Destructoid

It's a good time for anime games.

Dragon Ball FighterZ is getting a whole new season of DLC, the One Punch Man game just came out, and now, arena fighter My Hero Academia: One's Justice 2 is arriving on March 12: just in time to coincide with the release of the second major franchise film in the west.

To celebrate, Bandai Namco just dropped a new One's Justice 2 trailer that's all about the villains: some of the more extreme and disturbing characters of the series. That includes the over-the-top Skullomania/Deadpool-esque "Twice" (0:45 in the video below) and the gun-toting genius Mr. Compress.

The last localized game came out in October of 2018, and was met with a polarizing reception. Hopefully developer Byking has some tricks up its sleeve this time. While some of the ability effects simply don't look impressive, the characters are still very emotive.

Cblogs Recap: Week 9

- GoliathBetaGamer reviews The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners.

- Brady4Jah reviews Dragon Quest Builders 2.

- Black Red Gaming reviews Conglomerate 451 on the PC.

- GoliathBetaGamer reviews Death Stranding.

- Genki-JAM shares his thoughts regarding whether Death Stranding is any good.

- Virtua Kazama highlights the best matches in Marvel vs. Capcom 2 in FGC history.

- The Rambling Gamer shares his positive thoughts regarding Hunt: Showdown, a battle-royal game.

- Shoggoth2588 responds to this month's BoB prompt by writing about how Final Fantasy subverted his expectations.

- Reiley1sCool responds to this month's BoB prompt by writing about how his decisions in playing The Witcher 3 had unexpected far-reaching effects on his favorite character.

Okay, if I grab the hammer from that stump I can use it to take out two of those mooks guarding the shish kebab, then dash past the crush traps. The guy at the end of the trap line is wearing a pool floatie as armor, so I'll have to use a ranged weapon to take him out, or else it'll take two swings and I'd really rather drop him in one hit.

I'll have to balance on the exploding barrel to avoid the spike pit, but would I do better to crash it into a dude and boost jump up to higher ground, or just use the cannon to gain altitude? No, wait, I can use this tiki torch to blow past those guys and take them from behind if I...

Crap, they got me. Let's try that again.

When work began on Mega Man X, Keiji Inafune, the father of the series, originally envisioned it with Zero. Plans changed and X became the hero instead, but Inafune had his cake and ate it too once Zero became something of a fan favorite. He would become a staple of Mega Man X shortly after, with multiple subplots focusing on the character and of course: the ability to play as him.

After Mega Man X kind of got away from Inafune, he had his chance to give his true creation a starring role with the Zero series. Inafune would continue to work at Capcom, having a hand in Mega Man ZX and ZX Advent, spiritual successors to the Zero series, and Star Force, before unceremoniously departing in 2010.

Nearly everything in that timeline is worth revisiting: including all of the entries in the Zero/ZX Legacy Collection.

So it has come to this.

Remember the Butterfinger "Who Shot Mr. Burns?" Simpsons promotion? This is kind of like that, but for Final Fantasy. We've reached the point where video games are just as much of a part of popular culture as other mediums, so they can have their Butterfinger promo too. 

This one actually involves a Tifa PS4 dynamic theme, showcasing just Tifa (though Cloud is present too in the game) in a scene that's frequently referred to as "Promise at the Water Tower." To get it, you'll need to buy "any two Butterfinger, Baby Ruth or Crunch Bars," then register them online. There's also promos for "five different pieces of in-game armor and accessories that boost stats and abilities," which is probably marketing lingo for "stuff you'll replace in 30 minutes."

As a note, the promo will start on March 3, then smartly run through May 14, roughly a month after the game's April 10 release date. So you have plenty of time.

Final Fantasy VII Remake [Butterfinger]

Dialogue? In a Fallout game? Well I'd never!

Human NPCs? In a Fallout game? Well...you get the point.

It's still insane to me, a year and a half later, that Fallout 76 didn't launch with a proper NPC-led story mode, but now that the free Wastelanders expansion is fully confirmed and dated, it is coming. We've gotten a good look at it over the past few months (and the test program members have gotten a real good look at it), and the next preview on the docket is the dialogue system.

