April 2023

Guerrilla has released a new patch for its PSVR2 title, Horizon Call of the Mountain.

As with most updates, this patch (known as Patch 1.04) addresses a collection of bits and bobs across the game - for example, this patch fixes an issue that saw the Aim Assistance re-enabled when some players rebooted the title. Meanwhile, a user's UI should no longer disappear after fighting the Scrappers.

In addition to this, Guerrilla has also fixed the glitch that could cause a Watcher to become inactive and not attack the player, so stay on your guard.

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e Koei Tecmo and Gust released a new Atelier Ryza 3 patch on April 3, 2023, addressing a depth of field issue reported across all platforms. This update also fixes some issues related to textures and icons in certain circumstances. Moreover, Koei Tecmo stated later updates will bring additional graphics options.

This new patch aims to fix a depth of field issue that made any element in the distance appear heavily blurred from the player’s perspective. This adjustment will also make the depth of field weaker for the entire game. However, more detailed graphics options for all platforms will be added in later updates as previously announced.

That isn’t the only change. The patch also fixes a bug that caused the water surface textures to disappear and improves the response time when connecting normal and skill attacks. In terms of platform-specific changes, the copyright notice size was adjusted for PS4 and PS5 screenshots. With the Steam version, an issue affecting key icons while using a 4k monitor was fixed as well.

The previous patch also fixed display issues and bugs across all platforms. Most notably, they fixed an error in which a quest-related item would not appear when the expected, bringing all progress in the game to a halt.

Atelier Ryza 3 is available on the PS4, PS5, Switch, and PC, and the patch update fixing the depth of field issue is already up for all platforms.

Nintendo Europe are now offering free Joy-Con repairs if they’re experiencing “drift” issues. This new policy applies to all countries within the European Economic Area (EEA), UK and Switzerland. These repairs will also apply if the controllers are outside of the warranty.

Nintendo posted an update on their European website where users can book a repair if necessary. The page also offers suggestions on methods to try before sending them in to be fixed. The site also notes that the repairs only apply specifically to what they call responsiveness syndrome, known to most players as “drift.” It does not apply to Joy-Cons broken in other ways.

While Nintendo’s free Joy-Con repair policy has already been in place in France and Belgium, this is the first time the policy has been rolled out across the whole region.

The change in policy follows calls from consumer advocacy groups within Europe around the widespread issue with Joy-Cons. In 2021, the European consumer group BEUC called on the EU Commission to launch an investigation into the issue, which they have continued to raise as an issue as recently as July 2022.

Now that a new month has begun, Square Enix once again shared a new FFVII Remake calendar for April 2023. This time, people get to look at art of Tifa Lockhart for a month. There are two different options, each one available in two styles. People can see the classic key art of her from the FFVII PlayStation release on their computer or mobile device. However, if they prefer, they can see the remade version of that piece released ahead of the launch of FFVII Remake.

Here's the official reveal. In each case, the FFVII Remake April 2023 calendar features art of Tifa on the water tower in Nibelheim.

今月のPC・スマホ用壁紙カレンダーは、ティファ！✨
3月に続き、新年度や新学期などであわただしい月ですね。
初めての経験やなれない事で疲れやすいので、美味しいものを食べたり好き事をして一緒に乗り切りましょう！
（もちろんピンチになったときはヒーローが駆けつけます）#FF7R #FFVII25th pic.twitter.com/lbBHE5utNR

— FFVII REMAKE (@FFVIIR_CLOUD) April 1, 2023

A website for Nintendo Systems, a new subsidiary between Nintendo and DeNA, has gone live. According to the announcement on the official Nintendo webpage, it will develop new systems and services to bring Nintendo’s entertainment to its customers. It will innovate new and creative ways to have fun by combining Nintendo and DeNA’s unique skillsets and values.

