March 2022

Platform: PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC
Publisher: Bandai Namco
Developer: From Software
Release: February 25, 2022

Colossal Order's acclaimed city builder Cities: Skylines will be free on the Epic Games Store starting next Thursday, 10th March.

Cities: Skylines is hardly a spring chicken at this point, of course, having originally laid its urban foundations on PC back in 2015, but it still delivers an enormously enjoyable spin on the classic city-building formula, alongside ample tools catering to a range of different players - from aesthetics-obsessed urban planners to those more interested in logistical optimisation.

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The Genshin Impact Raiden Shogun and Kokomi Sangonomiya rerun banners are about to return on March 8, 2022. Ahead of their debut, miHoYo went over all of the focus four stars that will join the two five stars on their banners. It also detailed the featured weapons that will show up in the corresponding Epitome Invocation.

Both of the character banners should look familiar. That's because aside from the different five-star, the four-star focus units are identical. Both the Raiden Shogun and Kokomi rerun banners will include Bennett, Sara Kujou, and Xinyan. Both Bennett and Xinyan are Pyro characters, with him using a sword and her a claymore. Sara is an Electro archer. As a reminder, Raiden Shogun is a five-star Electro character who uses a polearm. Kokomi is a five-star Hydro character that wields a catalyst.

As for the weapons banner, its two featured five-star weapons are both made with Raiden Shogun and Kokomi in mind. They are the Engulfing Lightning polearm and Everlasting Moonglow catalyst. The four-star weapons on that banner are the Akuoumaru claymore, Favonius Lance polearm, Lion’s Roar sword, Mouun’s Moon bow, and Sacrificial Fragments catalyst.

The Pokemon Company International announced it is making a charitable donation to help people in the Ukraine. It offered an official statement pledging $200,000. That money ended up donated via GlobalGiving. However, it didn’t specify which project will be given the money.

Here is The Pokemon Company International’s full statement regarding its donation on behalf of the Ukraine and Eastern Europe.

The growing crisis in Ukraine and Eastern Europe, which continues to cause the displacement of families and threaten the safety of children, is heartbreaking.

The Pokemon Company International is making an immediate donation of $200,000 USD to our partners at GlobalGiving to provide humanitarian relief. The nonprofit will efficiently direct the funds to community-led organizations supporting families and children affected by the crisis.

To learn more, please visit GlobalGiving.org.

At the moment, one of the featured projects on GlobalGiving is the Ukraine Crisis Relief Fund. Its goal is to raise $7 million to support people affected. As of March 3, 2022, over $4 million had been raised.

New Genshin Impact Funko Pop figures are on the way. The company announced that there will be three available at the start. The male and female versions of the player avatar, Aether and Lumine, and Paimon will be a part of the initial run. There's no release window yet, though the company said they will appear sometime in 2022. Each one will cost $12. They will also all be just under five inches tall.

Aether and Lumine are both wearing their traditional attire for their figures. Each one is also armed with a sword. For those unfamiliar, in-game players choose one of the twins as their avatar. The other then appears in-game as an NPC. Aether is number 160, while Lumine will be number 161.

The two will be joined by Paimon, who is the game’s mascot. As the main character is a silent protagonist, she often serves as their voice in-game. She’s designed to look like she is floating.
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If you’ve ever been a fan of Stardew Valley and wanted your own almanac to help you remember the best process of managing your farm, then you’re going to want to check out this awesome guidebook Fangamer created.

Illustrated by Kari Fry and written by Ryan Novak, this fourth edition official hardcover player’s guide and art book features 288 pages that include hundreds of illustrations and tons of useful gossip about your new hometown and all the people in it.

Square Enix has a special treat for Kingdom Hearts II fans, as they’ve just revealed two brand new plushies that are now available for pre-order. Those plushies are none other than Sora and Riku, and boy are they adorable.

You can check out the official product descriptions for both Sora and Riku’s Kingdom Hearts II plushies right down below.

Sora

If you ever played the original Halo trilogy, then there is a good chance that you wet your pants in fear at least once, and it was more than likely thanks to the parasitic enemies known as The Flood. Seriously, these alien lifeforms are the stuff nightmares are made of. In fact, they are so terrifying, one group of fans are actually making an entire horror game about them titled Branching Sickness.

The game follows a Marine trapped in an onslaught of Flood trying their best to survive. According to the Lead Modeler for the game, it follows the Micorosft GCUR fully, as well as any and all assets being hand-made by our team. This includes not using any assets made or used by 343, including fonts and logos, which is also why Halo isn’t in the title.

You can check out some images for Branching Sickness, including enemies and in-game screenshots, right down below.

Platform: Xbox One, PC
Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
Developer: Rare
Release: March 20, 2018 (PC, Xbox One), November 10, 2020 (Xbox Series X/S)
Rating: Teen

Season 6 of Sea of Thieves is set to begin on March 10 and Rare Games has released a preview trailer of the new content awaiting pirates in it. 

