Destructoid

Sega has announced that it will be holding a Japanese live stream next week to announce the details of its previously teased "Virtua Fighter x eSports Project" The stream will be held on May 27 on the publisher's newly launched Virtua Fighter YouTube channel. Squee!

While no details have been released as to the stream's content, it's a snug bet to assume that Sega is getting set to officially announce Virtua Fighter eSports/Virtua Fighter 5: Ultimate Showdown, which was recently leaked via the Korean Ratings Board, as well as the PlayStation Store database. This is believed to be an updated edition of the series' last entry: 2010's Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown.

Given the emphasis on the word "eSports", one can also assume that Sega has plans to push the 3D fighter hard onto the competitive scene, so perhaps expect the formation of some sort of league, ala Capcom's Pro Tour. The stream begins at 20:00 JST, which is an eye-searing 04:00 PT / 07:00 ET, but rest assured we will bring you all of the details once they are revealed.

I'm very excited to see what Sega has in store for this great fighting franchise. It might not be a true sequel, but it's a start, and it if gets people playing again — online and at events — I'll take it.

Whatever happened to Samorost, the darling point-and-click space gnome adventure we played in our browsers in the early 2000s? Don't worry, it hasn't been lost to the ravages of time. It's here — right here, actually. You can play a remastered version on Steam, itch.io, iOS, and Android. Best of all, it's free.

You might not be able to put your finger on what's different if it's been years since you've played Samorost, but as the video seems to suggest, there are touch-ups. According to Amanita Design, this new version for 2021 has "remastered sounds, enhanced graphics, and new music by Floex."

I had a lot of love for Samorost back then and I still do today. It put this team on the map for me.

As for what's next for Amanita Design, more adventuring. The studio's next project, Happy Game, is freakier than you'd expect — by like a few orders of magnitude. It's expected to hit Steam in 2021.

Also, I won't lie: that long branch extending out into another tree's "mouth" still cracks me up.

I don't necessarily like to boil games down to just their inspirations, but in the case of Phantom Abyss, I feel like I have to point out the prevailing notion: this seems like a wild adventure-platformer brew seasoned with elements of Indiana Jones, Mirror's Edge, and Dark Souls bloodstains. I'm into it.

Coming to Steam Early Access (and GeForce Now) this summer, Phantom Abyss is a roguelite game with procedural temple runs. The twist is that while you're cracking your whip, dodging spike traps, and making heroic leaps of faith, you'll get to "watch and learn from the mistakes of up to 20 phantoms including your Steam friends that have attempted the same temple and steal their whips as they fall."

It remains to be seen how fun it is to move around this hostile world — "glide jump" and "extended slide" blessings will surely help — but if literally nothing else, I'm sold on the phantom concept. Another nice layer: you'll be able to share Temple Codes so your pals can face the exact same challenges.

What's the end goal? To recover keys that can open up "deeper, deadlier sections of the temple that house more coveted relics. The more difficult a relic is to obtain, the greater the reward — the final Legendary Relic of a temple allows you to claim the whole temple so that it's gone forever."

Devolver Digital and developer Team WIBY expect to stay in Early Access "for at least a year" while they build out more content — "new rooms, traps, whips, zones, and additional gameplay features."

The beautiful mutated world of Mutazione is coming to some new platforms next week. The mutant space opera will land on Nintendo Switch and Xbox consoles on May 26, 2021.

Mutazione is an indie adventure that's racked up a few awards already, including the 2020 IGF award for Excellence in Audio. That excellence in audio is also getting commemorated in its own way, as iam8bit has announced a 2xLP vinyl soundtrack for the game, complete with a stylish cover.

If you haven't seen it around before, Mutazione follows 15-year-old Kai in the secretive community of Mutazione, as she cares for her ailing grandfather, attends BBQs and band nights, and deals with both apocalyptic threats and small-town drama.

Mutazione has been on my backlog for ages, and it coming to Nintendo Switch might just be the push I need to finally put some hours into it. I'm loving the art and the vibes, and honestly, I could use a simulated virtual hangout with townsfolk these days.

There's only so much time each week to check out new games, much less play them — much less fully review them! — and inevitably, plenty of interesting games are destined to slip through the cracks as many of us move onto the next shiny thing. To supplement Destructoid's usual coverage, we're teaming up with our sister site The Escapist to fill in some of these gaps with their helpful 3 Minute Reviews.

In this 3 Minute Review, The Escapist's Amy Campbell covers Essays on Empathy, a narrative adventure game compilation with "offbeat tales" from Deconstructeam and Devolver Digital. It's out on Steam.