Nintendo Systems will open up job positions in June 2023. It has offices in both Tokyo (Shibuya) and Kyoto. Nintendo noted that its strengths in these technologically innovative times are its originality and flexibility. It also has a space for its employees and members to discuss their ideas, as well as work together. It is unknown at this point what kinds of games or services this division will create.

Services that DeNA offered include mobile and browser games, as well as live streaming apps. While not related to video games, it also had several services focusing on healthcare, peer-to-peer car sharing, and NFT collection. Because of DeNA’s history, Nintendo Systems may be a subsidiary that will focus entirely on breaking into the mobage market. Nintendo Systems would not be the first time Nintendo created a subsidiary for a specific purpose. In late 2022, Nintendo revealed Nintendo Pictures, which is its visual media production company.

Shields will be able to do more than just defend Link in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom via "Fuse." In a video shown on the official Japanese Twitter account for the franchise, Nintendo demonstrated a shield that can double as a smokescreen. This will be one of many different special shields that you will be able to craft in the game.

In The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, you will be able to attach objects to your shields through the “Fuse” ability. This will grant the shield numerous extra effects. In the video, Link attached a “Smokeshroom” onto the shield, which will let out smoke when an enemy’s hit lands on it. This will then cause the enemy to lose sight of Link. Link will then be able to either make his escape or one-sidedly destroy his target.

You can see the smokescreen shield in action here:

https://twitter.com/ZeldaOfficialJP/status/1642815452626952194

Previously, Nintendo showed off Link using a flamethrower shield. Other features we’ve seen thus far in Tears of the Kingdom include Link's Recall, Ultrahand, and Ascend. These are all abilities that will help him on his adventure through post-apocalyptic Hyrule.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom will come out on the Nintendo Switch on May 12, 2023. It will cost $69.99 as opposed to the usual $59.99.

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves opened in theaters on March 31 and it spent the weekend dominating the box office, besting John Wick 4 and Scream VI. The film, an adaptation of the tabletop RPG starring Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez, Justice Smith, Regé-Jean Page, Hugh Grant, and Sophia Lillis, is enjoying…

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There’s no shortage of ways to beat FromSoftware’s Elden Ring. You could play it straight and face all the mandatory bosses waiting to kick your teeth in. Maybe you’re keen on playing with a banana controller or running two separate instances simultaneously. Or, as in the case of Souls YouTuber ymfah, you could skip…

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There's a kind of game that we all have a fondness for. It transcends genre, even if it doesn't particularly push the boat out. It's not the first game that comes to mind as a favourite or recommendation, but it's a plain good time. Raidborn is one of those.

It doesn't try to take over your life, or be the Everything Game that invariably becomes the Nothing Game. It's just a neat little thing to have some harmless fun with. Sometimes that's what you want.

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Storybook strategy sim Six Ages: Ride Like The Wind was a spiritual successor to 1999’s cult classic King Of Dragon Pass, created by some of that game's former developers. Six Ages is now receiving its own proper successor later this summer, developer A Sharp and publisher Kitfox have announced. Just like its predecessor, Six Ages 2: Lights Going Out is a blend of tribal management and choose your own adventure drills, all wrapped up in some gorgeous fantasy illustrations.

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Liam and I played a lot of games at PAX East, like a lot. Most of them we managed to make videos for, but there were many more that we just didn't have the time to cover, and that were also very good! So here's a quick list of five more games I wanted to spotlight in written form while Liam's busy in the editing mines working on all the community videos we filmed (the first of which is out right now, chronicling the PAX Facebook group that takes a community photo every single year). It's very wholesome. We've got more community videos coming out this week, plus an article listing our absolute favourite games we played throughout the entire event, so keep your eyes peeled for those, too. For now, though, let's dive into some more indie highlights.