Fans of Adeline Software's much-loved Little Big Adventure series will soon be able to play both instalments with a selection of newly implemented modern day niceties, including cloud saves and controller support, thanks to refresh work currently underway at developer 2.21.

The original Little Big Adventure - an evocative blend of platforming, puzzling, and exploration that charted the story of young hero Twinsen, on the run from evil dictator Dr. FunFrock - released back in 1994 and was followed by a sequel three years later. With both titles now over a quarter of a century old, they are, understandably, rather lacking in terms of modern day polish, and 2.21 is looking to remedy that as it seeks to bring the games to more players ahead of its planned third instalment in the Little Big Adventure series.

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Valve co-founder and president Gabe Newell has given his two cents on the gaming world’s interest in NFTs and the metaverse.

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World of Tanks developer Wargaming has rerouted company resources to support over 550 developers at its Kyiv studio as the Russian invasion of Ukraine enters its sixth day.

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Third-party developers had a couple of reveals about upcoming aircraft add-ons for Microsoft Flight Simulator.

Just Flight released new screenshots of the BAE 146 alongside a detailed description of the pre-flight procedures.

This is part one of three, in which the developer will take us through a test flight with the venerable four-engine regional jet. More will come tomorrow.

Here’s a new Development Update direct from Project Lead Martyn Northall. This update sees Martyn undergoing a short test flight. He’ll run you through it via screenshots and some text for each shot. Given the length of this update we’ll split this into three parts. This will be part one. The others will follow tomorrow. Over to Martyn…

Hello. I’m going to take you along on a short test flight from Southampton (EGHI) to Bournemouth (EGHH), discussing some of the recent work and additions to the aircraft along the way. Testing has been underway for several months now, with this flight featuring the latest beta build. The aircraft systems are fully operational but will continually be improved with reference to all the FCOMs and real-world 146 pilot input. Just like our Hawk T1, the MSFS version of the 146 will be a significant upgrade not just in terms of the stunning visuals as shown here, but also the systems depth and realism.

As the Project Lead and coder, I’m often carrying out a very specific task, such as operating a system whilst parked on the ground, so it’s a welcome break when I’m able to fly a full A-to-B route, even if it’s a mere 21nm!

Rocket Panda Games released a new trailer of the upcoming 2D fighting game Phantom Breaker: Omnia introducing another of the playable characters.

To be precise, we take a look at Rimi, which is actually a guest character from the Science Adventure visual novel Chaos;Head.

“A 17-year-old guest character from sci-fi adventure visual novel, Chaos;Head. As an Esper, she can conjure whatever she imagines to use in battle.

Although she lost her parents in an accident and has been treated as a test specimen in the past, her bright personality has not diminished in the slightest, nor has her imagination. While she does not possess an F.A., she is a “Gigalomaniac” who has the power to turn her own delusions into reality and wields a DI-Sword. Her DI-Sword can split down the center for dual-wield combat.”

Developer: Nintendo

It's hard to imagine Nintendo released its most recent console, Switch, five years ago today. With it started the handheld hybrid revolution ushered in by one of the greatest games of all time The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and later in the year, Super Mario Odyssey. It's been a hell of a ride so far, and in the half-decade since its release, the Nintendo Switch has gone toe-to-toe with not one, but now two generations of powerhouse consoles from rival brands Xbox and PlayStation, and continues to sell well despite being undeniably a less graphically powerful device.

The Switch has been home to tons of great gaming experiences since becoming available on March 3, 2017. I'd like to know two things from you, dear readers: what is your favorite game on Switch of all time, and what is one game that you feel is an underrated gem that deserves to be played by more people? Give me your answers in the comments section below, and let's celebrate some great video games.

To lead off the discussion, here are my answers:

Platform: PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Developer: DICE
Release: November 19, 2021

Platform: PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC
Publisher: Bandai Namco
Developer: From Software
Release: February 25, 2022

As two of my friends joined me in using gestures for the co-op screenshot pictured above, one of my friends warned that a large guy on a horse was heading toward us. Ten seconds later, my two friends and I were shrieking louder than we ever have in each other’s headsets. It turns out that “large guy on a horse” was a Tree Sentinel, a boss we had no chance of defeating after just a few hours of exploring The Lands Between. 

If you enjoyed your time with developer Feral Cat Den's wonderfully stylish cosmic jazz adventure Genesis Noir when it released last year, you may be interested to know you can now tootle, slap, and parp your way through three new levels - courtesy of its free Astronomy Update, available now on Xbox, Switch, PC, and Mac.

