March 2023

Spoiler warning for God of War Ragnarok's late-game story!

With much of the final, climactic level in place and the last few visual effects coming in, the developers at Sony Santa Monica realised they had a bit of a problem: there's a big plot development that happens here, essential to the entire story of God of War Ragnarok - but nobody who played the game would notice it.

The moment in question here is Atreus' big realisation, that bringing about Ragnarok is, after all, maybe not the best idea - something he notices when dwarven companion Sindri sets off a kind of magical shockwave, which destroys the Asgardian villains' defences but, also, takes out a good few innocent civilians, too.

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It feels strange to mark the passage of time by how other things age. Illness, and the routines it enforces, make time irrelevant to me, and yet one can't help but be aware of how much time is lost. It makes for a complex relationship with time in which external reminders of its passing can be equal amounts helpful, depressing, or, as is the case with Resident Evil 2, surprising.

Resident Evil 2 is 25 years old. It's hard to imagine so major an entry in a medium intrinsic to our modern lives is the same age as Dawson's Creek and Young Hercules (fun Google for Ryan Gosling fans). How is it that it released the same year assembly of the International Space Station began?

It's been a quarter of a century since I first came across Resident Evil 2 in issue 67 of GamesMaster, since I marvelled at the multi-page review splashed with 3D models, showing off guns, zombies, and gore. It was the kind of forbidden game I craved. It was a game other children, with more permissive childhoods, could get, but not me.

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Sundays are for doing your best Ed Thorn impression, because he’s holidaying in Japan right now and you said you’d cover the Sunday Papers for him. Okay, here we go: "Hi I’m Ed and here is this week’s best writing about games (and game related things)." Nailed it.

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Square Enix announced the re-release of the Final Fantasy XIV Moogle slippers, alongside two plushies featuring the beloved series mascot. The Moogle slippers cost 3,300 JPY (or roughly $25 USD). Meanwhile, the two plushies being re-released are a plush of the Final Fantasy XIV mailman Moogle, which costs 3,740 JPY (~$28 USD), and a simple FFXIV Moogle plush, which costs 1,650 JPY (~$12 USD). All three items are releasing in Japan on June 10, 2023 and are currently available for pre-order from the Japanese Square Enix online store.

You can take a better look at the Moogle slippers and the two Moogle plush being re-released in the gallery below.

[gallery columns="4" link="file" ids="957138,957139,957135,957136,957137,957132,957133,957134"]

The Moogle slippers originally appeared in Final Fantasy XIV as a piece of equipment known as the Meandering Mog Slippers. They were introduced in patch 3.3 of the Heavensward expansion. Due to popular demand, the slippers were quickly released as merchandising.

As a reminder, Final Fantasy XIV will introduce a graphics update with its 7.0 version, and the development team recently commented on the progress of the update.

To mark its sixth anniversary, PUBG: Battlegrounds has dropped a neat little infographic that outlines exactly what we've collectively been doing over the last six years, including news that the free-to-play battle royale has now clocked up over 150.7 million players.

That adds up to a staggering 16.3 billion hours played across PC and consoles by players living in 242 different countries.

"The PUBG community has expanded and changed over the past six years, resulting in priceless memories, thrilling updates, and amazing gameplay experiences - with many more still to come," publisher Krafton said, confirming that the shooter generated 75 million sales before the game went free-to-play.

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Five new cars are on the way to Gran Turismo 7.

Gran Turismo producer, Kazunori Yamauchi, confirmed they were coming in a cheeky tweet that showed the five vehicles in deep shadow, telling us only that the update was coming "next week", and reminding us that it's "cherry blossom season in Tokyo".

As is usually the case, fans have already forensically examined the teaser image, and reckon it includes the new Mazda 3, and possibly a Panamera Sport Turismo or an Audi RS5 DTM.

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The term "Left4Dead3" has reportedly popped up in CS2 files.

Dubbed "version 2", the reference secreted in the files states that whilst the severity of Left4Dead3 is "high" – whatever that means – the priority is "none", which comes as no surprise to many of the commenters on Steam's subreddit page.