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Graham (RPS in peace) text me yesterday and, with little warning, launched into what were clearly pre-prepared paragraphs of complaints about games he'd tried playing in his free time at the weekend and not enjoyed. I shall draw a veil of discretion over the names of the actual games, but his chief complaint was that none of them had, actually, very robust design or tutorialising fit for purpose (i.e. teaching you how to play the game), especially for people who aren't able to give games their singular attention for hours at at time. I agree with him, although his attention is divided by, e.g., having a child in need of stimulation, and mine is divided by, e.g., being a child in need of stimulation.

It's probably turning my brain into cottage cheese, but I often do things at the same time as playing a game, like listening to music or a podcast. I understand that podcast games are sort of a genre now, but I've started doing it with regular games. Is this a me problem? Sure. Does it mean I want games to bring back that thing where NPC quest givers will just explain the quest again to you if you ask? 100% also yes.

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We've already shared our thoughts on The Last of Us Part 1's PC port, but the frustration and disappointment crosses over into this week's DF Direct Weekly, beginning with our thoughts on how we would actually cover a game that is clearly some way off completion?

Digital Foundry has been trying to carve out a niche in the crowded, very high quality PC scene by concentrating on the games rather than the benchmarks, demystifying what graphics settings actually do and then offer optimised alternatives to the idea of whacking everything up to ultra and hoping for the best. The thing is, The Last of Us Part 1 not only has one of the most massively exhaustive settings menus we've ever seen, but it's equally clear that there are foundational issues that prevent an optimal experience in the first place, making our concept borderline pointless in this case. Clearly there are bigger fish to fry in assessing this game.

Square Enix posted two videos of the FFXIV Eorzean Symphony 2022 concert on the official Final Fantasy XIV YouTube channel. The footage features the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra playing the songs "Close in the Distance" and "Endcaller" as a preview of the FFXIV Orchestral Album Vol. 3 Blu-ray. The official FFXIV Twitter account also shared the two full orchestral versions along with the scenes shown in the live performance. Another video with more footage from the event and some behind-the-scenes segments has been posted as well on the game's YouTube channel.

Each video shows the live performances along with some notable outtakes from the event. Markedly, they feature one of the most memorable moments of the concert when the entire audience turned on the Elpis Flower lights to the rhythm of "Close in the Distance."

Here's the "Close in the Distance" performance.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LZ-WQIbq-M&ab_channel=FINALFANTASYXIV

And this is "Endcaller."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPVoxjC6qNI&t=1s&ab_channel=FINALFANTASYXIV

Activision Blizzard took to Twitter to tease its next new Overwatch 2 character Lifeweaver. There's very little to the initial announcement. It confirms that the person will be a Support hero. It also noted that more information will appear on April 4, 2023, ahead of the unit's season 4 debut. Season 4 will begin early this month.

Here's the official new character announcement, which includes initial Lifeweaver Overwatch 2 art.

Lifeweaver is about to blossom

Learn more tomorrow about the all new Support hero arriving in #Overwatch2 Season 4. pic.twitter.com/T39o93Ekz6

— Overwatch (@PlayOverwatch) April 3, 2023

As a reminder, Support heroes like Mercy in Overwatch 2 tend to focus on healing allies, though they can also deal damage. Kiriko, Moira and Zenyatta are other examples.

The last new Overwatch 2 character to appear was Ramattra. That character is a Tank who joined the roster back in December 2022. Before that, Kiriko joined the game.

With visual novels, the sights and sounds before the player matter. They are necessary to set and maintain the tone and atmosphere in a way that can differ from other genres. TYPE-MOON’s Witch on the Holy Night is a game in which this is especially clear, and Siliconera got to ask Lead Composer Hideyuki Fukasawa a few questions about composing tracks for its soundtrack.

Jenni Lada: How did you come to work on the Witch on the Holy Night soundtrack?

Hideyuki Fukasawa: Witch on the Holy Night was the first TYPE-MOON title I was involved with. I worked on several other games from other companies before, but I never had any experience being entrusted with a job like this, nor had I handled a title with a setting [like Witch on the Holy Night] and I felt it was an assignment worthy of the challenge.

