July 2023

Procket and Nitroplus released a Song of Saya AI app that will let you converse with Saya. There is an English version of the app as well. The app is free and uses language generation and emotion analysis technology to simulate a real conversation. [Thanks, Famitsu and KaroshiMyriad!]

How much Saya likes you will depend on what you say to her, and it will change the ending of the story. The more she likes you, the happier the ending will be. It will also make her easier to understand, since we start the game unable to fully catch what she's saying. As a reminder, since Procket and Nitroplus made this app as a sort of dev test, there may be some oddities in the text. As of the time of writing, the English version is unavailable to access due to congestion. Once fewer people are using it to talk to Saya, you’ll be able to check it out yourself.

Wit Studio and Cloverworks released a new short film using Spy x Family to remind the general public of basic movie theater etiquette. You’ll be able to watch it from all Toho cinemas in Japan. All members of the immediate Forger family are present. It focuses on Loid and Yor teaching Anya how to behave when in a movie theater. [Thanks, Game Watch!]

The first eleven seconds of the Spy x Family video are available via the official Twitter account for the anime. You don’t learn anything except that Anya is at the movies to watch Spy Wars: The Movie and is really excited about it. Either way, you can watch the video here:

https://twitter.com/spyfamily_anime/status/1684506277219807232

If you’ve ever been to the movies, you’ve likely seen PSAs before a movie starts about basic manners. Examples include turning off your cellphone and not talking during the movie. This is because both of these things will disrupt the other viewers around you. While it’s more a legal issues than an etiquette one, the video might also touch on illegally recording the movie so as to distribute it online before an official Blu-Ray or DVD  release.

Not only are the Final Fantasy XIV system requirements changing with the Dawntrail expansion, but the free trial demo for FFXIV is being updated. Both were brought up during the July 28, 2023 keynote for Fan Festival 2023. Director and Producer Naoki Yoshida went a bit over both. Basically, the PC requirements are increasing a bit. However, the PS4 version of FFXIV will be supported. Also, the free trial is getting larger.

With the FFXIV free trial will now let people demo an additional expansion. Starting in patch 6.5, it will include the Stormblood expansion. The amount of time won’t change, so it will still allow people to get up to level 60. The trial currently only features A Realm Reborn and Heavensward.

As for the new FFXIV PC requirements for Dawntrail, here’s what to expect:

Minimum System Requirements:
OS: Windows 10 64-bit, Windows 11 64-bit
CPU: Intel Core i7-6700 or higher
Memory: 8GB
Available HDD/SSD Space: 140GB or more on HDD
Graphics Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 or higher or AMD Radeon RX 480 or higher
Screen Resolution: 1280 x 720

A Final Fantasy XIV Xbox version is on the way. The last announcement at the FFXIV Fan Fest 2023 was a port of the MMORPG. Director and Producer Naoki Yoshida brought out Microsoft’s Head of Xbox Phil Spencer. The announcement also confirmed cross-play for all versions of the game. It will only be on the Xbox Series X and S consoles. It will appear in Spring 2024. There will be an open beta ahead of its launch, with that occurring during 6.5X.

A few details were brought up during the discussion. This will be a digital-only version of FFXIV and will support up to Dawntrail. It will feature faster loading and, if someone is on an Xbox Series X, faster loading.

You can watch the FFXIV Fan Fest 2023 July 28, 2023 stream below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--_vb2j_qDo&ab_channel=FINALFANTASYXIV
Prior to this, the bulk of the presentation focused on the new Dawntrail expansion, which is set to debut in Summer 2024.

When going over certain 7.0 FFXIV system updates, new gear dye options and eyeglasses as a new type of gear were confirmed. Director and Producer Naoki Yoshida went over a few details about both additions. To be specific, you’ll be able to use two dyes per gear piece. Also, glasses will be considered separate items, so you can wear them with headgear. He also confirmed that they should start appearing once Dawntrail launches.

First, Yoshida discussed the new dye options for gear in FFXIV Dawntrail. People will be able to use two different dyes on each piece. He noted that not every item will be compatible in 7.0. However, throughout the 7.x patches more will appear. Also, some housing items will not be able to use two dyes.

As for glasses in FFXIV Dawntrail, they will be considered a new type of gear separate from headgear. They will try to have them ready to go in 7.0. When this change does happen, they will not take up Armory Chest space.