Whispers of a new Left 4 Dead title have been heard from several sources for several years now. Back in December 2019, Valve News Network's well-connected Tyler McVicker told Twitter followers that "Left 4 Dead VR is real", while in January 2020, Chinese HTC president Alvin Wang Graylin shared slides from a VR presentation making mention of Left 4 Dead 3.

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Kahotan from Good Smile Company has shown off the Rintaro Okabe and Kurisu Makise Pop Up Parade figure prototypes from Steins;Gate. The Rintaro figure is in a further stage of development than the Kurisu one. From the picture, it seems that the Kurisu figure has not been painted yet. [Thanks, Kahotan!]

Since they are Pop Up Parade figures, you will not be able to change their poses. Generally speaking, Pop Up Parade figures are fairly small as well. The figures are both still in development, so there might be some changes in the sculpting or color for the final product.

https://twitter.com/gsc_kahotan/status/1639099723461308418

Kurisu Makise is a widely popular character when it comes to figures. Good Smile Company previously released several scale figures of her in various poses and outfits. For example, there is one of her in a bunny outfit, as well as one of her posing with a number of computers.

Tchia is one of those games where I found myself loving so many things about it, but not always playing it. It’s a joyful and delightful games in many way. The heroine is fun, the Soul Jump mechanic is novel, and the cultural tributes to New Caledonia are wonderful. But the thing is that it often gets a bit obtuse or tedious. Not to mention there are moments when it isn’t good at telling you what to do.

Tchia stars a young woman living alone with her father on a small island. It’s just the two of them, though a friend named Tre stops by with supplies. All seems peaceful and well initially. However, it’s quickly answered why they are there, as a vicious man with otherworldly, fabric minions comes and abducts her father. Tre tells her he was taken by Meavora, and she needs to go and confront her. However, during the abduction, Tchia also discovered access to strange powers, ones that grant telekinetic and soul jumping abilities that let her go into animate and inanimate creatures and objects.

I was an absolutely massive fan of The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners when I played it on PC VR. Scavenging my way through the mini open worlds of post apocalyptic New Orleans was super immersive and the way that the virtual weapons had a feeling of heft and weight to them brought a great sense of realism to the proceedings.

Playing that game truly felt like I was starring in my very own episode of the TV show and it was this feeling that inspired my classic VR Corner video series 'The Walk-Ian Dead'. The Walk-Ian Dead spanned three episodes before it got cruely cancelled due to criminally low viewing figures and it took place during the first few hours of the first game. Thanks to the long-awaited release of The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners - Chapter 2: Retribution on PSVR2 however, I've brought that series back for a special one off episode of The Walk-Ian Dead Season 2 that you can above these words.

In it, you can watch over 30 minutes of gameplay taken from the PSVR2 version of The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners - Chapter 2: Retribution, all accompanied by some wacky roleplaying courtesy of me.

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UPDATE 28/03/23: GDC has responded to the alleged drink spiking at an off-site party, as well as unwanted advances in and around the show.

A representative for GDC told Kotaku: "We are very upset to hear that some people, especially women, reported concerning experiences during the GDC week at off-site events, including assault and drink spiking. This is outrageous and unacceptable; everyone has a right to feel safe. We severely condemn any such behaviour and support the victims; we encourage reporting to the police and hope the perpetrators will be found.

"At the GDC event, we take everyone's safety very seriously, we do our best to provide a secure environment on site, we enforce a strict code of conduct and make sure that the GDC team is available to help participants contact venue security or local law enforcement, to provide escorts, or to otherwise assist those experiencing unacceptable behavior to feel safe for the duration of the conference."

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A journey through the long history of an action movie staple

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Koei Tecmo shared a series of wallpapers and social icons as part of the launch campaign for Atelier Ryza 3: Alchemist of the End & the Secret Key. Inside the pack are 15 icons and 4 wallpapers showing the title's main characters. All pictures are available for download on the game's official website.

https://twitter.com/koeitecmoeurope/status/1639205413454499840?s=20

For each of the 11 playable characters, there is a 300 x 300-pixel icon that people can use as a profile picture for their social networks. Other icons also include the companion Fi from Atelier Ryza 2, the keys, and the iconic Puni enemy.

