March 2023

For such a momentous period in human history, the First World War has been relatively under-served by video games. Mostly because the defining theatre of the conflict—the nightmarish trench warfare of the Western Front—is almost impossible to recreate in the medium.

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In this week's episode of The Game Informer Show, the crew discusses our favorite games from PAX East 2023, relaxing reverse-city-builder Terra Nil, and why Crime Boss: Rockay City earned our lowest review score in years. It's a great episode featuring plenty of shenanigans and hijinks from Alex, Marcus, and Wesley. Please leave us a rating on Apple Podcasts or Spotify if you enjoy the episode!

Follow us on social media: Alex Van Aken (@itsVanAken), Marcus Stewart (@MarcusStewart7), Wesley LeBlanc (@LeBlancWes)

The Game Informer Show is a weekly gaming podcast covering the latest video game news, industry topics, exclusive reveals, and reviews. Join host Alex Van Aken every Thursday for a chat about your favorite games – past and present – with Game Informer staff, developers, and special guests from around the industry. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app.

Final Fantasy XI Producer Yoji Fujito recently talked to Famitsu about becoming the producer of the game, as well as continuing his position as director, his vision for Vana’diel in 2023, and the new dynamic of the FFXI team going forward. Fujito said that his newfound role as both director and producer is not going to change the dynamic or his workload. [Thanks, Famitsu!]

Here is a direct quote by Fujito about his role as director and producer of Final Fantasy XI:

“What I do is almost the same as before. (…) Preparation and negotiations have always been carried out as a team, so the only change is that the person in charge of taking responsibility if something happens (as producer) is now the same person as the director.”

Fujito also shared that the team received a lot of motivation after the Final Fantasy XI 20th anniversary, and the Granblue Fantasy collaboration. Some plans for the future of Vana’diel include revitalizing the game by focusing on more type of seasonal events, developing new content for Records of Eminence and Ambuscade battles, and allowing the game to be supported by many PC environments.

In a update on the Koihime Enbu RyoRaiRai Steam page, developer UNKNOWN GAME announced that more DLC would be coming to the game. The announcement comes alongside a large slate of balance changes to characters and game systems with the update to the 3.5 version of the game. No date was given for the release of the DLC, but the balance changes went into effect on March 29, 2023.

The characters changed in the balance update are Bacho, Cho'un, Chohi, Choryo, Gakushin, Jyoko, Kakoen, Kakoton, Kannei, Kan'u, Ryofu, Sonken, Sonshoko, and Soso. The individual changes to each character can be found in the game's patch notes, and include additions, alterations, and bug fixes. There are also new low posture techniques for every character in the game.

Koihime Muso began life as a visual novel franchise in 2008 featuring female versions of important figures from the Romance of the Three Kings story. It would go on to spawn a number of sequels and spin-offs, including Koihime Enbu RyoRaiRai. RyoRaiRai itself is a fighting game featuring characters from the original visual novel. Originally an arcade game. RyoRaiRai was released on the PlayStation 4 and PC via Steam in 2018. The game has had several updates since its release, adding new characters and balance changes.

The Sword Art Online franchise is celebrating its 10th anniversary of game projects, and Bandai Namco released a new promotional video and a commemorative logo to celebrate. The first SAO game to be released was Sword Art Online: Infinity Moment on March 14, 2023 for the PSP, with the latest game being Sword Art Online Last Recollection, set to release on October 6, 2023.

You can check out the new promotional video celebrating 10 years of Sword Art Online games here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvqdeCfDTyY

In addition, the official SAO games Twitter account shared a stream showcasing new content for existing and upcoming SAO games, such as the mobile game Sword Art Online: Integral Factor. The stream also featured the different editions that will be available for Sword Art Online Last Recollection.

The livestream is only available in Japanese, but you can check out here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lq_x5TjPym8

Bandai Namco recently revealed a new weapon type in Sword Art Online Last Recollection: the scythe. Scythes will be swift weapons and are able to counter attacks.