You can watch the FFXIV Fan Fest 2023 presentation below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--_vb2j_qDo&ab_channel=FINALFANTASYXIV

Final Fantasy XIV is available for the PS4, PS5, and PC, and the Dawntrail expansion is in development ahead of a Summer 2024 debut. The 2023 Fan Festival will be held in Las Vegas between July 28-29, 2023. The full schedule for the event is online.

A crossover between Final Fantasy 14 and Fall Guys is on the way next month.

FF14 director and producer Naoki Yoshida announced the news at this year's Final Fantasy Fan Fest in Las Vegas.

The crossover will go both ways, with Final Fantasy costumes available in Fall Guys and a Fall Guys minigame added to FF14's Gold Saucer area.

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The next expansion in Final Fantasy 14 will be Dawntrail and it’s out summer next year.

At today’s Fan Festival in Las Vegas, producer and director Naoki Yoshida took to the stage to share the news.

Alongside the new expansion, Yoshida's keynote also announced new Jobs, details of the 7.0 graphical update, an extension of the free trial, and the news that Final Fantasy 14 will be available next year on Xbox consoles.

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Final Fantasy 14’s fifth expansion has a name, a (rough) release date and a first look at what seems to be a notable shift in tone from the apocalyptic climax of Endwalker. Dawntrail will be a summer-themed continuation of FFXIV’s story into a “new story”, bringing new jobs, various content additions and a major visual revamp for the MMO.

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Sonic Mania 2 isn’t in development and never was, according to the devs behind the celebrated 2D revival of the blue hedgehog. Contrary to rumours, that’s not because of a falling out between publisher Sega and Sonic Mania’s devs, but because both sides of the creative team decided they wanted to make something new.

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Path of Exile 2 will not be released this year in any form. The plan, as it stands, is for a closed beta test to begin 7th June 2024.

Developer Grinding Gear Games revealed this to me and a group of press during a briefing ahead of ExileCon in New Zealand this weekend.

The silence around Path of Exile 2 has been almost total since it was announced in 2019. We've seen two chunks of gameplay and that's it. The reason for this silence is because the game has changed significantly since then. Originally, it was going to be an extension of Path of Exile 1 and share content with it, but now, Path of Exile 2 is a completely separate game.

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Get ready to die lots in Path Of Exile 2, as developers Grinding Gear Games have told me that both the regular and Hardcore difficulty modes of their upcoming, now standalone sequel to their enormously popular ARPG are going to be a whole lot more challenging than before - both when it comes to the campaign and the end-game afterwards. Bosses, in particular, will pose much more of a threat this time round, as studio co-founder and Path Of Exile 2 creative director Jonathan Rogers says the big monsters you fought in the first game's campaign were, in hindsight, "pretty anemic".

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"It's been a really long time coming," Grinding Gear Games' co-founder and Path Of Exile 2 creative director Jonathan Rogers tells RPS, but their new action RPG will be getting its first closed beta on June 7th 2024. The news was announced at tonight's ExileCon, where the developers also showed off a big new chunk of the game that focused on its two new classes, the monk and the sorceress - and it looks to be shaping up very well indeed. As for a final launch, however, Rogers isn't quite ready to put a date on that yet.

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When Path Of Exile 2 was first announced in 2019, it was billed as an extra large expansion patch to the original game - an update, so to speak, rather than a standalone sequel. Since then, however, the scope of Grinding Gear Games action RPG has grown so much in the intervening years that they've now decided to make it a "completely separate game". The news comes from tonight's ExileCon, which also marks the first time we've seen Path Of Exile 2 in action since that original announcement.

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Grinding Gear Games debuted a lovely big chunk of Path Of Exile 2 this evening, taking us through a section of Act 3 of its campaign and showing off two of its six new character classes: the Monk and the Sorceress. With almost 30 minutes of uninterrupted gameplay, we got to see exactly how they work in practice, and most importantly, we got a big long look at the monk's beautifully choreographed staff twirling melee attacks. Yes please and thank you. I have to say, this is instantly more exciting to me than biffing skeletons with my Druid in Diablo 4, and I'm very pumped indeed to try the Monk out for myself when Path Of Exile 2 enters its closed beta in June next year.

