April 2023

No Man's Sky Interceptor Update Adds a New Universal Threat

1 year 1 month ago

Hello Games is releasing the Interceptor update for No Man's Sky today, which adds a new universal threat in the form of corrupted worlds.

That's not all, of course, as the update also adds a new Starship, improvements to the PlayStation VR2 mode, new enemy types, new technology, and a range of other performance and visual improvements.

"Many worlds have succumbed to corruption, with strange crystals sprouting from the earth, and sentinel guardians twisted into bizarre new forms," reads the update synopsis. "Explore these purple-hazed worlds to find new buildings, crashed interceptors, secret equipment and more."

These corrupted worlds can be explored using a new ship class, which is promised to be the "most varied Starship to date".

Players will also have to deal with new enemy types include huge spider-like enemies and their crab-like children, plus corrupted drones to match the new planets. These are some of the most dangerous enemy types in No Man's Sky and come armed with stealth tech, flamethrowers, and explosive weaponry.

There will also be new technology for players to discover and create and sentinel capital ships that grant new rewards. Custom wonders have also been added to the Wonders Catalogue from the previous update, letting players curate their own collection of discoveries.

The changes to the PSVR 2 version include improved visuals, wrist interface controls, and more, while Hello Games has promised "a renewed focus on Xbox consoles" to improve performance and visuals across the board.

Author
Ryan Dinsdale

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Behold, the Cyberpunk 2077 path tracing mode your GPU probably can’t run

1 year 1 month ago

Nvidia have previewed the upcoming Overdrive Mode for Cyberpunk 2077, showcasing how it replaces the game’s already extensive ray tracing effects with full path tracing. Why Nvidia and not the developers, CD Projekt Red? Well, that might have something to do with Overdrive Mode being such a graphics card shatterer that it will supposedly take a GeForce RTX 40 series GPU – with DLSS 3 in effect – to run.

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Author
James Archer

RPS@PAX 2023: Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun really nails the feeling of being a big stompy space boy

1 year 1 month ago

I really like retro first-person shooters. Show me a game with a gun in it that looks like it could feasibly run on Windows 95, and all of the neurons in my brain will start to fizzle and spark. I just think they're neat, and their recent resurgance has been extremely nice for me, specifically.

Unsuprisingly, then, I've been very excited to get my hands on Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun, a retro FPS by Auroch Digital set within the grim-dark universe of Warhammer 40k. A retro shooter where you play as a Space Marine is so obvious a pairing it's a wonder the concept has never been tackled before, to the point where the game's own marketing materials sort of pretend that it already was back in the 90s but everyone just forgot about it.

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Author
Liam Richardson

Dredge's rescue dog is actually the spooky fishing sim's most supreme being, devs reveal

1 year 1 month ago

Spooky fishing game Dredge is overflowing with underwater eldritch horrors, ghoulish critters, and mutant fishies - like, the Blinky-the-fish kind. Based on that description, you’d expect some three-headed sea beast, incomprehensibly twisted and glowing with an otherworldly light, to be the game’s most supreme being. Nope. That title goes to the dog you rescue in one of the game's side missions, the developers have revealed.

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Author
Kaan Serin

Why Star Wars Jedi: Survivor doesn't hit reset on Cal's combat abilities

1 year 1 month ago

An important Star Wars question is: what colour lightsaber would you have? The lightsaber is the mood ring of elegant weapons for a more civilised age. Jason de Heras, design director on Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, agrees with me on the purple blade (a colour introduced to the canon specifically because Samuel L. Jackson wanted it for his character in the prequels). "I was like, 'we gotta have a pink lightsaber blade'," says production director Kasumi Shishido. "So whenever I play I always stick with my pink saber."

Shishido tells me the dev team focused on improving on Jedi: Fallen Order for this sequel, and one of the bigger areas where they did that was customisation. "We knew we wanted to put more resources and effort into it," she says. "There's a lot more that you can do with Cal, with BD... and just within Cal, it's not just outfits you can customise, so I'm just really excited to see what players are going to do with it."