Genesis Noir did, of course, dazzle at launch last year, melding exploratory point-and-click-style tinkering with stylish audio-visual presentation - a blend of Saul-Bass-inspired animation and smooth jazz soundtrack, both in service to a strange whodunnit yarn spanning space and time.

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For most of us, Netflix remains the premier content platform for streaming shows and movies, but it has been clear for some time now that the company is looking to make its presence felt in the gaming space. The latest effort comes in the greenlighting of Trivia Quest, a daily interactive trivia series based on the Trivia Crack franchise, and a first for Netflix.

“We’re excited to experiment in this space, and find new ways to entertain our members and new ways for our members to interact with Netflix. What happens next is in your hands!,” said Andy Weil, VP, Comedy Series and Interactive Programming, who announced the new series in a blog post.

Starting on April 1, we will see daily episodes of Trivia Quest on Netflix throughout the entire month, with a total of 30 episodes. Every episode will contain 24 different questions, with a mixture of 12 standard and 12 harder questions. Interested trivia buffs will be glad to know that the categories covered will include science, history, entertainment, sports, art, and geography. The questions will have four answers to choose from, so it is time to hedge your bets.

If you answer incorrectly, you always have a chance to replay quizzes to get the correct answers and add to your score. In addition, Trivia Quest will have a narrative slant to it, taking viewers on a quest to rescue the animated folks of Trivia Land alongside the hero Willy. The villain, Evil Rocky, wants to keep all of the knowledge in the world to himself, and that is not something Willy can stand for.

Accumulate enough points, and you will start saving the kidnapped characters in Trivia Quest, which will be delivered in exclusive animations that have been inspired by some of Netflix’s most popular shows.

Click here to watch embedded media

Platform: PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4
Publisher: PlayStation Studios
Developer: Guerrilla Games
Release: February 18, 2022
Rating: Teen

Welcome back to another colossal episode of The Game Informer Show! Join us for a fun discussion on our Steam Deck review impressions, our breakdown of the newly announced Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, and our early thoughts on Triangle Strategy and Tiny Tina's Wonderland!

Back in December 2020, developers The Game Bakers introduced the world to its roleplaying game Haven, and now, more content is coming to the game via the free Couples Update. Now, players will have the choice to play as their preferred partners, either as a man and woman, two men, or two women.

This will bring new designs for the main characters of Yu and Kay, although some stylistic similarities will remain. New 3D renders have been made for both characters, together with redrawn 2D assets as well. Lexie Ann Kendrick and Ryan Highley also provided new voices for these additions.

Sharing on the PlayStation Blog, creative director Emeric Thoa explained: “Looking at the new Yu and Kay, you will notice that Kay and Yu look very similar across all playable versions. There are two reasons for that: first, they are the same characters in the story, they have the same personality, backstory, and life. And second, for technical reasons, we had to keep the same body size, hairstyle, and body shape.”

Granblue Fantasy developer Cygames revealed its brand new motion capture studio that is starting operation today at its branch in Osaka

The studio is massive, with a 5 meter-high ceiling that allows shooting of dynamic wire-action scenes, but also provides high definition capture, with a whopping 168 cameras.

The studio is currently working on the JRPG for PS5, PS4, and PC Granblue Fantasy Relink, about which we’re supposed to hear more on Sunday.

In fact, at the end of the trailer below, you can see brief scenes from the game, hinting that the studio will likely be used in the last months (hopefully) of development.

Granblue Fantasy Relink is coming in 2022 for PS5, PS4, and PC.

Platform: PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, PC, iOS, Android
Publisher: miHoYo
Developer: miHoYo
Release: September 28, 2020 (PlayStation 4, PC, iOS, Android), April 28, 2021 (PlayStation 5)

Can’t get enough of Genshin Impact’s open world? Have you tried fishing yet? Anyway, when you’re done working on your in-game house and exploring the huge universe, you can soon augment your play sessions with a new line of Genshin Impact Funko Pops!

Sony Pictures officially unveiled the debut trailer for its upcoming, star-studded adaptation of Kōtarō Isaka’s best-selling Japanese novel, Bullet Train (aka Maria Beetle in the east).

Scheduled to arrive exclusively in theaters later this year on July 15, the pic will star Brad Pitt in his first leading role since 2019’s arthouse sci-fi feature, Ad Astra. Go ahead and take a gander at the new trailer down below:

Blending the balls-to-the-wall, stylised action of the John Wick series with the quirky comedic levity of a Tarantino flick, Bullet Train focuses on a talented hitman who’s dead set on leaving the whole assassination game behind him.

Unfortunately, his handler Maria Beetle has other ideas, and instead orders him to steal a mysterious briefcase aboard a train brimming with eccentric cut-throats.

Helming the action-packed film will be Deadpool 2 director David Leitch, while Fear Street: Part II – 1978 writer Zak Olkewicz will be penning the screenplay.

