Destructoid

As we so recently learned, Crytek's Crysis Remastered project is coming to Switch, and only Switch, in the near future.

Although the previous PC, PS4 and Xbox One platforms are still in play the publisher deferred those editions to a later date, with the Switch port launching on July 23 for $30. So what does it look like? Well, we're finally able to get a glimpse at the Switch edition in the video below, thanks to a tweet from the official Crysis account.

The video showcases the "improved destructible environments and vegetation bending features," and boasts that gameplay was "captured directly from Nintendo Switch." I'm definitely going to need some hands-on accounts for this one, folks.

City Connection is spoiling shmup fans with a marvelous array of genre classics, currently spilling out all over the Steam platform. Having released Samurai Aces III: Sengoku Cannon just yesterday, the publisher is already queuing up the great Psikyo release Dragon Blaze, which will launch on July 30.

Originally released in 2000, during the height of the shmup renaissance, Dragon Blaze is a fantasy-themed, vertically scrolling affair that allows one or two players to choose one of four brave dragon riders before taking to the skies for a bout of bullet-dodging mayhem. A fun feature allows the player to dismount their dragon for brief periods, with the mighty beast shooting ahead to deliver devastating, wave-clearing special attacks. Dragon Blaze is a visually splendid title, well worth checking out.

You can preview the arcade action in the video below, courtesy of YouTuber STG Archive:

Throughout the past several years, Zelda: Breath of the Wild players have learned some hard lessons. Things like "don't get too close to dragons" or "don't play with rocks next to a family of wolves." Now, Reddit's brenrob has a lot of time to reflect on why you should never roam around any Zelda game with less than one heart left.

Sharing their recent conquest on reddit, brenrob noted that it took them "ages" to catch a specific bonus chest in a shrine: smaller micro-dungeons of sorts with various puzzles. But just as they are slowly reeling it in and dump their prize on the ground, the chest has a mind of its own, jumps out, and kills Link dead. It's straight out of Dark Souls: this is Mimic behavior.

For those who are curious, the scene is from the Champion's Ballad DLC, where you're tasked with a quarter of a heart until the challenge is completed. They had no choice!

For a while there, it looked like the future of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater was on hold; or at a bitter end.

The unfortunately-named Tony Hawk 5 was a new low for the series, and left us hanging for nearly five years as we anxiously awaited the fate of this once-beloved franchise. Just a few months ago, Tony Hawk let us in on 2020's worst-kept secret: Vicarious Visions and Activision were creating a remaster of the first two games called Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2.

Due out in September on PC, PS4 and Xbox One, the revival bundles together the two classic entries, with tons of input from Hawk himself and several other skaters. Based on a statement he's made in the latest issue of Game Informer however, he doesn't want to stop there.

Speaking to the magazine, Hawk says "this is just the start...with that baseline we're hopefully going to be able to help remaster other titles, Pro Skater 3 and 4 even, and start to work on a new direction. That's ultimately the goal for me." Naturally, money talks (especially with Activision), so this project would have to sell before that happened.

Something tells me though that Vicarious Visions knows what they're doing and folks have been hungry for a "knock it out of the park good" Tony Hawk game since...THUG 2? Some would say THUG 1? So if the quality is there (and that "baseline" Hawk mentions is a workable physics system), the fanbase will follow.

Tony Hawk [Game Informer]

The last couple PUBG season updates have hinged upon fixing what was broken. In Season 7, PUBG Corp took a hard objective look at what was wrong with the snow-covered Vikendi map. It was the map players would insta-leave the lobby whenever they were randomly placed into it. After the Season 7 update, Vikendi is a much better experience, joining the ranks of Erangel and Karakin as maps most people actually want to play.

It's the same idea for Season 8, just more tropical than tundra. Sanhok is the obvious odd man out at this point and PUBG Corp is giving it a facelift. Update 8.1 represents a near-complete reworking of Sanhok, as most locations have been revamped with "extensive design and art upgrades." There are new locations too, like a tourism town labeled "Getaway" and a bootcamp called "Airfield."

The Sanhok Remaster brings some new and fun ideas into the fold too. The major addition is self-driving loot trucks that carry cargo around the roads of Sanhok. Putting damage into the trucks causes them to drop loot (it doesn't need to make sense), so players have to gauge the risk/reward of firing on a truck and giving away their location. Fully destroying a truck results in the best loot being dropped, including "confiscated weapons" which are the first PUBG firearms ever to come with attachments pre-installed.

