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Creature in the Well, the Breakout-with-swords action game from Flight School Studio, is rounding out its release list with one more port. The PlayStation 4 version launches on March 31, 2020.

If you're someone with a penchant for video games inspired by pinball, it's worth a look.

We liked this game! CJ gave the Switch edition an eight out of ten. While he saw some room for improvement – issues with difficulty pacing and repetition stood out – CJ got a kick out of the world.

"Its prodigious art direction is enticing, wooing players into a unique puzzle game that very much feels like a history lesson on the medium itself. It combines ideas and concepts found throughout gaming into a single, dynamic experience with a memorable antagonist eerily watching your every move."

Apart from the incoming PS4 release, Creature in the Well is also available on Steam, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox One (those versions launched last September). It costs $14.99 on all platforms.

Flight Studio is also coming out with a digital art book and soundtrack on Steam (check back on March 31), and iam8bit is putting together physical copies of Creature in the Well on Switch and PS4. "More details will be unveiled in the coming weeks," but you can expect art cards and fancier box art.

For a peek at the behind-the-scenes artwork, hit up our gallery.

Microids has announced a physical edition for the recent Switch release of Xbox actioner Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath HD. Already available to purchase digitally on the Nintendo platform, hard-copy fans will be able to pick the boxed release in May.

Stranger's Wrath HD will be available as a standard release and also in Limited Edition form. The latter contains a copy of the game in a lenticular box with exclusive artwork, a set of stickers - which is apparently becoming de riguer for all limited editions these days - and a cute keychain of Oddworld's "Fuzzles."

Despite my overall indifference to the number of television shows and movies finding their inspiration in entertainment from the '80s, I'll never grow tired of the neon laser art direction that broke big during the decade. Give me some Broadway D typeface in neon pink, a solid white Italian blazer with no vent, and polarized sport sunglasses and I'm in heaven.

That Miami Vice meets Tron chic just can't be beaten and every time I see the glow of the channel lettering at the check-cashing shop downtown, I can't help but wonder why Ubisoft hasn't ported Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon to Switch. The aesthetic is killer and it's what you'll see in the two games featured in this week's Mobile Monday.

Qureate's eyebrow-arching puzzle adventure Prison Princess will be arriving on PC via Steam next month, following its original Nintendo Switch release back in January.

Prison Princess' plot (which you play it for) tells the story of two glorious kingdoms, Aria Zaza and Zanji Zard, both of which have had their fair princesses kidnapped by the evil Demon King. The player takes up the role of a noble and brave hero, tasked with saving the gals. Unfortunately, you were evidently shit at it and got yourself killed. Way to go.

Your quest to free the damsels does not end there, however. Now a ghostly wanderer, you sneak into the dark dungeons of the Demon King to find the gentle, soft Aria and the fiery-tempered Zena (TROPES!) shackled away in the dingy bowels of the castle. From there, you must guide both girls to safety, using a point-and-click interface to negotiate the castle and solve a series of tricky logic puzzles.

Although folks started experimenting with Shaggy mods in Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice late last year, this recent video from JustTrevor cleverly mixes together a string of odd mods and creates a sort of story video for the Scooby gang member.

Complete with a cartoon intro, Shaggy is zapped with a laser and transported into the world of Sekiro, where he wields a baguette weapon with grace. JustTrevor's video shows off the serpent sequence (with a swapped Thomas the Tank engine model), a Chained Ogre fight (swapped with Shrek) and a few boss battles (the intro and Shigenori Yamauchi).

For me this is the game that keeps on giving, alongside of pretty much every recent From Software joint and Zelda: Breath of the Wild. It's something I can go back to at any point get comfortable with. Nioh 2 recently joined those ranks!

We've been reporting on the worldwide shortages of Ring Fit Adventure for months now, but it seems like demand has hit an all-time high due to the "social distancing" suggestion as a way to help combat the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. In other words, exercising at home is the only option for a lot of quarantined countries.

Stock is so low now that even the US has been impacted, and Nintendo has confirmed to Polygon directly that "the Ring Fit Adventure game is selling out at various retail locations in the Americas...we are working to provide more units as soon as possible and apologize for any inconvenience." It's not just demand that's being impacted by COVID-19, but potentially, future supply.

