Destructoid

One of the key features that made WayForward's high-school brawler River City Girls so utterly appealing was its wicked cast of characters. Led by the dynamic duo of Misako and Kyoko, RCG was absolutely bursting fun enemies, shopkeepers, bystanders and boss characters. So many neat characters, in fact, that sadly not everyone got a turn getting their nose broken.

Apropos of nothing, WayForward has released an image of one such boss character that didn't make the cut for the bone-breaking punch-up. According to the publisher, "Noroi" was a kind-hearted schoolkid possessed by a malicious Yokai demon, turning him into a meat-cleaver wielding maniac with a ghostly visage. The River City Girls cast was already pretty much packed-out, and our boy never made it off the page.

River City Girls has an amazing array of Big Bads, from franchise favorites such as Misuzu and Abobo, to the amazing arachnid fashionista Hibari, the hard-rockin' but troubled megastar Noize, and the sexy, sword-swinging, crime lord Sabuko. There isn't a dud among them, which just leaves one wondering what other awesome design ideas hit the cutting room floor alongside the demonic Noroi. So knuckle up, ladies, it looks like there still might be further evil lurking in the avenues and alleyways of your burned-out 'burg.

[Update: It's time to claim the PlayStation Plus games for April 2021, so follow those links.]

Sony is back with three games for PlayStation Plus in April, and it's an interesting lot.

Some people – notably, PlayStation 5 owners – are probably going to feel short-changed by Sony's decision to double-dip. From April 6 until May 3, PlayStation Plus subscribers will be able to claim Oddworld: Soulstorm (PS5 only), Days Gone, and Zombie Army 4: Dead War for their library.

In a vacuum, I like this lineup, but for anyone who got a "free" copy of Days Gone with their PS5 through the PlayStation Plus Collection promo, it's a retread. Of course, there's a lot to like with this open-world romp – more than people were initially thinking – and it's a meaty game. As a freebie, it's a solid pick.

The hits for Balan Wonderworld keep coming.

Following a poor critical reception, the Square Enix-published mascot platformer allegedly has only sold roughly 2,000 copies in Japan. Evidently, the game did not even chart (with any SKUs), missing the top 30 at retail. Though we don't have the digital sales figures from Square Enix, it's increasingly likely that they will ignore that this game exists eventually.

Following through, I checked the eShop to see if the game was ranked in North America, and it's still not in the top 30. Nintendo Life reports that the game did not crack the top 40 UK charts on any platform as well. Low-end word of mouth also tracks with the Steam listing, which still only has 68 total reviews: an extremely low turnout for a game from a major publisher.

It's heartbreaking in a way, as famed former Sega developer Yuji Naka has made it known in no uncertain terms that Balan Wonderworld might be his last shot to make a genre game like this. But if the market isn't responding well, and the game is fundamentally flawed, this might realistically be the end of the road.

Mascot platformers as a whole in 2021 are a very tough sell as it is, because "flawed but fun" is becoming increasingly less cute in a sea of polished genre staples. It was an uphill climb from the start, no matter how wide-eyed Naka may have been.

NetEase and ArtPlay continue in their efforts to bring all of Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night's console content to the mobile edition of Igarashi's great gothic platformer. Today sees the arrival of a new playable character, Zangetsu, who joins the Bloodstained roster on iOS and Android as a free download.

Following Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn since 2013 has been a trip.

I saw it launch on PS4 for the first time nearly a year after it arrived on PC and PS3, and I saw it die on PS3 for the last day when Square Enix decided to sunset support for it in 2017. It'll be interesting to see if or when Square Enix decides to similarly sunset the PS4 edition, but for now, Final Fantasy XIV is officially on three platforms again. Well, sorta!

The PS5 version actually isn't out yet, but it will be available via beta form on April 13, which is also the launch date of patch 5.5. If you can't wait that long, the game's producer, Naoki "Yoshi P" Yoshida just put out a new episode of Letter from the Producer Live, which showcases the PS5 port in action.

Note that this is basically the first time the PS5 version has been shown in real-time, following the marketing trailer in the recent XIV press conference. Yoshi-P adorably crawls through what the port entails, including the more detailed skill icons, as well as the smoother framerate and crisper visuals.