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Author
Alice Bell

Total War: Warhammer 3 is getting free DLC alongside the Chaos Dwarfs expansion

1 year 1 month ago

Total War: Warhammer 3’s next expansion Forge Of The Chaos Dwarfs is still coming on April 13th, but now it’s being accompanied by some free DLC too. Developers Creative Assembly have detailed the Mirror Of Madness update - previously teased a couple months ago - in a blog post, and it’ll contain two new game modes for all players.

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Author
Kaan Serin

Here's who Charles Martinet voices in the Super Mario Bros. Movie

1 year 1 month ago

Veteran Mario voice actor Charles Martinet was previously confirmed to voicing a couple of characters in the Super Mario Bros. Movie - and now the film has been released, fans think they've worked out who those characters are.

Having watched the film myself, it's fair to say Martinet's voice is indeed recognisable - though the movie's credits don't offer any concrete confirmation. Instead, Martinet's name is grouped alongside other secondary voice actors, without going into specifics on the exact characters he plays.

If you'd prefer not to know more ahead of watching the film, take this as your spoiler warning - and feel free to head over and read our spoiler-free Super Mario Bros. Movie review.

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Author
Tom Phillips

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Ex-Stadia head Phil Harrison departs Google following service's demise

1 year 1 month ago

Phil Harrison has departed Google, where he served as vice president and general manager of Stadia, following the beleaguered cloud gaming service's demise earlier this year.

Harrison joined Google in 2018 and shepherded Stadia through its high-profile - if increasingly problematic - launch in 2019, remaining onboard during the service's slow, steady decline. It was Harrison who announced the closure of Stadia's internal game development studios in 2021, and, ultimately, shared word of the cloud gaming service's impending demise last September, admitting it hadn't "gained the traction with users that we expected".

Ahead of Stadia's closure this January, Harrison said the underlying streaming tech would live on at Google, and would be made available "industry partners" - but Google later clarified its white label streaming offering had also been axed alongside the consumer-facing side.

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Author
Matt Wales

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Amazon laying off 100 employees from video games division

1 year 1 month ago

Just over 100 people have lost their jobs at Amazon's video games division as part of the massive job culls announced a couple of weeks ago.

Over 400 Twitch employees lost their jobs in late March, with Twitch CEO Dan Clancy blaming the "current macroeconomic environment" for the layoffs.

The further 100 employees who are being laid off are a part of Game Growth, Amazon Game's San Diego studio, and Prime Gaming, according to an internal memo obtained by CNBC. The memo was written by vice president of Amazon Games Christoph Hartmann.

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Author
Liv Ngan

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The Witcher 3's latest patch delivers the best console performance yet

1 year 1 month ago

The 2022 revamp of The Witcher 3 set out to be the best version of game possible, tapping into the performance and features of the new consoles and modern PCs - except, this next-gen release also brought its own issues. Performance problems and crashes proved problematic and since then, CD Projekt RED has been intent on gradually ironing out the kinks and getting the game into shape. It hasn't been a smooth sailing, though: the last patch 4.01 actually worsened the frame-rate in the performance mode, while at the same time improving frame-rates in the RT quality mode. The good news is that the recently released 4.02 update now delivers the best experience we've seen yet. It's not quite the finished article, but it's much closer to the ideal.

Developer CDPR's patch notes are as exhaustive as usual. Right at the very top - for console - we have a note that performance mode frame-rates are improved, which we can confirm. Other highlights include the return of the HBAO option on PC, and improved CPU optimisation on DirectX 12. There's a motion blur intensity slider on all formats now, as well - which solves another problem at launch with the sheer intensity of the effect when enabled. Lastly, there's a subtle improvement to screen-space and ray-traced reflections on all formats, with the addition of refraction to reflections across water bodies.

Author
Thomas Morgan

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Clive Fights Ifrit in New Final Fantasy XVI Video

1 year 1 month ago

final fantasy xvi clive

A new video on Square Enix’s Twitter account for Final Fantasy XVI shows a clip of Clive in battle against Ifrit. Though the game is still in development, it gives a fairly clear look at the UI thus far. Clive seems to switch between Phoenix (fire) and Garuda (wind) in battle, using their skills in tandem in order to face off against Ifrit.

