Twinfinite

Fortnite Chapter 2 Season 2 may have been extended from its initial 10-week duration through until June 4, but that hasn’t stopped Epic Games from already teasing what’s to come with in-game posters.

First spotted by dataminer FortTory, the posters added as part of the v12.50 update give slight clues as to what’s to come in Fortnite Chapter 2 Season 3.

So what can we glean from these poster teasers? Well, the ‘No Sweat Insurance’ logo can be spotted in the bottom left-hand corner of each one, suggesting some sort of natural disaster may be on the way.

Will it be a tsunami? Mass flooding? Or something a little more magical and fantasy-based given Fortnite’s crazy world? Currently, it remains to be seen exactly what’s going to happen, but it does seem to suggest the map’s going to get a whole lot wetter in the coming season.

Today Sega revealed a new AC Scratch collection coming to the western version of Phantasy Star Online 2.

The title is “Crimson Dawn” and it comes with all kinds of draconic and dark-themed outfits.

This includes outerwear, basewear, innerwear, CAST parts, accessories, emotes, and consumables. 

If you’re unfamiliar with AC Scratch, that’s basically the game’s “surprise mechanics” (I had to use this definition in an article sooner or later) that you can get through tickets purchased with Arks Cash.

You can see what’s in store in the trailer below. 

Phantasy Star Online 2 is currently available in the west for Xbox One, while the PC version is coming in May.

That being said, Phil Spencer himself went on record mentioning that the game will likely make it to other platforms, even if no further information was shared on that topic.

Ninjala, the Switch game that I like to describe as a free-to-play battle royale game with major Splatoon vibes, is currently in the midst of its first open beta before the launch next month and things aren’t going so smoothly for players.

The action game from GungHo Online is open now to the public in the form of a downloadable open beta but playtimes are restrictive, taking place today and tomorrow during very specific periods of time, as you can see below:

PDT
April 28, 12:00-12:59
April 28, 20:00-20:59
April 29, 04:00-04:59

BST
April 28, 20:00-20:59
April 29, 04:00-04:59
April 29, 12:00-12:59

CEST
April 28, 21:00-21:59
April 29, 05:00-05:59
April 29, 13:00-13:59

The first play session for Ninjala opened up around 3 PM EST today and lots of players have been tweeting about multiple error codes and frustrating disconnections. I myself jumped into the beta around 3:45 and for some odd reason, the game told me that the beta is not currently in session.

Here’s what’s been happening to some players and some hilarious memes that have come out of this situation:

If you love Kingdom Hearts III, Square Enix made a couple of super-cute plushies available for pre-order.

The plushies portray Sora and Kairi from the latest game of the series and you can find them at Japanese retailers including Ami Ami for 3,550 yen each. That approximately translates into a rather affordable $33.

Both will be released in August 2020. Sora is 190 mm tall while Kairi is 175 mm tall since her hair is less spiky.

If you’re curious about what they look like, you can find a gallery with both below and decide which one is the cutes. It’s hard to decide.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons may start off simple and chill, but once you start to expand your home, room by room, things can get a bit stressful. Having to design each room to the fullest and also taking care of your island can be daunting but now, thanks to Bobby from Queer Eye, you can get some tips to help you make your place look hip and cool.

The Queer Eye Twitter account for the Netflix series tweeted out today that Bobby Berk will be sharing his design expertise with people who reply to the post and of course, tons of fans are responding by posting pics of their home, awaiting Bobby’s response.

Yesterday, a handful of Pokemon GO players on social media were reporting the appearance of something called Throwback Challenge 2020: Kanto. Niantic came out to announce it was a mistake and that the details will come out at a later date.

It turns out that the date is today. Earlier this morning, Niantic revealed the full details about the Throwback Challenge in Pokemon GO. This event is going to include all regions from Kanto up to Sinnoh and it will run from May 1 until the first week of June.

Here’s a full breakdown of when each event is going to take place. All times are local:

Each event will have eight sets of challenges — four for the Challenge Champion quest — based upon the specified region. Upon the completion of each challenge, you will be rewarded with 10 Rare Candies and a legendary Pokemon that has a special attack.