Here's how the team puts it: "Whenever you’re chatting up your favorite Ally, a Faction leader, or one of the many other characters you will meet during your adventures, you will be able to choose from a variety of response options. The words you employ during your conversations with others can, at times, be even more powerful than your favorite weapons."

You don't say? So it's like...a Fallout game?! All of these choices will impact alliances and reputation, in a bid to provide a real RPG for solo players and multiplayer prospects alike. The very few existing NPCs are getting upgrades too to feel more RPG-appropriate, and will become quest-givers. You'll also get a "history" option so you can read all of the text thus far, and naturally, the attribute-altering S.P.E.C.I.A.L. system can impact some choices.

Is it enough to feel like a "Realm Reborn" treatment? So far, it doesn't seem so. But it looks a lot better already.

Inside the Vault [Bethesda.net]

One Finger Death Punch 2 is the sequel to everyone’s favorite two-button action romp. It’s definitely iterative of everything done in the first game, but it does come with a handful of improvements as well. If you played the original and enjoyed it, you’re going to have a damn good time.

For everyone else, let me describe it in the barest of terms: this game’s entire mantra is minimalism to the extreme. The artwork is largely comprised of stick figures, and there are only two buttons to press: left and right. Enemies will run at you from both sides, and you need to murder them as brutally and efficiently as possible. That certainly sounds like it might get boring pretty quickly, but One Finger Death Punch 2 takes this concept and manages to milk it for everything it’s worth.

Look, if Bayonetta can make it in, the tamer Dante can too.

There's been rumblings of Dante in Smash for a very long time. One of the key producers of the series even said that he's game for it once Devil May Cry hit Switch: and it did, thrice, with the re-releases of the original trilogy. With the new Fighter's Pass in the mix, anything is possible. But thanks to a new poll from Japanese publication Inside Games, we have a better idea of who people want to be part of that pass. Dante, of course, is included.

Coming in first with 290 votes (second place is 91) is Sora of Kingdom Hearts fame. Dante is second, then Hunter from Monster Hunter (who already got their own crossover in Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite with 80, followed by Rex from Xenoblade Chronicles 2 with 74 and 2B from NieR: Automata with 70.

From there things get a little wackier with Crash, Waddle Dee, Sepiroth, Arle (Puyo Puyo), Steve (Minecraft), Saber (Fate), Kirito (SAO - let's not go crazy here), Hakurei Reimu (Touhou), Goku (the ever-popular years-long meme) and the popular Geno.

This is all of course, unofficial. It's just been a while since we've talked about who you, the community, want in Smash. Obviously this particular poll is Japan-centric, hence the esoteric picks like Touhou series representation (though that franchise rules). Sound off with your own!

Smash Ultimate DLC [Inside Games via Yahoo Japan]

Azur Lane has had a rather rapid rise to the upper echelons of gacha gaming. Once, it was derided as a Chinese "clone" of the Japan-exclusive Kantai Collection. Now, less than a year after its official English release, Azur Lane is arguably bigger than the game it's accused of ripping off. The learner is now the master – of adapting fearsome 20th-century warships to the popular "sexy anime lesbian" form factor.

With phones and tablets under its belt, Azur Lane's ship girls have turned their gunsights on a new horizon: the choppy waters of PC and console gaming. Their first incursion comes in the form of Azur Lane: Crosswave.

Cblogs Recap: Week 8

- Narwhalnut just revealed a new indie game that he made, Belle Boomerang.

- Blanchimont reviews Warriors Orochi 4 Ultimate.

- Brady4Jah reviews Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch with a focus on accessibility.

- Scrustle writes an essay on the nature of stealth games with a focus on Dishonored and its systems.

- Taterchimp writes an analogy between his favorite videogames and anal beads.

- Pedrovay2003 details how you can get started in joining the PC Virtual Reality scene.

- Flegma shares his thoughts regarding the small indie game, Switch 'n' Shoot.

- LaTerry in a response to this month's Band of Bloggers prompt writes about the unexpected brilliance of the Yakuza series.

- ScionVyse reviews The Pedestrian a little-known indie 2D puzzle platformer.

- Nior continues his Command & Conquer retrospective with C&C: Generals.

Publisher NIS America has revealed that it has two announcements incoming next week. The new news will be revealed on Tuesday, March 3 and Thursday, March 5.

