March 2023

Roadwarden was one of many fantastic mystery games from last year, and fans of the text-based RPG can now look forward to solving more secrets from the world with Windy Meadow - A Roadwarden Tale, coming to PC later this year.

Windy Meadow is set in the same fantasy world as Roadwarden and similarly presents a slice-of-life story that can branch out depending on your choices. This time, though, you’ll be following three protagonists in their interweaving day-to-day lives.

Windy Meadow’s press release teases the stories of Vena, Fabel, and Iudicia: “Will talented huntress Vena depart the harmonious but harmless village and leave her family behind in pursuit of riches with a merchant guild? Can Fabel finally embrace his talents, ditching the figurative shackles of his difficult past as he chases his dream of becoming a famous bard? And will outsider and herbalist Iudicia take hold of her love life, choosing not to marry a man she doesn’t really love at the risk of leading a lonely future?”

Read more

Hot (weeks) off the back of Sons Of The Forest and the Resident Evil 4 remake coming out, we're celebrating your bestest best, most favourite survival games this month. Your votes have been counted and tallied, and your accompanying words of praise and affection matched accordingly. But which game has survived to make it to the top of the pile? Come and find out as we count down your 25 favourite survival games of all time.

Read more

PAX East is a great place to play the latest games, sure, but as anyone who's attended the event will tell you the games are just a small part of a wider medley of things to see and do. Last year we highlighted the show's thriving pin collecting scene, for instance, interviewing a bunch of Pinny Arcade enthusiasts about the hobby and discovering that physical badges are just a minor part of the appeal.

Encouraged by the lovely warm feeling making that video left in my belly, we set out to shine a light on other lesser-known parts of PAX East during our time at this year's show. This led us to discover the PAX East Facebook group, a community of over 8,000 members brought together through their shared love of video games, pop culture and PAX itself. The page is dominated by a striking banner image, a photograph that shows a large group of people crowded around the PAX logo that's a permanent fixture in the main hall of the Boston convention centre.

Rachel and I found this photograph fascinating. Who were these people? Do they take this picture every single year? How did something like this start, and who was responsible for organising it in the first place?

Read more

Vampires Survivors, having just scored itself a BAFTA for its all-round awesomeness, is ready to bring yet more reasonably priced brilliance into the world, courtesy of its second DLC expansion, Tides of the Foscari, now confirmed for launch on 13th April.

Arriving almost exactly four months after Vampire Survivors' first expansion Legacy of the Moonspell, Tides of the Foscari sees the minimalist survival RPG taking a trip to western Europe for an adventure inspired by fairy tales and folklore.

Deep in a great forest, where the barrier between worlds is perilously thin, lies the Foscari Academy, where generations of warriors, magic-wielders, and thieves can learn their craft.

Read more

Emma's Adventures is a brand new monthly series only for supporters of Eurogamer. It arrives as part of our recent supporter programme revamp which, among other things, significantly lowered the price. Emma's Adventures will air on the last Friday of every month, and this the debut instalment.

Tattered jackets, leather coats and hazmat suits? So hot right now. Or at least, they are in the world of Fallout 76, where parts of the landscape are literally on fire. And though high fashion may not immediately spring to mind when you think of the post-apocalypse, for the past few weeks it's been the main source of my adventures in Appalachia. My desire to collect clothing has now superseded any other mission in the game, and I've even neglected the main storyline in my personal mission to stock the shop. I think the poor overseer is still sitting in her house somewhere, waiting for me to pay her a visit.

Establishing a fashion store in Fallout 76 was, obviously, never the main goal when I returned to Fallout 76 this year. In the middle of my investigations into whether the game had improved since launch (the answer: sorta), I realised that I had accidentally dressed my character as a rugged version of Anna Wintour - the global editor-in-chief of Vogue, and the inspiration behind The Devil Wears Prada's Miranda Priestly. It seemed only right, then, that I should fully lean into this role, and create my very own fashion boutique in the middle of the wasteland.

Battle royales have managed to pull off an unlikely scenario. The genre has remained relevant for players, streamers, and competitive-level play. And it’s not just one game: The genre currently has multiple, big-budget competitors existing alongside each other with relatively healthy player counts. But there are…

Read more...