On March 30, 2023, Japanese developer Silbird announced that mobile game Danmachi: Cross Istoria will shut down on April 29, 2023 at 12pm JST. The announcement came from the game’s official Twitter account. Danmachi: Cross Istoria is a mobile card game, and it originally released in Japan on July 28, 2016 for Android and iOS devices and PCs. [Thanks, Game Watch!]

You can check out the official announcement in the tweet below.

https://twitter.com/danmachiXI/status/1640890721329885185

Danmachi: Cross Istoria is one of the many mobile games based on the Danmachi property, also known as Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?. The main mechanic in Cross Istoria is to collect cards from various characters from the series and participate in raid battles. Cards are divided between power, speed, and technique types.

In other Danmachi news, a new mobile game based on the Danmachi series was recently reported to be in development. The developers of this new title are Gree Entertainment and Neowiz. No further details were offered, but more news should appear soon.

Danmachi: Cross Istoria is currently available in Japan on Android and iOS devices, but not for long, as service for the game will end on April 29, 2023 at 12pm JST.

Donkey Kong 64's "DK Rap" theme song is apparently in The Super Mario Bros Movie. The official Twitter account shared a video featuring Seth Rogan, who plays Donkey Kong in the film, discussing it. He says, “This is how my character comes out in the movie, is to the Donkey Kong rap.”

Here is Rogan discussing “DK Rap” for the Super Mario Bros Movie. He offers commentary on the song after that.

DK Rap is straight-up #SuperMarioMovie pic.twitter.com/SVKzaTSB7z

— The Super Mario Bros. Movie (@supermariomovie) March 30, 2023

Grant Kirkhope, the composer for “DK Rap” in Donkey Kong 64, also commented on it. He noted on his official Twitter account, “If you’d told me in ‘97, when I wrote the worst rap track in the history of rap tracks, that it would go on to be in a Mario Bros movie I’d would’ve burst with excitement!”

Vampire Survivors was the surprise winner of Best Game at last night's BAFTA Game Awards, beating the likes of Elden Ring and God of War: Ragnarök.

Ragnarök remained the biggest winner of the night, awarded with six wins out of the fifteen nominations it received.

Vampire Survivors also won the award for Game Design.

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The BAFTA Games Awards were held last night - an annual show where a jury of developers throw weighty man-head statues at the crowd, celebrating the best games of any given year. The 2023 BAFTAs celebrated the best of 2022 with a mixed bag of games, awarding big blockbusters alongside popular indies, but the jury agrees with RPS on one front: Vampire Survivors is the best game of 2022. Good BAFTAs.

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It looks like Netflix is working on a feature that will let you use your smartphone to control games on your television.

That's according to a report by Bloomberg (paywall), and as evidenced by code sourced by TheTapeDrive editor and iOS developer Steve Moser over on Twitter.

This code, which was found within the Netflix app, states: "A game on your TV needs a controller to play. Do you want to use this phone as a game controller?" This suggests the media company is at least experimenting with the use of smartphones as controllers for its games on TV, even if it has not made any public statements as yet.

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After last night's confirmation that E3 2023 is cancelled, it's worth a quick check of June's calendar - which still has plenty to look forward to in the shape of video game announcements.

We're still several months away, but already we've heard word from Ubisoft, Microsoft and Bethesda about their own livestreamed announcement broadcast. And of course there's Summer Game Fest, the more general live show hosted by Geoff Keighley, with updates from other publishers.

Without further ado, here's what to expect and when.

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God of War Ragnarök won six awards at last night's BAFTA Game Awards, including awards for Performer in a Supporting Role and Performer in a Leading Role.

The game dominated both awards, taking half of the nominations, but it was Christopher Judge as Kratos and Laya Deleon Hayes as Angrboða who won.

After their wins, both performers spoke to Eurogamer about the importance of Black representation in gaming.

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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: demons, sumo, and cryptics.