As the news is coming directly from the North American branch, then it's possible that we might be getting word on some upcoming localisations. That said, it could just as easily be news related to the upcoming GDC 2020 event, or teases for entirely new releases.

In other news, the publisher is currently in attendance at PAX East this weekend, where it is selling merch and promoting games such as Kemeno Heroes, Langrisser I & II, and Trails of Cold Steel III.

Whatever NIS America has up its sleeve, we'll be sure to keep you informed when the mystery news is finally made public, so stick around, folks.

NIS America is teasing two announcements for next week [Push Square]

Marvelous! has released a trailer spotlighting two more Senran Kagura teams, arriving in cheesecake racer Kandagawa Jet Girls as new DLC characters. The four new "Jetters" join their SK pals Ikaruga, Yomi, Ryobi and Ryona, who were added to the roster last month.

First up are Crimson Squad buddies Hikage and Homura, whose natural tree-hopping, roof-running, shuriken-throwing ninja skills will no doubt help them make the natural transition from shinobi to jet-ski racer. It also appears that the pair have brought swords to this sporting event. Yeah, why not?

It has been a very long wait for western fans, but we're finally approaching the release of Sakura Wars, which will arrive on PS4 in North America and Europe in April. Publisher Sega has released a new English-language story trailer to help get fans up to speed on the strategic anime adventure's narrative.

Set in a (very) alternate 1940s Tokyo, Sakura Wars will tell the epic tale of a city at war, with the Imperial Theater and its compatriots facing off in dramatic battle against hordes of demons, brought about by man's inhumanity to man. As young military Captain Seijuro Kamiyama, players must manage the interpersonal relationships of a cast of mech-riding warriors, sallying forth into battle to prevent the fall of Japan to the nightmarish menace.

We're less than a month away from the launch of Animal Crossing: New Horizons. On March 20, the ravenous fans of the series who've hounded Nintendo nonstop across social media will finally be able to put their cell phones down and pick their NookPhones up as they begin island life. As with any Animal Crossing game, there are a lot of decisions to make before you even start playing and New Horizons is giving players yet another choice to agonize over. For the first time in the franchise, players will be able to pick which hemisphere their island escape is located in.

This is something I didn't think about too much in the past. For the 10 years or so, I lived in parts of the United States that don't experience the traditional changing of seasons. My winters were more dreary than white; my falls bereft of the colors normally associated with the time of year. Because of this, I loved diving into my little Animal Crossing world to see the seasons as they should be.

But now I live in a place that does have a distinct spring, summer, winter, and fall; and a question I've been asking myself since the Nintendo Direct is whether or not I want to see those same seasons on my island when I can go outside to experience them in real life. Should I keep things consistent with my immediate surroundings or treat the game as a true escape from my world, getting glimpses of December snow when it's 105 degrees outside? 

Choosing the name of my town used to be the most difficult part of starting my life in Animal Crossing. Now, I'm just fretting over whether or not I want to build snowmen in the summer. Is this issue as much of a conundrum for you as it is for me?

The curtain is finally pulled back on Baldur's Gate III. We just got a full look at the game at PAX East courtesy of a gameplay stream from Larian Studios, and we now have some sort of window for Early Access: "a couple of months." Thanks to a new interview with executive producer David Walgrave by way of Eurogamer, we have even more of an idea of how this project is shaping up.

One of the big debates in the community deals with the decision to go turn-based in 2020, and Walgrave has his own answer for that: "Why did we go for turn-based instead of real-time with pause? Because D&D to us is a turn-based game and we're really good - or we have become really good - with turn-based combat. So that, I think, is one of our strengths, and trying out real-time with pause for now, just because the originals were that? It's a big risk."

But what about the fact that Baldur's Gate III isn't coming to PS4 or Xbox One? According to Walgrave, the game couldn't run in its current incarnation on consoles. He muses, "There's a lot of technical upgrades and updates that we did to our engine, and I don't know if it would be capable of being able to actually run on those things," then concedes that there is a chance it could run, but they've had to tone down the textures and nearly everything else visually: at that point it wouldn't be the same. When asked if next-gen consoles were a possibility, Walgrave responded with a nod, though nothing is confirmed yet.