Pokémon Go has undergone a lot of changes over the past seven years, but the inclusion of Remote Raids and Remote Raid Passes have made the mobile game easier for players to participate without actually leaving their homes. However, it doesn’t sound like developer Niantic is thrilled about that. As such, it announced…

Read more...

Read more...

Most of the time, horror is ugly. Whether they’re chunky zombies in Dead Island 2 or grotesque titans in Attack on Titan, the objects of our attention are intrinsically repulsive to us. Hell’s Paradise tries a very different approach. The manga, which ran from 2018-2021, juxtaposes beauty with ugliness, and delicate…

Read more...

One of the biggest gripes I’ve heard about The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom regards Nintendo’s decision to revisit the same location, especially given the limitations of the Switch. The fear is that we’re going to get a very incremental follow-up to one of the best games of all time. But the fact that it’s…

Read more...

At Evo Japan 2023, Cygames revealed Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising’s Siegfried and online beta. Technically, this means two open betas. One will be held on the PS4 and PS5 in May 2023. The other will take place at Evo 2023. A new trailer also appeared for the game.

Cygames didn’t show actual Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising Siegfried gameplay at Evo Japan 2023. Instead, only a clip of footage of him appeared in the new trailer. It showed that this will be the unmasked version of the Dragon Knight. (In Granblue Fantasy proper, there’s a masked and unmasked version, as well as other alts of him in outfits like a swimsuit or yukata.) The developer did confirm the Order of the Black Dragon Captain will use his sword and have access to Manigance for a risky attack buff that cuts his health.

Here’s the Evo Japan 2023 Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising, complete with Siegfried and open beta announcements. He shows up at the 1:50 mark.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4928u3tddI&ab_channel=CygamesEN
One of the last characters revealed was Anila.

It is currently possible to hit a glitch in the Resident Evil 4 remake that keeps people from progressing and forces them to restart. Capcom announced the chapter 12 key item is broken in Resident Evil 4. It is preparing a patch. In the meantime, it did note a way that people can avoid triggering it if they haven’t reached that point in the game yet.

Editor’s Note: There will be Resident Evil 4 remake spoilers for the Chapter 12 key item behind this glitch below.

So the problem here revolves around Luis’ Key in Resident Evil 4 remake. Technically, the event that kicks off your acquisition of it begins at the end of Chapter 11. However, when Chapter 12 of Resident Evil 4 begins is when you actually get the key item and can potentially experience the glitch. However, if someone performs an action at the start of Chapter 12 before seeing the notification on-screen that they have Luis’ Key, then they won’t get it. Capcom specifically mentioned attacking with the knife as a trigger for the glitch.

Until the patch for Resident Evil 4 remake appears, the only way to fix this issue is to load a past save. If you don’t have one before Chapter 12, then that means restarting. If you don’t have the key, then you can’t access Luis’ Lab in Chapter 15 and will be stuck.

Street Fighter 6 will be getting its own official fighting stick, Capcom have confirmed. HORI will be producing the controller, which is a version of their Fighting Stick Alpha. The stick is officially licensed by Sony for use with the PS5. While the stick is marketed as being for the PS5, it will also work with the PS4 and PC.

The Street Fighter 6 Fighting Stick Alpha features artwork from the game, with Luke and Jamie facing off. This image can be easily swapped out for a different image. To add to the customization options, the stick comes with 18 downloadable Street Fighter 6 images, with other characters represented on them.

The stick also features a joystick, an eight-button layout and a fully functional touchpad. There are also built-in audio and mic controls, along with a tournament lock. It hooks up to the PS5 with a 10 foot cable.

The Street Fighter 6 Fighting Stick Alpha also allows players to load in four custom profiles using the companion app. A Function Button on the stick allows for instant switching between these profiles.

The Street Fighter 6 Fighting Stick Alpha is available now for $229.99. Street Fighter 6 launches on PS5, PS4, PC and Xbox Series X/S on June 2, 2023.

At the Final Fantasy XIV Letter from the Producer LIVE Part LXXVI, new Fan Festival 2023 merchandise appeared highlighting familiar FFXIV faces. A Loporrit flocked figurine, Pretty Porxie plushie, Hydaelyn and Zodiark embroidered jackets, Axem’s Crystal silver pendant, and array of acrylic stands are all available. Pre-orders open for the first round on March 31, 2023, if they aren't already available. The plan seems to be for items to begin shipping around July 28, 2023.