We got a big glimpse of Blizzard's plans for Overwatch 2 in terms of its competitive multiplayer today, including one big change: smaller teams. Rather than 6v6, Overwatch 2 will go to five-on-five for PvP matches.

During today's stream, Blizzard confirmed that the tank role would be bumped down to one spot per team. Where teams in current Overwatch—at least in role-defined queues—are two tanks, two DPS, and two supports, now there will be one tank apiece.

The team says they experimented with a few different ideas for changes, and it seems like the reduction of tanks is intended to make battles a little easier to read, for both players and spectators. It will also help with supports not having to split their attention between two tanks.

A few hero kit changes were shown off, too; Winston, for example, now has an alt-fire that lets him charge up a longer-range blast, rather than just having his electric shock, and Mei's regular Endothermic Blaster attack no longer freezes people. Things are still in flux, but game director Aaron Keller referenced a change the team is considering around movement speed as an example for how deeply Blizzard is examining the PvP in Overwatch 2, to consider what could be altered or changed.

It's time for another first-party Nintendo release. No it's not Zelda. It's not Mario. It's Miitopia! Remember that thing on 3DS? Well it's back, in Switch form.

Miitopia is launching tomorrow, May 21, and at 50 bucks, it has a lot to prove. But it's also joined by Knockout City, which is doing a very strange "first week free trial" scheme. After that you can "convert to the full game before the Block Party ends to keep your progress and unlock exclusive rewards." Yikes?

Of course another big-time game is coming out in the form of Shin Megami III Nocturne HD Remaster, which arrives on May 24. Note that we have not tested the Switch edition, just the PS4 port on PS5. So...I hope it works out!

There's other stuff coming to the Switch eShop this week too:

Tomas Sala's beautiful aerial exploration/shmup title The Falconeer will be winging its way onto Nintendo Switch and PlayStation platforms this summer, following on from its 2020 release on PC, Xbox, and the Game Pass service.

Kentaro Miura, the creator of significantly influential series Berserk, passed away at age 54, it was recently announced. And soon after the news hit, Final Fantasy XIV players who were fans and influenced by his work took to their own servers to pay tribute.

Players on various servers donned their Dark Knight armor and stood in line as a tribute to Miura's work. Berserk has often been cited as an influence on many fantasy works over the years, from Souls games to characters like Soulcalibur's Siegfried/Nightmare and Cloud Strife's infamous Buster Sword.

FF14 players are making a tribute to Kentaro Miura, author of Berserk by having Dark Knights (job HEAVILY influenced by Guts) standing in line pic.twitter.com/z5CZ6h46LB

— Lulu🌈🎏 (@luulubuu) May 20, 2021

A whole bunch of DRKs gathered in Balmung's Ul'dah in tribute to Miura tonight, I think there's a real intersection between fans of FF and fans of Berserk. pic.twitter.com/k0YgKwBjj4

— Kyrie 《Alexander (Primal) stan》 (@uwurianger) May 20, 2021

Japanese developer Cygames has announced that it is hard at work on a brand new mystery title codenamed "Project GAMM." The new game is described as a fantasy adventure and will be produced and directed by Kenichiro Takaki, creator of the Senran Kagura franchise.

In a short teaser in Weekly Famitsu, Project GAMM is described as being a multiplayer-focused title set in a steampunky world of magic and machines. Lavish illustrations from veteran industry artist Mogmo spotlight a variety of sullen characters, such as a magical maid. Early screenshots appear to depict Dynasty Warriors-style mass battles, despite Project GAMM's heavy PvP slant. No release date or platforms were confirmed.

Since Kenichiro Takaki moved on from Marvelous — following his frustrations with Sony's censorship of the Senran Kagura series — the producer has been looking for a title to sink his time and talents into. While I'm in no doubt whatsoever that Project GAMM may also prove to be very fanservice heavy, Mogmo's gorgeous early artwork is pretty darn classy. The new title, whatever form it takes, could see Takaki step up a rung on the director's ladder in the eyes of the industry — something of a diversion from the cheesecake titles that are synonymous with his brand.

Switch RPG fans are getting another grand adventure. The very stylish Ni No Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom - Prince's Edition is coming to Nintendo Switch on Sept. 17, 2021.

Confirming an ESRB rating picked up on last month, the Prince's Edition will have all the DLC content that's been released for the original 2018 game, with both a digital and physical retail version at $59.99.

Ni No Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom follows the adventures of Evan Pettywhisker Tildrum, the dethroned ruler of Ding Dong Dell, as he works to build a new kingdom. It also stars Roland, a president from an unnamed Earth nation who is transported into the fantasy realm of Ni No Kuni. It's kind of a wild setup, but the art style and writing is very charming, and the "Higgledies" mechanic was pretty interesting. 