This weekend was easily the best I've had yet in 2020. Not because it was an extended week or I did anything amazing; no, this weekend was the best because I finally took the time to play Batman: Arkham Asylum through to the end and my God it is one of the best games I've ever played. The setting, the story, the performances, the gameplay, all of it top notch and just the kick in the jeans I needed to get me exciting about gaming again.

That game is just one of the topics covered in this episode of Podtoid. I'm joined by Charlotte, Chris, and Occams as we talk about it, Animal Crossing troubles, Siege, steel drum music, sucking toes, speed running, and Dick Tracy. All that, plus a new installment of Crap Criminals, on Podtoid Episode 434.

So a lot of us here at Destructoid have seen the Sonic film, and the consensus seems to be: not-bad to fun. For a feature that looked like it had no hope based on the original incarnation of the character, that's a huge win.

The real question is, were you expecting Super Sonic to show up? It seemed like a sure thing for a final story beat, but it didn't end up happening. Speaking to Comicbook.com, director Jeff Fowler says it nearly made it in, but ended up on the cutting room floor.

Fowler notes: "It didn't make sense to obviously bring in the Super Sonic thing just yet. I mean, there were very early versions of the script and the outlines where... because we knew that's something that's very important in the fan mythology, or the mythology that fans love. And Chaos Emeralds are definitely a huge part, even going back to the first game in '91, and it was definitely something that we were kind of trying to see. Like, Does it make sense to include one of these?"

I mean, he's right. There's a lot of setup needed to just bring Super Sonic in and explain the Emeralds (on top of the rings) for an audience who may not have even played a Sonic game before. I think that's partly why the film is so successful at what it is: there's plenty of Easter eggs for hardcore fans, but the general plot is accessible.

Sonic Director Reveals They Had Plans For Super Sonic [Comicbook.com]

Arc System Works' stunning fighter Granblue Fantasy: Versus has announced the coming of its second DLC character, the friendly-but-fearsome swordswoman Narmaya, who will be made available to purchase worldwide on March 3 - incidentally launch day for the game's North American release.

Narmaya's charming presence and diminutive stature belie her incredible skills in battle. As part of a family whose goal is the mastery of every fighting style known to man or woman, Narmaya's sword technique is above reproach, allowing her to deal huge damage at close range, or fend off her assailants with stylish ranged jabs. Despite her frighteningly effective abilities, Narmaya is a delight to know, with a personality bursting with warmth and friendliness - almost to a fault.

A terrible week came to a terrible end on Friday when it was confirmed the Game Developers Conference was being postponed as a precaution due to the COVID-19, more commonly known as the coronavirus. On Monday it seemed the show would still go on, but by the end of the week, after most of the biggest names in the industry pulled out, it made little sense to keep the original date as planned. This isn't how I wanted to end February, so let's kick March off right with some great community questions for Podtoid.

If you have a question for Chris, Charlotte, Dan, Occams, or myself, leave it in the comment section below. The more creative the question, the more likely it is to be asked during the show.

PAX East has been a lot of fun this week. Caitlin Cooke and I interviewed Platinum's Hideki Kamiya yesterday after playing Enter the Gungeon: House of the Gundead, Disc Room, Shovel Knight: Pocket Dungeon, and a whole bunch of other new and promising games. That said, the show floor seemed a little less crowded than we were used to, and everyone we talked to seemed even more afraid of getting "conflu" than usual. 

That might be because another virus was already on a lot of people's minds. Five mid-sized exhibitors told us yesterday that shipments of their new PAX East 2020 merch was either delayed or outright canceled before the show due to the impact of the coronavirus on their Chinese production partners. One exhibitor, who asked to remain anonymous for this story, told us that they've already made about $2,000 less than they did last year by this point in the show because their new Pinny Arcade pins weren't sent to them in time to sell on the floor.  

It's Saturday! Not only that, but it's the end of the month, and 2020 is now a thing that is fully underway. How're those new year's resolutions and targets going? Y'know what? It doesn't matter. Time is an arbitrary construct. You can be whoever you want to be, improve whatever you want to improve, and you can do it on January 1, or March 1, or June 14. There's no rules, pal. Just be you.