With Witch on the Holy Night essentially being a visual novel, how much time was spent composing its soundtrack?

Did you know that political Twitch streamer Hasan Piker watches One Piece? If you aren’t a regular viewer of Piker’s Twitch or YouTube streams, you may not know that he’s been going through his first One Piece watch. And his takes are impeccable. Piker was recently on the YouTube podcast show Trash Taste, where he…

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Goku and Vegeta have never been hotter, or more relatable, then as these hulked-out statues of the two Dragon Ball Z heroes crushing some retro games on the couch. The energy here is more pure and powerful than any Kamehameha or Galick Gun. I want to fill every room in my house with it.

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Overwatch 2 is revealing its next hero tomorrow, April 4, but the character has already been leaked in a since-pulled article from PCGamesN. While the article in question is down, fans still saw enough to be transfixed by the new support character named Lifeweaver, and that’s because he’s hot and pansexual.

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The Resident Evil 4 remake isn’t a one-to-one clone—it’s a sharper copy, with gameplay tweaks, dialogue changes, and new voice actors, including Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City actress Lily Gao reprising her role as red dress assassin Ada Wong.

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On April 3, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Disney announced that the next live-action remake from the studio will be Moana. Johnson is producing the film and will also reprise his role as the demi-god Maui.

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Elden Ring is good. But what if you took the normally third-person action-RPG and turned it into a first-person adventure similar to Skyrim or Fallout? What would that look like? How would it play? Well, a new mod answers all those questions in a slick and well-made manner.

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A new Six Ages game will give people a way to determine the course of a civilization in 2023. A Sharp and Kitfox revealed Six Ages 2: Lights Going Out is on the way. This came after A Sharp missed making a 2022 release window. There’s no exact release date yet, but it is expected to appear in Summer 2023. The Steam page is live, and there’s also a new trailer going over what people can expect from this latest adventure. It will be available on iOS devices and both Windows and Macs. Its Steam page is already live.

Like Six Ages: Ride Like the Wind, Six Ages 2: Lights Going Out involves keeping a clan alive as the world ends. You’ll need to maintain relationships with other remaining clans, as well as any gods. You need to also explore what’s left of the world and try to survive perilous situations. Advisors will weight in with suggestions, and there will be multiple possible responses for the over 580 events that will be available in the game at launch.

As this is a continuing Six Ages game, people who played Ride Like the Wind can carry their progress over. A Sharp didn’t note which particular choices will continue to affect the new game, however.

Bandai Namco is collaborating with Shibori Threads to produce new Dark Souls-themed clothing. The collection will release in a "drop" format, with orders only available in a limited window starting on April 7, 2023 at 12am EST. Due to this, details such as price, size and regional availability are unknown, but you can sign up on their website to be notified when more information is available.

Shibori Threads' Twitter account shared some images of the products. There appear to be four designs featuring fan-favorite Dark Souls characters Artorias the Abysswalker, Solaire of Astora, and Siegmeyer of Catarina. The final design features the series' iconic death screen text against the image of the Dark Sign.

You can get a better look in the gallery below:
[gallery ids="958154,958155,958156,958157,958158,958159" link="file"]

Shibori Threads are a tie-dye focused clothing company founded by Singer Kyle Anderson and Guitarist Leo Valeri from heavy metal/deathcore band Brand of Sacrifice. They collaborated with several metal bands to produce themed clothing, including Trivium and Killswitch Engage.

In the latest episode of New Gameplay Today, Brian Shea and Kyle Hilliard take a look at a montage of gameplay footage from Star Wars Jedi: Survivor. Cal Kestis gets nearly eaten by a Rancor, starts a garden with his pal BD-1, and tries to track down his other pal, Greez Dritus. He also gets into all kinds of lightsaber battles with robot and animal foes.

For more on Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, you can read about Brian's hands-on time by checking out his full preview.