Square Enix first established that all of the Final Fantasy XIV Fan Festival 2023 merchandise will be available to everyone, regardless of whether or not they can attend the FFXIV event. It also noted that some items may only be sold in North America. There is also no guarantee about restocks, so items that sell out could be gone for good. Finally, a warning note appeared saying that at the actual events, there may be “congestion” around shopping areas that prevent people from getting everything.

Here’s a list of the Final Fantasy XIV merchandise that appeared during the FFXIV Letter from the Producer LIVE Part LXXVI. All of these items will be available everywhere.

Vampire Survivors is getting another big DLC drop next month in the form of Tides of the Foscari. New characters, weapons, and more await those who step into this high-fantasy-themed adventure.

Tides of Foscari takes on a decidedly more whimsical tone and introduces eight new heroes. Three of them include the mage Eleanor, the fighter Maruto, and th thief/archer Keith. The DLC also introduces a new stage called Lake Foscari, 13 weapons, 7 musical tracks, and 21 achievements. 

The DLC launches April 13 for just $1.99. This news comes hot after Vampire Survivors’ big wins at the BAFTA awards, where it picked up trophies for Best Game and Best Design. You can learn more about Vampire Survivors by checking out our review here. 

After a slight delay, The Last Of Us Part I’s PC port released earlier this week and was subsequently torn apart by fans online. The kind-of-remake is still sitting at a mostly negative rating on Steam thanks to reports of frequent crashes and a generally wonky porting job, but some technical problems are getting fixed in a recent patch.

Read more

With the solemnity of Samwise Gamgee informing Mr Frodo that one more step will take him the furthest he's ever been from home, I recently realised that it'll soon be the longest we've gone without a new Life Is Strange game since the franchise debuted in 2015. I looked into it and sure enough, the current record-holder is the gap between the season one finale of Life Is Strange and the first episode of its prequel Before The Storm: 1 year, 10 months, and 12 days. That means that come mid-August of this year — specifically, the 14th, which marks the 683rd day since True Colors' Wavelengths DLC released — LIS fans will be leaving the Shire whether we like it or not.

I suspect that Life Is Strange: Steph's Story — the first prose novel tie-in to the franchise, released on March 21st — was commissioned with fans like me in mind. Fans who work out useless trivia like the above because they need something to occupy them when there's no new game on the horizon and they've played all the existing ones to death. Fans who know every character's canonical middle name and birthday. Fans who complain that it feels like they never have time to read any more, but nevertheless finished the novel and wrote a silly supporter post about it within ten days of publication. Of course I really liked Life Is Strange: Steph's Story. But will you, as a person whose relationship with this franchise is statistically guaranteed to be more normal than mine?

Crystal Dynamics has released its final content update for beleaguered live-service superhero action-adventure Marvel's Avengers, which, among other things, adds one last new skin for legacy players and makes "nearly all" its paid cosmetics free.

Crystal Dynamics confirmed reports it was about to pull the plug on Marvel's Avengers in January this year, saying March's 2.8 update would be the game's final content release, with support officially ending on 30th September.

As promised, Marvel's Avengers' 2.8 update is now officially here, and Crystal Dynamics has shared full patch notes detailing exactly what players can expect from this final release.

Read more

Naughty Dog has released a second update to address some of the many complaints leveraged at its recently launch and poorly recieved The Last of Us Part 1 PC port, this one primarily targetting memory and performance concerns.

The Last of Us Part 1 finally launched for PC earlier this week after a 25-day delay designed to ensure it would debut "in the best shape possible." Unfortunately, and despite that delay, PC purchasers on Steam quickly began reporting a host of technical issues - including inconsistent frame rates, regular crashes, stuttering, long load times, and poor optimisation - soon garnering the port a Mostly Negative rating on Valve's storefront.

Since then, Naughty Dog has acknowledged player's complaints, saying it's "heard your concerns, and our team is actively investigating multiple issues you've reported."