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4X games may sound incredibly reductive on the surface. After all, this is the only genre of game whose name is also a decree about how you should play - eXplore, eXpand, eXploit, eXterminate. But as any fan will tell you, 4X games are actually bustling sandboxes that can be tackled in all kinds of ways. For some players, that could mean eschewing military action or research or trying to make do with a single settlement. For others, it could mean trying to rewrite the historical events depicted - whether out of mischief, or in an effort to challenge narratives about the past that loom large in present-day politics.

Some 4X games lean into this spirit of eXperimentation. Take Syphilisation from Indian developer Nikhil Murthy, a "post-colonial 4X" and intricate parody of Civilization, centring on colonial India during the time of the British Raj. The game includes familiar 4X concepts and systems, but attempts to reframe "human struggle as a common striving for a better world rather than a competition between ourselves", though whether this ideal comes to fruition is up to the player. Rather than a government or ruler, the game casts you as one member of a group of research students, who put together their own interpretations of figures like Gandhi and Churchill while moving units and building cities.

Well hello again, you. That was supposed to be nice but I sound like him off of You. It's unreasonably muggy where I am, which is a type of weather I'm not built for. I'm not built for rain or snow or sunshine either, to be fair - and if you're like me you could maybe have a crack at Wood And Weather's free demo on Steam this weekend, a game where you can change the weather to whatever you want. It's very sweet. I like games where it's like you're smashing lovely toys together. I've already played that, though, I'm telling you that maybe you'll like it. Oh, you want to know what we're playing this weekend?

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Scalpers lucky enough to have snapped up a limited edition Spider-Man 2-themed PlayStation 5 cover plate are trying their luck at doubling or even tripling their money by auctioning off their pre-orders.

Last week, Sony and Insomniac Games revealed new hardware to celebrate the upcoming launch of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2. This included the Spider-Man 2 Limited Edition Bundle, a custom PS5 console cover design, a matching DualSense wireless controller, and Spidey-themed cover plates.

While the limited edition console itself still has limited availability, pre-orders for the custom controller and the two PS5 cover plates – one for the digital edition, one for the standard one – have already sold out.

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The original Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 has shut down its servers to prevent the spread of what is widely thought to be a malware attack.

Not to be confused with the more contemporary 2023 game of the same name which runs on different servers and remains unaffected, Activision was forced to take the 2009 version offline on Steam whilst it "investigated reports of an issue".

Although Activision hasn't confirmed what the alleged "issue" is, players believe it is connected to a post shared on the game's Steam forums back in June that warned players to run an antivirus scan, positing that a trojan was being spread almost players "using hacked lobbies".

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Mortal Kombat 1's highly-anticipated beta period has been confirmed: 18th-21st August.

The beta will be open to all players who have pre-ordered the fighting game on PS5 or Xbox Series X/S, regardless of what edition (standard, premium, or Kollector's Edition) they've selected. It is not available for PC or Nintendo Switch players at this time.

"18th August," tweeted Mortal Kombat's co-creator and NetherRealm CCO, Ed Boon. "My mother's birthday. Tobias' mother's birthday. 1995 [Mortal Kombat] Movie release date.

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Simulation games can either be an idyllic reimagining of real life or an unerringly accurate, for better or for worse, depiction of reality. Let’s School combines the two in a game that encapsulates the nightmarish bureaucracy of being a headmaster in an Asian private school with none of the rewards that come with a career in education. Though it’s fun and the ideas are solid, issues with the coding and tuning can make this school totally uncool. (Yes, it hurt me to make that joke.)

Let’s School is a rags-to-riches story in which you play as the headmaster of a run-down school. Your goal, of course, is to transform it into the best education institution in the region. You can customize things from the students’ uniforms to the crest, as well as build your own school from scratch. Most of your rooms will look the same, but the lack of routing means that you don’t have to worry about giving your students too much space. The potential for making a Spartan school focused only on stuffing in as many students, teachers, and resources as possible is very high thanks to this. It’s quite close to reality in that way.

[caption id="attachment_974487" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Screenshot by Siliconera[/caption]

Blizzard has vowed to buff Diablo 4's Sorcerers and Barbarians following a backlash from fans over its latest patch.

In another fireside chat with key members of the development team, the team confirmed that when Patch 1.1.1 rolls out on 8th August, you'll see improved "effectiveness and fun" for Sorcerers and Barbarians.