It seems as though PUBG Corp is finally making good on the idea of fire traps too. Originally planned for an earlier update (and never really fully realized), players will be able to pour gas on the ground to ambush their enemies with a sudden inferno. Gas cans will be throwable items too, like giant molotov cocktails that need a single bullet to spark.

In today's contest you can win a physical copy of The Wonderful 101: Remastered for Switch or PS4!

Depending on your perspective, games once exclusive to the ill-fated Wii U are now being remastered and re-released for modern consoles. As someone who didn't have Nintendo's baffling-but-cool system, it's a good thing that I get to play stuff I would have never caught in the first place!

The Wonderful 101 is one of those games that deserved a wider audience, and now that it's remastered for Switch and PS4, it'll get it! We've got physical copies of each to give away, so win away, kids.

So, the Watch Dogs 2 giveaway didn't go to plan yesterday. Ubisoft's login system was overwhelmed by traffic during the Ubisoft Forward stream, so no one could claim their free copy of Watch Dogs 2. You know that can't be the end of the story.

As a makegood, Ubisoft is extending the promotion until July 15 at 11:59 Pacific. That's right -- you have more than two full days to nab Watch Dogs 2 for free through Uplay on PC. That's a lot more generous than the initial window of "Sign in during the Ubisoft Forward stream" which was only 45 minutes long.

The registration process is simple. Visit this page, click that registration link, and sign in. If you're having trouble remembering your login, there's a chance that your Uplay account is tied to your PlayStation Network ID or Xbox Live.

Anyway, Watch Dogs 2 got a lot of love back in 2016 as a sequel that vastly improved upon the original in a lot of ways. If you're in the mood for an open-world Ubisoft game right now -- and that's 100 percent the sort of thing that sounds either very desirable or very not-desirable depending on your tastes -- this might be the deal for you. If you're particularly enamored, maybe it'll get you all geared up to take back London this fall.

Ubisoft Forward Rewards [Ubisoft Support]

August 18 feels like a sooner-than-expected release date for Microsoft Flight Simulator given all the recent tests, but Asobo Studio is confident enough to lock it in and open pre-orders for the PC version.

Plenty of folks will stick to Xbox Game Pass – the standard edition of Microsoft Flight Simulator will be playable with the PC subscription service at no extra charge – but hardcore fans have more to consider.

Apart from the $60 base version, Asobo is also selling a $90 Deluxe Edition and $120 Premium Deluxe Edition. You better believe there's a big "here's what you get" image to go along with that sticker shock. In short, the more you spend, the more "handcrafted" airports and planes you'll get to experience.

• Standard: "20 highly detailed planes with unique flight models and 30 handcrafted airports."
• Deluxe: "five additional highly accurate planes with unique flight models and five additional handcrafted international airports."
• Premium Deluxe: 10 additional highly accurate planes with unique flight models and 10 additional handcrafted international airports."

To break things down, Microsoft Flight Simulator has "more than 37,000 airports" thanks to Bing Maps data, but some of them – the airports touted in these three editions – have an extra personal touch.

After being rudderless for three years, this ship's changing course. Ubisoft, unhappy with the way Skull & Bones has been unable to forge its own unique identity, has significantly altered the naval warfare game.

According to a report from Video Games Chronicle, development on Skull & Bones has been rebooted so that Ubisoft Singapore can step back and try a new approach. Rather than pursue the $60 triple-A model, Ubisoft has instructed the developer to go after the "games as a service" angle.

This live service approach was inspired by Fortnite's social events and live storytelling. Ubisoft now wants to create a game with a persistent world where the narrative moves over time. It sounds as though the idea is to turn Skull & Bones into an MMO of sorts. VGC specifically mentions "game world, quests, characters, and story" as components of this revised Skull & Bones.

It's not surprising that Skull & Bones was unable to carve its own position among Ubisoft's games considering its one-line description is "Just the sailing stuff from the pirate Assassin's Creed." This new take seems more akin to a gritty Sea of Thieves or something along those lines. We probably won't find out in short order. Ubisoft hasn't been shy about delaying Skull & Bones in the past, so it's clearly not going to rush the game out before it's ready. All those other years of development? Call it a sunk cost.

Ubisoft has rebooted Skull & Bones [Video Games Chronicle]

It's a wonderful thought to picture new players falling in love with the Yakuza series on Xbox One.