Here’s a list of the legendaries you can catch for completing all the research tasks for their corresponding regions:

Golden Week is kicking off in Japan this week and to celebrate the Land of the Rising Sun, Microsoft has discounted several Japanese-developed titles for a couple of days.

The recently released downloadable content for Kingdom Hearts III, ReMind, acts as a sort of epilogue to Square Enix’s JRPG and is a bit cheaper during the sale, which is worth noting. Dark Souls II, Dragon Ball FighterZ, and Little Nightmares are seeing discounts too, which are three fantastic games.

The Golden Week sale is live right now and you can see the entire list down below of Xbox One games that are currently on sale. To actually purchase these titles, just head on over to the official Xbox site.

Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition

The Xenoblade Chronicles series has been getting lots of attention lately due to the excellent sequel on the Switch and the under-appreciated Xenoblade Chronicles X on the Wii U (where’s that dang port, Nintendo?).

And now, the original game that released on Wii is getting a definitive edition that looks way prettier than its counterpart and has had some extra bells and whistles added to make it easier than ever for people to jump in for the first time –there’s even a new epilogue for returning players too.

Star Wars Battlefront II developer DICE announced that The Battle on Scarif update coming this week will be the final free content update for the game.

The free update will go live for all platforms on Wednesday, April 29 and includes several new locations to the Supremacy and Instant Action game modes.

The Age of Rebellion section contains locations of Hoth, Tatooine, Yavin 4, Death Star II, and Scarif, which first appeared in 2015’s Star Wars Battlefront.

All the new locations will be fought exclusively on the ground in Supremacy, but some will have access to pilot starfighters.

Meanwhile, Scarif and Crait will be added to the Heroes and Villains game modes and the Co-op mode will now be playable in offline solo play.

The update also adds new cosmetics and outfits for Rey, Kylo Ren, Emperor Palpatine, and Darth Maul.

Star Wars Battlefront II originally launched in November 2017 and received 25 content updates, including completely overhauling the game’s progression system to minimize loot boxes. DICE said it is transitioning the game from regular content updates to individual events such as double XP and in-game challenges after The Battle on Scarif update.

It’s no secret that the Sonic the Hedgehog movie has become a success story for video game film adaptations, grossing over $306 million in the box office before it was rushed to digital home release less than two months earlier than normal after theaters closed due to the coronavirus pandemic. The movie was so successful, some say it might warrant a sequel.

Not so fast, says director Jeff Fowler.

In an interview with USA Today, Fowler said that there are no official talks or plans of a sequel for the Sonic movie. However, that doesn’t stop him from thinking of all the possibilities for the Blue Blur and his friends in the cinematic world.

“There’s so many great characters to bring in and just more stories to tell, [but] nothing would bring me more happiness than getting another shot with these characters and to tell more stories. We’d love to do more with the Sonic cinematic universe.”

For those who caught Sonic in theaters back in February, Tails made a surprise appearance at the end of the movie to look for Sonic, leaving audiences implying that there may a sequel. While that may be plausible, considering how successful films often follow up with a sequel, that is not in the cards for Paramount as far as Fowler is concerned.

Even if there were plans for a sequel, it’s not appropriate for Paramount to discuss them during the current pandemic, especially with their rival studios delaying the release dates of other movies by several months to a year or two as a result of theater closures and subsequent uncertainty as to when they’ll reopen again.

Following the western release of Sakura Wars Sega has made a few ways to decorate your desktop, mobile, or PS4 available.

Incidentally, since my last post, the game has been released on the North American PlayStation Store, joining the European one.

First of all, let’s take a look at the free options. A bunch of wallpapers for your desktop and mobile are now available via Sony Interactive Entertainment.

It’s interesting to see that there are some featuring the older games. It’s also rather unusual since most of them have never been localized and western arms of publishers normally make a point to hide from sight whatever isn’t available in North America and Europe.

That being said, they’re certainly welcome none-the-less, alongside the lovely legacy character design by Kosuke Fujishima, whom you may know for his work on the Tales series.

Speaking of character design, we also get a full-size version of Tite Kubo’s key artwork for the new game, which is awesome.

Microsoft revealed the May lineup of its Xbox Games With Gold with two free Xbox One games and two free Xbox 360 games available for Xbox Live Gold members next month.

