Deluxe Edition, you'll get a free upgrade to the Seven Deadly Sins Collection (which on its own costs £23.73 with its 15% launch discount).
Spike Chunsoft confirmed the release date of AI: The Somnium Files - nirvanA Initiative, along with a new story trailer. The game will release for the PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and PC via Steam on June 24, 2022. Pre-orders are also open for console versions of the game.
AI: The Somnium Files - nirvanA Initiative follows dual protagonists Mizuki and Ryuki as they investigate a strange murder case. Though police were only able to find the right half of the victim's body, the left half appears out of nowhere at the start of the game. Both protagonists, along with their AI companions, must solve the strange Half Body killings along with the mysterious nirvanA Initiative.
The trailer gives fans a glimpse into some of the story's premises, as well as a loot at the new protagonist Ryuki. The trailer focuses on dreams and reality, the core aspects of the Somnium Files series. It also shows off pretty bizarre visuals, from vaporwave-esque backgrounds to some eerie 3D models.
You can check out the full story trailer below:
https://youtu.be/isYEhEMpHfk
Capcom is bringing back the Origin armor set to Monster Hunter Rise. Players can craft the layered armor set by completing the new "A Good Old-Fashioned Rampage" event quest. The event quest is only available on the Nintendo Switch version of the game. Additionally, Capcom is also providing players with free guild items.
https://twitter.com/monsterhunter/status/1486877951543197702?s=20&t=T9U82g3kcXsVK09NMKIzGQ
The Origin armor set is actually based on an older version of the Hunter's Armor that appeared in the first Monster Hunter title. Subsequent releases of the game continued to use the same design with slight variations. In Monster Hunter World, however, Capcom replaced the original Hunter's Armor design with a new one. Later, Capcom brought back the armor set as a pre-order bonus under the new "Origin Armor" name.
Players can craft the layered armor set by completing the new rampage event quest. You can download the rampage event quest by talking to Senri the Mailman in the Steelworks area of Kamura village. Furthermore, Senri the Mailman will also provide players with the free guild provision items listed below:
The Sonic Sessions latest remix once again involves the Persona 5 singer. Lyn Inaizumi appeared for her take on a track without words. It is a jazz rendition of the Sonic the Hedgehog 3 Continue music.
The full video offers extra details about the Sonic the Hedgehog 3 "Continue - 30th Sessions Version." Jun Senoue handled the arrangement for it. (This was one of the first Sega games Senoue composed music for back in the 1990s.) S.A.M.E. is performing on the track alongside Lyn. It is also a more lengthy take on the tune. It lasts for almost two minutes.
Here's the "Continue - 30th Sessions Version" Lyn Sonic Sessions song. At the end of the video, Knuckles also appears. This is a nod to the fact that people can make the game into Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (& Knuckles).
As mentioned before, this is the second time Lyn performed music from the Sonic series. In December 2021, Sega shared another track. In it, the Persona 5 singer performed the Sonic Adventure 2 theme "Escape from the City."
These are only two of the Sonic Sessions remix tracks so far. The series is designed to offer new takes on classic songs. It is unknown how many pieces of music will be a part of this collection.