The next game on the list, Yakuza Kiwami 2, is a major milestone – and it's launching real soon. Sega is bringing Yakuza Kiwami 2 to Xbox One, Windows 10, and Xbox Game Pass on July 30, 2020.

If you aren't going the subscription route, you can buy the game for $19.99.

The story – a tale of impending "all-out war," eternally retold – kept my attention the whole way through with a compelling antagonist (the fun-to-hate Dragon of Kansai, Ryuji Goda). The more modern Dragon Engine took me a bit, but once it clicked, I felt even more immersed in this wacky underworld.

If you missed this dramatic, silly, endearing-as-hell street-brawling saga in its original form and you've only recently gotten into the series starting with Yakuza 0, hang in there and pace yourself. Everyone has their personal ranking and every game has pros and cons (especially when we're talking about the remakes), but I'll say this much: Yakuza Kiwami 2 is an all-around better package than Kiwami 1.

How many games let you deck a tiger in the face mid-jump? Not nearly enough.

_{[Image credit]}

I have watched the Far Cry 6 "Pull the pin but hold the handle" grenade trailer a few times now, and I am confident stating that I'm officially keyed up for this game. Far Cry is a series that goes as its villains do, and Giancarlo Esposito has the chops to be an all-timer. Hell, he already does it on TV.

But there's a lot more to be excited about and these screenshots highlight it all. This will be the first Far Cry that prominently features urban scenarios. That's kinda weird, right?! Every other Far Cry game is an excuse to trek through the wilderness, whether that be a jungle or the Himalayans or the Montana countryside. Actually fighting inside a city -- not just an outpost but a proper city -- is going to feel borderline antithetical to Far Cry. It'll be a big change.

Also, modeling the setting after Cuba is an inspired choice. It has those Far Cry 3 tropical vibes while also depicting a country that's technologically stuck in the 50s and 60s because of the trade embargo. We don't know when Far Cry 6 takes place, but it's crazy seeing those old cars with all the sharp angles.

Last but not least, we have a wheelchair-bound Dachshund. His name is Chorizo and Ubisoft says he's "as cute as he is lethal." I have a hard time buying it -- but in for a penny, in for a pound. Chorizo the deadly cuddle monster.

Check out all the screenshots in the gallery below. It'll help pass the time while waiting for Esposito's next captivating monologue.

In a surprising turn of events, Naughty Dog's The Last of Us Part II has been knocked off of the top of the UK Charts by F1 2020. As reported by GamesIndustry.biz, the latest entry in Codemasters' annual Formula 1 racing series saw its biggest launch since 2017, with physical sales up over 20% of previous series entry F1 2019.

While not perhaps the most globally successful of sporting franchises, the F1 series is particularly popular in the UK, enough so to knock the mega-selling Last of Us sequel of its perch, for now at any rate. Naughty Dog's grim third-person adventure now sits at number three, just behind Nintendo's cutesy life-sim Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

Elsewhere in the charts, Harvest Moon remake Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town debuted at a disappointing number 21. The niche farming title caters to a small-but-devoted fan following, and will likely see the majority of its sales through the Nintendo eShop. The UK has also reignited its love for Crash Bandicoot, as Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy hits the Top Ten once again, bouncing from number 18 to number 10.

This week sees the launch of Sony's samurai epic Ghost of Tsushima, which seems almost guaranteed to take the top spot come Monday. For now, however, the day belongs to Codemasters.

Babylon's Fall is one of those names that doesn't come up enough in conversation, but don't take that as a sign of disinterest or insurmountable development hurdles – Platinum has just been quiet lately.

After catching a glimpse of the knight-slashing action game in a December 2019 State of Play presentation, we have a status update: Babylon's Fall isn't canceled or delayed further (yet).

As the team shared on Twitter, "While we had hoped to reveal more about the game this summer, we can share that development of Babylon's Fall is continuing to progress well, with the team working safely from home. Square Enix and Platinum Games are committed to delivering an exhilarating experience and we look forward to showcasing much more on Babylon's Fall to you as soon as we can."

It's easy to overlook this game since we've seen so little of it and Bayonetta 3 is occupying so much headspace, but I like the vaguely Devil May Cry-meets-Souls aesthetic the gameplay trailer gave off.

Next time, I'd expect to see a much more significant showcase, and I'm ready for it.

Babylon's Fall [Twitter]

XSEED Games has announced that its period tale of farmin' and fightin' Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin, will be receiving a physical launch on PS4 and Nintendo Switch later in 2020.