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

Shortly after the Diablo 4 beta came to an end, Blizzard senior quest designer Harrison Pink took to Twitter to discuss one of the action role-playing game's cool narrative moments. I won't spoil it for you here, and I'll link to the tweets rather than embed them. But there's one thing Pink said about Diablo I wanted to dig into, having dug into the Diablo 4 beta myself last weekend.

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"There's definitely been a few significant female characters in the last decade, we've seen great things happening with Ellie from The Last of Us, and with the Horizon Zero Dawn franchise as well. We've seen a few more female protagonists coming out there, I think. But, [10 years ago] it was an unusual situation."

Rhianna Pratchett is talking to me about Tomb Raider, a game she wrote over a decade ago, to reboot the franchise. On 5th March, 2013, the world was reintroduced to Lara Croft, as she found herself washed up on the shores of Yamatai, a strange and storm-wracked island within the Dragon's Triangle. Unlike the Tomb Raider games that had come before, this version of Lara was young and inexperienced - she had not yet become the Tomb Raider synonymous with the series.

I talk to Pratchett over Zoom, with the idea that we'll take a quick look back at the game that ignited Tomb Raider's "Survivor" timeline. What I thought would be a half hour chat turns into something more, though: a brilliant, two-hour long dive into the games and Pratchett's relationship with them, covering everything from last minute story changes and a scrapped multiplayer experience, to the ways the games are shaped by her own memories and the importance of representation in media.

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It seems Final Fantasy XVI will meet its expected launch windows, as Square Enix turned to the English and Japanese Twitter accounts to report the game has gone gold. This means that, for all purposes, the team is done, it is playable, and it is ready to ship.

Here is the official announcement, which features developers holding the Torgal plush of Clive's dog as both a puppy and adult. The same stuffed animals appeared at the PAX East 2023 panel. However, Square Enix hasn't said it if will eventually sell them.

Final Fantasy XVI has gone gold.

From the entire team, including Torgal, we hope you're looking forward to #FF16's launch on June 22nd pic.twitter.com/Vrtd3cMNW5

— FINAL FANTASY XVI (@finalfantasyxvi) March 31, 2023

There’ll be all kinds of horrors present in Fallen London’s spin-off, Mask Of The Rose: green-tentacled creatures, underground Londoners, and most frighteningly, love. Sometimes two or more of these horrors intersect, and by that I mean you can romance that tentacled man in this gothic, alternative-history dating sim. Spooky suitors will need to wait a while more, though, as Mask Of The Rose has been delayed to June 8th - previously slated for April.

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E3 2023 is cancelled - and it's uncertain if it will ever return in the same way again. However you feel about that, it's undeniable that the gaming calendar's most talked about show continually provided moments you never got anywhere else.

E3 was a stage for video game companies to strut their stuff, a certain tier of celebrities to make their presences felt, and console rivals to take not-so-subtle pops at one another.

It was a place of huge excitement and anticipation, where internet memes and catchphrases were born, and extremely vanilla marketing executives became legends. It was also a place of failure and disappointment, as outlandish concepts and eyebrow-raising price points were debuted.

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Grant Kirkhope has many attributes to his name. This is the man who wrote the brilliant GoldenEye 007 watch music, after all. However, Kirkhope is also widely known for his DK rap number, something he composed for Donkey Kong 64 all the way back in the '90s.

This little number will be introduced to a new generation of Mario-loving fans thanks to its inclusion in the Super Mario Bros. Movie (of course, there is also the chance parents have already shown the rap to their children - I certainly have).

Seth Rogen, who voices Donkey Kong in the upcoming film, has revealed this iconic tune will be in the Super Mario Bros. Movie. In fact, it is the song Donkey Kong "comes out to", according to Rogen.

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Today is International Transgender Day of Visibility, so we wanted to put together a short list of some great games about trans experience - from visual novels, like If Found... to unique role-playing games like Citizen Sleeper.