You can watch the video of Clive fighting Irit here:

https://twitter.com/FF16_JP/status/1643554075961597952?t=SJviA7nI9vMMql8hl0yKcg

The HP bars on the top of the screen resemble that of a fighting game. This is in line with the Final Fantasy XVI development team’s past interviews stating that the game would be more action-oriented than previous titles. We’ve also seen this in previous footage in which Ifrit fights Typhon. In the Final Fantasy XVI clip of Clive’s fight with Ifrit, it looks like he uses Garuda’s Deadly Embrace to grab Ifrit and throw him to the ground. After the Dark Eikon is incapacitated, he seems to use Phoenix’s Flames of Rebirth to deal damage.

It’s unclear at what point of the game this fight will take place in. From what we know about the story, Ifrit is the main cause of Clive’s problems. Some tragic events revolving around Ifrit will send Clive on a journey for revenge.

Final Fantasy XVI will come out on the PS5 on June 22, 2023. It will be exclusive on the platform for six months.

Author
Stephanie Liu

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Hololive English 1st Concert Ticket Sales Delayed

1 year 1 month ago

Hololive English 1st Concert Ticket Sales Delayed

One of the Hololive Super Expo 2023 announcements was a Hololive English 1st Concert: Connect the World. At the time, Cover noted that ticket sales and merchandise would be revealed on April 5, 2023. However, the company announced a delay in sales for the Hololive English 1st concert. However, more news about the event will appear during Holo Trials at 7pm PT/10pm ET on April 5, 2023.

Cover’s announcement didn’t go into exact details as to why the Hololive English ticket sales were delayed. It only noted that the schedule changed. It didn’t reference the merchandise that will be tied to the event. This could mean the Holo Trials tonight could still offer a first look at those items.

As for the first Holo Trials, here’s the official announcement. It shows A-chan, Ninomae Ina’nis, IRyS, and Hakos Baelz on the thumbnail. It also references the upcoming performance.

Author
Jenni Lada

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How Many Chapters Long is the Fire Emblem Engage Fell Xenologue?

1 year 1 month ago

How Many Chapters Long is the Fire Emblem Engage Fell Xenologue?

Now that the Fell Xenologue Fire Emblem Engage DLC campaign is here, you may be wondering how many chapters are in it and how long it will take to beat. The good news is that it isn't terribly extensive, especially if you're going into it with an endgame save with all characters and Emblem Rings available to you. You'll only need to go through six chapters to unlock the new content in the main game.

Editor’s Note: There will be spoilers for the Fire Emblem Engage Fell Xenologue DLC chapter titles below.

How many chapters long is the Fire Emblem Engage Fell Xenologue DLC?

There are six chapters to the Fire Emblem Engage DLC. They tend to vary in length. I was playing on the Normal difficulty with a post-game save that had all characters available, and it took me around four hours total to complete this campaign.

Here’s the full list of chapters in the Fire Emblem Engage Fell Xenologue.

  • Fell Xenologue 1: Dragons from Afar
  • Fell Xenologue 2: Seeds of Unrest
  • Fell Xenologue 3: Path to War
  • Fell Xenologue 4: Clash of Queens
  • Fell Xenologue 5: The Fell Heir
  • Fell Xenologue 6: Seven Bracelets

Do I need to beat the Fire Emblem Engage Fell Xenologue DLC in each playthrough?

If you want the Mage Cannoneer and Enchanter classes and the five extra playable characters, then yes. Every new Fire Emblem Engage game you play, you’ll need to play through this six chapter campaign again.

Author
Jenni Lada

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All Tales of Symphonia Anime Episodes Available on YouTube for Free

1 year 1 month ago

tales of symphonia ova

All eleven episodes of the Tales of Symphonia anime are now available on the official Tales YouTube channel. These OVAs came out between 2007 and 2012, with ufotable the animation studio behind them. Other anime that ufotable worked on include Tales of Zestiria X, Demon Slayer, and Fate/Zero. 

Though there are eleven episodes in total, the Tales of Symphonia animated adaptation actually consists of three separate OVAs. There are four episodes in Sylvarant Episode, four in Tethe’alla Episode, and three in The United World Episode. Like the anime version of Tales of the Abyss, the Tales of Symphonia OVA is a fairly faithful adaptation of the work, and does not include much in ways of original developments. The episodes have English subtitles as well, so an international audience can enjoy them.