Developed by indie studio Edelweiss, Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin is a spiritual adventure that sees the titular young Goddess of Harvest attempt to cultivate crops for a meager town and its people, while simultaneously fending off demon attacks in side-scrolling platform action. Steeped in Japanese mythology and featuring lavish visuals and character design, Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin looks like its shaping up to be a charming experience.

This past weekend, Ubisoft (who mentioned ahead of time that they weren't going to address their company culture) gave us another "not-E3-but-totally-probably-E3" presentation. It was...technically a presentation.

In this endless summer of marketing, publishers are scrambling to put together 45-minute-to-an-hour streams that seemingly have nothing to say beyond "here's a trailer coming to YouTube," and Ubisoft Forward was perhaps the epitome of that scrappy philosophy. If you weren't impressed though Ubisoft says there's more to come, as company CEO Yves Guillemot noted that there will be another Ubisoft Forward this year that will reveal even more info.

Guillemot declined to elaborate on when that might happen, so "please look forward to it," as they say.

[Update: The NES LEGO set has been confirmed, with the final price set at $229.99 and the kit clocking in at 2646 pieces. It is indeed coming on August 1: you can find the official landing page for it here and the trailer below.]

If LEGO is making a nostalgia grab, you best believe it's doing it right. LEGO's elaborate scenarios always have those extra touches to make them feel complete. And a Nintendo Entertainment System all by its lonesome is kind of useless.

As the next set in the partnership between Nintendo and LEGO, the two companies are looking toward iconic hardware rather than more gaming franchises. A LEGO NES set is on the horizon, which will have builders assembling both the NES and a CRT television.

Blizzard is getting ready to launch a new Overwatch music collection with "Cities and Countries" album, and who better to usher in that initiative than Sigma: the musically inclined hero.

Billed as a soundtrack "featuring the themes from Overwatch maps and missions," it'll be available to both purchase and stream. Given that the score is one of the best parts of the game, I wholeheartedly approve. Another facet of the promotion involves something "tangible" in-game as well: the Sigma Maestro Challenge, which kicks off tomorrow.

Although details on the event are scarce, it'll probably be in line with past micro-events, with a new Sigma skin (above) as a reward at the end of the tunnel. Although a lot of people are simply waiting for Overwatch 2, these kinds of mini thematic things pull me back in from time to time (mostly on Switch, where I can kick it with a few games casually in bed).

Overwatch [Twitter]

During yesterday's Ubisoft Forward presentation, fans of the Splinter Cell franchise once again walked away empty-handed. The only reference made to the long-dormant stealth series was the appearance of its protagonist, Sam Fisher, in a new trailer for upcoming mobile title Tom Clancy's Elite Squad.

Revealed during Ubisoft's E3 2019 press conference, Elite Squad is a tactical RPG which utilises a roster of stars pulled from various Ubisoft franchises. Alongside Mr. Fisher, Elite Squad boasts stars such as The Division's Megan, Ghost Recon's Nomad and Weaver, and Rainbow Six Siege's Montagne and Caveira. In the new trailer, some of these trigger-happy maniacs were seen rescuing - of all people - El Sueno, antagonist of Ghost Recon: Wildlands. Sueno is a real bad dude, so Sam better know what he's doing.

Every so often Nintendo decides it's time to move over into the new era: as evidenced by their hella-late Switch Online service. This week it's an Instagram account: which your kid would totally make fun of you for just joining in 2020 (God mom it's all about TikTok now). 

Nintendo done did it last night, posting a cute little slideshow montage of Twiggy the bird. The fact that this simple post caught on fire instantly is proof positive of how insatiable Nintendo fans are for anything content-related, as it blew up the official account to 100,000+-ish followers in just eight hours.

While New Horizons is the hotness right now, the account is titled "Animal Crossing Official," so expect it to live on for a while, possibly into the next iteration: or even cover previous entries. Follow it if you're into the series!

The Hollywood newshounds over at Deadline are reporting that the Sony's big-screen adaptation of Capcom's blockbuster franchise Monster Hunter has fallen afoul of expected circumstances, and has had its release date pushed back to spring 2021.

Monster Hunter was originally scheduled for release on September 4, but production and distribution delays caused by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic - not to mention the ongoing shutdown of cinemas worldwide - has led Sony to postpone the film's launch. Monster Hunter joins a long list of films, including 007 adventure No Time to Die, Marvel's Black Widow, and horror sequel Halloween Kills, to have its release pushed way back from the original due date.