Having picked the game up at launch, I'm more than happy with it, especially given the current situation. If you do own a Switch and manage to come across one, it might be worth a shot. It's gotten so popular that it was just featured in Super Smash Bros., and our own community has been sharing their success stories.

Capcom has announced that the previously teased demo for its incoming Resident Evil 3 remake will launch Thursday, March 19 on PS4, PC and Xbox One.

The demo will give all fans the opportunity to check out the re-imagined Raccoon City, currently laid to waste by the outbreak of the T-Virus. As Resident Evil alumni Jill Valentine, players will pick their way through the debris, while ducking, diving and destroying hordes of grim creatures, all out for Ms. Valentine's blood.

The demo will also feature an exclusive "Scavenger Hunt" challenge, tasking players to find and destroy 20 hidden "Mr. Charlie" statues, dotted in and around the environment. Just try not to get your face eaten whilst you're at it, yeah? Capcom also noted that Resident Evil 3's multiplayer element, Resistance, will be getting a beta on all platforms March 27.

Resident Evil 3 launches April 3 on PS4, PC, and Xbox One.

Nintendo has announced that it will be hosting an Indie World Showcase live stream Tuesday, March 17. The showcase will be 20 minutes long and will offer up a look at some of the best and brightest indie titles headed to the Switch platform.

The live stream will take place at 10:00 PT / 13:00 ET / 17:00 BST. You can get in on the action via the YouTube embed below, on Nintendo's website, or over on its official Twitch channel. But wouldn't you rather watch it here with us?... Well?... WOULDN'T YOU?

No titles or reveals have been officially announced for the stream as of yet, so I guess you'll have to do some guessing and wishlisting yourselves in the comments.

There's just no slowing down Monster Hunter: World from its continued success. Already the best-selling Capcom release of all time, the publisher has also announced that its 2019 expansion Iceborne has just passed the five million sales mark.

Released back in September on PS4 and Xbox One, before arriving on PC a little later in January, Iceborne adds snowy tundras, new gear and monstrous new prey to the already expansive Monster Hunter: World map. Bringing devastating creatures such as the Stygian Zinogre, Furious Rajang and Safi'jiiva, Iceborne is a true test of even the most hardened hunter's abilities. And given its frosty aesthetic, it also made a snug fit for crossovers with Guerilla Games' Horizon Zero Dawn.

[Update: The official Gamescom Twitter account provided another update as of March 16, noting that the convention will still go ahead as planned, but officials are monitoring the situation. Right now a Cologne city decree has banned major events up through April 10, but with Gamescom taking place in August, it is not currently impacted. Unless of course, the situation worsens, and the ban and extended.]

With so many other events on hold, "looking into situations," or outright canceled, it would stand to reason that Gamescom would provide a similar statement: not so. According to the official Gamescom Twitter account as of just yesterday, the event is still happening and will actually be quite massive.

There is no air of the coronavirus (COVID-19) in any of their messaging, as the account has simply shared its initial exhibitors from the rooftops. The big ones are Microsoft and Nintendo, who will be attending without Sony (so far). Other major publishers like EA, Ubisoft and Sega will also be there alongside of hardware manufacturers like Corsair and Samsung. It's going to be a big one!

Microsoft is pulling the curtain back even further on the Xbox Series X, in this extreme cold war that is the next generational reveal.

As of now, we do not have full launch and pricing info for the Xbox Series X or the PS5, which have been hit hard by factory shutdowns due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) concern. Both hardware manufacturers have been mum on whether or not their new consoles will even hit their projected holiday 2020 targets, but for now, we have shiny new specs to look at: at least as far as the Xbox Series X is concerned.

Unveiled by way of their official blog, Microsoft notes that the Series X is rocking 8x Cores @ 3.8 GHz (3.66 GHz w/ SMT) Custom Zen 2 CPU, with a 12 TFLOPS, 52 CUs @ 1.825 GHz Custom RDNA 2 GPU. It also sports 16GB GDDR6 memory, with 1TB of internal SSD storage (a bit low, don't you think, but expected), with a 1TB expansion card (Seagate is now revealing theirs) and USB 3.2 external HDD support. It also has a 4K UHD Blu-Ray Drive (so optical is still in as expected, despite many PCs jettisoning it), with a "performance target" of 4K at 60FPS, "up to 120FPS."