Tales animated adaptations have not always been the most faithful to the source material. Ufotable’s Zestiria X included some alterations to the story at the expense of certain characters, for example. Eternia straight up did not even adapt the game, focusing instead on an original story and original characters. Phantasia also only adapted about half of the game.

Author
Stephanie Liu

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Former Stadia Boss Phil Harrison Quietly Leaves Google Following Service Closure

1 year 1 month ago

Phil Harrison, vice president of Google and former head of Stadia, has confirmed he has left the company.

According to a report from Business Insider, two employees familiar with the matter said Harrison quietly left Google around the time the company shut down the short-lived game streaming service after it failed to gain traction in a competitive gaming market. His LinkedIn profile has been updated to say he ended his time with the search engine giant this month.

A veteran of the gaming industry, Harrison joined Google in 2018 after working at Sony for over a decade and three years at Microsoft. From Stadia's announcement at GDC 2019, he championed the platform as the "future of gaming" as it gave players access to their favorite games, including Assassin's Creed Odyssey and Cyberpunk 2077, through Google's cloud service without the need to purchase expensive consoles. He even hosted two Connect streams, where he would announce the games being added to the service in a format similar to Nintendo Direct.

Author
Cristina Alexander

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Resident Evil 4 Remake - 6 Big Scenes that Got Cut From the Original

1 year 1 month ago

Resident Evil 4 might be the best video game remake ever made. It completely overhauls the graphics and sound, fine-tunes the gameplay, adds a ton of awesome little quality of life features, and reworks entire chunks of the 2005 game with brand new environments, items, and bosses. But it also loses a couple of set pieces and conflicts from the original game along the way. Here are six big scenes that got cut from Resident Evil 4. If you’re loving the remake but still nostalgic for some classic that got the axe, “I got somethin' that might interest ya'!”

The U-3 Boss Fight

This tense, terrifying, dual-phased boss fight against a bald monster who looks like Frieza f*cked a scorpion is no longer in the game, and neither is the falling shipping container storage unit that you battle him in. Nor is the second section afterwards where he chases you around a large figure eight-shaped area, smashing through doors and exploding oil drums like a Looney Tunes character. It’s kind of a bummer he’s gone because I would have loved to see how this awful creature looked in the gorgeous modern RE engine, but it seems that when U-3 died in 2005, he died for good.

Author
Matt Kim

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Overwatch 2 Reveals Lifeweaver As Newest Support Hero

1 year 1 month ago

Since its launch last October, Overwatch 2 has added an additional post-launch hero in the form of Ramattra, as well as new maps, cosmetics, and more. Season 4, which starts next week, brings players the next post-launch hero in the form of Lifeweaver, a unique support character. In preparation for Lifeweaver's impending release, Blizzard released a ton of new details surrounding the nature-loving character.

Lifeweaver comes to the Overwatch team from Thailand and uses advanced biolight technology, which plays a major role in his abilities. As a result, his kit introduces some new mechanics. First up, his first primary ability, Healing Blossom, charges a luminescent flower, which he sends off to teammates. The longer he charges the flower, the more healing it grants to the recipient. Lifeweaver also has an alternative primary fire called Thorn Valley, where he blasts biolight thorns in a scattered pattern, damaging enemies.

His secondary-fire ability is called Petal Platform. With this ability, he can spawn a flower platform that lifts anyone stepping on it – friend or foe – into the air. The development team views this ability as similar to Mei's Ice Wall, as it allows for strategic teamwork and the altering of the location of any player on the field. Lifeweaver can also dash around the battlefield with Rejuvenating Dash, an ability that is similar to Hanzo's dash.

Author
Brian Shea

God of War Ragnarök New Game Plus Out Today

1 year 1 month ago

Looking for an excuse to break out that Leviathan Axe for another adventure? As of today, there's a new update for God of War Ragnarök featuring a load of new content, all built around a robust New Game Plus mode.

New Game Plus opens up for anyone who has beaten the game, and all of your equipment and skills will come along for the ride. You also have access to all weapons, including the Draupnir Spear. However, it should be noted that areas requiring that spear to access will still remain closed until you reach the appropriate point in the story. For similar reasons, you also won’t start your new playthrough with Sonic or Hex arrows.