Monster Hunter, directed by Paul W.S. Anderson, will tell the story of Lt. Artemis (Milla Jovovich) and her squad of spec-ops soldiers, who are thrust into an alternate universe filled with giant beasts, strange locations, and bizarre weaponry. Martial-arts master Tony Jaa also stars as a denizen of this weird world, who teaches Artemis the way of the hunter.

Monster Hunter will now launch in theatres April 23, 2021.

Milla Jovovich fantasy actioner Monster Hunter moves to 2021 [Deadline]

Developer GungHo Online Entertainment has announced that its free-to-play arena-shooter Ninjala has already surpassed a whopping three million downloads since its launch on Nintendo Switch just three weeks ago.

At this point the "Smash Invitations," which are merely letters with the Super Smash Bros. seal on them to signify that a character has been "invited" to serve as paid DLC, are ubiquitous with the Nintendo brand.

The publisher even emblazoned the letter-logo on gift cards back when the first Fighters (Season) Pass was being peddled, and a lot of arts and crafts-gifted folks have taken to making their own sets. Now you don't have to do any work: so long as you have a Japanese My Nintendo account and 400 Platinum ready to go.

Announced on the official Japanese Smash Bros. account, the letter set is now a "new My Nintendo gift," which you can purchase for 400 Platinum Points. According to Nintendo the rush to grab them will begin on July 15 in the region, which will no doubt crash the website at some point.

As a note, the set comes with envelopes, seals and letterhead so you can send a real invitation to people if you want. If you have a friend in Japan, ask them to grab one for you! Between this and the European physical gifts recently, the US arm of My Nintendo is looking really glum right now.

Smash Bros. JP [Twitter]

Square Enix has released a new trailer for its upcoming mobile title NieR Re[in]carnation, the latest entry in its haunting and ethereal series of man, monsters, and machines.

The hair-raising trailer offers a glimpse of the new adventure, as mysterious protagonist "The Girl in White" is guided through an intimidating and lonely world by a cute, ghostly presence known only as "Mama." As our young hero makes her way through "The Cage," she will uncover the truth about Mama, her own identity, and the mysterious "Dark Monster" that plagues her footsteps.

In today's contest you can win F1 2020 Deluxe Schumacher Edition for PS4 or Xbox One!

We don't give away a ton of big-budget racing games for some reason. I guess we should probably fix that, huh?

F1 2020 just dropped, and we've got digital copies of the Deluxe Schumacher Edition to give away. That's $70 worth of game, all for the price of free!

I'm back on my stupid-games-involving-animals bullshit, y'all. As a note to game developers, if you put alpacas, llamas, or pretty much any animal into a game with little rhyme or reason, there's at least a 60% chance I'm going to cover it.

Austrian developer Salt Castle Studio figured that out. They put alpacas in a party game revolved around soccer, and well, here we are.

Even if Konami has firmly planted itself on the sidelines, it's a darn good time to be a vampire hunter.

Modern Castlevania fans have the IGA-led Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, and classic Castlevania fans have the 8-bit-style Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon. They're both great for different reasons. The former is a satisfying level-grinding power fantasy across a sprawling, secret-filled map. The latter is a single-sitting action-platformer that would've been an ideal rental back in the late '80s or early '90s.

If you've only played one but not the other, you should reconsider. And if you're wondering how much more mileage Inti Creates could possibly get out of its Castlevania III tribute, I have great news.

Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon 2 isn't the kind of modernized retro game you'll tear through once or twice only for it to slip out of sight and out of mind, never to be touched again. Over the weekend, I happily cleared the sequel four times – twice alone, twice in local co-op – and it's still calling my name.

"One more playthrough."

Ending their Ubisoft Forward stream with one of their more promising future releases, Far Cry 6 made its official non-teaser appearance today with a full cinematic trailer. "Cinematic" really is the best way to describe it, as Ubisoft is hyping it up as a feature film of sorts, with no gameplay to speak of at this time.

The new location is Yara, described as a "tropical paradise frozen in time," and will deal with youngster Diego (revealed to be played by Anthony Gonzalez of Pixar's Coco fame) and his dictator father Anton Castillo (Esposito). No word on if Diego is going to grow up to be Vaas...yet! You can also play as a man or a woman protagonist, which will put you in the shoes of the cleverly named "Dani Rojas."