Read more

The director of Xbox’s indie division would like you to believe that the Game Pass is not ‘disruptive’ to the gaming ecosystem despite the company’s ambitions for massive PC growth. These comments were made in response to people wondering whether the popular subscription service would fundamentally change how gamers…

Read more...

2022 was apparently a really good year for Cyberpunk 2077 and the company that made it. After one of the most disastrous blockbuster launches in recent history, the open-world sci-fi RPG went on to make even more money last year than the one previous, signaling a staggering turnaround for a franchise that initially…

Read more...

John Wick star Keanu Reeves is universally regarded as a pretty cool guy. Maybe it’s his infectious giggle, his flowing locks, or his handling of a litter of golden retriever puppies. His roles as a stoic hitman in John Wick, a stoic supernatural detective in Constantine, or a loveable asshole in Cyberpunk 2077 don’t…

Read more...

Now that Diablo IV’s beta is over, Blizzard has shared some interesting stats about the loot-grinding RPG and the way folks played it. Some of it is expected, like the fact that The Butcher killed over one million people while Ashava the Pestilent murked some 10 million others. But alongside revealing that y’all put…

Read more...

More new-gen exclusives are slowly starting to trickle out onto the PlayStation 5 and developers are now trying harder than ever to explain why they needed to ditch the PS4, and why it’s worth making a game a console exclusive. Previously it was Guerrilla Games with Horizon Forbidden West’s Burning Shores DLC which…

Read more...

For April Fools' Day 2023, Nippon Ichi Software announced a fake otome dating sim based on the Disgaea series. According to its official website, players can expect it to come out soon, on January 30, 200000002003. The title of the dating sim is My Prince ♪ From the Underworld ♡. [Thanks, 4Gamer!]

In My Prince ♪ From the Underworld ♡, players can enjoy a heart-pounding romantic school life with the various protagonists from the Disgaea series. The boys all fulfill some sort of romantic trope. For example, Laharl is the strong-willed “prince” type who acts really mean to the protagonist, while Adell is a more straightforward and passionate love interest who would protect the protagonist from bullies.

You can check out the My Prince ♪ From the Underworld ♡ April Fools' Day Disgaea dating sim video here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BslVVTVWNQ&

Nippon Ichi Software is holding a campaign in which you can vote for which character you would want to romance in My Prince ♪ From the Underworld ♡. You have to follow the official NIS Twitter account, vote on the website, and then tweet your result. NIS will post a short story for the winning character. The campaign will run all day on April 1, 2023.

Ever since the release of the game, Square Enix shared plenty of details and trivia about many major and minor characters that appear in Final Fantasy VII Remake. This time, the official FFVII Remake Twitter account shined the spotlight on none other than the Shinra Security Officer who is in charge of being Scarlet’s footrest. Naturally, his name is Ottoman.

Even though Ottoman works as a Shinra Security Officer, his duties do not see him facing Avalanche or other enemies of Shinra on the front lines. Instead, he has the very important and special orders to serve as a footrest for Scarlet, Shinra’s director of Advanced Weaponry, as seen in FFVII Remake Intermission, when she sits in her chair and heals her swollen feet.

Apparently, Ottoman’s back is especially cushioned for maximum comfort. Because he is Scarlett’s favorite employee, he is on duty almost 24 hours of the day. At the end of the tweet, Square Enix added the cheeky remark “I hope you all have a good rest of the weekend.”

You can check out the original Japanese Tweet here:
https://twitter.com/FFVIIR_CLOUD/status/1641727029543411713

Some other details that Square Enix recently shared include the reason why Cloud and other FFVII Remake characters could see the Whispers.

Genshin Impact isn’t the only HoYoVerse game getting an update in the first half of April 2023. The Hyperion Lounge update noted the Honkai Impact 3rd 6.5 version release date is April 6, 2023. The title this time is Hot Sands Escapade. It will bring Story Chapter XXXVI, Susannah Manatt’s Valkyrie Quicksand battlesuit, and new events. There will also be two new outfits for existing battlesuits.

The announcement noted that Story Chapter XXXVI: Hailing from Nagazora, will start with Seele and Susannah. The two of them are following a new lead after the Great Eruption and major events involving Kiana and Mei in XXXV. Susannah will also be the star of the Meow Town Escapade event to interact with cats and learn from Durandal, Li Sushang, and Rita. There will also be a competitive HOMU World Tour Championship appearing later.