"Our goal is to find a way – and we're working on it right now – for all those different ways of dealing damage to have a lot of parity," lead class designer Adam Jackson explained.

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While someone’s initial takeaway from My Instant Death Ability Is So Overpowered, No One in This Other World Stands a Chance Against Me -AO- may be that this is a manga and series with yet another long name, the second is probably how intriguing its “hero” is. We’re presented with someone with an unsettling ability. If Yogiri Takatou wants someone or something to die, it does. With a single thought, it’s dead. From the first volume alone, it shows how interesting and unsettling that can be.

My Instant Death Ability Is So Overpowered is an isekai that begins with a whole class, and not just one person, spirited away to another world. The Great Sage’s granddaughter Sion summoned them there to get more sage candidates, people capable of great power. After “installing” Battlesong on everyone, Sion lets them know they are all a “clan” and need to produce at least one sage in a month. They all end up with certain “gifts,” which sort them into classes. Except Yogiri slept through the whole thing and his classmate Tomochika Dannoura didn’t get the installation or gift due to seemingly being “incompatible.” The people of “value” left for the city.

The July 29, 2023 Letter from the Producer Live Part LXXVIII featured Director and Producer Naoki Yoshida and Global Community Producer Toshio “Foxclon” Murouchi primarily focusing on additions and changes in FFXIV patch 6.5. The goal was to discuss things that would come up in “part 1” of it. As a reminder, this next major update is divided into two, with part showing up in early October 2023 and the other debuting in mid-January 2024.

What will we see in FFXIV patch 6.5?

Here’s the full overview list of various additions and changes we’ll see in FFXIV patch 6.5 parts 1 and 2.

Koei Tecmo announced two more Servants who will appear in Fate/Samurai Remnant. Familiar face Cu Chulainn will appear in ancient Japan. As well, a new Tamamo, Tamamo Aria, will make her debut in the game.

This news came out during the Fate/Samurai Remnant livestream that took place on July 29, 2023. During the gameplay demo (which starts at around 31:36 in the stream), we get to see Saber and Iori wandering around Edo. Koei Tecmo also showed us how they’ll work together in battle.

As for Cu Chulainn and Tamamo Aria, they’re neutral Servants in Fate/Samurai Remnant. Sometimes, they'll be your ally, and sometimes, they'll be your enemy. If you raise your friendship with these Servants, you’ll be able to take some of them into battle with you in place of Saber. The wording kind of implies that Cu Chulainn and Tamamo Aria aren’t the only neutral servants who’ll appear in Fate/Samurai Remnant. You can watch Cu Chulainn’s feats on the battlefield at around the 42:39 timestamp.

Nobutoshi Canna will reprise his role as Cu Chulainn, and Chiwa Saito will voice Tamamo Aria. Aside from voicing Cu Chulainn, Canna’s voiced Bankotsu in Inuyasha and Kabuto in Naruto. As for Chiwa Saito, she’s voiced all of the previous Tamamo characters. She is also known for her roles as Homura in Puella Magi Madoka Magica and Hitagi Senjogahara in Bakemonogatari.

Lasengle announced the summer Servants for Fate/Grand Order 2023 on the Japan server. Artoria Caster will be an SSR Servant who will be available in the gacha. The Knights of the Round Table—Gawain, Lancelot, and Tristan—will also get Spiritron Dresses. You’ll be able to exchange for them in the event shop.

The three Knights have appeared in these swimsuits in past summer events. However, Summer 2023 will be the first time that they’ll actually be something you can put on the Servants in the game. Thus it’s more likely than not that these three will be on the pick-up gacha once the Summer 2023 event starts for real in Fate/Grand Order.

[gallery ids="975180,975181,975182" link="file"]

While we don’t know their classes yet, we do know the other Servants who will appear alongside Artoria Caster. Incidentally, Artoria Caster (Castoria) is the name for the Artoria that appears in Lostbelt 6. There’s always the chance that, like Abigail, the summer version will share a class with the normal version. Other Servants who’ll have an alternate summer version are Chloe von Einzbern and Suzuka Gozen.

As part of the Letter from the Producer Live Part LXXVIII with Director and Producer Naoki Yoshida and Global Community Producer Toshio “Foxclon” Murouchi, the release windows for FFXIV patch 6.5 came up. It is called Growing Light, and it will appear in two parts. Part one will show up in "early" October 2023. Part two will show up in mid-January 2024. However, the presentation only went over “part one” of the patch.