The lineup of free games for May includes a mix of styles from racing, action RPG, and soccer. Check out the full list below and when each game will be available to download.

• V-Rally 4 – Take on the challenges of rallycross, drifts, buggies, and hill climbs in V-Rally 4. Over 50 famous vehicles are available to customize and race in this demanding simulation. Available May 1 to 31 for Xbox One.
• Warhammer 40,000: Inquisitor – Martyr – Across the far-flung corners of the Warhammer universe, impose the Emperor’s will as you conduct your investigation across multiple planets. Go solo or team up with four friends in visceral combat and purge the chaos lurking behind the walls of the fortress-monastery, Martyr. Available May 16 to June 15 for Xbox One.
• Sensible World of Soccer – Featuring a massive lineup of football clubs from around the world, enjoy a quick game or experience the excitement of managing a full season with a fully immersive tactics editor. Available May 1-15 for both Xbox One and Xbox 360.
• Overlord II – In this sequel to the critically-acclaimed warped fantasy hit, the Minions return smarter, deadlier, and funnier than ever as their wild pack mentality squares up against an organized legion. Available May 16-31 for both Xbox One and Xbox 360.

Xbox Live Gold members can still grab this month’s Xbox Games With Gold games including Project Cars 2, Knights of Pen and Paper Bundle, and Toybox Turbos.

Google’s Stadia Connect event earlier today revealed a bunch of older games coming to the platform. But perhaps more importantly, it also showcased one or two all-new exclusive titles, too. That includes Get Packed, a whimsical co-operative puzzle game that was revealed to be available from today during the presentation.

For those who blinked and missed the reveal, a subsequent launch trailer from publisher Coatsink puts a spotlight on exactly why this mad-looking multiplayer experience should be on your radar.

As you can see, the parallels with co-operative games like Overcooked are obvious. Developer Moonshine tees up the game’s premise:

“Get Packed is a physics-based co-op removals game for one to four players. You and your friends assume the role of Last Ditch Removals in the city of Ditchlington, tasked with helping the citizens relocate after it’s taken over by the evil Industrial Salt Corporation.

The goal of each round is to grab everything you can from a particular house or business (or museum or haunted mansion) and cram it all into your van. As the story progresses, the environments and scenarios get steadily more ridiculous.”

After scoring an important exclusivity deal with Google through its publisher, Coatsink, indie developer Moonshine has just released the most important project in the company’s short history. Launched today during Google’s Stadia connect, Get Packed is a game about, er, furniture removal.

But don’t be put off — while the premise might sound mundane, Get Packed promises to be one of the most thigh-slappingly entertaining co-operative multiplayer experiences in recent years.

Described as a “physics-based co-op removals game,” Get Packed shares plenty in common with other whimsical co-operative puzzle games like Overcooked.

It tasks you and up to four friends with grabbing everything you can from a particular house or business (or museum or haunted mansion) and cramming it all into your van before the clock runs out. As the story progresses, the environments and scenarios get steadily more ridiculous.

Naturally, Twinfinite wanted to learn more, and so we spoke with the team at Moonshine about its time developing Get Packed and its experiences working with Google Stadia.

Senior Editor Alex Gibson: Coatsink’s compares Get Packed to popular couch co-op games like Overcooked, and Gangbeasts; presumably, these helped inspire the team at Moonshine?

Designer and Studio co-founder Jamie King: After deciding we were going to make a multiplayer cooperative game, we dove into a multitude of popular titles in the name of research, and Overcooked and Gang Beasts were certainly among them. While this helped inform elements like control systems, menu structure and theme, our biggest takeaway was the energy we wanted to capture: that frenetic, jostling organized chaos.

Today, there was a 16-minute-long Stadia Connect presentation on Google Stadia’s YouTube channel that revealed several games that will be coming to the streaming service with some titles even being available to play starting today.

The video starts off with an announcement that EA will be bringing several of its games over to the streaming platform. Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, Madden NFL, and FIFA will be available to play sometime this Fall.

id Software’s frenetic, fast-paced, and gory first-person shooter, Doom Eternal, is now available to play on Google Stadia. You can read our glowing review to find out why it’s worth your time.

Square Enix is also bringing over the gorgeous, retro-styled JRPG, Octopath Traveler to Google Stadia, and it’s actually available starting today.