Here is the trailer for Honkai Impact 3rd 6.5. It begins with Seele and Susannah together. After that, it focuses on Susannah’s new battlesuit. Once that’s done, it teases the Hailing from Nagazora Story Chapter XXXVI, Meow Town Escape event, and Turn Up the Music outfit for Herrscher of Sentience Fu Hua and Peachy Spring outfit for Herrscher of Human: Ego Elysia.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rNR_xa60J0&ab_channel=HonkaiImpact3rd

On March 31, 2023, Ryutaro Ichimura, producer of Dragon Quest VIII and Dragon Quest IX, announced his departure from Square Enix on his personal Twitter account. In the lengthy message, the video game developer explained his trajectory on the Dragon Quest series and at Square Enix, alongside his reasons for leaving the company.

In a direct quote from his Twitter announcement, Ichimura said:

“I will be 47 years old this year, and I have started to count down how many more games I will be able to make in my lifetime. Since nowadays it takes 3 to 4 years to make one game, and in order to die without regrets, I have to think carefully about each game I make.”

Ichimura noted he thought carefully about his decision and ultimately chose to leave Square Enix to push himself into a higher-risk environment, and explore what could come out of it. Ichimura also cited wanting to be more free in his thinking and being able to enjoy himself more in his next projects.

In a melancholic anecdote, Ichimura also mentioned having found a copy of the resume he used to apply for Square Enix. He noted that the reason he wrote for wanting to join was “Because I love Dragon Quest.”

You can take a look at the full Japanese announcement in the tweet below.

https://twitter.com/RyutaroIchimura/status/1641717065315942400

The first chapter of Videoverse took me right back to the early 00s last night. I can still remember sitting at the family PC in our living room, begging my parents for more internet time because I wanted chat to my friend on MSN Messenger. We had to buy hours of internet in those days, and between my young teenage self and my three brothers, we absolutely devoured those meagre weekly limits, always pleading for more, more, more as we became absolutely captivated by this new world of the online.

Luckily, Emmett doesn't have to contend with such antiquated restraints in Videoverse, as his portal to the internet is built right into his enormous Nintendo DS-like home console, the Kinmoku Shark. As well as using it to play games reminiscent of old 16-bit classics, there's also a Nintendo Miiverse-esque social network on the Shark that Emmett uses to chat to his friends, post fan art of his favourite game, Feudal Fantasy, and feel part of something bigger. What hasn't changed since those early internet days, however (or indeed, the internet today) are the types of people he interacts with - there are trolls, of course, but there are also plenty of nice people here to support him, and the emergence of seemingly new user (and budding fan artist) Vivi quickly becomes the main subject of Videoverse's current free demo that's available as part of Steam's Storyteller Festival.

Read more

Overwatch has its One Punch Man skins. Warzone has playable Snoop Dogg. Fortnite has cosmetics for every celeb and IP imaginable, from The Mandalorian to Ariana Grande. But Apex Legends has something none of those other games have: style.

Read more...

Overwatch 2 players are very particular about balance and fairness and their perception of both those things. So when I looked at these new patch notes and started skimming them, I was so concerned with seeing what changes were being made that I missed the “OVERWATCH 2 WIP VERY SERIOUS PATCH NOTES – DRAFT – DO NOT…

Read more...

The cast of voice actors for the Scott Pilgrim anime adaptation has been announced. The entire cast of the live action movie will be returning to reprise their original roles. This includes Michael Cera as Scott Pilgrim and Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Ramona Flowers. Satya Bhabha, Chris Evans, Brandon Routh, Mae Whitman and Jason Schwartzman will also all be returning as their roles as Ramona’s evil exes.

https://twitter.com/edgarwright/status/1641440477718388739

They are not the only returning names though. Edgar Wright, director of the movie, had previously been confirmed to be involved, with original creator Bryan Lee O’Malley working on the script, alongside BenDavid Grabinski. The chiptune band Anamanaguchi confirmed their involvement too. They previously composed the soundtrack for Scott Pilgrim vs The World: The Game.