I'm being me. That means I'm working too much and not getting enough games played. I'm finally back with Miriam and rocking the gothic glamour of Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night. It's still early days, but I'm definitely digging it, even if the horrifying imagery coming out of World of Horror is trying desperately to distract me... Maybe next week.

But I bet you've been playing much more than I have, so drop a few lines below and tell everybody in our awesome community what games are taking up your time. I know I sound like a broken record, but it's a very quiet release period right now, so hopefully you found the time to delve into your backlog, or maybe revisit an old favourite. Give us the good word.

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

What has felt like an inevitability has finally happened. The Game Developers Conference has been postponed, as the convention's organizers try to avoid a full-on cancellation.

GDC sent along the following statement:

In today's contest, we're giving away a Mega Modz PS4 Macro Remap Controller!

You know how you get stock controllers and they're great and all, but offer little by means of customization and modding? Yeah, it totally sucks. That's why Mega Modz takes controllers and makes them more suitable to gamers' various whims and needs.

They're confident in their product -- as they should be -- so they decided to provide a PS4 Macro Remap Controller to give away to the lovely people at Destructoid. It's got like a zillion widgets and gizmos on it, so it's going to take care of that itch to have the ultimate gamepad.

As someone who's into survival horror games and virtual reality, I've been burned many times before by titles that either don't make the most of the genre, or the medium, or sometimes both. There are a lot of middling-at-best VR horror experiences out there. I've learned to go in with modest expectations.

I have a pretty good feeling about Lies Beneath, though. The upcoming Oculus game from Gunheart developer Drifter Entertainment has such a neat comic-book-influenced style to stand on.

Lies Beneath is a horror adventure about a college student, Mae, who returns to her hometown of Slumber, Alaska only to find freaky monsters. Thankfully, she's got a hatchet (and a shotgun). The team drew inspiration from a range of artists including Mike Mignola, Bernie Wrightson, and Shintaro Kago.

As noted on the Oculus Blog, the game has been in production at Drifter for just under two years.

"Lies Beneath is a much more intimate, close-quarters game than our previous stuff precisely so that we bring everything into arm's reach," said creative director Brian Murphy. "As much as possible in this game, we tried to make it feel like if you could touch it with your hands, it would react naturally."

This week, Destructoid is made possible by KATANA KAMI: A Way of the Samurai Story, an isometric hack-and-slash dungeon crawler with over 100 different weapons, nine unique fighting styles, co-op, and the series' patented ability to betray or ally with the game's three factions. This is a sponsored post.

We already took a look back at the history of The Way of the Samurai series, but as KATANA KAMI takes place in a fantastical alternate history, now's a good time to also look back at various games that changed up the history books.

I've lost track of how many videos I've seen for Atomic Heart, and I'm not convinced the game can live up to fans' high expectations, but I am – and will continue to be – along for this wild ride. Here's a new one!

I'm at the point where I won't even mind if Atomic Heart isn't very fun to play – the killer-robot-filled alternate-universe Soviet Union backdrop is just so visually interesting. I want to explore this world and see all of the crazy sights the creator, Mundfish, dreamed up. That said, it looks fun too. I'll gladly smash bots with a sledgehammer and fight a circulatory system tree monster. They don't have to ask twice.

The release date for Atomic Heart is still firmly "TBA" on Steam and, as usual, the trailer has a disclaimer that "all game elements from the video can change." Gosh, I hope it all comes together cohesively.

Is it a party if no one shows and you're left to pick at the charcuterie and drink the champagne by yourself? At some point, you just turn off the front lights and toss on Netflix, right?

The Game Developers Conference is still taking place in mid-March -- at least at the time of writing this article, anyway -- despite nearly every major exhibitor and presenter pulling out over health concerns related to the coronavirus. The list of absentee guests grew again today as Amazon, Activision-Blizzard, and Iron Galaxy all canceled their GDC appearances. [Update: Gearbox just canceled too.]

This trio joins other big-name companies such as Epic, Unity, Microsoft, Electronic Arts, Facebook, Oculus, Sony, PUBG Corp, and Kojima Productions who have all opted to forgo attending GDC this year. 

Now, all eyes are on GDC's organizers, as most people assume the convention will eventually be canceled altogether. That's obviously a worst-case scenario, and one they seem to be avoiding at absolutely all costs. As of now, GDC's official stance is that they're "closely monitoring" the coronavirus situation and will make a statement "if [their] assessment changes."