Several new armors show up. The most interesting is the Spartan Armor, which recalls Kratos’ look from the old days in the Greek Pantheon. While wearing it, you get no perk, no stats, and it’s locked at Power Level 1 – expect a challenge.

New Game Plus also features a new level cap, enchantments, and progression paths to improve your capabilities. Players can also tackle an expanded version of the Niflheim Arena, where you play as either Kratos or Atreus and bring along a variety of companions to help out.

Among several other additions and improvements, players can also take on a Black and White Render mode for a more cinematic playthrough.

It’s a notably large blast of new content that ensures that dedicated fans should have good reason to jump back in if they desire.

God of War Ragnarök released last November for PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4.

Author
Matt Miller

PC Game Pulled From Steam For Apparent Theft Gets Even Messier

1 year 1 month ago

Following a police raid of its offices and a delisting from Steam, Ironmace, developer of the upcoming MMO Dark and Darker, is once again at the center of confusion and chaos. This time, miscommunication and a false launch of a now-pulled GoFundMe campaign continue to make the whole ordeal a big ol’ effin’ mess.

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Author
Claire Jackson

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A decade after its announcement, genre-bending Defender's Quest 2 returns

1 year 1 month ago

You may remember Defender’s Quest: Valley Of The Forgotten as the beloved early-2010s game that swapped the towers in tower-defence, with humans that you could level up and customise. Essentially an RPG/tower-defence hybrid. You might also remember that a sequel was announced before it somewhat fell off the map - you probably don’t remember since it happened a decade ago, to be fair. Regardless, Defender’s Quest 2: Mists Of Ruin is now ready to re-emerge into the public’s consciousness with a 2023 PC release.

Developer Level Up Labs and publisher Armor Games have released a new trailer to mark the re-announcement:

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Author
Kaan Serin

God of War Ragnarök's New Game Plus mode launches today

1 year 1 month ago

If you've polished off last year's God of War Ragnarök and have been waiting for an excuse to do it all over again, developer Sony Santa Monica might have just what you're looking for now it's sizeable New Game Plus update is live.

Sony Santa Monica announced a New Game Plus mode was on the way last December, but specifics were pretty scarce at the time. Now, though, in a post on the PlayStation Blog, the studio has detailed exactly what players can expect from their second go around.

As you'd expect, New Game Plus becomes available after clearing Ragnarök for the first time, giving players the option to carry their existing skills, equipment, and weapons (including the Draupnir Spear) over from their previous saves.

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Author
Matt Wales

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Here Are the Fire Emblem Engage DLC Character Support Options

1 year 1 month ago

Here Are the Fire Emblem Engage DLC Character Support Options

Once you finally unlock the five new DLC characters in Fire Emblem Engage, you’ll find they can not only talk amongst themselves or find love with Alear, but some can engage in Support conversations with other characters too. While some people’s options are a little limited, others can talk with other people like royal family members.

Editor’s Note: The Support conversation options list below will contain spoilers for Fire Emblem Engage main campaign and DLC characters.

First, to get all of the new characters you need to complete all the chapters in the DLC campaign. It shouldn't take too long, especially if you play through it on Normal. Once you do, some cutscenes will play and you'll watch as the new allies join your army. If you have multiple save files, then you will need to beat that campaign in each one to get access to these characters.

Here Are the Fire Emblem Engage DLC Character Support Options
Here’s the full list of who each DLC character can talk to:

Author
Jenni Lada

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Yelan and Ningguang Dress Up in Genshin Impact Pizza Hut Collaboration

1 year 1 month ago

genshin impact pizza hut ninguang yelan

Pizza Hut in Taiwan is holding yet another collaboration with Genshin Impact. This time, Yelan and Ningguang are the characters who will come with your order. The first collaboration event starred Eula and Amber. The event will run until April 30, 2023 in China when you order food from Pizza Hut. [Thanks, inaem on Reddit!]

Both Yelan and Ningguang still maintain a classy Chinese-inspired aesthetic in their Pizza Hut outfits. Ningguang has tied up her long hair and Yelan is wearing a beret. It seems that you will get one of them on your pizza box, though it’s unclear if you will get an option to choose. If in-game awards will appear for the Pizza Hut collaboration, it will likely either be exclusive to the Chinese server or appear on global servers later on. This was what happened with the KFC collaboration that featured Diluc and Noelle.