The PS5 bit starts at roughly 1:20:00 in, if you're interested in watching the entire thing. It's fairly lengthy, and runs through around 1:35:00, at which point the team runs through a slideshow (with English) that re-iterates all of the enhancements. That slideshow also confirms a "high-resolution UI" option for PC players.

Yep, this is looking real good. XIV is still one of the most gorgeous games in existence, so being able to see a livelier version is a plus, as is a more stable framerate for higher octane bouts.

[Update: As expected the rollout seems to be a mess. The official Twitter account didn't update anyone when the process began, leaving many fans in the lurch as to how they should actually buy the new Animal Crossing line. After many requests, it provided a link to the waiting room.

In addition, after a lot of hype, they are reportedly only selling Isabelle and Tom Nook SKUs at this time (which might be the entire "line" altogether). Many folks on Twitter are reporting that they couldn't get in the waiting room, or never got the email explaining anything regarding the process. If you try and join the waiting room now the time listed is "over an hour."]

Ah, another day, another Nintendo-merchandise-related fiasco in the making.

Fresh off of the insane demand for Animal Crossing Sanrio crossover amiibo cards is the newest promotion on the block: Animal Crossing Build-A-Bear. You laugh, but this promo is so crazily hyped that the Build-A-Bear corporation is actually taking this very seriously, and has provided exact go-times for the online frenzy.

Today at 10:30AM ET, you'll be allowed the privilege of stepping into a virtual waiting room for an 11:00AM ET sale time. If you're curious, you're probably going to want to sign up for the newsletter to get the go-ahead and the link for said online room.

Phenomenally popular franchise The Walking Dead is making another foray into the world of video games. Coming to iOS and Android devices on April 12, The Walking Dead: Survivors sees an all-star cast of monster mashers reunite for more bloody, siege-management action.

A collaboration of Elex and Skybound Entertainment, TWD: Survivors is a free-to-play game that will see players build a custom team taken from 80+ famous faces from the Image Comics series and its TV adaptation. Set your squad to fortifying your territory against waves of Walkers, as well as vicious attacks from clans of other players. Keep your team alive and your walls standing while managing your resources and increasing growth across the region. Team with other players to solidify your presence, lead attacks against other clans, and maybe you and yours will live to see tomorrow.

Big news today for Xbox Game Pass: it's getting one of the biggest games in recent memory.

Yep! It's none other than Grand Theft Auto V, which hits the Game Pass service on April 8, on mobile devices and consoles. Also on that same date you'll find Disneyland Adventures, as well as Rush: A DisneyPixar Adventure, and Zombie Army 4.

It's a good spread! I mean you have two ultraviolent games and two things for kids to play. And GTAV is kind of the perfect Game Pass game at this point, because it's so old that anyone who really wanted it already bought it, and folks who were on the fence might get sucked in and pay for GTA Online goodies. It's a win-win for Rockstar.

On April 12 NHL 21 is still arriving, with Rain on Your Parade and Pathway on April 15. Then there's MLB The Show on April 20. You can find the full list of April offerings below.

Game Pass continues to be worth the price of entry.

Monster Hunter Rise is having a pretty good go of it right now.

It's shipped five million copies and is instantly one of Capcom's top-10 most successful games. It's riding high with positive critical and fan reception, and for the most part, there are only a few bugs. Although the parameters for triggering them are obscure you should be aware of them; though a few of which were squashed today.

Just this morning Capcom pushed a new update for Monster Hunter Rise, which shored up some lingering problems since launch. The vast majority of them have to deal with uncommon menu and emote bugs, most of which can be fixed by restarting the game. It's not ideal! But thankfully there was only one major save-threatening bug found so far.

The really good news is that if you were impacted by this one, Capcom has been able to fix it without ruining your save. Here's the snippet from the patch notes: "Fixed a bug causing save data to be corrupted when you try to continue the game from the Title Menu after quitting the game while having the Attack Pose Set and Hurt Pose Set equipped to the Action Bar or the radial menu. You will now be able to resume your game with the save data in question."

Bolded for emphasis! You can find the full patch notes for version 1.1.2 below.

With all the rumors flying around, it's entirely possible that the ESA pivoted its E3 plans multiple times these past few months. But as of today, they are committed to a free June show.

The ESA confirmed to Destructoid this morning that E3 2021 will take place from "June 12 to June 15," with "early commitments from the following publishers: "Nintendo, Xbox, Capcom, Konami, Ubisoft, Take-Two Interactive, Warner Bros. Games and Koch Media, and more to come." So there's a few of the usual "press conference" suspects, minus Bethesda. Also note that Sony is again not present on this early list. Gulp!