Anyone who wants an extra dash of nostalgia alongside the new Animal Crossing will be happy to hear that they can view the game through the camera settings of original.

One of the many details to come out of the Animal Crossing: New Horizons demo at PAX East is that there's a toggle to switch the camera angle to the viewpoint of the Animal Crossing on GameCube. The original had more of an overhead top-down look, whereas subsequent games have a lower and closer camera.

As the Nintendo rep in the video above points out, making the change is easy enough. Just click the right analog stick to get that classic view. Click again to revert. Click a third time, back to GameCube mode. Click again and you're back to that New Horizons hotness. Click another time and everyone will get sick of this bit. Yet another click and they'll forcibly take your Switch away.

There's a lot more being unraveled out of PAX East. USgamer rounded a good chunk of them up including: Kicks the Skunk sells a lot more than shoes, like handbags and purses; Tom Nook's rewards program includes cell phone cases; snapping turtles are among the many new species of water creatures; and welcome mats are a new furniture item.

Three weeks until the first proper Animal Crossing in eight years. It'll be wholesome and incredible no matter which angle you're viewing from.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons Might Have Genders After All Among Other New Details From PAX East [USgamer]

That unsettling little teaser website for Frictional Games' next project is still hypnotically doing its thing, and fans are still connecting dots and looking for answers in an alternate reality game (ARG). We don't know what the new game is yet – not exactly – but we do have new footage to go off of.

An unlisted teaser video with gameplay was uploaded to Frictional's YouTube channel yesterday.

In the footage, a panicked woman reminds herself that "I am Tasi. I am still Tasi." She's going in and out of consciousness, and is looking for a man – someone who "must understand." For a few tantalizing seconds, she gets a full view of her surroundings. She's in a desert during a violent sandstorm.

That might not seem like a scene from a horror game, but the sound design definitely drives the point home. Fans are wondering if this could be another Amnesia game, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's new.

SOMA's existential crisis strikes fear in my heart to this day. I'd be down for that angle again.

Ubisoft Nadeo announced a new game in its long-running online racing game series Trackmania today at the Trackmania Grand League finals in Lyon, France, and it's releasing much sooner than expected. Trackmania, a simply-titled remake of TrackMania Nations, is coming to PC on May 5, 2020.

Trackmania will have a campaign, a level editor with new surface types and special blocks (like a slow-motion block that could be placed right before the finish line), and a daily track rotation.

"Historically, Trackmania has always had a large amount of content thanks to our players," said Nadeo's Florent Castelnerac. "However, we noticed that after releasing a game, players rush through the campaign and then stop playing. So we decided to create a seasonal game, with a regular official campaign and one daily track selection among all players submitted and peer-reviewed maps."

The team says it also expects to "create regular updates" with "seasonal blocks or new features."

Trackmania is one of those series I like just fine but constantly forget it exists.

Pokemon the Movie: Coco, the whopping 23rd film in the series, is set to debut this July in Japan.

Naturally, following a pattern that they've been following since Mewtwo in the very first flick, The Pokemon Company is using it as an opportunity to promote their newest member of the legendary family: Zarude.

In case you missed it, Zarude was revealed yesterday as a new in-game legendary that's exclusive to Sword and Shield, and can be obtained through a customary event that will be detailed in the future. He's a dark/grass type and described as a "rogue monkey Pokemon." Based on the trailer (his heroic cape and his actions), he seems to be benevolent, at least as it relates to his film incarnation (he also raised one of the new main characters of the narrative, Coco).

In case you're curious, generally Pokemon films debut in July in Japanese theaters, then are eventually released overseas in November to December later in the year. Given the move back to traditional animation (after Mewtwo Strikes Back: Evolution), I'm more inclined to catch this one.

There's no stopping Hamster Corporation, as the retro-loving publisher continues to pump out hits 'n' misses of the golden era of arcades onto modern platforms. The next month will be no exception, as Hamster has revealed the names of some of its upcoming weekly releases.