It's a pretty solid RPG, if you're looking for something to fill the hours with this summer. And really, it's hard not to be happy about more RPGs on the Switch.

Super Bomberman R Online was announced a few months ago and stewed for a bit, but now it's ready for release. Konami has revealed this week that the game will be headed to PC, PS4 (it's "PS5 compatible"), and Switch on May 27.

In case you missed this entire franchise return, this is not the standalone Super Bomberman R game that came out back in 2017. It's the one that came out on Stadia originally late last year. Instead, the "Online" moniker brings it more into spinoff territory, functionally turning it into a 64-player battle royale game.

Note that this is a free-to-play title, which supports itself on a 100 rank season pass scheme (which is being ported back to the Stadia version too). Seasons will run for "three months," (similar to a lot of games like Fortnite) and add in an exclusive hero as well as other characters and a currency called Bomber Coins. The first bonus is a big one: Old Snake Bomber from Metal Gear Solid.

Now, the free-to-play schema is very confusing deliberately, but the game itself is actually free, so download it and give it a shot. The battle royale layer actually works far better than you'd think, and there's a fair amount of strategy to both the macro-game and the micro-arena battles.

If you're looking for the Xbox One and Series X/S edition, keep looking! Konami says that will be confirmed "at a later date." Maybe they're waiting for a crossover.

Publisher AkSys Games is feeling the 1990s with the announcement of its brand new fighting title, Blazing Strike. Taking the genre back to its roots, Blazing Strike promises heavy-hitting, 2D, pixel-based throwdowns when it launches on PC and consoles next year.

"I was always fond of classic fighting games and I wanted to make a fun fighting game with an emphasis on mobility," said Mark Chung, founder of Blazing Strike developer RareBreed Makes Games. "Our goal is to create an homage to the classic pixel art-based 2D fighters, but with updated game mechanics that not only will bring nostalgia to 90’s arcade kids but will offer something new and entertaining to all gamers, regardless of whether they have played fighting games before."

The footage below is taken from the title's failed 2019 Kickstarter. As such, it might be unrepresentative of AkSys' revitalized project, but it still offers an example of Blazing Strike's old-school style.

Outriders came just a week after Monster Hunter Rise, and man, do we have a lot of looter-type lifestyle games at this point.

While the two games have nothing to do with each other on many levels, there is one common denominator: time! One only has so many hours in the day to balance all of these lengthy loot-chasers, but People Can Fly is reporting that a good chunk of folks did indeed answer the call of Outriders.

As their main Twitter account notes, they have "surpassed 3.5 million unique players in the first month after launch." Platform breakdowns were not given, which in this case would be super helpful since it launched day one on Xbox Game Pass. But still, a 31-hour average playtime is nothing to sneeze at. The top, most-dedicated player invested "797 hours" into the game.

Amazingly, the studio also reveals that the class breakdown is pretty close together, with the Trickster clocking in at 27.9% as the most-used option, followed by Pyromancer (best class) at 26.3%, Technomancer at 23.9%, and Devastator in a commanding last with 21.9%. There's a bunch of other useless stats flung around too, but the most popular legendary weapons are the Deathshield and Funeral Pyre.

How many active players does it still have? That information wasn't provided. But we'll see what they have planned in the coming months and whether or not they can keep people invested.

Outriders [Twitter]

It took scant hours for the mod community to jump on Capcom's Resident Evil Village, with a fistful of weird, twisted, and fun code tweaks that added Barney the Dinosaur, turned Lady Dimitrescu into Thomas the Tank Engine, and swapped the heads of Chris Redfield and baby Rose Winters... Amusing and disturbing stuff, for sure.

But this new creation from modder Kallialee, while not quite as horrific, is equally as bizarre. The mod once again features everyone's favorite bloodsucking hostess, Lady Dimitrescu, chasing down the hapless Ethan Winters as she is wont to do. Only this time, each and every time Alcina shows up, her hat has grown in size. While modest at first, the good lady ends up blocking out more than a fair bit of light by the end of the video below.

As noted by several commenters, the freaky, super-sized chapeau recalls Trooper Champlin and her ever-growing hat in Scary Movie 3... NOT THAT I'VE SEEN IT. But given the people's love for Lady Dimitrescu, her eye for style, and her timeless fashion, I'm hoping that we'll be seeing real-life versions of these monstrosities on the catwalks of Milan this year.

Some people in my circles have taken breaks from Monster Hunter Rise, but that might change once the next big update hits.

We're currently in the era of 2.0, but Capcom is ready to unleash 3.0 on us....soon enough.