There's a few takeaways from this seemingly innocuous confirmation, too. The ESA reconfirms that the show will be "available to everyone for free," which is great news as a potential last-minute decision prevented a disaster of paywalling. And there's another thing to note from the ESA's statement this morning, too.

"The ESA looks forward to coming back together to celebrate E3 2022 in person, in the meantime see you online this June!" Bold! Most companies said this last year too, so we'll have to see on that. It should be fine, right? Keep that optimism: You have a heart of gold. Don't let them take it from you.

"In the meantime see you online this June" is also a little disingenuous. Maybe from you, ESA! But the summer of packed conferences is starting up in April, and likely won't let up until later this fall. I miss a physical E3 mostly because it allowed all of those publishers to just pack everything into a week and not spread it out across half a year of micro-streams.

Remember that scene in Akira where Tetsuo steals Kaneda's bike and gets the ever-loving shit kicked out of him by a street gang? If you've ever watched that scene and thought "Man, that could be me!" then you might want to look into RUNNER, a brand new VR biker title headed to PS5 and PC.

Developed by indie outfit Truant Pixel, RUNNER soaks up the style of classic cyberpunk anime, capturing the atmosphere of movies such as Akira, Ghost in the Shell, and Patlabor - an aesthetic beautifully dubbed "Cassette Futurism" by the developer. Players will don the biker leathers of black market mod courier Mina, as she snakes her way through the sectors of "The Thoroughfare," relentlessly pursued by agents of the Caldara corporation.

What an amazing feat. It has been revealed that the global Guilty Gear community has fallen head over heels for Ramlethal Valentine, the beautiful, war-mongering diva of Arc System Works' luscious fighting game franchise. The revelation of Ram's popularity came as part of an update on GG Strive's development process, ahead of the game's official release on PlayStation and PC June 11.

The newest developer diary sees GG Strive director Akira Katano address stats and feedback taken from the anime fighter's February beta test, which afforded players the opportunity to throw down in nail-biting head-to-head gameplay. ArcSys' then asked said players to contact the developer with their thoughts on the beta, which they did in droves. And it seems, for the most part, that everyone's experience was mostly positive. Responding to the wave of feedback, Katano notes that while some of the issues raised will be addressed before launch, others are simply part of GG Strive's intended design, and will be left relatively untouched.

The reception for Save me Mr. Tako upon its release in 2018 didn't really play out the way developer Christophe Galati thought it would. A passion project for fans of the Game Boy and Super Game Boy, its initial response wasn't encouraging, with perfectly valid complaints about its difficulty, camera, and movement. Normally, a game would receive a patch or two to address these complaints. But Galati couldn't do that as the game's publisher, Nicalis, wouldn't foot the bill for it. After two years, Galati split with Nicalis and Mr. Tako was delisted from digital storefronts.

On May 5, the 8-bit octopus is coming back with a new definitive edition and a physical release from the folks at Limited Run Games. Save me Mr. Tako: Definitive Edition will release for Nintendo Switch and Steam, and it will include a host of improvements over the original title. Some of these include:

Marvel's Avengers is doing it again. Although this new weekly War Table update has some tweaks, and the game just launched a second Hawkeye, the marketplace is the big focus this time. Such is the life of a live service game.

The skins in question this time around are the "Aerospace outfits," which come in a set for the entire team, including the new Hawkeyes. "Subsequent weeks" will swap new outfits in and out, so in addition to spending real cash on them, (900 premium currency, which is roughly $9), you'll also have the FOMO of getting matching costumes as a group.

This week, Captain America and Iron Man are up. Starting strong! Our community said that those two were in the top three most-used characters in our poll near launch. Who knows how many people still play, of course. If you want, you can also grab a Black Widow BW046 nameplate for free as promotion for the upcoming MCU film.

Marvel's Avengers is in such a weird spot. It wasn't the best-received game at launch, much less after a number of improvements. It's a learning experience for big publishers. Maybe coming out of the gate super strong with mobile service provider tie-ins and a huge push for live service isn't always beneficial when it alienates the people you want to monetize.

Still, there's plenty of life left in this game, and I'm curious to see where it goes. Black Panther and Spider-Man are up later this year, among others.

