Rumours have swirled around Square Enix supposedly linking up with Team Ninja to create a Final Fantasy spin-off game that's a bit Souls-y. And we may just see a reveal at this year's E3 if we're lucky. Count me intrigued.
Here she comes, limping into starport with her thrusters spluttering, smoke billowing from her exhaust, sparks leaping from the jump drive. No, I'm not describing my spaceship as part of the universal game review opening in which I tell a tiny story to ease you into things. I am using blunt metaphor to describe Elite Dangerous: Odyssey itself, the leggy new expandopack that adds first-person exploration and gunfire to Elite's space sim. Although she's a tough machine with lots of promise, her internal electronics have a serious case of gremlins. Look, she's exploded.
Ubisoft's tradition having a big announcement being leaked ahead of time has been celebrated by Far Cry 6 today. While we’ve been waiting on tonight’s reveal stream, the basic elements of what they were going to show popped up on YouTube earlier before suffering from the inevitable copyright strike. I managed to watch it before it was taken down. Fair warning: the rest of this post is absolutely heaving with spoilers.
We're no strangers to globetrotting. We've focused on the UK, Mars and New York. This week, Mystery Steam Reviews highlights video games set in Japan.
Chivalry 2’s open beta is now live, sword bros. The medieval battle sim is out on June 8, so this more like a gigantic demo than a breakable toy for the developers to panic over. It has lots of maps, modes, full player customisation, and even cross-play into the enemy territory of Xbox Island and the PlayStation Peninsula.
Horizon Forbidden West is bound to come to PC someday, right? Horizon Zero Dawn eventually made the jump last year, and Sony have repeatedly committed to bringing more games to PC - as recently as yesterday with the announcement of an Uncharted 4 port.
So, yes, let's post about the 14 minutes of new Horizon Forbidden West footage. It's very pretty.
See that big sale off in the distance? You can actually walk there. That's pretty boring though, so thankfully there's a fast travel system. All you need to do is hit this link and be instantly transported to Steam's new open world game sale.
Or you can accept this side quest, and hop into the post for some of my personal picks.
As Craig reported earlier this evening, this evening saw Dying Light 2 developers Techland take to Twitch to share new details of the open world zombie parkour 'em up.
The core news of the presentation? That it'll be out on December 7th. There's also a new 8 minute trailer below, which breaks the game down in detail.
Ubisoft are offering some deep discounts on PC games as part of this week's Legendary Sale, which includes up to 80% off selected titles and an additional 20% off when you use the code LEGEND20. Here are the highlights we've found so far!
The big highlight has to be on Ubisoft's recent releases. Games like Immortals Fenyx Rising, Watch Dogs Legion and Assassin's Creed Valhalla have dropped to some of their lowest prices yet, especially if you're interested in picking up their complete editions with loads of DLC. For example, Anno 1800's complete edition costs a massive $110, but with the sale price and the further 20% discount from using the LEGEND20 code, you can pick up the whole lot for just $57 - less than the base game cost when it was released two years ago!
Ubisoft's older games are also heavily discounted. Look out for plenty of games at the $9 mark, which is discounted further to $7.20 with the code in place. Ghost Recon Breakpoint, Far Cry 5 and The Division 2's Warlords of New York DLC are just a few examples of the games or expansions you can pick upf or less than a ten-spot.
4K 120Hz monitors with HDMI 2.1 ports were meant to come out last year alongside next-gen consoles and graphics cards, but the recent human malware epidemic has meant that they're only just reaching the market now. The first few models we've seen have retailed for nearly $1000, but today you can pick one up for considerably less.
Newegg are selling Gigabyte's brand new M28U for just $600, and they're even throwing in a $20 gift card and a copy of the 'wildly entertaining' PC game Outriders. That's a stonking deal for the specs on offer, considering that even older 4K 120Hz monitors without HDMI 2.1 have typically retailed for $700 or more - and the very few HDMI 2.1 alternatives available so far, like the LG 27GP950, have all cost $900 or more when they've even been in stock.
The Gigabyte M28U has a lot going for it. The monitor's based around a 28-in 4K IPS screen, covering 94% of the DCI P3 colour space and getting bright enough to qualify for a DisplayHDR 400 certification. It's limited to 120Hz 4:2:0 over HDMI 2.1, the maximum refresh rate supported by the PS5 and Series X, but you can push up to 144Hz on PC using its DisplayPort 1.4 connection. Motion clarity should be great, thanks to a 1ms GtG (grey to grey) response time and FreeSync/G-Sync support.