A Life is Strange entry in all but name, Tell Me Why mixes melodrama, mystery, and the supernatural in signature Dontnod fashion. At the heart of that mystery are twins Tyler and Alyson Ronan, separated as children, but reunited all-grown-up in their tiny Alaskan town. The twins share a psychic bond that lets them feel each other’s emotions and share memories, which is often used as a way to explore Tyler’s feelings on being trans.

Awkward dialogue and all, I adore the Life is Strange series. The indie-pop soundtracks and small town settings make for a bittersweet atmosphere to soak in while exploring mysteries and characters - and Tell Me Why is my favourite of the lot. The focus on the town’s perceived similarities and differences between Tyler and his identical twin sister is a subtle way to show how trans and cis experiences can differ. However, while Tyler being trans is important to the plot, he’s also a well-rounded character who gets to explore family secrets, and deepen relationships throughout the game’s three chapters.

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The use of AI is becoming more prevalent in the games industry, with the likes of Ubisoft creating an AI tool for script writing and its use more widely for both art and voice acting.

High on Life, for instance, used AI for both art and voice acting, while AI voice cloning is being used by modders to replicate the work of actors.

At last night's BAFTA Game Awards, a number of actors spoke to Eurogamer about their scepticism of whether AI can truly replicate human performances and what its impact could be on the voice acting industry.

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Roadwarden will see its world expand later this year, with the release of Windy Meadow.

Windy Meadow is the upcoming official counterpart to Moral Anxiety Studio's text-based RPG Roadwarden.

It will feature a "multitude of hand-crafted characters" along with a "richly detailed" village within a fantasy setting, and follow three interwoven stories - those of Vena, Fabel, and Ludicia - as they "navigate grand life choices regarding their futures". You can see a little trailer for Windy Meadow below:

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On the surface, I don't think there's much in Zelda in general that makes one think of Just Cause 2. But this week, the latest presentation for Tears of the Kingdom took me way, way back - twelve years back, which barely seems possible - to a game that I still think is a bit of a classic.

Tears of the Kingdom had already been revealed before this week, of course. It feels, what with delays and hype and all that jazz, like we've been waiting for it forever. But I hadn't really been paying attention - not full attention anyway. In my head it was a spooky Halloween follow-up to Breath of the Wild, but with a bit of skymindedness thrown in with all those floating islands. So Zelda maths was basically Breath of the Wild + Majora's Mask + Skyward Sword?

Now I see how wrong I was. Because you can fuse stuff in Tears of the Kingdom. You can take one object and bodge it onto another. So you can add a boulder to a stick. You can add a fork to a longer stick and have a weapon with real reach. It's beautifully modular too, so if you stick an eyeball on an arrow, it becomes a target-seeking arrow, because the arrow can see!

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For a long time, the word “Nintendo” was synonymous with video games, and Nintendo has always been shorthand for Mario. The Japanese console mainstay has published dozens of platformers starring the overall-loving plumber since his original debut in 1981’s Donkey Kong, and we’re here to tell you which ones are the…

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New information about Final Fantasy XIV 6.4 patch was revealed in the 76th Producer Live Letter with Producer Naoki Yoshida and Global Community Producer Toshio “Foxclon” Murouchi. The patch will release in late May 2023 and include new main scenario quests titled The Dark Throne, a new trial featuring Golbez from FFIV, a new Unreal trial, a new dungeon , a new Variant and Criterion dungeon, and a new Pandaemonium Raid. Also coming are continuations of the Hildebrand quests and Tataru's Grand Endeavor, Stormblood dungeon Duty support and an increased Blue Mage level cap. Various quality of life improvements are also planned.

The new scenario quests will follow on from patch 6.3's main scenario quest series, Gods Revel, Lands Tremble. The new trial will be called The Voidcast Dais and feature Golbez, with normal and Extreme modes available. Also to be added are a new dungeon called The Aetherfont. The trial Containment Bay Z1t9 will also be available in Unreal difficutly. Anabaseios will be a new addition to the Pandaemonium raids, with a Savage difficulty added one week after launch.