Rock of Ages 3, a boulder-falling simulator, will be landing on the service sometime this June; Crayta is a collaborative creation game that is launching exclusively on Stadia Pro this summer.

Wave Break is coming first to Stadia and is a neon-infused, multiplayer wave-racing title that is launching in the summer of 2020; Embr, a cooperative, fire-fighting rescue game launches in early access on May 21, 2020.

Also, Get Packed is out now on Stadia as a timed exclusive and has you packing items with other teammates.

And last but not least, PUBG (the battle royale game) is available to play right now for free for Pro subscribers.

Today Zenimax LOnline Studios announced the release date of the next expansion of its MMORPG The Elder Scrolls Online, titled Greymoor.

The expansion will bring players to the familiar lands of Skyrim and will be released on Tuesday, May 26 on PC and Mac and Tuesday, June 9 on Xbox One and PlayStation 4.

This comes after a small delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The announcement was made by game director Matt Firor, and it included the mention that the game has more active players now than it ever had since its release.

Here’s the full text of the announcement:

“As always, I hope this message finds all of you in good health. This is an extremely challenging time for the world, and I hope you are concentrating on the well-being of you and your families. All of us at ZOS have been doing the same, working from home, chatting on video, and sharing far too many memes with one another–all while working hard on ESO. We long for the time when we can “return to normal,” but for now, we are–like many of you–trying to make the best of things.

Despite the challenges, we are still on track for Update 26 and the Greymoor Chapter to launch only one week late. Now that Update 26 is on the PTS (check it out!), we are confident that we will be able to launch Tuesday, May 26th on PC/Mac and Tuesday, June 9th on Xbox One and PlayStation®4. This of course could change if something happens outside of our control. Remember, we haven’t launched a major ESO update while working remotely before, and unforeseen problems can and do crop up.

Cyberpunk 2077 developer CD Projekt RED is continuing to introduce organizations and gangs that you’ll meet in the upcoming RPG.

This time around, we hear about the Valentinos, one of the largest gangs in Night City, known for their rooted traditions and solid moral code based on honor, justice, and brotherhood.

They’re also “deadly” serious about it, like most gangs in Night City, but that’s hardly surprising.

They control large areas in Heywood, dwelled predominantly by Latino population.

You can check out the original tweet below.

Today Sega is releasing Sakura Wars in the west and it’s celebrating the return of a classic franchise with a brand new launch trailer.

There is no better way to celebrate a game like Sakura Wars than with an overview of its colorful cast, which is the real focus of the whole game. 

Of course, we also get to catch a glimpse of gameplay, including battles and the unique LIPS conversation system. 

If you love Japanese games, there are few titles that embody their spirit like this one. 

You can check it out below.

Sakura Wars is now available (at least in Europe at the moment of this writing. the North American version should roll out soon on the PlayStation Store) exclusively for PS4 and you can read our review.

By way of a new trailer, publisher THQ Nordic has today confirmed the release date for its remake of Destroy All Humans! The open-world action game will launch later this summer July, 28, on PS4, Xbox One, and PC.

For those who never played the original Destroy All Humans! games, they’re sandbox shooters that parody Cold War alien films. Players can choose from a vast array of alien weapons as they collect human DNA, abducted cows, and, er, probe things. The 2020 remake of the 2005 original features improved graphics and gameplay. It is being developed by Black Forest Games.

While today’s release date trailer offers yet another tease of the game’s whimsical action, two others also detail both its DNA Collector’s Edition, and the Crypto

The $149.99 DNA Collector’s Edition features:

• Crypto’N’Cow figurine
• Keychain
• Six lithographs
• Anti-stress/eye-popping toy
• All in-game Crypto skins
• Contained within a premium box

The $399.99 Crypto 137 Edition features:

• Crypto-137 figurine
• Crypto backpack
• Keychain
• Six lithographs
• Anti-stress/eye-popping toy
• All in-game Crypto skin
• Contained within a premium box

You can check out all three trailers below, starting with the release date trailer:

The DNA Collector’s Edition trailer:

Today Nintendo released a new batch of screenshots of the upcoming JRPG Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition.

One of the most impressive aspects of the original game on the Wii and then of its 3DS port was the massive world that almost appeared like it couldn’t run on these consoles.