Kiev-based studio Starni Games have been knocking out the Strategic Mind series since 2019. From a slightly rocky start with The Pacific (rockier still if you count 2018's Panzer Strategy) they've hit their stride with Fight For Freedom, an entry showing off the American and British led chapters of the Great War reboot.
The Western front is frankly overdone in any media, not just games, and I'll admit I was hesitant. How many times have you run around Normandy with tanks and paratroopers? How many Cockneys and Ohio farmboys have you heard yelling about bunkers and stukas, versus exactly zero Australians or Kenyans or the literally millions of Indian soldiers propping us up? I'm not even talking about this in a political sense. It's just, yknow, it's been done. I've probably left more tank debris in France than the entire US Army.
I gripe, but I'm talking about Fight For Freedom because I've had a great time with it anyway.
I was going to write this as a whole bit where it was like a narrator describing you reading this post and then listening to the podcast, but I respect you too much to lie to you: it is after lunch on a Thursday and I had a very big sandwich. There is simply no way I could be expected to write that bit. But anyway, this week's episode of the Electronic Wireless Show podcast is all about our favourite narrators!
In addition to announcing slightly bonkers Nintendo 3DS laptops today, Acer have also unveiled their new super-slim Swift X laptop. Until now, Acer's Swift line-up have been decidedly everyday laptops, offering ultraportable convenience in a thin and light form factor. The new Swift X still does that in spades, weighing just 1.39kg and measuring 17.9mm thick. Except this time, Acer have crammed an Nvidia RTX 3050 Ti GPU inside it, giving this super slim laptop some proper gaming credentials.
Today is the day for announcement streams, it seems. Segaaaaah (I’m so relevant) will be hosting a Sonic the Hedgehog stream tonight at 5pm BST (6pm CEST / 12pm PDT). This is to tie in with the cobalt erinaceinae’s 30th birthday, and promises a first peep at projects and partnerships for 2021, the year of Sonic.
You ever just wanna mash your tabletop right into your computer? You're having a delightful session of Dungeons & Dragons, but man, you wish you could just watch it virtually rather than have to make up all these call images in your brain. If that's the case, D&D-based RPG Solasta: Crown Of The Magister might be the game for you. Developed by Tactical Adventures, it left early access today, and invites players into a fantasy world based on the D&D 5e ruleset.
Acer have just announced a brand-new prototype laptop that's essentially a giant Nintendo 3DS. Their new, creator-focused ConceptD Spatial Labs device has a 15.6in stereoscopic 3D display to let animators and artists view their creations in proper 3D without the need for special glasses. It's not really geared up for gaming, but a YouTuber they got in to demonstrate the laptop during their press conference called it "the future". Sorry, I think I hear the phone ringing, let me just get that. "Hello? Is that 2011? Yes, let me tell you about this cool new thing!"
If you’re that guy outside my house holding a vigil for Dying Light 2, put the candle down and come in from the rain, your watch is at an end. Techland are finally going to break their silence on the delayed and drama-filled development of their zombie bosher. Something will be revealed at 8pm BST (that's 9pm CEST / 12pm PDT) tonight on Twitch. Plenty of time for you to have a nap and a bit of a shower. Use the fancy soap. You've earned the rose petals.
In KeyWe, you and a friend play as Jeff and Debra. They're a pair of kiwis (the flightless birds, not the fruit - but I'd also play that game) tasked with running a mailroom; stamping letters, writing telegrams and sending mail on its merry way. It's a delightful co-op puzzler that'll have you hopping around an office that's far too big for such tiny postmasters, but you'll be able to help them out when it launches on August 31st.
I am a fan of many things: Japanese women’s wrestling, those little rivers that get carved into beaches, and game worlds being reused and repurposed. Until RPS rebrands, I’ll only get to talk about that third thing in that list. But look! Nivalis has been announced. It’s a “slice-of-life” game set in the same city as cyberpunk delivery sim Cloudpunk. You get to live there, learning to cook, decorating your apartment, and even go fishing.
MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries has stomped and crashed its way onto Steam and GOG today, after a year and a half of exclusivity on the Epic Games and Microsoft stores. The PvE mech-piloting shooter has you running a mercenary outfit that lends out mechs to other factions, and hopping into those big 'bots to blow up some rival mercs. The game's first major DLC, Heroes Of The Inner Sphere, also launched today.