War Table [Avengers]

After hearing the PSP, Vita, and PS3 store shutdown news last week, I was disappointed, but I wasn't as fired up as some. More like all-around bummed and tired. We're really doing this, Sony? Welp, okay.

With the recent clarification that we'll still be able to download our purchases after the store closures (for the time being, anyway), I had planned to procrastinate on getting my libraries in order. July 2 – the PS3 and PSP store shutdown date – felt far enough away that I didn't need to spring into action.

With that "I'll get around to it later" mentality, on Friday, I began poking around various forums and communities to refresh myself on which digital-only games and cost-effective buys are worth looking into before it's too late. Tomba costs how much on disc nowadays? Okay, sure, another PS1 Classic for the list. Next thing I knew, I was in the researching groove and I couldn't help myself. I went a bit nuts.

I tell this story time and time again, but my introduction to Oddworld was completely by accident.

It was dropped into my lap by a family member, who heard I liked interesting adventure games and gifted me a PlayStation copy. Man, I'm glad that happened.

Visual novel fans hoping to take more of their libraries on the go are getting a new one this week. A Nintendo eShop listing shows that The House in Fata Morgana: Drams of the Revenants Edition is hitting the Switch eShop in North America on April 9, 2021.

The eShop listing popped up sometime recently, as noted by a few sharp observers. We reached out to publisher Limited Run Games for confirmation and a spokesperson confirmed that yes, it will be released digitally this Friday.

The House in Fata Morgana is a pretty well-regarded visual novel, sitting as one of the highest-rated stories by users on VNDB and overwhelmingly positive reviews on Steam. Though it was first released in Japan in 2012, it went worldwide on PC in 2016, with a run from Limited Run Games in 2019 for both the PlayStation Vita and PS4.

Set in a mansion throughout various time periods, it follows an attempt to regain lost memories by viewing past tragedies associated with the residents and their residence. I've managed to keep myself pretty unspoiled on what more happens, but given the praise I've seen for The House in Fata Morgana, it's definitely jumping up my backlog.

You don't see Zelda: Breath of the Wild motorcycle stunt videos as often as other clips.

I mean, that's because it takes work to unlock it! To get the Master Cycle Zero, you need to finish the Champion's Ballad DLC, which not everyone even owns, much less has the gumption to finish. But if you do, it's a pretty rad reward in its own right, and allows for all sorts of open world shenanigans. Like this video from Redditor kneil95!

Short and to the sweet, like many classic Breath of the Wild stunt videos, they take the Master Cycle for a spin and get launched into the air by a waking Hinox. But the fun isn't over, as they whip out their bow and launch some slow motion explosives down at the unsuspecting foe. The landing is arguably the best part, with a Legolas style leap at the end.

The creator of the video was actually inspired by Aura over on Twitter, who is helping popularize Master Cycle stunt videos again. I can get down with this new wave! Every few months the community shifts to something new, showing off their take on a classic stunt. And of course, most people end their videos with the slow motion "no look" anime walk away.

There's an accepted etiquette at this point for these videos. That's how far we've come from "check out this random clip I made." One of the first-ever videos I remember watching ages ago was the "bear is on fire" clip.

I was inspired to try this out [Reddit]

Well, for a while it was actually a bit different. The past month has seen Monster Hunter Rise, Spider-Man Miles Morales, Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury, and even Supergiant's excellent Hades all hit the number one spot. But normal order has been restored, and Electronic Arts' FIFA has returned to the top of the UK Charts.

The soccer sim managed to successfully push past Square Enix's Outriders to regain the physical sales throne, with the brand new RPG shooter debuting outside of the Top Five at number six. It should be noted that Outriders is also available as part of Xbox's paid gaming service, Xbox Game Pass, which will have cut into the title's physical launch numbers.

Outriders, like many modern looter shooters, can seem daunting at first. It's really not!

Here are a few quick tips to help you on your way.

It sounds like Apex Legends will be doing some more digging into the broader Titanfall universe. Respawn Entertainment's battle royale is in the same setting as the Titanfall series, though not the same point in time; and with Season 9, it sounds like Apex will be leaning more into that side of things.

As reported by Dexerto, a recent panel hosted by Brown Girl Gamer Code brought on several Apex developers. During the discussion, game director Chad Grenier said there was more in store for Titanfall content crossing over into Apex Legends.