Remedy has released both a new trailer and further details regarding The Foundation, the first DLC expansion for its stylish and weird adventure Control. The Foundation will launch on PS4 and PC March 26, but unfortunately Xbox One players will have to wait until June 25 to get in on the action.

The Foundation takes place immediately following the events of special agent Jesse Faden trippy day at the office. Still on the case, Faden continues the search for Helen Marshall, the M.I.A. Control Head of Operations. As she pushes through this weird new bridge to the Astral Plane, Jesse will encounter new threats such as the terrifying Sharpened Hiss, utilise brand new skills such as the Shape and Shield Rush abilities, and seek out further answers to the wild events that plague The Oldest House.

_{[If there are games that haven't gotten new entries in years, seemingly disappearing from the zeitgeist, and wasting their potential, Lord Spencer has probably played them. Arc the Lad has always been that game in the periphery as I went on playing my usual rotation of games. But I am reminded now, in the godforsaken year of 2020, that I haven't seen an Arc the Lad in years. Where the hell is Arc the Lad? ~Marcel]}

Coming into the console market as a new player, Sony knew they had to cover all bases, especially regarding the RPG genre that is heavily favored by the audience in Japan. As such, they had three major RPG game releases in their first year, all published by their video game wing. One was Wild Arms (Where the Hell is Wild Arms?), another was PoPoLoCrois, a one-off game. Both games were turn-based JRPGs.

_{[Following last week's awesome news that Nightdive Studios is remastering the 1997 Blade Runner video game, here's Destructoid's previous look at Westwood's underplayed point-and-click classic. Originally published in October 2017.]}

In the wake of Denis Villeneuve's astounding sequel, Blade Runner 2049, people are once again speaking in excited tones about the potential for a new Blade Runner video game experience.

I remember back around 2010, when some mysterious art was leaked for an alleged "in the works" game based on Ridley Scott's original sci-fi classic. Sadly though, nothing came of this. Thus, fans got sad and went back to their hopes and dreams of unicorns, wishing that a dedicated and faithful recreation of Los Angeles 2019 would one day surface.

But, this has already happened, albeit twenty long years ago.

How do you make a game about a character that's literally invincible and unbeatable?

It's a problem everyone that's thought about making something about Superman has had to face, and it's a problem that Spike Chunsoft is also saddled with. They've made a game based on One Punch Man, a manga whose main character, a bald fellow named Saitama, is so strong that every fight he's ever been in, be it against muggers, gods, or rogue meteors, has ended in a single blow. 

It's not much of a stretch to say that a fighting game where one character is - by design - literally impossible to beat wouldn't be very much fun to play. And yet to somehow power Saitama down would be an even bigger betrayal of the source material.

What does one do?

It's been a slow trickle since its initial release back in November, but the end is here. The final DLC pack for SD Gundam G Generation Cross Ray was released this week. Containing many fan favorites such as God Gundam and Domon Kasshu, it marks the end of the road for one of the better Gundam games to release this generation.

You can check out the trailer for the final DLC group below.

Ori and the Will of the Wisps is an excellent metroidvania. After Blind Forest, there was no doubt that the followup would be quality. However, like any metroidvania, it's most enjoyable when you're most capable. Unlocking new abilities unlocks new locations, and being able to quickly zoom around the map and dispatch any threat is the ultimate reward.

A lot of this is found along Ori and the Will of the Wisps' critical path, earning essential abilities to deal with that area's theme. But, there are a couple other ways of bettering Ori. One character sells combat skills, and another sells Spirit Shards and upgrades to those shards. Buying all of it is very expensive though. (There's also Lupo, the map salesman, who gives you the option to purchase the locations of all the major collectibles.)

For anyone who wants to make short work of buying all these upgrades, there's a fantastic place to quickly farm all the Spirit Light (Ori and the Will of the Wisps' currency) needed to nab everything -- provided you have the shards to make it worth your time. It's in Baur's Reach, just a freefall away from the area's only fast travel spot. Here's where it is on the map:

The cliched "games are art" discussion is bound to cause eye-rolling in 2020, but Ori and the Blind Forest feels like one of those examples that's just unanimously celebrated.