Of all the Nintendo consoles I've owned over the years, the one I love the most has to be the GameCube. Its little cubic lunchbox design is just so gosh darn cute, and the handle - oh, the handle! - is a touch of genius, even if it's completely superfluous and has never been used by a single human being. Now, one industrious Reddit user has turned their old peach-coloured GameCube into a tiny, portable PC, and goodness, I am in love.
Today, Square Enix celebrated the 35th anniversary of the Dragon Quest series, announcing a handful of new games and spin-offs from the JRPG series. The biggest reveal was the announcement of Dragon Quest 12: The Flames Of Fate, the next mainline game following 2017's Dragon Quest 11. While the developers didn't reveal too much about it, DQ12 certainly sounds like a darker, moodier take on the series, with Dragon Quest creator Yuji Horii saying, "it's like a Dragon Quest for adults".
UPDATE:
As prophesised, Raven Software have indeed nerfed the trucks. According to their patch notes, they've reduced the number that spawn around the map. This should mean they'll be a bit easier to whittle down over the course of a match.
Other changes include adjustments to popular weapons the CR-56 AMAX, FARA, and LW3-Tundra. Some mid-range optics have also been reworked too, which should make them more viable.
Turns out that it's not humans with guns who pose the biggest threat in Call Of Duty: Warzone, it's actually the trucks. These six-wheeled behemoths have proven themselves to be a dominant force in Verdansk, so much so that machine often wins over man. But it looks like Raven Software might be hitting them with a nerf soon.
I never got into PUBG. I didn’t enjoy putting all that time and effort into the game only to die once and be returned to the main menu. That’s why I spend my battle royale funtimes in Warzone, where I can at least punch my way back into the game. But in Playerunknown's Battlegrounds’s 2021 roadmap, they’ve announced a new map that will allow players to respawn. Depending on the turnaround time, I might just have to get back into Plunkbat.
Though there’s no trailer, no screens, and no countdown to whet our appetite, it looks like PlayStation perennial Uncharted 4: A Thief's End has been stealth announced for PC. The console’s favourite stumbly treasure hunter will follow Days Gone and Horizon Zero Dawn to the PC promised land, as revealed in the cold, harsh glare of a Sony investor report.
Nvidia are asking people to "Get ready" for a big announcement happening on May 31st. The graphics card maker released a short teaser clip on their GeForce Twitter account last night, showing what appears to be a pool of liquid metal running through a kind of black crystalline landscape. It could literally be anything, but the internet seem convinced it's heralding the announcement of their much rumoured RTX 3070 Ti and RTX 3080 Ti GPUs.
Summer has never been the hottest season for video games. AAA releases are often few and far between when the weather gets hotter, as marketing plans are put in place for big end-of-year launches. However – whether COVID-related or something else entirely – this summer seems even more sparse than usual.
Although, a lack of bigger games does put a greater spotlight on indie games, of course, and there are more than a few out in June that look like they could surprise. So, fingers crossed these games will deliver on their promise.
Yakuza: Kiwami is Kazuma Kiryu's first outing, but it's been remade to look even nicer and play even better. And by this, I mean that self-proclaimed "Mad Dog" Goro Majima will pop out of bins and manhole covers to fight you with even more gusto.
Well would you look at the calendar it's almost—oh dear it really is almost June isn't it? E3 and E3-like digital events are all about to crash onto shore. Alright, roll up your sleeves and check your calendars game-likers. Microsoft and Bethesda, that new couple who are going to do everything together now so we don't forget, have announced the date for their joint summer showcase. Like other E3-adjacent shows, they'll be making announcements and speeches and maybe showing off some gameplay for their upcoming video games on June 13th.
Throwback FPS and RPG hybrid Graven has summoned itself an early access launch. Co-publishers 3D Realms and 1C call it "a marriage between modern development tools and techniques with a stark late 90s aesthetic". It does actually look nicer than the old shooters it was partially inspired by, but it sure does look how I think I remember them. It's even planning for online and split screen co-op later in development. If you're hungry for a spot of first person spell-slinging and puzzle solving and crossbow shooting, it's just launched in early access.
We may be well into pandemic act two, but cancellations of in-person events are probably going to keep rolling in for a while yet. To that tune, Blizzard have announced that, as with last year, they won't be hosting an in-person BlizzCon event. Also like last year—or rather this year—they're planning to replace it with the internet-only BlizzConline in early 2022.