The series is being produced by Science Saru, who previously produced Inu-Oh and Yurei Deco. The studio also worked on two episodes of Star Wars: Visions.

We already knew Demon Slayer season 3, the Swordsmith Village Arc, would debut in Japan on April 9, 2023. Now it turns out the Crunchyroll launch will take place the same day. It will appear on the streaming service worldwide that day as well. It didn't offer a specific air date for the first episode, however.

The announcement also confirmed the Demon Slayer season 3 dubs Crunchyroll will prepare for Swordsmith Village Arc. At launch, only subtitles will be available to go with the original Japanese voice acting. However, the company confirmed it will eventually offer English, French, German, Portuguese, and Spanish voice acting for the show as well.

In the manga, the Swordsmith Village Arc runs for 30 chapters. After the events of the Entertainment District Arc, Tanjiro’s Nichirin sword is in need of repair. He heads to the Swordsmith Village to have it fixed. However, there are still more demons to face. This part of the story also features the Love Hashira Mitsuri Kanroji and Mist Hashira Muichiro Tokito featured prominently.

It’s April Fools’ Day once more, and Lasengle has prepared a baseball game version of FGO to celebrate. The title of the game is Fate/Grail League. Each Servant has their own stats when it comes to how well they play on the field. They also have skills that you can use to either pitch the ball or bat it out into the field.

The story starts when the mysterious Csejte Baseball Stadium appears as a small pseudo-Singularity. You can create your own dream team from over 370 Servants, each with their own skills and strengths. In order to get more players, you have to face off against different teams. One of the teams comprises of Bakumatsu era Servants, while another is full of Sakura faces.

As for how to play the game, it’s very similar to other baseball games on mobile devices. When the ball flies at your batter, you have to time when to swing the bat to control which direction it flies to. The direction is very important, because if you hit it towards a defender who can catch it, you’ll be out. There are also Hit Panels in the back to determine how many bases your players can advance or if it’s a Home Run. As for the pitcher, you can throw a variety of balls, such as changeups or curveballs. A meter will show up for you to control how hard your Servant will pitch.

There’s also an AR mode where you can choose your favorite Servants and take a picture of them. It’s unknown how many characters you can have at each time.

In honor of April Fools' Day 2023, Hololive Vtuber Hoshimachi Suisei became Super Idol ☆ Comet Chan and released a new song. This was prefaced by a joke tweet saying she heard a UFO, then a reveal of Super Idol ☆ Comet Chan. This was accompanied by her new track “Sui-chan-no-Maintenance Song,” which is available on Deezer, Spotify, and YouTube. She also changed her images and tone on her official Twitter account.

The official introduction to Super Idol ☆ Comet Chan appeared ahead of the new song. It included the new character design, alongside a chibi version of her.

はじめまして♡｡+

ホロライブ所属のあいどる
スーパーアイドル☆コメットちゃんです

きゅるるんっପ(⑅•ᵕ•⑅)ଓ pic.twitter.com/HJVPaGDJAg

— スーパーアイドル☆コメットちゃん (@suisei_hosimati) March 31, 2023

Here’s the announcement for Super Idol ☆ Comet Chan’s “Sui-chan-no-Maintenance Song.” It also includes a brief clip of the track. There’s no music video on Hoshimachi Suisei’s official YouTube channel for it.

゜・。。・゜゜・。。・゜☆

でびゅーしんぐる
『スイちゃんのメンテナンスソング』

４月１日　０時リリース

゜・。。・゜゜・。。・゜☆

ササキトモコちゃんにコメコメっとしてもらったの
ぜったいきいてねっପ(⑅•ᵕ•⑅)ଓ

Last October, I was lucky enough to visit Super Nintendo World at Universal Studios Japan in Osaka. As a lifelong fan of Nintendo, the experience was immense, providing me with one of my favorite amusement park experiences ever. Naturally, when the first Super Nintendo World in America opened at Universal Studios Hollywood, I had to make the trip to Los Angeles to see how the experience stacks up.

Universal Studios provided me with a day pass to the park for the purpose of experiencing Super Nintendo World. While the photos do little to show off just how cool the experience of visiting Super Nintendo World is, follow along with my experience in the gallery below.