Much like a well-animated Don Bluth film, Ori still holds up today both in terms of theme and aesthetic value, and that's to say nothing of the strong platformer foundation that Moon Studios built to hold it all together. It's a masterpiece.

And five years later, nearly to the day, they've done it again.

Another day, another gaming event changing things up due to the threat of COVID-19, more widely known as the coronavirus. This time, it's TennoCon, the annual convention about all things Warframe. I was able to go last year and it was a great deal of fun if also incredibly hot and muggy anytime I stepped outside of the convention hall. Summers in London, Canada are not kind to big fellows like me.

Sadly, attending in person won't be an option this year. Developer Digital Extremes announced on the game's website that TennoCon 2020 will be an all-digital event. It will still happen on the originally scheduled date, July 11, and the developers are looking into ways to support local charities even without attendees being physically at the event.

TennoCon goes fully digital [Warframe]

While we still wonder how we managed to convince Nicholas Cage to be the new host of Pregame Discharge, here's what's been happening in video games this past week:

• E3 2020 was canceled!
• Call of Duty: Warzone was released!
• Bethesda showed off gameplay from the upcoming Wastelanders DLC for Fallout 76 and more!

Cblogs Recap: Week 11

- Lord Spencer asks Where the Hell is Arc the Lad? in this retrospective of this series, and an analysis of why it died and how it may come back.

- Yuknuts sheds light on some little-known indie games made for the PS4 in Dreams.

- Damian Quicksilver reviews Rune Factor 4 Special by contrasting it with Stardew Valley.

- Osc continues sharing updates on the progress of his hobby game.

- Kerrik52 reviews Tales of Graces as part of his Traveller in Playtime review series.

- Brady4Jah reviews Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy on the PS4.

- ABowlOfCereal shares his thoughts on ability adjustments he wants to happen for Apex Legends.

- EnigmaticRanger writes about how he thinks violence as gameplay is overused in video games and how he would like different experiences in the AAA space.

- OmegaPhattyAcid shares this guide about the hardware you may want to think about for next-generation PC gaming.

- King 134340 defends the reputation of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword.

It's been a very busy week for epic brawler One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4. Fresh off the trailer for Cavendish and the news that Eustass Kid is getting ready to rumble, Bandai Namco has dropped another character trailer, introducing the wild-eyed and sharp-fanged Bartolomeo to the sequel's mammoth roster.

Bartolomeo is the Captain of the Barto Club, and a strong - if wild - ally to protagonist Luffy. Utterly nihilistic in nature, Bartolomeo cares little for the world around him as much as his own reputation within it. Despite his loyalty to the Straw Hats, Bartolomeo is an unpredictable and vulgar pirate, ranked number one on the "Pirates We Most Wish Would Disappear" list. Regardless, "The Man Eater" has proven his respect and support of Luffy and his gang on numerous occasions.

As noted in the short trailer below, Bartolomeo is a master of creating "barriers," which can be used for both offensive and defensive purposes. By insulting and provoking his enemies, Bartolomeo is able to further increase his own strength and abilities.

The week's Arcade Archives release from publisher Hamster may not be one of the most successful coin-op releases, but it's certainly one of the most intriguing, as Taito's Japan-centric shmup KiKi KaiKai returns on Nintendo Switch.

Released in arcades way back in 1986, KiKi KaiKai is a top-down shooter set in feudal Japan, and sees a young shrine maiden, "Sayo-chan," bravely battle across the countryside on a quest to save the Seven Lucky Gods - spirited away by a troublesome band of Yokai monsters.

The player guides Sayo-chan through both vertical-and-horizontally scrolling stages, warding off waves of ghosts and demons with her magic scrolls and purification rod, before taking on powerful boss characters. Hidden power-ups can also be found to aid Sayo-chan in her journey. You can check out KiKi KaiKai in action in the trailer below.

The Chalice Dungeons in Bloodborne remind me a lot of the deep sea – I know there's some cool stuff down there, but there's also a bunch of creepy shit, and I'd rather not dwell on it if at all possible.