During the Version 3.6 special program, HoYoVerse introduced two new Artifact Sets that will appear in the new Genshin Impact update. The Domain to obtain them from will likely be in the new region. The Artifacts appear to work in conjunction with Nilou and Baizhu, who will be two of the five-star characters on the banners.

The new Genshin Impact Artifact sets and their effects are:

Nymph’s Dream

• 2-Piece Set: Hydro DMG Bonus +15%
• 4-Piece Set: After Normal, Charged, and Plunging Attacks, Elemental Skills, and Elemental Bursts hit opponents, 1 stack of Mirrored Nymph will be triggered, lasting 8s. When under the effect of 1, 2, or 3, or more Mirrored Nymph stacks, ATK will be increased by 7%/16%/25%, and Hydro DMG will be increased by 4%/9%/15%. Mirrored Nymph stacks created by Normal, Charged, and Plunging Attacks, Elemental Skills, and Elemental Bursts exist independently.

Vourukasha’s Glow

HoYoVerse announced the release date for Genshin Impact 3.6. It is April 12, 2023. It also uploaded a trailer video showing what to expect in Genshin Impact 3.6. Aside from the flagship “A Palace of Providence” event, there will be around five other ones. The story will also dive a bit more into the history of both Khaenri’ah and Sumeru, with Nahida.

This Genshin Impact trailer also showcases Baizhu and Kaveh, who will be the new playable characters in the next update. Baizhu will be a 5-star Dendro Catalyst character. Meanwhile, Kaveh will be a 4-star Dendro Claymore. There is a scene in the trailer of what looks like a fight between Cyno, Faruzan, Kaveh, and the Wanderer. Since the Archon Quest will focus on Sumeru’s history, this might be a scene from the “A Palace of Providence” event.

Here's the Genshin Impact Version 3.6 trailer, though it doesn't mention the release date in it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__RT5pXQbaM

A Palace of Providence is a celebration in the Akademiya, with lots of competitions and games. This seems to be the Sumeru version of Mondstadt’s Windblume Festival and Liyue’s Lantern Rite. The Fulminating Sandstorm event seems to be a combat-related one, as will be “Brewing Developments.” The final two events are the new The Recollector’s Path and, of course, Overflowing Mastery.

VanillaWare is having its moment. The developer’s games always exude luxury and passion. However, some of them ended up not always getting the widespread attention they deserved due to influencing factors. The original GrimGrimoire fits. A console real-time strategy game with visual novel elements is a pairing that faced quite a challenge in 2007, and it didn’t help that it launched around the same time as the company’s golden child Odin Sphere. Now it’s 2023! Visual novels are embraced worldwide! VanillaWare feels like its gained more mainstream notoriety due to 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim’s success! With some minor touch-ups to improve its pacing and appearance, it feels like it is GrimGrimoire OnceMore’s time to shine.

People who use the Blue Mage job in Final Fantasy XIV will see major updates in the near future. During the Letter from the Producer Live LXXVI, Director and Producer Naoki Yoshida announced some updates. When the 6.45 patch arrives, it will take its level cap up to 80 and gain access to new spells and equipment. Its The Masked Carnivale will update as well.

The Blue Mage appeared as a job in Final Fantasy XIV after patch 4.5: A Requiem for Heroes. A limited job, it previously only allowed someone to hit level 70. It uses the Blue Magic Spellbook, which shows the spells players learned from enemies and offers hints at how to get more. Yoshida noted there will be more spells, but didn’t offer exact details when bringing up the new level 80 cap. Also, only some of the new pieces of equipment appeared in a screenshot teasing its new weapons and gear.

Likewise, exactly how The Masked Carnivale will change didn’t come up. As a reminder, a Blue Mage who hit level 50 in Final Fantasy XIV and beat “The Real Folk Blues” can face monsters in the Masked Carnivale to earn gil, seals, poetics tomestones, and achievements that may also be tied to rewards. This update could increase the number of stages and range fo enemies.