Among the games headed to the Nintendo Switch are Konami shmups Life Force/Salamander (1986) - which is available to purchase right now - and Flak Attack (1987). Also on the way is NES "Vs." release Wrecking Crew (1985). Meanwhile, arriving on both Switch and PS4, are Jaleco's maze game Naughty Boy (1982) and weird shooter Formation Z (1984). Rounding out this collection is SNK's scrolling brawler P.O.W. Prisoners of War (1988).

All of these titles are expected to be made available for download for around $8 each. For the sake of history it's great to see so many of these titles being made available, but it's a shame that Hamster is yet to push into the arcade renaissance of the early '90s, which brought us so many amazing releases. Hopefully Hamster will eventually mine that fantastic era of coin-op entertainment.

Life Force, Flak Attack, Formation Z, join Arcade Archives [Siliconera / Ryokutya2089]

Borderlands 3 debuted some big news at PAX yesterday. We have a Steam date! And the second DLC is now a known entity and is coming in March. But buried in all those announcements came something else: a spring content roadmap.

Again, the Guns, Love and Tentacles DLC is coming in March as a paid-addon, which rings in new legendaries and another planet. But after that Mayhem Mode 2.0 is arriving in April as a free update with "overhauled modifiers," followed by the "Revenge of the Cartels" free update in April. Then in May, the Guardian Takedown (dungeon) is coming, which is Eridian-themed.

Oh! And there's another (5x) Golden Key Shift code giveaway:  C3KJB-3H9HZ-63KZW-9BKJB-WZRCR. You can enter it here. You have a while until that one expires (March 19 at 11:59PT).

Again, despite some of the problems Borderlands 3 has; the constant roadmaps and free updates, while focusing on a regular cadence of premium content that takes place on new planets, is a huge plus.

PAX East [Gearbox]

I feel like I barely made a dent in the Nioh 2 open beta, and something tells me I'm far from alone. Thankfully, Team Ninja is giving us another shot at redemption before the sequel releases on March 13.

From February 28 at 12:00 a.m. Pacific until March 1 at 11:59 p.m. Pacific, you can hunt demons to your heart's content in the Nioh 2 Last Chance Trial. It's an opportunity to fine-tune your custom character, preview three story missions, and learn the ropes with new gear like the Switchglaive.

Best of all, you don't need a PlayStation Plus subscription to play the trial, and your character design will transfer to the full version of Nioh 2, so you don't have to toil away only to do it all again.

I'm curious to dig into the balance changes brought on by fan feedback. I struggled with the Dark Realm.

If you complete the Last Chance Trial, you'll get the "Mark of the Demon Slayer – a reward entitling you to unlock the Kamaitachi Helmet from the in-game Shrine to use in the full game."

One last thing: the trial is 13.25GB.

Global superstar Hatsune Miku is set to join roving 'n' raving reporter Ulala in the recently released Space Channel 5 VR: Kinda Funky News Flash. The Vocaloid star will feature in upcoming DLC, as announced by developer Grounding Inc.

It's a very natural crossover, as Miku's whole look, style, and hot-steppin' dance work will fit perfectly into the hypercolour world of Space Channel 5. The VR edition of the rhythm action game launched on PSVR just yesterday, after making its way through a troubled development cycle. There is currently no date for the Hatsune Miku DLC, but we will let you know when more information is forthcoming.

As studios pull out of PAX East and GDC left and right, one further-out industry event has now been canceled due to coronavirus concerns: EVE Fanfest.

Held in Iceland nearly every year for nearly a decade, CCP's EVE Online celebration has officially given notice that the event that was scheduled to run from April 2-4 will no longer happen: "In light of the ongoing global developments regarding the Coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic and increasing health concerns, it is with a heavy heart that we have made the decision to cancel EVE Fanfest."

With CCP Shanghai becoming a large part of CCP's operations in recent years, and with their parent company, Pearl Abyss, stationed in South Korea, this move makes a whole lot of sense. A lot of key players outside of the home team in Iceland wouldn't be able to make it, amid the standard health concerns that a large gathering like Fanfest would bring.

Even so, this is a bold move for the company, as CCP opted to skip EVE Fanfest last year in favor of several smaller gatherings spread out across the globe. 2020 was supposed to be a huge coming home party for the company: but fans will have to settle for the new 2020 venues in Europe and North America.