I get the feeling that most Bloodborne players explored the randomly-generated tombs more than they would've liked. I stuck with them for the platinum trophy, and I don't regret that choice, but I also didn't have a great time down there getting all turned around and beaten to a pulp by vile boss creatures.

This week, I learned about something a bunch of us missed: the exceedingly rare Labyrinth Mole. A Redditor named LFDT posted a screenshot of their Chalice Dungeon find and I had to do a double-take.

[Bloodborne] [Screenshot] Making contact with Labyrinth Mole, the rarest creature in all of Chalice dungeons from r/PS4

If you search for that enemy name, you'll get wiki results. There are multiple videos of the ornery mole, some of which show the strange being swallow players whole in a nasty Bloodborne-as-hell way.

It's not every day I learn something so cool about one of my favorite video games. I need to cherish this.

Growing up with Arc System Works, it's been a treat to see them evolve to the point where they basically run EVO alongside of giants like Capcom and Nintendo.

With humble beginnings as a brawler and platformer developer, Arc crashed onto the fighter scene with Guilty Gear in 1998 and never looked back. As one of the first fighters I started to truly pore over, I can attest to its impact, and the studio has gone on to create more industry titans like BlazBlue and co-developed Under Night In-Birth.

Now we can add another game to that plucky pantheon: Granblue Fantasy: Versus. Although, it lives a floor below them.

We are just about to get into one of the busiest parts of the year for gaming with titles like Doom Eternal and Animal Crossing: New Horizons releasing this month to much anticipation. Not long after both those games hit, fans will finally get their hands on Final Fantasy VII Remake. But is the game aimed at long-time fans or those who'll be experiencing the world for the very first time?

That's one of the topics on this PlayStation-centric episode of Podtoid. On the show, CJ, Dan, Charlotte, Occams, and Chris talk Final Fantasy, The Last of Us, toilet paper rushes, Yu-Gi-Oh! The Abridged Series, and the PlayStation 2. All that, plus one shitty fire, on Podtoid Episode 436.

Square Enix Japan has announced that it will be holding three separate live streams on March 29 to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the NieR franchise. The three broadcasts - set to run a whopping 10 hours in total - will feature live performances and special guests.

The first stream will feature the NieR: Theatrical Orchestra 12020 performance, which was previously scheduled to take place in front of a live audience later this month, but was cancelled due to coronavirus concerns. The second stream will include a performance of the NieR Stage Yorha Ver1.3aa stage play. This latter show was expected to run in Japanese theaters this weekend, but has also been cancelled. Both of these streams will be on a pay-per-view basis.

The third stream will be a studio-based "talk show", and is expected to feature discussion of the live performances, as well as the NieR franchise, its history, and hopefully, its plans for the future. Square Enix are yet to announce hosts, guests or a format for this segment. This part of the triple stream will be free for anyone who wishes to tune in.

Currently, all three streams are expected to broadcast on NicoNico, with channel links to be made available at a later date. NieR Automata producer Yosuke Saito has previously teased an announcement to coincide with the franchise's anniversary, so this live stream event would be as good a place as any to surprise fans.

NieR: Automata is available now on PS4, PC, and Xbox One.

Nier 10th anniversary live stream set for March 29 [Gematsu]

London's EGX: Rezzed event has become the latest game industry convention to re-schedule its dates in the wake of the ongoing COVID-19 (coronavirus) outbreak. Originally scheduled to take place March 26-28, the gaming development and indie games showcase will now take place at an undisclosed date this summer.

"Having monitored the situation around COVID-19 constantly over these last few weeks and following many hours of conversation internally and with our partners, we have taken the incredibly difficult decision to move EGX: Rezzed to Summer 2020 with date and announcement forthcoming," said organisers ReedPop in a press statement. "We did everything that we could to try to run the event as planned, but ultimately, maintaining social distancing is neither feasible at, nor in the spirit of, the interactive and community nature of Rezzed... It is the community that makes Rezzed so special and it is our duty to make sure that your safety comes first."