As usual, a new Genshin Impact Special Program means three new codes for Primogems, and the 3.6 ones are here. HoYoVerse maintained its tradition with ones offering 5 Hero’s Wits, 10 Mystic Enhancement Ores, 300 Primogems, and 50,000 Mora yet again. However, also as is typical of these bonus codes, you can only redeem them on March 31, 2023.

Here is the full list of the new Genshin Impact codes from the 3.6 special program.

• 7S9X6V4JB2M9: 100 Primogems, 50,000 Mora
• 9ARE6VLJT34H: 100 Primogems, 10 Mystic Enhancement Ores
• KBRE7D4KA2MM: 100 Primogems, 5 Hero’s Wits

Also, for reference, here are the images for each of the codes shared during HoYoVerse’s stream. They feature some of the notable characters who will appear during the 3.6 update. For example, “newcomers” Baizhu and Kaveh are both featured prominently.
[gallery size="full" ids="957806,957807,957808" link="file"]

There are different ways to redeem these codes, depending on your preferred platform. If you are on a PS4, PS5, or mobile device, then you’ll need to Redeem Code in the Account section of the Settings/Account menu. If you play on PCs, then go to the official website. You can enter these there.

HoYoVerse officially announced the banners to expect in Genshin Impact Version 3.6. The first half of the new update will feature Nahida and Nilou on re-run. Afterwards, the second half of the update will be Ganyu’s re-run and Baizhu’s debut. Kaveh will also be a new four-star, and he’ll be available on Ganyu and Baizhu’s banners.

Nahida is a Dendro Catalyst 5-star character, whereas Nilou is a Hydro Sword user. As a Dendro, Nahida can be your support to activate Dendro Elemental Reactions. However, she also has the potential to be your DPS character if you give her the right Artifacts and weapons. Nilou is a Hydro DPS character who can alternate between two different play styles using her Elemental Skill.

Though Baizhu has always been in the Genshin Impact story, Version 3.6 will be the first time that he’ll be playable. He’ll also have his own Story Quest so players can get to know him better. Like Nahida, Baizhu will be a Dendro Catalyst user; more information on his kit will appear later. In English, Sean Durrie (Nick Marsters in Quantum Break) voices him and in Japanese, Koji Yusa (Gin in Bleach) voices him. Kaveh will be a 4-star Claymore character.

During the Final Fantasy XIV Letter from the Producer Live LXXVI, Director and Producer Naoki Yoshida confirmed FFIV's Golbez will appear in a new 6.4 trial. His trial will be called The Voidcast Dais. A screenshot was also shared showing Golbez in the game.

First, here’s a screenshot from the presentation announcing the Final Fantasy XIV Golbez 6.4 trial. As it notes, people will be able to go through both the original and an Extreme version of it.
[gallery columns="1" size="full" ids="957792" link="file"]

Next, here's the official Twitter account's reveal of the trial, which actually shows how Golbez from FFIV will look when someone faces him in Final Fantasy XIV 6.4.

The time has come.

A new trial, the Voidcast Dais, awaits! pic.twitter.com/yE7Rd2zlyR

— FINAL FANTASY XIV (@FF_XIV_EN) March 31, 2023

As is fast becoming a thing on RPS this week, Alice Bee and James are both away this week, so I'm filling in writing this post and doing my best Alice impression in the process. In this week's episode, The Electronic Wireless Show podcast talks all things mods - specifically, the ones that got real big and broke out from their respective source games. It's a chat that's been prompted by the developers behind Slay The Spire mod Downfall announcing their own brand-new game, Tales & Tactics.

There's also a lot of undead fish chat, and Alice's plans for entertaining herself on an upcoming long-haul flight. And in James' hardware corner, the gang chat about Nvidia's comments on AI and crypto, as well as Ubisoft's AI writing software tool thinger.

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Vampire Survivor’s first DLC gave fans exactly what they wanted: more Vampire Survivors. The bullet-hell auto-shooter’s next DLC is aiming to do the same in just two weeks as the Tides Of The Foscari expansion launches on April 13th, developer Poncle have announced.

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