EVE Fanfest 2020 Canceled [CCP]

Treasure hunter, gaming icon and all-round ass-kicker Lara Croft is getting ready for another rumble, only this time it's in the Smash-lite world of Brawlhalla. Everyone's favourite tomb raider is available to purchase in the free-to-play fighter right now, as part of Brawlhalla's new 3.57 update.

In a really neat touch, both classic "blue vest and shorts" Lara and "gritty modern survivor" Lara are both included in the bundle, each with their own exclusive animations. Ms. Croft has been delightfully recreated in Brawlhalla's cute, charismatic style. I think she looks really good, a perfect fit for the wild fighter's universe.

Yacht Club Games was playing it safe for many years since releasing their wildly successful (both at Kickstarter and retail) flagship game Shovel Knight, but now the gloves are off.

They're getting in the publishing business with several games under their belt, and they're now co-developing multiple Shovel Knight spinoff projects, not to mention all of the collaborations that have seen the titular character guest star in countless other titles. But what about Shovel Knight 2? Well, that isn't out of the question.

Speaking to DualShockers at PAX East, Yacht Club artist Sandy Gordon noted that while the original Shovel Knight saga is "complete," it is not the end of that core series. Gordon says that the studio does want "more Shovel Knight" in the same vein as the aforementioned spinoffs, but when directly asked about a true sequel, it wasn't flat-out denied.

Gordon noted that it was "absolutely" possible, and that he's "sure that'll happen at some point," as it's a frequent topic of conversation for the Yacht Club crew. That sort of language implies that it's not in active development, but in terms of recent news, Yacht Club is also "thinking about" doing something with next-gen consoles: presumed to be next-gen ports of Shovel Knight (right now, nothing, even the spinoffs, are planned for PS5 or Xbox Series X). If that does happen, Gordon says that it won't be "super high fidelity."

So you're saying there's a chance!

Yacht Club Games is “Definitely Thinking About” Next-Gen and Future Shovel Knight Games [DualShockers]

Wizards of the Coast is expanding the Historic format (which uses older, non-standard cards) in Magic: Arena, and they're doing it in a way that involves multiple facets of Magic.

For starters, 25 new cards are coming to Arena's Historic mode on March 12. You can nab them for either 25,000 gold (in-game currency) or 4,000 gems (premium currency), or craft them for Wildcards. They'll be playable in the following formats: Traditional Ranked (best-of-three), Ranked (best-of-one) and "other special Historic events," like Historic Brawl.

The big draw here is Thalia, Guardian of Thraben: a two-cost legendary creature (2/1) that has first strike and makes noncreature spells cost 1 more to cast. Thalia is also the herald of the aforementioned Secret Lair tie-in, which is a 24-hour product that will go live on March 12, 2020 at 9AM PT for $29.99. Magic artists Magali Villeneuve and Johannes Voss created new art for Thalia, and Wizards is packing in a code for four card styles (just styles) in accordance with that art. As a note, the Historic Ranked queue will return (as well as a best-of-one ranked queue), and you can buy both anthologies for gold or gems (3,400 gems or 20,000 gold for Historic Anthology 1; 4000 gems or 25,000 gold for Historic Anthology 2).

Wizards is teasing more Historic Anthology II info during their March 5 "State of the Game" blog series. You can get a look at the Thalia cards and Arena sleeves in the gallery, as well as a full list of the new Historic cards below.

The wait for a traditional Nintendo Direct continues. So we recently got an Animal Crossing-themed one, but other than that, we've been waiting since early September. One Mario Maker 2 creator decided to take matters into their own hands.

Spotted by YouTuber BeardBear, the stage is titled "Nintendo Direct: The Level," and takes players through an automatic cruise of sorts that serves as a series of text announcements. We begin with an intro from current Nintendo of America president Doug Bowser (an actual Bowser), going straight into a "2029 Breath of the Wild 2" announcement.

The "one more thing" is "Super Mario Galaxy 3 this fall" with a slow reveal with teases like the appearance of Rosalina and the tagline "out of this world." It's short, but cute! This is the sort of positive reaction to a lack of a Nintendo Direct that you'd hope for.  If you want to play it the actual stage was created by ReallyJosh, and the level ID is: 35C-B74-20H.