As for the Atelier Ryza 3 wallpapers, each one has a different design highlighting Ryza along with several of her companions. Notably, there is one of her with Klaudia camping under a starry night. People can download these images in two different versions adapted for various devices.

The last few months have brought several pieces of news from Ryza and the Atelier game franchise. An anime adaptation of the Atelier Ryza series has been announced, and a remake of the classic Atelier Marie is also planned for release in the summer of 2023.

Atelier Ryza 3: Alchemist of the End & the Secret Key is now available on the PS4, PS5, Switch, and PC worldwide.

It looks like Dead Cells is getting a native PS5 release that bundles in its Return to Castlevania DLC.

Whilst not formally confirmed, the game – called Dead Cells: Return to Castlevania Edition, unsurprisingly enough – popped up on the US Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB), clearly marked as coming to PS5 (thanks, Gematsu).

Right now, we're unclear if it's a digital release or if we'll get a physical version, too, but it'll be good news nonetheless for PlayStation 5 owners who want to experience a native Dead Cells adventure, rather than via the backwards-compatible PS4 version which released five years ago.

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Action-RPG Duel Corp is now available in early access (EA) on Steam.

The game – which boasts the curious conceit that you can play alone and then later with a friend – launched in early access yesterday, and will be available as an open playtest between now and 4th April.

Like other games released in EA, the two-person development team says the plan is to "make sure that Duel Corp turns into a well-rounded product for full release" when "it's the complete experience we want it to be". Consequently, the team believes the game will be in early access "for about one year".

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Earlier in the week, Liam and I had the opportunity to chat with Animal Well's solo developer and publisher Bigmode about creating their eerie subterranean world. We then had a chance to go hands on with the PAX East demo, and wow, we were both incredibly impressed. Watch the video below for our enthusiastic impressions:

If we could give an RPS 'Bestest Best in show' award to a game, is would be Animal Well. Liam and I loved the game's dense atmosphere, spider-web of interconnected caverns, and creepy creatures that lurk in the dark. We also loves the effects the game has, which reminded Liam of Octopath Traveler's visual flairs. If I had to compare it to one game, it would be Hollow Knight, which is very exciting.

We have plenty more PAX East indies for you to check out so make sure you have a peruse through our RPS@PAX tag. A couple of our favourites have been chaotic rouguelite Pizza Possum, Resident Evil-like Alone In The Dark, and island exploration game Mythwrecked.

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Show me a game about a feral, furry creature with a never ending hunger for junk food and I'm immediately interested. I played Pizza Possum on the first day of PAX and knew it would make a great indie highlight for our time here at PAX East. Liam and I have now both played the demo and you can listen to our impressions in the video below:

What really appealed to us about Pizza Possum is how chaotic it is. It's like Untitled Goose Game but at double the speed. Playing the eponymous possum, you need you scamper around a sunny Mediterranean town scoffing as much food as you can get your grubby mitts on.

There's an element of hide-and-seek too, as there are patrol dogs who will try and stop your food eating rampage, but you can quickly jump into a berry bush to thorw them off your scent. It's goofy fun, and we're completeley smitten with it.

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Hyenas developer Creative Assembly has revealed a new Sonic-cosplaying character has joined the roster.

Hero-Ki – "someone who has clearly been inspired by a certain speedy SEGA series" – is described as "a minor celebrity back on Earth thanks to his cosplay and charity work" but now chases "nefarious pursuits".

"Armed with a specially modified camera to capture a target's likeness and cosplay as them, Hero-Ki can use his penchant for disguise to evade threats and exploit the environment in Hyenas, as only the sharpest-eyed rival will be able to detect the clues that reveal him as an imposter," Sega teases.

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Square Enix's latest Twitter tease has given us one of our best peeks yet at the RPG's gorgeous world.

Entitling the tweet "introducing a closer look at the world of Valisthea in Final Fantasy 16", a video gives us almost two minutes' worth of Valisthea's stunning environments, from sandy deserts and rugged clifftops to striking waterfalls and lush green meadows.

But why read about it when you can see it for yourself? Check out the brief video below:

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Resident Evil 4 is back, and it's something of a big deal. Everyone's getting a chance to see a remake with its own special touches. It might even be a new favorite for someone. To honor the occasion, we figured it would be a good time to talk about which Resident Evil games we feel are the best and share our favorites.