"Next season, Season 9, you're actually going to see a ton of Titanfall coming back into the game in one way or another," said Grenier. "I've told some people before, if you're a Titanfall fan, hang on for Season 9 because there's gonna be some really cool stuff there."

Senior writer Ashley Reed also discussed how Apex Legends' place in the timeline informs the relationship between the battle royale and the universe at large.

As soon as both Destiny games launched, players managed to spy hundreds of potential quality of life upgrades in a matter of days.

While internal testing can't match a wide rollout, Bungie has implemented some very questionable mechanics in their live service games; and either remain steadfast in their choices or (very) slowly adjust them. Vendors are getting just that as season 14 kicks off.

Detailing the alterations on their blog, Bungie notes that Destiny 2's Ada-1 will be headlining the transmog (change gear appearance) system, which is dubbed "Armor Synthesis." Basically, Ada-1 will dish out a random combat style armor mod each day on top of a random armor mod. This system is to alleviate the FOMO from folks who missed out on Year 3 gear. Ada-1 also has a weekly table of armor and sells materials just like Banshee-44.

Speaking of, that little gun peddler won't sell armor mods anymore, as that duty now falls on Ada-1. But now Banshee-44 is getting an upgrade by selling six weapons from the world loot pool with perk rolls. Basically, it's another reason to actually check him out.

Adding more flavorful NPC vending options is a win for me. Often times going to the Tower feels like a chore, with rote vendors that don't really pop, so hopefully Ada-1's duties will make these necessary trips a little more fun. Cut down load times on current generation consoles already help a lot. I can remember lengthy multi-minute loads for Tower visits in the original Destiny!

This Week at Bungie [Bungie.net]

As the popular battle royale genre continues to search for new locations, realms, and even eras with which to wreak its multiplayer mayhem, fledgling studio Team GRIT has announced its intention to take the Last Person Standing concept back to the wild west, with the announcement of a brand new hard-shooting free-for-all: Grit.

Currently in development for PC, Grit will see 100 varmints take to the dust bowls, saloons, gold mines, and deserts of the Old West, engaging in tense, gun-slinging mayhem in hopes of becoming the last desperado in town come sundown. Looting trains and treasure will help kit out your cowboy with one of 20 different weapons, while scavenged poker cards will add various buffs and effects to your custom character's playstyle.

Monster Hunter Rise is selling extremely well pretty much everywhere, and now it hit another milestone: five million shipped globally. As a reminder, this is just on Switch, as it's exclusive to Nintendo's platform at the moment.

Capcom has confirmed the new number as of this morning, noting that this is part of the 66 million in sales that the series has reached overall. Accounting for Monster Hunter: World's 16.8 million units, these two games alone have basically made up a third of the entire franchise sales figures.

But circling back to the big picture a bit, with five million shipped, Monster Hunter Rise is already part of the respectable "top 10 platinum title" club, a list joined by Monster Hunter: World, RE7, RE2 (remake), RE5, RE6, Monster Hunter World: Iceborne, SFII, SFV, and RE2. The addition of Rise has knocked Monster Hunter Freedom 3 out of the top 10.

Also, on the same landing page, Capcom reconfirms that the game is set to debut on PC in "early 2022." So if you think about it, it only has up to go from here. Rise is about to take on Street Fighter V for the eighth overall spot, and will likely beat out Street Fighter II in a matter of time.

The jovial Geoff Keighley is the latest event organizer to announce their plans for summer in lieu of the typical E3/gamescom live-show gatherings. Keighley has announced that Summer Games Fest will return this June, bringing with it news, reveals, interviews, and Q&A sessions - as well as another "Day of the Devs" showcase for upcoming studios.

Described as a "free, industry-wide celebration of video games", Summer Game Fest 2021 will give viewers the opportunity to check out a wide variety of incoming releases and exciting trailers from the comfort and safety of their own homes. This year's show promises world exclusive reveals, as well as musical performances. Keighley will, of course, be on-hand to host live streams and chat with featured developers and other industry pals.

The "Day of the Devs: Summer Game Fest Edition" is a sub-event produced in association with Double Fine Productions and iam8bit. This feature will spotlight developers and games on a more focused basis and will feature a specially curated selection of upcoming games and studios chosen by Keighley and the Day of the Devs team. If you are a developer and would like your game to be considered for the show, then you can submit your application right here. Submissions close on April 9, so get a wriggle on.