As detailed in a new tweet, the publisher is ready to rock with another "Monster Hunter Digital Event," one of many Direct-like presentations for the series. They've typically been focused on Monster Hunter Rise as the main story, followed by Monster Hunter Stories 2 information afterward.

The next one will be held on May 26 at 10AM PT, which seems to be the current cadence for these things. "Details for Update Version 3.0 and the latest news for Stories 2" is directly teased. You can find the link to watch it right here! Capcom says that the update will be 1.4 GB in size, and if you haven't updated before, the full requirements are 2.9 GB.

Although I'm still enjoying logging in here and there, I hope they bring it for this update and get all of my friends back in. Also, an expansion at some point would do wonders, but that's likely not coming until the PC launch at the earliest, in early 2022.

Capcom [Twitter]

Housemarque's great roguelike Returnal is getting a brand new update today. Version 1.3.7, which should be available on PS5 as your read this, brings with it a handful of welcome bug fixes and stability improvements, making Selene's journey into the unknown just a tad smoother.

Among the issues addressed in the new update are several black screen crashes, a bug that was causing our girl to get stuck in the scenery on rare occasions, an audio issue that would cause sudden amplification in sound, and a very specific issue regarding the Ophion boss fight. In addition, Deceased Scouts should now appear in the game world with more frequency. You can find the full patch notes over on the Housemarque blog.

It bears reminding that, should your PS5 be set to "auto-update", any live games of Returnal will automatically shut down once the update drops, so bear this in mind lest you suddenly lose a multi-hour run. The lack of mid-run save options is a complaint that has been levied at Returnal by some of its players. Housemarque is currently investigating ways that it can address this complaint, while retaining the sci-fi title's thirst for challenge.

Hello? Is it amiibo nightmare buying experiences you're looking for? Because you're in one! Two references, I'm on fire today.

Ah man it feels like forever since I've written something like this, but the Loftwing & Zelda amiibo situation is unlike anything I've experienced in years as an amiibo collector. So it came out recently that the figure would interface with Zelda: Skyward Sword HD and add a feature that basically should have come standard as a quality of life upgrade. Now we have a bit more info on the toy, and how tough it might be to acquire it.

First off it's $25, which is roughly nine bucks higher than the average figure. OK, it's bigger generally, and more detailed. Some people can live with that. But it's also one of the most elusive figures in years, and has sold out at GameStop and Best Buy at the time of publication: sales that went up in the evening (US East) without warning.

All of that aside, we also have a full picture of what amiibo support will entail in Skyward Sword HD: and you're looking at it. According to the site, "The Zelda & Loftwing amiibo figure is the only amiibo that can be used in The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD." For a lot of people that's a sigh of relief, for others, it's kind of a pain that this hard-to-find, more expensive amiibo is the only way to unlock that fast travel anywhere feature: even if you own other Zelda figures.

Good luck if you're trying to get one!

New Zelda & Loftwing amiibo Figure [Nintendo]

It has been revealed that Warner Bros. Animation is currently in the midst of producing an animated adaptation of the DC Comics/NetherRealm Studios fighting franchise, Injustice.

The project was unceremoniously revealed in a press release listing the special features for WB's next animated feature Batman: The Long Halloween - Part II. One of the aforementioned bonus items is titled "A sneak peek at the next DC animated movie: Injustice," which somewhat gives the game away ahead of any official announcement.

Injustice: Gods Among Us, which launched for multiple formats back in 2013, saw DC's finest heroes and villains square off in a fighting fashion akin to that of NRS' own Mortal Kombat. Boasting over-the-top super moves, a unique control system, and some of the ugliest faces ever to grace gaming, Injustice told the story of two distinct DC universes that collide in a battle that could annihilate them both. Injustice was followed by superior sequel Injustice 2 in 2017 and also spawned a comic book adaptation.

Warner Bros. and NetherRealm have never been shy in cross-promotion, and often work together to time content — particularly DLC guest characters — to synchronize with incoming movies. With that in mind, some have taken the reveal of an Injustice flick as a clear signpost that a new Injustice game is in the works. While that seems a relatively snug assumption, a lot is currently up in the air at Warner Bros. Interactive, following the recent AT&T/Discovery merger. For now, all bets are off regarding Warner Bros. Interactive and its subsidiary studios.

Batman: The Long Halloween - Part II will premiere on streaming platforms July 27.

Here's some mighty fine news for TimeSplitters fans to start the day. Publisher Deep Silver has announced that disbanded studio Free Radical Design has reformed and will begin work on a brand new entry in the beloved, quirky shooter franchise within the coming months.

"We are happy to announce the formation of a new studio, Free Radical Design, based in Nottingham, UK," said Deep Silver owners Embracer in a press statement. "This Deep Silver studio will bring the much-loved TimeSplitters IP back to life. Key original members include founders Steve Ellis and David Doak. This highly respected team has a 22-year heritage of making AAA-products."