Ticket-holders should note that currently purchased tickets will be valid for the new dates. Once the re-schedule has been announced, any ticket-holders unable to attend should contact the customer services team at egx.helpline@reedexpo.co.uk.

EGX Rezzed is just the latest in an ever-growing list of industry events to be postponed or cancelled following the global coronavirus outbreak. MCM Birmingham - Britain's biggest comic/pop culture convention - has also announced that it will also no longer be taking place this month, and has been rescheduled to June 27-28.

To date, there has been over 130,000 confirmed cases of the COVID-19 virus worldwide.

Hey folks, hope the week has been good to you and that you're all staying healthy and happy, but mostly healthy. It's Saturday and hopefully you have a couple of days to yourself for some R 'n' R and a bit of entertainment. As I always say though, if you are working this weekend, be sure to make the small victories for yourself when you do get some downtime.

I've not been playing very much out of the ordinary lately. For the first time in a long time, yer boy has finally built up something of a backlog. But I did jump back into River City Girls briefly in order to sweep up a few trophies and 100% some leftover grinds. Such a fun ride, and not enough praise gets heaped upon its amazing soundtrack, featuring the awesome talents of Megan McDuffee, Chipzel, and even former Destructoid alumni Dale North. Go check it out sometime, whether you've played the game or  otherwise. It's got some... erm... "Bangers" on it.

Anyway, what have you been playing this week? After a slow start, we're finally starting to see 2020's release schedule year kick into gear, with titles such as Nioh 2, Ori and the Will of the Wisps, and Granblue Fantasy: Versus all hitting the shelves. So whether you're hitting something old or new, drop us a quick note and fill us in on your top gaming trends.

Have a wonderful and safe weekend, from all of us at Destructoid.

In today's contest, we're giving away Switch copies of something called Rainbows, Toilets & Unicorns.

Well, I've tracked down a video game called Rainbows, Toilets & Unicorns. I think my work here is done.

Wait, it's not? My job here is also giving games away, so I have to give it away, too? Well, I guess my job here isn't done just yet. We've got some Switch copies of this strange potty-based shmup, so why not take one off my hands?

Well, look who's chewing on my neck all of a sudden: It's State of Decay 2, a game released back in 2018. Like a freak you didn't behead all the way, it's back up and at 'em, ready to crack your head open and feast on the goo inside.

With seemingly no notice outside the crowd still playing the game, Undead Labs has put out an upgraded "Juggernaut Edition" of the game on Xbox One and PC via the Microsoft Store, Epic Games Store, and Steam. State of Decay 2 Juggernaut Edition includes the base game, with its procedurally-generated-survivors and events, as well as adding a whole new map. The new map, Providence Ridge, is based on a rugged logging town, and is comparable in size to the other three areas in the base game.

Also added to the Juggernaut Edition are a new category of heavy melee weapons, a revamped tutorial experience, graphical and UI improvements based on community feedback, and cross-platform multiplayer.

That's a substantial amount of new content, but the upgrade also goes one better and unlocks a ton of old content as well. It includes all the DLC previously released up to that point, such as weapon and vehicle add-ons like the Independence and Doomsday packs, as well as Daybreak, which added a teamwork-based siege defense mode, and Heartland, a major paid expansion set in Trumbull Valley, the original State of Decay map.

Steel Wool Studios is bringing Five Nights at Freddy's Help Wanted to Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and Oculus Quest "in the next couple of months." In a short blog post, the team said that "things are very fluid with the COVID-19 pandemic," but for the time being, "everything is currently on schedule."

If you're confused, some quick housekeeping: yes, this was originally conceived as a VR-only game.

Since I reviewed Help Wanted on PlayStation VR last year, the developer came out with an update to make VR optional with a new "flat" mode. The game is a collection of scenes, set pieces, and stories inspired by Five Nights at Freddy's 1, 2, 3, 4, and Sister Location, and it ended up being one of my favorite VR experiences of 2019. If you're a Quest owner, I would try to keep tabs on the upcoming port.

The non-VR ports won't be as impactful, but fans might still want to add this to their Switch collection. Help Wanted was the first Five Nights game to truly draw me in – it's enjoyable even as a newcomer.