While Resident Evil 0 is undoubtedly my favorite Resident Evil game of all time, I'm willing to set aside my personal bias and share what I really believe is the best Resident Evil game.

And, perhaps to no one's surprise, it's Resident Evil (2002) for the GameCube. Perhaps one of the best remakes of all time, it brought one of the most influential games of all time to then modern platforms. With gorgeous visuals, incredible audio design, and Crimson Heads, it still remains a standout entry. While Resident Evil 4 is a close runner-up for me, especially how it came to define an entire genre and generation of games, Resident Evil (2002) showed just how strong the foundations of the franchise really were. -- Kazuma

It is difficult to pick a single entry as the best one, I could endlessly talk about what each game brings to the series (yes, even Code Veronica and Resident Evil 6.) However, I am going to follow my gut feeling and say it’s Resident Evil 2 (1998) for the original PlayStation.

Imagine for a moment, if you will, that Persona 5 let you suplex your opponents. Even better, imagine if those moves were pulled off through timing based minigames that resembled the battles found in Nintendo's excellent (and underrated) Mario & Luigi RPG series. Sounds good, right? Well guess what, that game exists! It's called Wrestle Story and it's definitely a project to keep an eye on.

After spending twenty glorious minutes with its colourful demo at PAX East, I was keen to chat to creative director Steve Jimenez about the team's inspirations, the challenges of translating wrestling into a turn-based RPG and the exciting locations that players will attempt to liberate from a group of devious heels.

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The controversy surrounding Dark and Darker, an MMO that stands accused of stealing not just assets but also staff from Korean publishers Nexon, escalated over the weekend when the game was delisted from Steam.

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Mika in Genshin Impact fills a very unique support niche that makes him very easy to farm Artifacts for. This is because you basically just have to use him for his Elemental Skill, which has almost nothing to do with his Artifacts. So what other characters need or want is more important when choosing Artifacts for Mika.

For starters, stats that you should focus on for Mika are his Energy Recharge and HP. His heal scales off his HP and he needs a lot of Energy to use his Burst. As mentioned earlier though, you really can put whatever you want on Mika. His stats don’t matter at all. In that sense, it's almost ridiculously easy to build Mika because you don't have to bother picking Artifacts with the best stats. Even if he's absolute trash as a unit, he'll still be an amazing asset to your DPS characters.

Some Artifacts that you can consider for Mika are:

4 PC Noblesse Oblige

Though the healing from Mika's Burst isn’t anything to write home about, you can use his Burst to boost the Attack of your party. Since his Skill will also increase the Attack Speed, this will greatly enhance your overall DPS. Noblesse's 2-piece bonus increases Elemental Burst DMG by 20%. At 4 pieces, it increases the ATK of all party members by 20% for 12 seconds when he uses his Burst. As a reminder, the 4-piece effect does not stack. So if you plan on running Mika with someone who already has the 4-piece Noblesse set, you should swap Mika's Artifacts for something else.

4 PC The Exile

Microsoft’s long-running introductory offer for its Xbox Game Pass subscription platform, which let users try the service out for $1 for the first month before moving onto more expensive payments, has finally come to a close.

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I still remember the build up to American McGee's Scrapland. I would buy gaming magazines (well, when I was allowed to), particularly PC Zone, and the full-page ads made it seem like it was going to be a truly wondrous, open sci-fi adventure. There were also big expectations thanks to the success of McGee's previous game Alice. Despite the decent reviews, though, it didn't really have much of an impact at the time.

I thought Mile High Taxi was going to be similarly huge and expansive. Made solely by Cassius John-Adams, a game dev veteran with his first indie outing, the game has taken three years to come to fruition. It's easy to describe it as a mash-up of Crazy Taxi and The Fifth Element, as the inspiration is both clear and unapologetic. Yet weirdly enough, the jank, however much intentional, reminded me of the basic mechanics and scrappy charm that makes a handful of the games of yesteryear so endearing.