Detective adventure game Backbone has at last sleuthed itself a release date and it sure has snuck up. This super stylish mystery is set in a dystopian Vancouver populated by animal folks with some mid-century fashion flair. I and multiple other RPS minds have been looking forward to this one for its lovely looks and swell dialogue. You can catch a bit of both here in its new trailer which announces Backbone's June 8th release date.
Right now, the sweet spot for gaming monitors is clear: 27 inches, 1440p resolution and 165Hz refresh rate. That's where you get the most for your money, an upgrade over the default 1080p 60Hz monitors in two key areas. Unsurprisingly, there are a ton of monitors that hit these two specs, but the very best use LG's modern Fast IPS panels, combining the extremely good motion handling you'd normally find on a TN panel with the wide viewing angles and excellent colour reproduction of IPS.
The LG 27GL850 is one such monitor that we featured recently, but there is a better option available - the Dell S2721DGF, which today is reduced to $380 when you buy it from Dell direct - a $230 reduction from its MSRP.
The S2721DGF is better than the 27GL850 for two main reasons: refresh rate and ergonomics. Dell are able to push the panel to 165Hz, providing a small boost to image clarity in fast-moving scenes, and they've also equipped the monitor with a much better stand than LG do. This makes it easy to adjust the height of the monitor, rotate it into portrait orientation and generally get it dialled in just the way you like it.
There's not a whole lot we know about Far Cry 6 other than that we shouldn't be a far cry from a launch date. Ubisoft's next first-person, open-world action campaign is expected to launch sometime this year. We may find out exactly when before the week is out. Ubi have announced that they'll be showing off some proper Far Cry 6 play this Friday.
The Crucial P2 is one of the best value NVMe SSDs on the market, and today you can pick up a 1TB model for a new low price - just $94 on Newegg with code 93XRD38.
That's way down from its usual price of $125, and is some $30 cheaper than the current best Amazon price. In fact, the Crucial P2 is now actually cheaper than 1TB SATA SSDs, which start on Amazon at $100 - a pretty rare turn of events!
So why is the Crucial P2 worth considering? Well, as the Crucial P2 uses the NVMe interface to connect to your computer, it's able to tap into much faster speeds than a traditional SATA drive. It's rated up to 2400MB/s for sequential reads and up to 1150MB/s for sequential writes, giving it roughly 5x faster reads and 2x faster writes than the fastest SATA models. That's because the SATA interface was designed for hard drives, and is therefore restricted to just 550MB/s, no matter how fast the underlying flash memory is. Random read and write times are less constrained by this interface, but you'll still see a good advantage from switching to an NVMe drive, which manifests in faster game load times and Windows 10 start times, for example.
Over the last few years, early access games have evolved. Games are launching into early access more polished than ever before, and the line between unfinished early access games and "live service" games is increasingly blurred.
To find out more about how things have changed since Steam Early Access first started in 2013, I spoke to the developers of Darkest Dungeon, Baldur's Gate 3, Hades, Grounded and GTFO. They told me about the concerns and difficulties of launching a game after the first early access trailblazers, what they've learned about making games in public, and why they'd be happy to do it all again.
What is better than battles between giant bears? Obviously it's battles between giant bears that I have bred specifically to shoot giant plasma beams out of their giant mouths. Also the bear is my bestie because this is Monster Hunter series spinoff Monster Hunter Stories 2 where mega deadly creatures are also my best pals. Ahead of its launch in July, MonStories 2 has shown off some of its monstie gene splicing and (obviously) I am psyched for bears.
Western Digital have announced they've got a new gaming-focused NVMe SSD on the way, the WD Black SN750 SE. Rather confusingly, it's a PCIe 4.0 version of their flagship PCIe 3.0 drive, the WD Black SN750, which isn't going to cause any problems figuring out which one is which in the slightest, no sir.
Every now and again, I think about Dishonored 2 and how good it is. I don't play it, I just observe it in my head like a photo album. I flick through my memories and shake my head in disbelief at how ingenious its levels are. I also take a moment to remember Karnaca, this beautiful port city nestled in the mountains and surrounded by forest.
I just wish I could explore more of Karnaca. I want to break free of the game's constraints and just wander into the hills, or potter around the mountains. This isn't a criticism, it's more of a compliment I think. That Arkane crafted a world I hunger for, but I probably won't ever get to explore fully. All I can do is bash my character against invisible walls and wail in agony.