The Evolution Championship Series, typically referred to as just EVO, wrapped up its Japanese circuit this weekend. There was a lot to get hyped for during the tournament, including the epic Guilty Gear Strive sets and the nail-biting Tekken 7 matches. However, one thing that most competitors weren’t stoked about was…

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Ever since its 2004 debut on GameCube, Resident Evil 4 has been one of the highest points in Capcom’s long-running survival-horror series. Its fresh third-person camera perspective and more action-oriented gameplay meshed perfectly with the careful resource management and horrifying creatures the series was already…

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This year’s Tales of Festival 2023 is being held on June 10-11, 2023 in Japan, but some of the merchandise exclusive to the event is now available for pre-sale from the Asobi store until April 9, 2023. Tales of Festival 2023 will be held at the Yokohama Arena.

The Tales of Festival 2023 merchandise offered is divided into three categories. Character goods include phone tabs, acrylic framed stands, acrylic stickers, cork coasters, round fans, keychains, and named towels from a selection of characters from the titles listed below. Event goods include pamphlets, multicolored lights, and a selection of T-shirts depicting popular mascots from the Tales of series. Special goods include metal bracelets and medal plates with the names of each title listed, alongside colored scarves based after each title.

The Tales of titles included in the Tales of Festival 2023 available merchandise include the following:

Mages announced a new Quintessential Quintuplets game project titled The Quintessential Quintuplets: My Five Promises to Her (originally Gotoubun no Hanayome: Kanojo to Kawasu Itsusu no Yakusoku). The game will be a visual novel, and it is being developed for the Nintendo Switch and PS4. It is set to release in Japan on September 7, 2023.

The new Quintessential Quintuplets game is set during protagonist Futaro Uesugi’s first university summer break, and it is the third visual novel in the franchise. Additionally, Mages released a short teaser trailer for this new game. In it, a future version of Uesugi says that he can still vividly recall the memories he made during that first university summer break.

You can check out the new teaser trailer here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMI5hz9BgKE

In Other Quintessential Quintuplets news, Mages released The Quintessential Quintuplets: Gotopazu Story for the Nintendo Switch and PS4 on February 10, 2023. This game is a console adaptation of the Quintessential Quintuplets puzzle mobile game, which leaves behind the puzzle gameplay to opt for a more traditional visual novel style.

The Quintessential Quintuplets: My Five Promises to Her is being developed by Mages for the Nintendo Switch and PS4, and it will release in Japan on September 7, 2023.

The Department of Justice has taken Activision Blizzard to court, alleging the publisher’s esports leagues had been potentially underpaying their workers/players via an exploitative “Competitive Balance Tax”.

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Let’s be clear, hardware manufacturers have been trying to make handheld gaming PCs forever. The Steam Deck isn’t the first, and won’t be the last, it was just the first to be truly successful. A result of that success is that rivals now have a benchmark to aim for, though, and one of the first companies to take a…

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Last year’s massively expensive Lord of the Rings show on Amazon, Rings of Power, had a lot of hype going into it. Yet after Amazon spent over $450 million on the lavish production, a report claims that fewer than half of the viewers who watched the first episode finished the entire series.

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The Last Of Us was re-released for the 117th time last week, this time on the PC (which was admittedly a first!), and like the huge launches for games like Horizon and God of War should have been cause for celebration. Instead the week, and fans’ expectations, were sunk by a ton of performance issues and bugs.

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Late last month the developers of venerable MMO Everquest II introduced a new kind of loot box to the game that was, basically, a pay-to-win situation. It did not go down well with the long-running community!

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Accessibility tags are being added to the PlayStation Store globally this week across both PS5 and PS4 games.

The tags will highlight which accessibility features are supported in games when viewed on the store.

At launch, the tags will be shown for a number of first party titles, with Sony collaborating with a "wide range of developers to implement this feature" in the near future.

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