Author
Stephanie Liu

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Sword Art Online Anomaly Quest Reservations Open

1 year 1 month ago

sword art online anomaly quest

Reservations opened up for Sword Art Online Anomaly Quest. In order to make your reservation, you need a TTM ID, which is an account with The Tokyo Matrix. Tickets will cost around 2000-2450 JPY (around $15.20 to $18.60). But if you go between April 14 and May 31, 2023, you can get a discounted price of 1500-1750 JPY ($11.40 to $13.30). [Thanks, 4Gamer!]

This attraction will be a real-life one that takes place within Kabukicho Tower. You can form parties of two to three people, and use various RPG-like skills in your quest. Skills include Fight, Throw, and Search. The story of Anomaly Quest will focus on the player being an ALfheim Online player, who’s trying to defeat Kirito and Asuna. This is because the game itself has made defeating them a quest, and the player who accomplishes this feat will get a grand prize.

This is not the only upcoming attraction at Kabukicho Tower. There will be an escape room-like event featuring Neon Genesis Evangelion. This event will start up from April 28, 2023. While Sword Art Online Anomaly Quest is limited to within Kabukicho Tower though, you will be able to go out into Shinjuku to complete “The Mysterious Spy and Legendary Host.”

Author
Stephanie Liu

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How to Unlock the Enchanter and Mage Cannoneer in Fire Emblem Engage

1 year 1 month ago

fire emblem engage mage cannoneer enchanter unlock

There are two new class items to unlock in Fire Emblem Engage Fell Xenologue DLC, and they are the Enchanter and Mage Cannoneer. However, you don’t immediately get access to items to class change into each one. Rather, you need to beat the DLC to acquire them. However, if you want more than one of each in your army, it can get expensive.

How to unlock the Enchanter and Mage Cannoneer in Fire Emblem Engage

Basically, you need to beat all six chapters of Fell Xenologue. You get one of each class change item as a reward for finishing this extra campaign. That means one Enchanter’s Mystic Satchel and one Mage Cannoneer’s Mage Cannon.

However, both also unlock at the in-game item shop once cleared, with people able to buy an unlimited number of them if they have the money. These are very expensive items. With a Silver Card that gives a 30% shop discount, the Mystic Satchel is 28,000G and the Mage Cannon is 63,000G. Without, it is 40,000G for the Mystic Satchel and 90,000G for the Mage Cannoneer.

The Enchanter uses arts and daggers in Fire Emblem Engage. It also involves effects with weapons and items. Its level 5 skill is Convoy, which lets the unit access item storage, just like someone can The Mage Cannoneer uses its cannon special weapon.

Fire Emblem Engage is available for the Nintendo Switch, as is the Fell Xenologue DLC.

Author
Jenni Lada

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Here Are the Fire Emblem Engage Fell Xenologue Rewards

1 year 1 month ago

What Are the Fire Emblem Engage Fell Xenologue Rewards?

Once you beat all of the chapters of the Fire Emblem Engage Fell Xenologue, players get a number of rewards all at once. Some of them are the five additional playable characters. Two allow you to change to the new Enchanter and Mage Cannoneer classes. However, there are also a number of other items you earn for your efforts.

Editor's Note: There are spoilers for the characters and items you earn as rewards for completing the Fire Emblem Engage Fell Xenologue DLC below.

The first things you'll get for beating the DLC are the playable Four Winds characters based on the Four Hounds you see in the main campaign. After seeing a cutscene, you'll be informed that Gregory (Griss), Madeline (Marnie), and Zelestia (Zephia) are now a part of your army.

After that cutscene, a second one will play. Once finished, you'll see a message noting that Nel and her brother Rafal (Nil) are a part of your crew.

Once all that is done, you'll be taken to the Somniel proper. You'll then see an update window notifying you of the other rewards you earned for beating the Fire Emblem Engage Fell Xenologue DLC.