The goal of the game is pretty simple: pick up waving customers in your flying taxi and drop them off at their desired location. This can sometimes involve slowly ascending and descending towards different platforms. But not too high or low, as you'll go out of bounds. And once you check out the free roam mode, you'll realise just how small the total grid you can access is. It's like seeing how tiny the maps are in the 2021 remasters of the Grand Theft Auto games once all that city fog was swept away. Given it's made by a lone developer, it makes sense that this compact sci-fi world is basically a playground for your flying taxi.

Technically speaking, when thinking of what weapons to give Mika in Genshin Impact, you can give him literally anything you want. This is because his main utility comes from his Elemental Skill’s Attack Speed boost. And since that is something you can increase via upgrading his Talents, his natural stats don’t matter. However, you can give Mika weapons that enhance his ability to act as a healer on your team.

Mika’s healing through his Elemental Burst scales off of his Max HP. So weapons that increase that will allow him to heal more per Normal Attack. However, his Burst is a little expensive for how much Energy he generates, which means Energy Recharge weapons are also useful. So these are the two stats that you want to keep in mind when it comes to building Mika. Some weapons you can consider are:

Black Tassel

Black Tassel is an incredibly cheap and useful option because its main stat increases his Max HP. Other weapons that boost that are ones like Staff of Homa, which should really belong with your DPS Polearm characters. Though this will lessen Mika’s offensive capabilities, he’s not really going to be the attacker on your team anyway. On the bright side, since Black Tassel gives a 40% damage bonus against Slimes, Mika can be your designated Slime Slayer.

Prototype Starglitter

Jokes about Valve’s inability to count to three practically write themselves, but in fairness, the publisher have reportedly reached the mythical number in Counter-Strike 2’s files. The mention of “Left4Dead3” was recently spotted in CS2’s files (thanks, Reddit) which sparked online speculation for a third game in the series. The files state that the “severity” is “high”, the “version” is “2”, but what about the “priority?” Bad news for fans of the run-and-gunning zombie shooter: according to the files, the priority is “none.”

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A dataminer of Resident Evil 4 Remake has discovered a reference to Separate Ways, suggesting more DLC may be on the way soon.

As shared on Twitter by Resident Evil Central, dataminer Gosetsu found a folder named The Another Order within the game's files, alongside files for the Chainsaw demo and the Mercenaries mode.

The Another Order was the name of the extra game mode in the original game in Japan, what we in the west called Separate Ways.

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Ironmace, the Korean developer behind upcoming looter Dark and Darker, has used ChatGPT to try and prove it hasn't infringed any copyright claims. This follows an accusation from Nexon, another Korean developer and one which several Ironmace employees used to work for, which claimed its game (P3) was used as a prototype for Dark and Darker.

Over the weekend, Ironmace stated it had been served a cease and desist letter and DMCA takedown by Nexon, something the developer said is "based on distorted claims". As a result, Dark and Darker was removed from Steam.

At this time, Ironamce asked for "understanding" as it worked to get the game back on the site, noting that "due to the sensitive legal nature of this issue" it has to be "careful with [its] statements so as to not jeopardise [its] position".

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Nintendo is offering a free seven day trial of Switch Online until 2nd April for new users.

This provides Switch players with access to online features and access to the cloud to backup save files, in addition to classic games on NES, SNES and now Game Boy.

Other classics are only available with the Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pass.

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Resident Evil 4 players will be aware of its iconic village section from the start, whether that's in the original, the new remake, or its chainsaw demo.

But ingenious players have discovered a new method to end it early.

It's one of those 'that's really obvious, why didn't I think of that?' moments.

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People once again get a chance to return to one of Square Enix’s MMORPGs for free. The company announced the Final Fantasy XIV Free Login Campaign is around until May 2023. From March 27, 2023 until May 8, 2023, people who used to play can come back and return to the game for four days. This follows one held in November and December 2022.

The protocol is largely the same from past Final Fantasy XIV Free Login Campaign promotions. You have to be a returning player who does own the game, but is now inactive for at least 30 days with no subscription. If that fits, then people can play for 96 hours for free from the day you login and return. At 11:59pm PT/2:59am ET on the last day of your free period, it ends. Depending on when you start playing, that means up to 96 hours could be available. The offer is available on the PS4, PS5, and PC.