Good Smile Company is releasing a scale figure of Tanjiro from Demon Slayer performing the Hinokami Kagura dance. The figure will come in a box that recreates a scene from the 19th episode of the first season of Demon Slayer. The Hinokami Kagura sword effect and background scenery also feature light-up effects. The figure is immediately available for pre-order and costs $750.99. Pre-orders are open until August 31, 2022, and it will ship sometime in December 2023.

https://twitter.com/GoodSmile_US/status/1499580420396134400?s=20&t=Rgyuhr8XllLvql5eMx4xBg

Unlike most figures, the Hinokami Kagura Dance figure features detailed backgrounds that recreate the entirety of Tanjiro's iconic scene. As such, the figure is larger than most and comes in an approximately 10 x 12 x 14-inch box. In addition to the night sky and forest that surrounds Tanjiro, the figure also recreates Rui's Blood Demon Art threads.

The Nichirin sword's Hinokami Kagura flame effect is large and protrudes slightly from the box. The flame effect can light up with a bright orange hue and has a pulsating effect. Similarly, the background also features its own lighting effect that resembles a moonlit sky.

You can get a better look at the Demon Slayer Hinokami Kagura Dance Figure from various angles in the screenshots below:

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Twitch has updated its policies to prevent the spread of harmful misinformation on the platform.

In a blog post, Twitch explains a change to its Spam, Scams and Malicious Conduct Policy, with the goal to prohibit "individuals whose online presence is dedicated to spreading harmful, false information from using Twitch".

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Sony has quietly pulled PlayStation's new blockbuster racing game Gran Turismo 7 from sale in Russia.

GT7 launched today worldwide, though is currently unavailable to purchase via the Russian PlayStation Store. Eurogamer understands the decision not to sell the game in Russia was made by PlayStation last night.

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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: ocean liners, the post-human landscape and a bit of sci-fi parkour.

If you fancy catching up on some of the older editions of What We've Been Playing, here's our archive.

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Even the most minor character can accrue a rabid fandom. If there's no outpouring of questionable illustration following the debut of your single-sentence plot-helper, then you've either failed at fiction or you are deeply blessed. Some breakaway characters begin as a joke, or an afterthought, some as a narrative necessity, or a kind of walking, talking environment art. Others are born as side characters to lighten the story because the main dudes frown too much and Derek from market research says frowns are "cringe". Well, shut up, Derek. You're cringe. Here are nine minor NPCs who became major players.

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Square Enix announced that it will not resume automatic housing demolition in FFXIV. It took to The Lodestone to announce the latest suspension. This time, it isn’t due to in-game issues and congestions. Rather, the company cited “the current world situation” as a reason for the current suspension.

Here's the official announcement from The Lodestone.

We had originally planned to recommence the currently suspended auto-demolition counter on Wednesday, March 9, 2022. However, considering the current world situation, we have decided to keep the counter suspended.

As for when auto-demolition will resume, we will monitor the situation in the coming days, and inform you all when we have come to a decision that auto-demolition can commence again.

Back on December 6, 2021, Square Enix suspended automatic housing demolition in FFXIV. This was a result of the increased number of people playing the game due to Endwalker’s launch. The goal would be to alleviate congestion and strain on the servers.

Today aNCHOR announced the release date of its upcoming  Muv-Luv mobile game Immortals: Muv-Luv Alternative.

We learn that the game will launch in Japan on March 17 for iOS and Android. For the moment, a western release date has not been announced even if the developer mentioned that they’re doing their best to achieve it in our recent interview.

On top of that, we also got the first look at the character artwork for four popular characters, Akane Suzumiya, Haruko Kashiwagi, Mitsuki Hayase, and Michiru Isumi.

You can check them all out below.

My heart's racing. Palms are sweaty as I grip the controller in anticipation. My sign is down, but will my dealer turn up? Or will my cash be wasted?

Then the screen turns to black: I have been summoned.

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2020's Treyarch-made Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War has been given a surprise update today - and it sounds like more updates will follow over the course of this year.

It's an unusual step for Activision, which typically operates a fire-and-forget approach to its annual Call of Duty releases.

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When Nintendo shared its trailer for Kirby and the Forgotten Land during its Direct presentation in February, one thing that got everyone talking was Kirby's new Mouthful Mode. It allows Kirby to inhale and then embody numerous items, and now it turns out this also includes Nintendo Switch boxes.

Spotted by Nintendo Everything, a new box for the Nintendo Switch OLED now features a bright pink puffed up Kirby. Kirby is clearly so puffed up as he has just swallowed the box, contents and all.

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New PC and PlayStation release Babylon's Fall appears to have flopped on Steam.

Published by Square Enix and developed by Platinum Games, the multiplayer hack-and-slash RPG currently has a peak of just 874 players on Steam, and a "Mixed" rating for user reviews.

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