Here’s the full list of items:

Author
Jenni Lada

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Review: Melon Journey: Bittersweet Memories Deals with a Seedy Situation

1 year 1 month ago

Review: Melon Journey: Bittersweet Memories Deals with a Seedy Situation

Games can offer unusual opportunities to cover more mature themes in inventive ways. They can let developers tell stories about serious concepts, in a relaxed and approachable way. Melon Journey: Bittersweet Memories can often feel like a slice-of-life, relaxed adventure game about getting caught up in a small town mystery, yet it still deals with serious topics like illegal activities and political corruption. It’s interesting, to be sure, but often feels like it’s a little too surface-level an experience.

Honeydew and Cantaloupe are childhood friends who both find themselves living and working at Eglantine Industries at a melon processing plant. It seems like a fairly typical corporate job working on sodas. However, when Cantaloupe leaves work with a suitcase one day and tells Honeydew to meet him at Hog Town, things go awry. Once there, he’s disappeared, and the peaceful, melon-banning town is in the midst of an election that could see Kitten King taking charge. While everything seems bright and cheerful, there’s an ominous overtone, and Honeydew will need to find out the truth behind Eglantine and Kitten King.

Review: Melon Journey: Bittersweet Memories Deals with a Seedy Situation

Author
Jenni Lada

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Blizzard Lead Reveals Global Release Times for Diablo IV

1 year 1 month ago

Mike Ybarra, the president of Blizzard Entertainment, has clarified the global release times for Diablo 4 and confirmed that those who pre-ordered the Deluxe and Ultimate editions will be the first to play on June 1, 2023.

Ybarra took to Twitter to correct a previous tweet of his that discussed the global release times of Diablo 4, and he shared exactly when fans can jump into the highly anticipated game that just ended its very well-received beta.

"Oops, I was wrong! Early access for Deluxe and Ultimate pre-orders in the US is Thursday 6/1 at 4PM, 6/2 at 12am in Europe, 6/2 at 8am in Asia. Regular launch 6/5 at 4pm, 6/6 at 12am Europe, and 6/6 8am Asia," Ybarra wrote.

In follow-up Tweets, he confirmed the US time was in Pacific, so that would translate to 7pm ET. For Europe, he meant British Standard Time, and for Asia, he meant Korea Standard Time.

As for our impressions of the Diablo 4 beta, we said it was "extremely impressive so far."

Author
Adam Bankhurst

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Best Elden Ring and Dark Souls Merch and Gift Ideas for 2023

1 year 1 month ago

If you, like many of us here at IGN, absolutely adore Elden Ring, you likely want a way to show off your love for the game or pick something up for someone else who’s a fan, especially before the thrilling expansion releases. Thankfully, there’s a wide variety of gifts to pick and choose from, and not just for Elden Ring. If From Software games course through your veins like that of the old blood, there’s even more worth picking up.

No matter if you’re a FromSoft veteran or brand new to these worlds, there’s an abundance of gifts and merch to buy. Want to pick up a Tarnished bomber jacket for the Elden Ring fan in your life? Or a statue of Solaire from Dark Souls to praise the sun in your home? Or, how about the Bloodborne board game, where you can team up with others as Hunters to survive the night in Yharnam? Whatever you’re looking for, we have you covered in this collection of FromSoft gift ideas and merch.

So, what do you say? Why not jump into this gift-giving journey with us?

Best FromSoftware Merch and Gift Ideas

Author
Hannah Hoolihan

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Deal Alert: The Xbox Core Controller in Electric Volt Is Down to $39.99

1 year ago

Today both Amazon and Walmart are offering the official Xbox Series X|S Core wireless controller in Electric Volt for only $39.99 with free shipping. That's almost 40% off the original $65 MSRP. Only the Electric Volt color has been discounted down to this price, the rest of the colors are more expensive. Aside from the difference in color scheme, this is the same controller as the one that's included with your Xbox Series X or S console.

Xbox Core Controller in Electric Volt for $39.99

This controller is based on the Xbox Series X|S controller design, but it will also work on Xbox One. It features textured triggers, bumpers, and back case, making it easier to hold. It also features the disc-like D-pad for more precise input in all eight directions, and the Share button to send your screenshots and video out into the world.