"To finally be able to confirm that the studio has been formed and that we have a plan for the next TimeSplitters game is incredible," said Free Radical co-founder Steve Ellis. "While we cannot tell you anything more at the moment, we look forward to sharing information in the future."

The official announcement that work is set to begin on the new game will no doubt comes as a major relief for the TimeSplitters community, who have been very vocal in their desire for a new release in the strange shooter series. The last TimeSplitters title was 2005's Future Perfect, while TimeSplitters 4 was abandoned mid-development after Free Radical went into administration. Despite ultimately finding new digs within Crytek, the project was never resurrected, and TimeSplitters has remained a source of whispers and rumors since.

But it appears that the wheels are finally in motion, and with the original team on board — helmed once again by Steve Ellis and David Doak — TimeSplitters fans can tentatively rest easy in the knowledge that work is soon to begin on a brand new TimeSplitters game. Of course, there's still quite some time to go before its release. But you're more than attuned to being patient by now, surely?

It's always entertaining to see classic tales reimagined in video games. But today, Neowiz and developer Round8 Studio have announced a mash-up I never thought I'd see: the story of Pinocchio, in the form of a Souls game.

Lies of P is an upcoming entry in the "Souls-like" genre, hit me with a one-two punch. First was the trailer, which appears to show Geppetto entering a fallen city and presumably beat up an automaton? We only smash-cut to the aftermath, but Geppetto certainly seems to have given the robot a good walloping.

We then cut to Punished Geppetto, as I'm calling him, standing over a small boy he calls "son," who has a mechanical arm. And after the title drop, the "son" is seen walking towards a wall of various weapons.

This is already a wild trailer, but then you can over to the Steam page for Lies of P, which gives us some more solid details. Playing as Pinocchio, a mechanoid puppet, you seek out Mr. Geppetto in the city of Krat and find a way to become human. Alongside the late 19th century aesthetic and swapping out body parts for new skills, there is also a "lying" mechanic. According to the store listing, quests will play out depending on how you lie, and those choices can affect the story's conclusion.

I have to say, I'm intrigued! It feels like a throwback to dark fairy tale games like Alice: Madness Returns, so a Pinocchio Souls is honestly not that hard to imagine. But the lying system is another level, adding some nuance that's both thematic and really wild.

After Man of Medan and especially Little Hope, which had a div-i-sive ending, I'm curious to see how Supermassive Games frames House of Ashes — and how the supernatural elements will manifest.

The next standalone game in the Dark Pictures Anthology has revealed more of its buried Sumerian temple setting, the "awakened" evil, and the folks we'll try to keep alive (for a few hours, anyway).

Today's video is just a teaser trailer, and Bandai Namco says it will share the gameplay reveal on May 27. The last teaser, from November 2020, called to mind The Descent. We don't know quite what this underground threat is, but the creature (?) can see in total darkness. Spooky adventures await.

Where are you at with The Dark Pictures Anthology? I hope the series keeps going for at least a few more entries, if not the ambitious eight-game run that was suggested originally. We don't get many shared-experience "movie night" adventure games with this scope, so I'm cherishing these cornballs.

If nothing else, I want the Curator to step out of the shadows and his story to really go for it.

The launch of the Mass Effect Legendary Edition has offered us a unique opportunity: to re-examine this trilogy in a new light, and replay these games in one package, to see the through-lines and how they illustrate a shift in a studio and an industry.

They're also a great reminder of how much Mass Effect's big moments still stand out, and the well-known intro to Mass Effect 2 is absolutely one of them.

Taking place not long after the conclusion of the first Mass Effect, Mass Effect 2 starts off with a conversation. Miranda Lawson, an agent of Cerberus, laments that Shepard did everything right, and yet they're being shipped out to carry out skirmishes against lingering Geth.

The Illusive Man, silhouetted against the massive space-window facing into a sun, chimes in when Miranda mentions what losing Shepard might mean: "Make sure we don't lose [them]."

We bump over to the Normandy to see the bridge bickering, but it's not long until the ship comes under fire. Shepard rushes to put out what they can, and once the player has control, they step out into the vacuum of space. They save Joker, but at the cost of their own life; and as the Normandy is reduced to scrap and salvage by an immense cruiser, Shepard writhes in zero-G for a few moments, and then finally, stops.

As if Epic Games wasn't already in and out of the courtroom enough, the company has filed a new lawsuit against augmented reality firm Nreal. The Fortnite developer is suing the Chinese company over the similarities between its name and Epic's game engine "Unreal".