And when I say "enjoyable," I mean unsettling. Imagine solving wire and gear puzzles in a dimly-lit shaft while a dagger-toothed animatronic clown tries to sneak up on you in one of a few possible vents.

You're gonna die, clown!

There's going to be a new framework for future Platinum games, one that's more conducive to the exact types of experiences the studio loves making. Platinum now has a brand new engine that's tailor-made for over-the-top character action games.

Platinum detailed the new engine in a lengthy series of interviews. The studio's CTO, Wataru Ohmori, says that the PlatinumEngine (a work-in-progress name) will "help [Platinum] make bigger, more expressive games than ever before," while adding "Modern games demand a whole new level of quality, a greater variety and number of objects on-screen, and a richer amount of expressive visual power."

This isn't uncharted territory for Platinum. The developer has been using its own proprietary in-house engine for years now. PlatinumEngine is a refresh of sorts, while also emphasizing the features that make it easier for developers to create a game that Platinum specializes in. That's the exact reason the studio didn't go with a third-party engine like Unreal or Unity; it didn't want to be at the mercy of an external team to add features that would make Platinum's job more efficient.

While development on PlatinumEngine has been underway for two years now, it isn't yet complete. Platinum didn't go so far as to say whether any upcoming games (like maybe Bayonetta 3) are built on this new engine. However, as the studio makes strides toward becoming more independent -- self-publishing games, owning more of its own properties, opening new studios -- the PlatinumEngine should be another way for Platinum to completely control its own workflow.

A Message from President Sato [PlatinumGames]

Small stuff is cute, that's why miniature versions of things are so popular. Toy dogs? Adorable. Tiny houses? Hit TV show. Eensy weensy video game sale? [Record scratch.]

As it turns out, bigger is definitely always better when it comes to video game sales. Look no further than this hilariously small PS4 Flash Sale. There are 11 items on sale, and only 7 different games. There's no endless scrolling, or triaging wishlist games against one another. There's only a simple five-second glance -- most of you will go "nah, I'm good" -- and then on with your life.

Below, I've listed everything that's a part of this Flash Sale -- not because I'm a kind and altruistic person, but because it literally took me like a minute to type them. It would've taken longer to write a few sentences curating the best of this sale. Sometimes the easy way out is the best route for everyone.

As always, this Flash Sale ends on Monday morning. If you're looking for an actually-good PlayStation sale, check out the PS Plus Double Discounts event.

Social distancing and augmented-reality mobile games like Pokémon Go don't exactly go hand in hand. With flights, events, conferences, and other gatherings postponed or outright canceled due to concerns over the coronavirus, should players just pack it in and stay home for the foreseeable future? (Probably!)

At least in Pokémon Go's case, the creator, Niantic, is tweaking the game to compensate.

"The safety of our global player community is our top priority," the developer said. "COVID-19 is challenging us and the world to adjust. "We're putting our focus on expanding features and experiences in our games that can be enjoyed in an individual setting and that also encourage exploration!"

The Abra Community Day event scheduled for March 15, 2020, was delayed indefinitely.

Going forward, "Pokémon habitats will increase and more Pokémon will be appearing in the wild," "PokéStops will now drop Gifts more frequently," and incubated Eggs will hatch in half the normal time.

Pokémon Go players can also now pick up a "one-time purchase bundle of 30 Incense for 1 PokéCoin." Considering how much Incense normally costs – last I checked, it was 2,500 PokéCoins for 25 Incense – that's a staggering price cut. One of these items will bring Pokémon to your location for an hour.

It's going to be tough to adjust to the old values once Niantic reverts these changes.

I'm not a Pokémon Go regular, but almost everything I had lined up for the next several months was pushed back, canceled, or impacted by COVID-19. Everyone has been affected in big and small ways.

Rebellion has released the first chapter of Zombie Army 4: Dead War's expansion campaign, Hell Cult. The DLC bundle includes a new campaign mission, character, and several new weapons and skins, along with a new map for ZA4's Horde Mode.

Set during events following the main campaign, Terror Lab sees our war-torn heroes exploring the science bunkers of the resurrected Reich. Whether alone or accompanied by up to three buddies, players must clear out this grim hellhole, laying waste to the army of flesh-eaters within and uncovering the secrets behind the undead Nazi menace.