Summer Games Fest 2021 will take place this June. Specific dates will be disclosed soon.

The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) has addressed reports that it will be hiding content from its upcoming E3 2021 experience behind a "Premium Package" paywall, which was rumored to be offering demos and other content for an "entrance" fee of sorts.

News outlet VGC originally reported that it had spoken with sources within the industry who had indeed been offered a "paid access" E3 experience. But following the publishing of said report, The ESA contacted VGC - and also took to social media - to declare that "that there will be no elements at E3 2021 that will be behind a paid-for pass or paywall." and that everyone will be able to tune into the online event free-of-charge.

2021 is a vital year from the long-running industry show. E3 has been held annually in Los Angeles since 1995, and for decades has been considered the premier industry show. But the modern proliferation of the internet, the rise of social media, and the simplicity of live streaming has led many major publishers to hold their own showcases online, away from the hustle and bustle of the event.

Metroid Prime is a classic. I don't think that's up for debate. It just is.

Nintendo thinks so! Which is why they released it again years later in trilogy form on the Wii after its GameCube debut in 2002. But ever since that 2009 Wii edition, the series has remained dormant. I mean, there's allegedly another one in the works! But that could be years away at this point. Enter the fandom.

There's still a huge collective rallying around the Metroid franchise at large, as well as the Prime series. One of those groups managed to craft a demake of Metroid Prime, which is now available in demo form. Said demo entails the Tallon Overworld, Artifact Temple, and the Chozo Ruins, but the team "needs to spend more time" working on it to expand upon that setup.

The demo itself is the result of five years of work from "Team SCU." Presumably to avoid legal issues, the team is calling this project "Prime 2D," though I'm not sure that will be sufficient if Nintendo really wants to nail this.

Since I'm inevitably going to get the "thanks Destructoid, you personally emailed Nintendo to get this shut down!" messages, I'll note here that the project creators put up a public post for the demo, and "Let's Plays" are already on YouTube (like the one below), one of the world's largest video platforms, for public viewing. The "secret" is out!

Metroid Prime 2D Demake [Metroid Database via Nintendo Life]

Tomorrow sees the return of one of gaming's weirdest and quirkiest franchises. It's been a long time coming, but Oddworld: Soulstorm will see brave Mudokan Abe stand against impossible odds to save his people from slave labor at the greasy hands of the Glukkons.

Developer Oddworld Inhabitants has released a quadrilogy of videos, focusing on various elements of Oddworld: Soulstorm. From the stealth gameplay and "follower management" of previous titles, to new looting and crafting mechanics. The four videos offer fans a taste of the epic adventure to come. Described as a "re-take" of 1998's Abe's Exoddus, Soulstorm is a fresh sequel to the franchise's original release, Abe's Oddysee, and will follow Abe and his friends as they continue their quest for liberation.

YouTuber Michael Pick managed to craft a gigantic Nintendo Switch that actually works. So how did Pick do it? Well, there's a very breezy and informative roughly four-minute video to catch, but here's a quick overview.

In short, it's a Switch hooked up to an embedded 4K screen. Basically, the giant thing has working buttons, but for ease, you're going to want to hook up something like a Pro Controller to it. At 2:38 in the video Pick opens up the "Joy-Con" to show the internal wiring. Real Joy-Con are mounted inside each faux giant Joy-Con, with servos that control the overarching "giant Switch."

The entire rig is 65 pounds, has a 4K display, and clocks in at 30 inches high and 70 inches wide. The story doesn't just end there either! Pick donated the giant Switch to Saint Jude's Children's Hospital.

This reminds me of when my old gaming crew would hook a game up to a projector and play it on the side of a building, or in a movie theater. As someone brought up in the comments of the YouTube video, one really cool way to use this giant Switch would be for a co-op game that tasks players with using the same controller: having two people negotiate the giant Joy-Con would be a fun team-building exercise.

From April 2-6, Warner Bros. is running a special event in their free-to-play mobile RPG Looney Tunes: World of Mayhem featuring a chubby variant of Bugs Bunny, now officially called "Big Chungus." This version of Bugs first appeared in a 1941 animated short called Wabbit Twouble, though he was not any sort of chungus in a formal capacity until now. Sweet children and sad adults hooked on the title might assume that this new fat rabbit is just another wacky original concept. But anyone who farted around gaming Twitter for the past few years is likely aware that Big Chungus started with a meme in 2018. 