"Nreal was and is well aware of Epic and its Unreal marks," reads the suit, which was filed last week in a North Carolina court. "Nreal does not just sell glasses, it has already developed and sold a game to be used with those glasses. Nreal is willfully trading off Epic's rights, causing confusion, and acting with callous disregard for Epic's prior rights."

Once again, "customer confusion" is the lawyer-panicking problem here, with Epic concerned that people will confuse Nreal's Smart Glass products with its own "Unreal" engine and gaming brand. While Epic has been in protracted talks with Nreal since the latter filed the trademark in 2018, Epic has decided to take the matter to the courts.

Epic is seeking damages and legal fees for "the harm it has suffered, is suffering, and will continue to suffer as a result of Nreal's infringement," in addition to Nreal cease-and desisting with its use of the term. Meanwhile, Epic Games continues its industry-changing trial with Apple. Busy times for the multi-billion dollar corporation.

Plans for this year's Summer Game Fest are starting to come together, and they include a pretty sizeable number of companies. Today, organizer Geoff Keighley announced the kickoff date, participating partners, and more for the 2021 festivities.

The action will kick off on June 10 at 2 p.m. ET / 11 a.m. PT with a live show hosted by Geoff Keighley. On Twitter, Keighley estimated that the show will run "around 2 hours" with over 12 premieres—"[probably] more than that."

Rock band Weezer will also play a "co-stream safe" performance of a brand-new video game soundtrack song during the kickoff live show. As for participating partners, the Summer Game Fest site lists the following:

It’s Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month, and for many people, this means taking extra time to appreciate our cultural history, highlight Asian work, and call attention to issues in the community. For people who love video games, that second part might involve playing the huge amount of Asian-made and sadly less ubiquitous Asian-starring games that have impacted video game history and aesthetics, like Japanese-made Super Mario Bros. and Shenmue.

For some white people, though, Asian appreciation tends to crawl past appreciation and into something more damaging. Recently, some white e-girls have been catching criticism online for “asianfishing,” a term predated by “blackfishing” and “catfishing,” all of which refer to people that significantly alter their appearance online. For asianfishers, this usually means engaging in the highly-criticized “fox eye” trend of pulling eyes back to make them look slanted, taping their eyes back, or using makeup to significantly change their facial features to look “Asian,” most typically East Asian.

Naughty Dog has announced another good reason for PS5 owners to clear a game off their backlog. The studio announced a performance patch is out today for The Last of Us Part II on PlayStation 5.

Once The Last of Us Part II owners have installed the latest patch on their PS5, they'll be able to access a toggle in the Display options allowing them to target either 30 or 60 FPS. Though it's already a pretty nice-looking game, a bump in framerate sounds like a good reason to jump onto this one.

In today's PlayStation blog, Naughty Dog also teases that this patch is "just the first step" of working on the PS5, and they'll let us know when they have more news to share. Reports have said the studio is looking into a remake of the first game, but even if it's just more enhancements to fidelity, I'm down for that.

Either way, seems like a good time to finally get around to The Last of Us Part II. Hopefully all that revengin' and guitar-playin' looks even nicer running at higher FPS.

So Square Enix decided to unload a ton of new info for Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade (the DLC/PS5 upgrade thing for Remake), and there's a lot to unpack. Let's start with the characters.

Nero has been revealed, serving as a "member of an elite unit in Deepground known as the Tsviets." Scarlet is also going to get down to business in the DLC utilizing the Crimson Mare mech, and Ramuh will be usable as a summon. As you can tell, from an antagonist standpoint the DLC is going to diverge quite a bit.

The residents of English town Walsall have levied complaints at their local council over the implementation of 15 enormous plant pots, which bear more than a striking resemblance to the "warp pipes" of the Super Mario series. While this is obviously a positive boon to any city, some members of the Always Pleased British public are unhappy with the "eyesores."

According to local newspaper Birmingham Mail, the Walsall council was asked to slash £29 million from its budget, which is leading residents to question why taxpayer cash has been splashed on the admittedly huge installations, which have been situated throughout the quiet market town. Rumors that running across Walsall's rooftops allows you to skip a few worlds are yet to be verified.

"We've had so many shop closures in the last few years and the best thing the council can come up with is these garish monstrosities," said local florist Andrea Loveridge to the Birmingham Mail, before cementing her point with delighfully old-school phrase "It beggars belief."

Heroes of the Storm is back!

After months of slight balance patches, the team has been emerging from the ground to speak to fans again on social channels like Reddit, and now the game just got a big-ish patch on top of a new event. It's none other than the Overwatch Cosplay theme that was teased but not spoken about or announced at BlizzConline; and features outfits for several characters.