Square Enix did note one maintenance period, which people might want to avoid if they want to be certain they get as much free play time as possible. Between April 3-4, 2023, for a full 24 hours, the game will be under maintenance. So it might be best to not start a session on March 31, 2023 through April 3, 2023, to ensure you get as much time as possible.

Final Fantasy XIV is available for the PS4, PS5, and PC, and the latest Free Login Campaign runs until May 8, 2023.

Welcome to Exp. Share, Kotaku’s weekly Pokémon column in which we dive deep to explore notable characters, urban legends, communities, and just plain weird quirks from throughout the Pokémon franchise. This week, we’re looking at the history of Shiny Pokémon and how catching them became a huge pillar of the series’…

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If you're a fan of The Sims 4 and your ears pricked up during this month's reveal of Paradox Interactive's upcoming life sim Life By You, you might want to check your PC's specifications before it enters early access later this year. During a chat with Paradox Tectonic's general manager Rod Humble at this year's GDC, I spoke to him about whether there was any plan to accommodate lower-end PC specifications when Life By You enters early access this September, and he answered by urging players to take its minimum PC specifications "seriously".

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Rod Humble has his son to thank for his upcoming life sim Life By You. After finishing up work on two successful mobile games around four years ago, Humble was itching for something new. But he wasn't quite sure what. "I was in the kitchen talking to my son about, 'Oh, what should I do? I don't know what opportunities there are,' and he was like, 'Why don't you just pick the company you want to work at and ask them?'" And as a life-long Crusader Kings player, the answer was clear. "Okay!?" Humble says incredulously. "I can do that, I guess. So I did. I wrote to [PR manager] Troy [Goodfellow], and he knew Fred [Wester, CEO], and that was it. It was two weeks later and I met him in San Francisco and said, hey, I'd like to start a studio, and here's the way I'd like to run it. And he was like, sure, let's go for it."

So began Humble's journey to creating Life By You, his upcoming life simulator that's set to give his former pet project, The Sims, a run for its money. With The Sims 5, or Project Rene as it's currently known, still some way off, Life By You seems poised to finally give life sim fans the game they've always wanted. "I wanted to make an open world life simulator where the core tenant was freedom," says Humble. "Where players could freely play and tell their stories with minimal friction." And what was standing in the way of that freedom? Loading screens, says Humble.

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I keep alternating between wanting to play more and feeling weary at the prospect. While that might sound bad, it arguably means that it's balanced an appealing strategic challenge with the grinding theme of trench warfare.

The Great War Colon Western Front is about taking the Triple Alliance or Entente through the hell years of 1914-18, or beyond. It's a purely military game about overcoming massed defences through attrition, both in localised real-time battles, and a turn-based strategic map. It's perhaps unfair to criticise it for repetition and some intermittent sense of futility, since a First World War game without them would defeat the point. But I still feel a little mixed.

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You might have heard of Dark And Darker, a dungeon-crawling take on Escape From Tarkov’s PvPvE that’s been gaining popularity over the last few months. Alice0 enjoyed its alpha playtest last December, and it ended up becoming one of the most popular games of February's Steam Next Fest. It wasn't due to launch in full until sometime this winter, but that window's now up in the air after Dark And Darker was removed from Steam over the weekend, following a messy legal dispute between Nexon and developers Ironmace, who have been accused of “using trade secrets and copyrighted information,” allegedly stolen from Nexon.

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Final Fantasy fans have been picking apart new footage of FF16 to discover possible references to previous games in the series.

As Vikki reported yesterday, new footage of the game has been released online, taken from a talk by producer Naoki Yoshida and localisation director Koji Fox at PAX East. It looks truly stunning.

The full panel presentation also includes further details on the game and answers a few fan questions.

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Intercept Games has shared an update on its second patch for Kerbal Space Program 2.

Kerbal Space Program 2, which released in early access in February, received its first (extensive) patch earlier this month. This followed a rather rocky launch for the space-flight simulator, which saw a steep fall in player numbers soon after release, with many asking for refunds due to the game's buggy state.

Now, the KSP2 team is working on another patch, with creative director Nate Simpson noting that while it'll be "tough to beat the sheer number of fixes that went into Patch One", players can still expect "a few big ones" to arrive in Patch Two.

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