It's out on February 18, 2021 on PC (Epic Games Store/Uplay), PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One and Xbox Series X. Oh, and you can buy a collector's edition with a (non working!) flamethrower.

Far Cry 6 [Ubisoft]

We've known about Assassin's Creed Valhalla for quite some time, but during the Ubisoft Forward stream, fans finally got a real look at what the game will look like when it launches. Spoiler alert, it's looks like Assassin's Creed with some dope-ass beards. During the presentation, it was promised Valhalla will have the most enemy types of any Assassin's Creed game and will have a new stun system to help you out in battle. When you're not fighting, you can be constructing your new hometown as these vikings set to establish a new life in Britain.

Following the stream, Ubisoft hosted a 30-minute gameplay demo, which you can watch below.

During today's Ubisoft Forward presentation, the publisher offered more info on its multiplayer shooter Hyper Scape, which is now available in Open Beta on PC.

In 2054, the planet is plagued by a bounty of technology but very little in the way of happiness or resources. To keep the populace of cramped mega-cities distracted and entertained, the virtual world "Hyper Scape" is created, offering citizens explosive multiplayer action and fast-paced adventure with the promise of fame and prizes. But does Prisma - the mega-corporation behind Hyper Scape's creation - have a sinister motive behind the spreading obsession with this virtual past-time?

Ubisoft is mostly known for one type of game: the open-world action game, usually a shooter. Not a lot of people associate Ubisoft with fighters.

Well, Brawlhalla is still going strong and coming to some new platforms within the next month. As part of today's Ubisoft Forward stream, it was announced that Brawlhalla is launching on iOS and Android devices on August 6.

Brawlhalla originally launched on PC and PS4 in 2017, and then on Switch and Xbox One in 2018. Ubisoft says that the mobile versions will have cross-play with everyone, so Brawlhalla is seemingly mixing all of its platforms into the same userbase.

If you're interested, you can register ahead of time right here.

Today on the Ubisoft Forward livestream, the publisher gave us another glimpse at Watch Dogs: Legion while completely sidestepping their current from-the-top-down executive meltdown (maybe they'll address it later?). Oh, and kicking off your stream with a misuse of a Holocaust poem which can only amount to a yikes from me dog.

You can watch the "gameplay overview trailer" below,  which shows a lot of stuff we already knew and has taken up roughly 15 minutes of this stream. It's out on October 29 of this year, and coming to PS5 and Xbox Series X at some point.

#BringBackAishaTyler pretty much sums up my thoughts on Ubisoft Forward thus far.

[Update: Ubisoft Forward is starting, and the promo is now live! Note that Uplay is down today periodically, but Ubisoft says everyone will be getting the reward.]

Ubisoft is hosting its not-E3 stream on Sunday, July 12, and if you show up, you can snag a free PC copy of Watch Dogs 2. You'll need a Uplay account – and there's a limited window – but that's the deal.

As noted in this blog post, viewers will need to tune into the Ubisoft Forward presentation starting at noon Pacific while logged into their Uplay account. Keep in mind, there's going to be a pre-show segment earlier that morning, so if you hop on and you see Trackmania, you're too early for Watch Dogs 2. If they're recapping the announcements in the post-show (starting at 12:45 p.m.), you're too late.

Is this freebie worth the trouble? For some people, definitely. It's a good sequel. It's still an open-world Ubisoft title – something you may not be down for in 2020 – but it's one of the better ones, I'd say.

As for the Ubisoft Forward stream, I can't say we're thrilled about the Sunday time slot.

One of the most pioneering shmups of all time is ready to jet off on Nintendo Switch this week, as Konami classic Gradius joins the bulging Arcade Archives range.

Originally launched in arcades in 1985, before eventually being ported to numerous home formats, Gradius is one of the best-known and most beloved brands in the shmup genre. Players jump into the cockpit of starfighting vessel Vic Viper, before blasting off into battle against waves of intergalactic invaders, gathering speed boosts and cycling through a range unique weapons while taking down bad guys and a run of intimidating bosses.

Destroy the Core!

Never in a million years would I have thought that Deadly Premonition would get a sequel — or that I'd get to review it.

Here we go.

Its been almost four months since Animal Crossing: New Horizons was released and while some of you might still be playing diligently each day, my attention for the game has started to wane. Add to this the fact that some people are starting to go back to work and the amount of time that you have to fish, hunt, or do anything in the game might be limited.