Or did he?

They say that explaining a joke is the best way to kill it. That goes triple for "random internet humor" that thrives off the appearance of coming out of nowhere and meaning nothing. 

Friends, nothing is random. Everything has meaning, and everything comes from somewhere. Even Chungus. Especially Chungus. 

No one knows exactly who was the first person to say the word "chungus." It could have been a caveman. It could have been your dad. It could have been the famous Meatloaf, mispronouncing his own stage name in Vietnamese in a weak, sweaty attempt to sound cultured. When it comes to social media though, this off-hand tweet from 2010 is often cited as the oldest chungus utterance. 

The evil genius archetype is one that fascinates me. It’s not that outlandish that an eccentric megalomaniac could gather a group of underlings and launch a campaign against the world, but I can’t convince a courier to leave a package at my doorstep, let alone a legion of faceless goons to lay down their lives for me. I also don’t know what I’d do with the world if I ruled it. Enact permanent daylight savings and mandatory nap times?

Forget that, though; what would I make my minions wear? What humiliating nickname would I give my most loyal henchman? How would I mock secret agents? I’d probably invite them to tea and just repeat everything they say.

Back in 2004, Evil Genius provided me the chance to live my dream. Kind of. I really enjoyed the game, but it definitely had its problems. Nonetheless, Rebellion has seized the reins and has breathed new life into the property with Evil Genius 2: World Domination. Their approach to a sequel seems to be a complete do-over. The result is another game that may not be for everyone but certainly tightened the screws on the old doomsday device.

Hades was love at first sight for me. It has the bright and stylized art that I love, roguelikes are one of my favorite gameplay genres, and I was one of those Greek mythology kids who was obsessed with the Percy Jackson series growing up. Check, check, and check. My immediate enthusiasm for the game may have been predictable, but the fact that I'm still playing it over 250 hours and 200 runs later? Not so much.

Developer Supergiant Games released three games prior to Hades, and each one was an indie darling. The studio has racked up dozens, if not hundreds, of awards since their debut in 2011, and they've also been lauded for promoting a healthy work-life balance for their employees, something that's not very common in the games industry.

Back in January, I wrote up an impressions piece for my hands-on with the Balan Wonderworld demo, saying it was saving its best bits for the final game. That statement wasn't really supported by any concrete evidence, it was more wishful thinking based on my memories of the wonderfully imaginative reveal trailer from last summer.

Now that I've played through the full game, I'm happy to say that I was right. Balan Wonderworld did indeed save its best levels, costumes, and ideas for the final game. However, if you hated that demo — and I know a lot of people did — nothing here is going to change your opinion of it. In fact, there's a good chance you'll actually end up hating it a whole lot more.

Putting a game out early to the public can be tricky, but Early Access is not new to Larian Studios anymore. The RPG studio utilized a staggered launch with Divinity: Original Sin and its sequel to their success, and now with Baldur's Gate 3, it's looking for a third win.

That doesn't mean there haven't been growing pains, though. Baldur's Gate 3 is a different kind of game from Original Sin 2; it has a different combat system, a more cinematic approach, and is firmly rooted in the old tomes of Dungeons & Dragons.

Following the recent addition of the Druid class and another Panel From Hell, we reached out to Larian to see just how its Early Access has been progressing. On a call with studio founder Swen Vincke, the studio head says they've been receiving a lot of feedback from the community, through both analytics and vocal feedback on forums like Reddit, and there have been a few course corrections.

"I know that the community wants us to go faster than we can," Vincke tells me over a video chat. "It does take time to implement things, especially for a game that's as vast as Baldur's Gate 3—also a game that we're still developing—so we have to balance the two things to each other."

Nier: Automata kind of blew the doors wide open on the Nier series. Sure, back in the day I loved this little Drakengard spinoff that could. But it wasn't until Platinum Games and Yoko Taro came together that Nier really came into its own in terms of a mainstream mainstay. 

Now is the perfect time to capitalize on that goodwill. Enter Nier Replicant, a PC, PS4, and Xbox One re-release of the original Nier vision, due out in April. I'm glad it was greenlit.