Valla is rocking the Reaper digs (Shadow Stalker), Johanna is cosplaying as Reinhardt (Gleaming Peacekeeper), Stitches is fittingly Roadhog (Hogmeat Stitches), and Raynor is Soldier 76 (Raynor 76). This joins a few other Overwatch cosmetics, like the notable Widowmaker skin for Nova: at this point, there's a lotta Overwatch in Heroes!

I have to say, all of them except the Valla skin look pretty rad. It doesn't really feel "Reaper" to me, while all of the others are so obvious at a glance, even with a behind the back overhead view. Given that they cost 525 gems or 600 shards for each tint (Hogmeat Stitches is a little more), I would have liked a little more flair.

If you're not into buying skins, you can check out the full live patch notes here. Coincidentally, all of the above heroes have been reworked this week. And the loot boxes have finally been changed from the winter event to Nexomania II.

Tomorrow sees the launch of Call of Duty's season three mid-season, kicking off a selection of neat in-game content across both Black Ops: Cold War and battle royale title Warzone. Activision has shared details of the incoming "80s Action Heroes" banner, which brings a couple of silver screen legends to the first-person shooter.

Leading the charge are new premium operator bundles for John Rambo and Die Hard's John McClane, which add new operators and weapon skins as well as alternate knives, watches, and other themed accessories. These bundles will only be available for a limited time, and are expected to sell for a meaty 2400 CoD Points each.

In keeping with the movie theme, several new locations are being added to Warzone's Verdansk map, including the P.O.W. camp and CIA Outpost from 1985's Rambo: First Blood Part II, and a replication of Nakatomi Plaza from the fantastic 1989 classic, Die Hard. New modes "Rambo's Gun Game" and "Die HardPoint" will also be temporarily added to mode rotation.

[Update: The pre-patch is now live, and you can begin the process of transferring your characters between each classic game. This is what your launcher will look like going forward. There's an option for "Burning Crusade Classic" as well as "World of Warcraft Classic."

Upon logging in I was able to make the switch and it was relatively painless. After changing one of my Druids over to Burning Crusade, the game told me I could clone my character into WoW Classic for $15 at a later date, which I'm electing not to do. Simple enough!

I gotta say, fumbling of the clone fee aside, it really takes me back seeing that Dark Portal splash screen again.]

WoW Classic is about to be cleaved in two.

On one side of the Dark Portal: Classic Classic. On the other, Burning Crusade Classic. We knew this day would come, and for months we tried to figure out how this would actually work. But just recently via Blizzard's BlizzConline stream, we know how it'll work. And it involves two completely different servers.

When May 18 hits, the "pre-expansion patch" will go live in Classic. At this point you'll have two choices: you can bring them forward into the new expansion or stay in the old hotness (which will confusingly be brought forward into new "old" servers). Or, you can "clone them" for a fee.

While ethereal sequel Hollow Knight: Silksong remains high on the wishlist of many video game fans, developer Team Cherry has warned its followers to temper their expectations going into the E3 season.

Speaking on its official Discord, Team Cherry's marketing head, Matthew Griffin stated, in no uncertain terms, that the team does not have any blogs or announcements scheduled for E3 this year — suggesting that the charming Hornet and her long-anticipated subterranean adventure still remain some way away from seeing the daylight. The statement was then shared to the Hollow Knight Reddit by user Echo_The_Shadow.

Hollow Knight: Silksong was originally drafted as a DLC expansion to the best-selling 2017 release, Hollow Knight. However, as scope increased and the project became more ambitious, it was decided to make Silksong a fully-formed sequel instead. While this update will no doubt come as a disappointment to fans — who have eagerly anticipated a release date for some time now, the Hollow Knight pedigree suggests that Silksong will be more than worth the wait when Hornet and her trusty needle finally venture into the world of Pharloom.

Hollow Knight: Silksong is in development for PC and Nintendo Switch.

So first up I have to really compliment the sculpt of this new amiibo figure. Job well done, folks.

A new Zelda amiibo? Yes. With loftwing? That's a two for one! This figure is super rad and I dig that games like Skyward Sword are getting commemorative figures. For the most part, 2020 and 2021 have been dead on the amiibo front (although this year has already surpassed 2020). Onto the bad news.

My hype dwindled a bit after watching the below trailer, which introduces the duo. So normally the game offers "fast travel" using specific statues in-game to go back to the main hub (Skyloft). But with the amiibo, you can just tap the figure to the NFC point, and instantly travel back to Skyloft. Even better, when you use it again, you'll go right back where you left off.