Today we get to see thanks to two posts on the game’s official Twitter account (source 1, 2) how that world is being transformed on the Switch. We get to see plenty of massive vistas, glowing caves, and wide skies.

You can check them out below.

As of yesterday, the excellent side-scrolling RPG Indivisible is finally out on Nintendo Switch, but its stealth launch took even developer Lab Zero by surprise.

In a series of Tweets earlier today, Lab Zero’s project lead, Mike Zaimont, expressed his frustration that the game received absolutely no PR in the lead-up to its release.

Worse still, while Zaimont credited the port for having excellent stability and overall performance, it isn’t the most recent build. Indivisible on Switch is currently missing key features like co-op and NG+. Even the key art on the eShop is wrong.

The mess-up has led Zaimont to apologize to players for a launch that “does not represent the quality standards of Lab Zero,” declaring that “It wasn’t us.”

HEY, THAT THING EVERYONE WANTED?@IndivisibleRPG is out RIGHT NOW digitally for Switch in North America!

Feel like you missed the announcement? You’re not alone, our team found out because people on Twitter sent us congratulations! I had no idea! But there it is! :^P
1/ pic.twitter.com/bByIeD0rhj

— Mike Zaimont (@MikeZSez) April 28, 2020

It’s not the spotlight that Indivisible deserves. The superb RPG caught Twinfinite’s eye during EGX Rezzed back in 2018 before we reviewed it last year and concluded:

The follow-up to Rising Star Games and Toybox’s open-world mystery adventure game Deadly Premonition has a release date. Called A Blessing in Disguise, Deadly Premonition 2 will launch exclusively on Nintendo Switch this summer, July 10, for $49.99.

Announced earlier this month during a Nintendo Direct, Deadly Premonition 2 will serve as both a sequel and prequel to the original game. The story sees players follow Agents Davis and Jones as they begin a new investigation into the Le Carré serial murders. Through the memories of a former FBI agent, go back in time to Le Carré and step into the role of Special Agent York to begin unraveling the mystery.

And just as in the first game, you’ll be able to travel Le Carré on foot or by skateboard, upgrading your character for improved speed and tricks as you go. You can expect plenty of mini-games, too, like bowling, Bayou riding, and, of course, lots of skateboard challenges.

See the new release date trailer below.

You can also check out some new screenshots, too.

There are lots of things to love about Animal Crossing: New Horizons. It’s the perfect chill game to play while your country’s in lockdown, the underlying capitalist tendencies of Tom Nook and the player are what keep you going each day, and it’s just undeniably cute. And every so often, it also manages to catch you a little off-guard with endearing character moments and tiny flashes of lore.

It’s been a little over a month since I started my journey in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. I’ve seen both the bad and genius sides of the game, and unless The Last of Us Part II completely blows my face off when it releases, I’m pretty sure this is gonna be my Game of the Year pick.

Over the past month, I’ve mostly seen Animal Crossing as a compelling task-based game; you hit your rocks, check your trees, check the shops for furniture, then spend some time organizing things on your island a little.

Past that, though, I never expected much else from the game. So it was surprising, then, when I popped into the Able Sisters’ clothing store this morning and was greeted with an unexpected smile from the seamstress Sable.

Before this, my routine had always been the same. Pop into the clothing store, get some clothes, chat with Mable for a bit, then head off. When the store first opened, I did try speaking with Sable, but she was always so cold and so quick to brush me off.

You’d get responses like these:

Developer and publisher Bohemia Interactive has this week announced the closure of its Bratislava studio, one of the team’s working on the company’s long-standing and widely popular open-world survival game DayZ.

The news comes by way of two separate Tweets: one from the official DayZ account on April 26 that allayed concerns over the game’s future development, and a follow-up yesterday, April 27, from Bohemia Interactive itself confirming and clarifying the studio closure.

In the latter, the decision was described as a mutual one between the company’s management and studio leads at Bratislava.

Importantly for players of DayZ, the game’s post-launch support is said to be unaffected by the outcome, with all planned content and development to release throughout 2020 — though with longer than previously planned breaks in between updates.

The support the publisher is referring to, specifically, is the same as what was outlined in a blog post back in January, which spanned stability, bug-fixing, improved gameplay, mod support, and new content.