Walking down the street to check the mail at my hometown’s post office is an eerily different journey today than it was a year ago. I still pass the local pizza joint on the town square—a literal cornerstone of a small town community—but time has changed more than just ourselves. Despite the marks near the building’s roof acting as a reminder of its survival from the fire years before, the restaurant is still there, but not really. It’s hollowed out. Empty. It’s closed, for good, thrown to the void of to-be-forgotten establishments from before the pandemic.

As I walk by, memories of being a kid in that restaurant come flooding back: playing Dig Dug and Streets of Rage and some random bowling game with a physical ball to spin that controlled the virtual ball on-screen. Head down, wandering forward and lost in thought, I watched the sidewalk pass me by—square by square—and found myself thinking about Loop Hero.

On its face, Loop Hero is a curious amalgamation. Tower defense mechanics fuse naturally into a roguelite framework with a deck-building aspect, and if that sounds like a lot of bullshit, it’s because it is. At some point, diluting a game down to the cogs that construct it removes its identity as much as it informs it. Loop Hero is so much more than the sum of its parts, and its story ties together a patchwork only possible in the video game medium.

Plunging the depths of Loop Hero’s lore wasn’t only worth my time—it gave me my sense of time back.

This week's release from the good folks over at Hamster returns to the formative years of one of gaming's most-loved franchises, as Konami's whip-crackin' adventure Haunted Castle joins the Nintendo Switch Arcade Archives range.

Released in arcades back in 1988, Haunted Castle was the first Castlevania title developed specifically for the coin-op market, following the home console success of 1986's Castlevania and Vampire Killer, and 1987's Castlevania II: Simon's Quest. A hodge-podge of lore and features from the monster-hunting series, Haunted Castle sees Simon Belmont battle through six stages in order to rescue his wife Serena from the evil Count Dracula. Oh, we also get to see our boy Simon getting married in a slick white tuxedo... during the middle ages.

Check out the action in the video below, courtesy of YouTuber NintendoComplete.

Cblogs of 3/27 to 4/2/2021

-NinjaSpeed celebrates the 10th anniversary of the excellent Nintendo 3DS.

-Shoggoth2588 introduces April's Band of Bloggers prompt regarding games that Subverted Your Expectations.

-Black Red Gaming continues ranking games in the Wolfenstein series with this blog about Wolfenstein 3D.

-Gamingnerd sheds a light on key digital-only PS3 games on account of the PS3 store closing out this year.

-Startyde sheds a light on some PS3 and Vita storefront recommendations.

-Pacario shares his thoughts on the downsized arcade version of Bubble Bobble.

-BRAV0 F1VE discusses the seasonal association in the video game industry.

-Aurachad reviews Star Wars: Squadron.

-Kerrik52 reviews Tales of Xilia 2 as part of his Traveler in Playtime review blogging series.

-Humantofu shares his thoughts on the "adorable" Nintendo DS Goldeneye version.

-GoofierBrute talks about Pokemon Stadium 2 as part of this blogging series focusing on games time forgot.

It’s impossible to understate the impact Ghostbusters has had on my life. I was fanatical about it when I was a child, and then I rediscovered it in my adolescent years and became fanatical all over again. I still carry a massive torch for it, dressing up in the costume I built in my teenage years, rewatching the cartoons and movies frequently, and pretending that no movies have been released since Ghostbusters 2, and none will ever be released again. Nope.

It’s just unfortunate that video games have treated the franchise so badly. I’m still waiting on my Ghostbusters business tycoon game. I own both the best and worst games released under the franchise, but I don’t think any have hurt me as badly as the NES release. It was first released on 8-bit home computers in 1984, the Atari 2600 in 1985, the Famicom in 1986, and finally the Sega Master System in 1987. Since that wasn’t bad enough, North America would get their NES version in 1988. Thanks, Activision.

Disco Elysium opens with you on the floor. Your character, whoever they are or whatever might be left of them, is face-down in a nondescript hotel room. You are surfacing, breaching the plane between the void and the living only to find yourself harboring the grand-daddy of all hangovers.

This is the introduction to the character you'll inhabit through Disco Elysium. They are many things, and can become even more: calculating, feeling, thinking, judging, determined or remorseful. But in this moment, you are at a low, possibly the lowest of low.

Moments later, you can die trying to get your tie off the ceiling fan. The headline reads "Cop Suffers Final Heart Attack," and boy, does the word "Final" do a lot of work.