Am I crazy or is this a basic remaster quality of life feature? I'm typically all for amiibo unlocking cosmetic content (even "early unlocks" are fairly innocuous), but this is something a lot of people probably expected to be in the base game. If this figure is hard to track down too (just like the recent Monster Hunter Stories 2 figures, which aren't even being sold online in the US), it'll be even more of a pain.

As a reminder, we've kept a running tally of every amiibo figure released to date since 2014. You can check it out here.

I'm actually fairly impressed with Pokemon Sword and Shield's in-game support over the past one and a half years.

I know I know, there's plenty to criticize overall. But the team has been rolling out Gigantamax events and distribution methods on a regular basis this entire time, giving hardcore fans something to look forward to when they log in. They're not game-changing to be sure, but I love that at pretty much any point when I feel like getting back into either game there's something there. Nintendo has been doing the same thing for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate: it's great.

So anyway, the next event is actually crowdsourced through a fan voting process on this Twitter account, and you can pick the items that will be doled out to plays "later this summer," as part of the Players Cup IV broadcasts. 

Folks, I've spent over 10 hours power washing, and I feel great.

Ahem. I've spent over 10 hours power washing houses, cars, and even a skate park... inside a simulation PC game. I know what you're thinking — you've got that trademark Simpsons "Yard Work Simulator" image ready to go — and I don't disagree. But for what it is, this game is surprisingly well-thought-out.

I wouldn't go so far as to call it "fun," but I'm enjoying this comfortingly mundane experience.

It looks like there's only two months to go before we get to see the dynamic duo of Leon Kennedy and Claire Redfield back in action. Netflix has announced that its upcoming series Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness will hit the streaming service July 8.

Nintendo has announced that it will be adding four new titles to the Nintendo Switch Online Collection app — a compilation of classic NES & SNES releases that are readily accessible to all users who have a Nintendo Switch Online subscription.

Joining the roster on May 26 will be Jaleco's Ninja JaJaMaru-kun, a rarity that first launched for the Famicom back in 1985. From the 16-bit SNES era, the Online Collection will be receiving Natsume's 1991 action title Spanky's Quest, Culture Brain's 1991 sports release Super Baseball Simulator 1.000, Data East's arcade platformer Joe & Mac: Cavemen Ninja and, also from Data East, one of my personal favorite puzzle games, Magical Drop II, which is getting its first ever western release.

Now, admittedly this is hardly the most exciting or world-renown of releases, but it's definitely an interesting batch of oddities. The Nintendo Switch Online Collection seems to be a solid blend of the obvious (Super Metroid, Super Mario World, StarFox) and the sublime (Wild Guns, River City Ransom, Gradius). But I hope that Nintendo will continue to pull both popular and unknown releases from its extensive back catalogue of yesteryear's hits.

_{[When Destructoid reader PatBateman17 blogs, we listen. -Jordan]}

If you've seen me lurking on any number of AMA posts here, you know by now my absolute favorite gaming question is, "What is your most emotional gaming moment?" Gaming is by far my primary hobby, but I want more than just good action, cool design, or grand setpieces. I want a deeply emotional story that goes places. I want a dev that takes me on a journey from start to credits — and if you can absolutely demolish my heart in the meantime, I'm even more here for that!

Sure, I enjoy my shooty bang bang games as much as the regular lot, my puzzle games with minimal story, the highs and lows of Mario Kart... but what I really enjoy are the games that rip my heart out of my chest and leave me gaping at the screen after I've wrapped, totally distraught and in awe of the journey the developer has taken me on. NinjaSpeed's excellent blog got me thinking about what I really connect with in the games I've played throughout the different times of my life. I could go on and on with this one, but I figured I'd hit the highlights that immediately come to memory.

The Game Band, the indie outfit behind the fantasy sports sim/metafictional narrative experiment Blaseball, has secured funding to keep making more. Today, the studio announced a "significant investment" from Makers Fund, with additional investments from 1Up Ventures and Matthew Ball.

The investment will be used "first and foremost" to pay the Blaseball team for all of the hard work that's been put into the development of the ever-growing community sports sim, and then to grow the team, according to founder and creative director Sam Rosenthal. 

"We’ve read all of your feedback and have so many ideas of our own," wrote Rosenthal in the statement today. "Now we’ll have the resources to be able to start to put some of them into action. And finally, the investment enables us to look to the future and plan out new projects without the fear of going under."

Blaseball will also remain free-to-play, and The Game Band will stay an independent studio. A subsequent tweet from the studio's account also confirmed that a mobile app is in development.

If you're unfamiliar with Blaseball, it's maybe best described as fantasy sports with an emphasis on fantasy, and with a heaping help of community participation. Players can bet (fake, not real, money) on simulated matches playing throughout the week, and spend that currency to vote for decrees and decisions that will alter the future of the league.