A few details about the name also came up. In Japanese, there’s a hidden “zero” in it. This is because Zero will remain a major character and focus in the story for now.

There was also a new roadmap released, showing expected release windows for patches alongside the upcoming London and Tokyo FFXIV Fan Fests in October 2023 and January 2024.
[caption id="attachment_975185" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Image via Square Enix[/caption]

Shooter sequel Remnant 2 has doubled the Steam concurrent player record of its predecessor, securing over 109,000 simultaneous players earlier today.

That may not sound impressive given PUBG: Battlegrounds holds the top spot with 3.2 million concurrent users – dwarfing that of second place CS:GO's 1.8m peak – but it's a considerable achievement, eclipsing the top concurrent Steam totals for games like Resident Evil Village (106,000), Battlefield 2042 (105,000), and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (103,000).

Its predecessor, Remnant, holds a more modest concurrent record of 48,289 players on Steam, according to SteamDB.

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Players using Cheat Engine in Tekken 8's network test have been able to get a sneaky peek at part of Tekken 8's roster.

Whilst a number of characters have already been confirmed as returning to the eighth iteration of the fan-favourite fighting game, at least half a dozen names that popped up on Cheat Engine's list are presently unannounced.

Tekken 8's recent closed network test allowed players to sample five stages and 16 playable characters, including Asuka Kazama, Bryan Fury, Claudio Serafino, Hwoarang, Jin Kazama, Jun Kazama, Leroy Smith, and Nina Williams, and Paul Phoenix, amongst others.

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Welcome to the latest edition of the Giant Bomb Community Spotlight! I, @zombiepie, am once again honored to be your host as we look back at the best community creations from the previous week.

If it seemed like the site content was light, that's because Jeff Grubb was on vacation. It should be noted that this was the first vacation Grubb has taken since joining Giant Bomb.

People have been asking for a thread with every possible Twitter alternative the staff are using. Here's the first draft. If you know of others to add, drop a comment with links! For example, I don't use Mastodon and could use help with link to confirmed staff accounts.

Aniplex announced a new collaboration between Fate/Grand Order and Usada Pekora of Hololive. It looks like a new figure of Pekora wearing Mash’s outfit is in development. There’s no information as of yet in regards to when people can expect it and how much it will cost.

Though the announcement of Pekora being the official FGO Fes 2023 was met with a mixed reception, replies to Aniplex in regards to the figure are far more positive. Takashi Takeuchi, who is one of the main character designers and illustrators for Type Moon, will design the figure. This news is part of the eighth anniversary of Fate/Grand Order, and likely has to do with Pekora being the official ambassador for FGO Fes 2023 as well. It’s unknown if there will be a future figure or illustration of Mash wearing one of Pekora’s outfits.

During the eighth anniversary of Fate/Grand Order, there have been plenty of other announcements regarding the series. Lasengle revealed the summer Servants to look forward to in mid-August 2023, with an event focusing on Castoria. Koei Tecmo also showed off how Cu Chulainn and Tamamo Aria will look in Fate/Samurai Remnant. As FGO Fes 2023 is still ongoing, there will likely be more Fate news on July 30, 2023.

The next patch for Final Fantasy 14 (6.5) will be released early October this year and will be called Growing Light.

The patch will come in two story parts that will set up the narrative ahead of the release of the next full expansion, Dawntrail, in summer 2024 - as announced yesterday at the Fan Fest in Las Vegas.

Along with various quests and additions, the Duty Support system will now allow players to experience all duties from A Realm Reborn to the end of Endwalker completely solo.

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Palworld is comfortably summarised as 'Pokémon with guns', thanks to its too-familiar character designs and third-person machinegun combat. It's got more going on than that, though. It's also Pokémon with base building, Pokémon with sweat shops, Pokémon with corpse piles.

A new developer tutorial explains how you can 'use Pals efficiently' by putting them to work for you.

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Broforce was a side-scrolling riff on '80s action movies, in which you'd take control of Rambro, B.A. Broracus and others to run 'n' gun through explosive levels. I feel like most of my runs would end because I blew myself up alongside the enemies.

On August 8th, Broforce is getting one final free update. Titled Broforce Forever, it adds six new bros, introduced in a trailer below.

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