Wouldn't it be nice if you could know exactly when your island is going to see rain storms or a meteor shower so you can plan ahead? Here comes MeteoNook to prove that the Animal Crossing community continues to be the most hardcore out there, despite the object of their love being one of the most calming games on the surface.

So how does it work? It requires a bit of effort on your part wherein you report what types of weather you've been having over the course of a few days, as well as times that you have seen shooting stars. It works best with the meteor showers as apparently even during heavy meteor showers, there are minute gaps that help to best determine your weather seed. Earlier this week when I got my first heavy meteor shower in what seems like months, I took an hour, put on a podcast, and wrote down the exact minutes that I saw shooting stars.

With the times recorded and a few weather observations, all you have to do is enter the timeslot that you saw meteors in, then the website will calculate the gaps and go about searching their database for your seed. According to Ash Wolf, the creator and programmer of MeteoNook, there are over two billion possible seeds, so it's always good to have more data to narrow down your specific seed.

Despite any faults it might have, one thing I cannot say about Ninjala is that it lacks passion. This game has more heart than a Time Lord, and it's easy to see how much affection went into creating it. You see it in the characters, the art, the stages, the music, the weapons, and the lore. Nothing about this gives the impression the developers weren't giving it their all to create a game where players can invest themselves in more than just the gameplay.

And that's for the best because the actual gameplay of Ninjala might be the most divisive thing about it.

We're giving away premium content keys to celebrate two years of Darkness Rises!

I haven't managed to string together two consecutive years of pretty much any activity in my life, so when a mobile game hits two years of being in service it's pretty impressive.

That's exactly what Darkness Rises did, and to celebrate that feat we're giving away premium content packs for players to get an edge up on the demonic hordes.

Cblogs Recap: Week 28

-Nior continues exploring the gaming culture in Brazil and features Dandara in this blog; a Brazilian-made metroidvania that I am coincidentally playing and enjoying right now.

-Sapato64 made his first YouTube video game show.

-Black Red Gaming reviews Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order on PC.

-Lord Spencer reviews Silhouette Mirage as part of his PS1 REVIEWS blogging series.

-Lord Spencer reports on the 90-81 selection on the top 100 PS1 games list of Retro Sanctuary as part of his PS1 REVIEWS blogging series.

-HyperbolebyDefault reviews Ori and the Will of the Wisps on PC.

-Taterchimp reviews TROUBLESHOOTER: Abandoned Children, and then continues to gush about it here.

-Flegma analyzes the Bihano water purification plant sidequest in Xenoblade Chronicles X.

-JoLoBird reviews The Last of Us Part II in a spoiler-heavy review.

-BRAVO F1VE reviews The Last of Us Part II in a more negative turn.

-RiffRaff shares with his journal notes on The Last of Us Part II.

The Future's Future is fucking ghost.

During today's Devolver Direct presentation, PR Queen Nina Struthers regained control of the universe as we know it, throwing off the shackles of marketing madwoman "Linda" and finally putting an end to the consumer-consuming concept of The Future's Future.

In a star-studded presentation that included SIE's Shuhei Yoshida, Xbox's Phil Spencer, Geoff Keighley, FGC megastar SonicFox, Geralt of Rivia's bathtub, and My Uncle who Works at Nintendo, Devolver delivered what could be the climactic chapter of its arc of chaotic summer presentations. The conspiracy-filled storyline saw the indie publisher's head honchos finally rise up against the hype-hungry Linda, ultimately freeing Nina Struthers and allowing her to regain control of not just The Future's Future... but The Future.

I absolutely loved it. Great work all-round by the entire crew, especially given the production difficulties, (caused by the COVID-19 pandemic), that led to the presentation's initial delay. Oh, and shout-outs to the lil' Quantum Leap handheld device. I miss Ziggy.

Oh yeah, Devolver also showed off some video games. You can read all about them below:

A few weeks ago during the New Game+ Expo, Suda51, developer of the highly anticipated No More Heroes 3, gave everyone a new look at the upcoming game, but proceeded to block most of it with his melon. Well, during today's annual "Devolver Digital Game-Marketing-Is-A-Joke-But-Please-Follow-Us-On-Social-Media-And-Here-Are-Some-Press-Releases-Please-Write-About-Our-Games" showcase, Suda51 was back at it again, this time giving fans just the briefest of looks at Motel No More Heroes.