Electric Volt is one of the brightest colors available, and probably the best one to get if you misplace your controllers often. This one features a high-vis yellow top case and analog sticks, with a black hybrid D-pad and face buttons. The bumpers and triggers are also black, but the back case is white.

For more deals, take a look at our daily deals for today.

Author
Eric Song

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ID@Xbox Showcase April 2023: Everything Announced and Revealed

1 year 1 month ago

The latest ID@Xbox Showcase has arrived and it featured a look at a wide-range of upcoming games that will be released soon on Xbox and PC. From a deep dive into Vampire Survivors' second expansion to an extended look at the gameplay of The Last Case of Benedict Fox to a game that looks like Pokemon but with cassette tapes, there is a lot to be excited about.

There were 11 games featured in the show, and we've included a breakdown of each one alongside their trailers below to ensure you don't miss a thing.

Vampire Survivors: Tides of Foscari Expansion Gets a Gameplay Deep Dive and an Interview

Vampire Survivors' Tides of Foscari expansion will be released on April 13, and the ID@Xbox crew sat down with poncle senior marketing manager Geo Morgan to discuss what fans can expect from the new content while also showing off gameplay.

For those unaware, Tides of Foscari is set in western Europe in a Great Forest and will add eight new characters, 13 new weapons, a new stage, seven music tracks, and 20 new achievements to the game. Oh, and it only costs $1.99.

One of the new characters, the rogue, was featured in the gameplay and we got to see a run in action before its official launch.

The Last Case of Benedict Fox Gets and Extended Gameplay Trailer Focused on Combat

The Last Case of Benedict Fox is a metroidvania from Plot Twist and Rogue Games that takes place in Boston in 1925 and has players exploring a terrifying mansion that is filled with monsters.

Author
Adam Bankhurst

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God of War: Ragnarok's New Game Plus Mode Is Here

1 year 1 month ago

God of War: Ragnarok's New Game Plus mode is finally here.

In the latest PlayStation Blog post published today, the developer detailed all the upgrades players will get when they jump into New Game Plus after beating the story mode for God of War: Ragnarok the first time. The upgrades include new armor, new Enchantments, and an increased level cap.

Once you start the New Game Plus mode, you'll have the Armor of the Black Bear from the opening scene already equipped, which lead community manager Grace Orlady said players have been requesting since God of War: Ragnarok launched last November so that Kratos can keep warm against the Fimbulwinter frost while maintaining Strength and Defense stats.

The other armor you'll get in God of War Ragnarok's New Game Plus mode includes the Spartan Armor, Ares Armor, Zeus Armor, and the Spartan Apsis shield. The Ares and Zeus armors were originally featured in the 2018 God of War's New Game Plus mode, only now the former armor increases your chances of getting a Health Stone when you hit an enemy and a rage gain alongside a huge explosion when you stomp on it, while the latter amps up Melee and Runic damage as well as incoming damage, making it a double-edged sword.

Author
Cristina Alexander

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The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Ultimate Buyer's Guide

1 year ago

The Tears of the Kingdom previews are live and holy moly does it look like it's going to be one incredible gaming experience. Basically it lets you call the shots, forging your own path through experimentation and your own wits. There's no "right" way to achieve your objectives. If you want to get to the top of a high place you could climb it or you could construct some manner of crazy contraption using Link's new powers and just fly up there. Or not! It looks absolutely bonkers and I cannot wait to see more, and most of all get my hands on it.

If you're interested in preordering Tears of the Kingdom, there's no shortage of places to do so. You can even save $10 by following the link below and using the convenient IGNZLDA code. On top of a discount, some retailers are tossing in cute little extras to entice you to plop down your money with them. For example, Best Buy gives you a free art print (a $9.99 value!) while GameStop is offering a wooden plaque. I guess they're hoping freebies will take a little away from the sting of a $70 Nintendo Switch game, the first-ever at that price point.

Author
Seth G. Macy

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YouTuber Is Building All Of Breath Of The Wild In Minecraft

1 year 1 month ago

Minecraft is a video game that offers plenty of opportunity for creative output, one whose versatility appeals to players with all kinds of interests and ambitions. Some folks get high and try to make a perfect circle out of square blocks, while others create functioning phones and other impressive devices. Now, a new…

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Isaiah Colbert

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