There's so much potential for more LEGO and Nintendo collaborations, and with any luck, the newly-revealed LEGO Super Mario is just the start. That playset – a platforming level-building kit with digital interactions between Mario and his familiar obstacles and foes – is more than four years in the making.

In an interview with The Brothers Brick, the digital design lead for LEGO Super Mario, Jonathan Bennink, spoke about the tech (Mario uses an optical sensor) and how the project came together. "We decided early on that we wanted to leverage what both parties are good at. For LEGO, that's of course the brick, being creative and using your imagination. For Nintendo, it is seamless interactivity and innovation."

Another interesting note: LEGO Super Mario is "not a video game" and it "doesn't connect to the Switch" or "Nintendo hardware platforms." The companies "wanted to keep the experiences very separate."

Asked if Nintendo fans can expect more LEGO sets in the future, Bennink seemed hopeful. "I can say that we haven't worked for four years to release just one wave of products. We hope to have a long and fruitful relationship with Nintendo and their IPs, and we are really looking forward to working with them on a longer-term. They have a lot of very exciting IPs that we might do or might not do."

I'll say what we're all thinking: The Legend of Zelda. Do that next! It feels like Nintendo is focused on going beyond traditional LEGO sets, but I'd be cool with a basic safe bet for Zelda. Or anything, really.

If you're a returning Nioh player, you're probably counting the seconds until you can unlock nodes on the Onmyo and Ninjutsu skill trees in Nioh 2 and start flinging your comfy old spells, buffs, and traps.

You'll still want to keep an eye out in missions for Mage's Locks and Ninja's Locks, respectively – they award skill points like before – but in Nioh 2, you can also earn skill points by just playing. It's fantastic!

I'm still waiting for some brave soul to crunch the raw numbers and figure out precisely which abilities earn "proficiency" experience points the fastest, but in the meantime, I figured a quick PSA was in order for new players. The sooner you can get points on your skill trees, the sooner you can begin using your Onmyo and Ninjutsu abilities to unlock newer, stronger stuff further down the skill-tree branches.

While farming proficiency, I've had the best luck with damage-dealing abilities versus passive spells.

To check your current proficiency level progress, press the PS4 touchpad, scroll right to "Status," and then hit the R1 button until you see a page with XP bars for all 13 skill trees (nine weapons plus Samurai, Ninja, Onmyo Magic, and Shiftling). This is a super valuable menu in Nioh 2 – it shows exactly how close you are to hitting the next proficiency level and earning a new skill point in each category.

In case you missed it, Riot Games revealed "Project A" earlier this month. It's a hero shooter called Valorant, and it looks like it's very early in its development cycle despite its alleged release later this year.

It has a real "Overwatch meets Counter-Strike" vibe to it, which plays right into the hands of Riot Games, one of the leading esports purveyors in the world. But ultimately no matter how much money they throw at it, it has to be fun to watch and play to succeed. The curtain is slowly being pulled back on how that all works thanks to a few debut hero videos.

The first (which arrived last week) is the fire-focused Phoenix, who can flick fireballs around corners (which looks stylish in theory), and throw up firewalls. Viper on the other hand is more poison-centric, as expected, and can create giant poison domes to block line of sight: useful for obscuring objectives.

It seems as if Valorant is really going the Overwatch route, as they've announced that Viper hails from the United States: a clear nod to the international cast gimmick of the latter. While it looks rough, I'm interested in seeing what Riot can do outside of the confines of the MOBA and card game space.

Nioh was something of a surprise hit in 2017. Many of us saw the Sengoku-era action-RPG – a brilliant fusion of From Software concepts and Team Ninja's own Ninja Gaiden – as a return to form.

It's not every day that a faltering developer enters a well-worn subgenre with a new IP and hits a home run on its first swing. Nioh was wonderful at launch, and it only got better – and far bigger – with updates and DLC. I sunk hundreds of hours into this game hunting demons for tiered loot while trying to perfect my character build across multiple New Game Plus campaigns. The rabbit-hole went deep.

Can Nioh 2 have the same impact and wow factor in 2020? Honestly, not quite – but it's freaking great.