DayZ was launched on PC back in 2018, before coming to consoles a year later, though these launches preceded an Early Access period over some five years.

Capcom has today announced that the fourth free title update for its popular Monster Hunter World has been delayed from its May launch window as a result of COVID-19.

The news comes by way of a Tweet, which also explains that even once the update launches (there is no firm new window), Italian, Spanish, and French localizations will feature simplified recordings due to difficulties with voice-over production:

Unfortunately, coronavirus (COVID-19) related impacts on production have made it necessary to postpone the release of the fourth free title update for Monster Hunter World: Iceborne. Voice-over production for the Italian, Spanish, and French language versions have also been affected, and will be replaced with simplified recordings.

We would like to apologize to all of our fans eagery awaiting Alatreon’s arrival in the New World, and will provide updates once we have new information to share.

Thank you very much for your continued support and patience. From al the development team at Capcom—happy hunting and stay safe!

Capcom also provided a revised roadmap of support moving forward, which can be seen below.

As COVID-19 continues to force us all to stay at home, Animal Crossing: New Horizons players are figuring out more innovative ways to pass the time and give the game even more creative longevity. Reddit user tybat11 is one such example, as he’s created a new fictional company called WeedCo, dedicated to helping other Animal Crossing players get rid of all the weeds on their island.

If you think this sounds silly, you’d be very wrong. Tybat11 is indeed taking job applications and you’re required to submit a 30 second clip showing off your weeding skills. He’s also posted a video on reddit showing up some of the trials and tests you’ll need to pass in order to become a part of WeedCo.

I started a Weed Removal service and demand was huge! I needed to hire a new employee. Here’s some highlights from WeedCo’s employee orientation. Plus we have uniforms! from r/AnimalCrossing

If you do pass the test and join up with the company, you’ll also receive your very own WeedCo in-game uniform, which I assume you’ll need to put on whenever you’re heading to other players’ islands to do your job.

The original Valkyria Chronicles just passed its twelfth anniversary, but its antagonist Selvaria Bles continues to be portrayed in new figures by Japanese manufacturers.

This time around it’s FREEing’s turn to come up with its inevitable bonny girl version from its popular B-Style line.

This is actually inspired by a version of Selvaria featured in the browser game Valkyria Chronicles DUEL. I guess you can say a character is popular when she still receives in 2021 figures inspired by a spin-off game that has been shut down in 2015.

You can find her on Ami Ami for 25,500 yen, which approximately translates into $238.

If you’re wondering about the price, B-Style figures are massive due to their 1/4 scale. Despite the kneeling pose, Selvaria is 350 mm tall.

That being said, you have time to save, because the lead time is a whole year. She will release in April 2021.

“Selvaria recreated in impressive size!

From Valkyria Chronicles DUEL comes a 1/4th scale figure of Selvaria Bles! She’s been recreated in an original bunny outfit designed by the original character designer Raita Honjo. Selvaria’s gun, the Ruhm, has also been recreated in the same scale. Be sure to add her to your collection!”

This isn’t the only figure portraying Selvaria coming soon-ish. Toyseiiki just revealed one of its seamless action figures a few days ago.

One thing we all need right now is new content. We are all trying to preoccupy ourselves with all sorts of media, be that new video games, movies released early out of theaters, or Netflix documentary series about crazy cat people, but what we all crave is new content. Netflix has you covered on that front; they are always cranking out new shows and movies, some we had no idea were even in production, let alone being released. Well, here are some new Netflix original shows for 2020 that you can put on your calendar this year, and out your mind at ease.

Respawn Entertainment announced a new limited-time mode for Apex Legends that will give players a starting load-out at the beginning of each match.

The new event, called Battle Armor, will spawn every player with armor and a P2020 pistol to begin each match. Each player will have the same type of armor and all other armor types will be removed from the loot pool, though healing items and weapons will not be affected.

The Battle Armor event will begin tomorrow, April 28 with all players starting each match with white armor only. The event will last for two weeks with a different level of armor changing every few days.

That includes the Evo armor introduced in the game last February, which extends shield capacity by causing more damage to enemies. The full schedule for the Battle Armor event is as follows:

• Tuesday, April 28 at 1 p.m. ET – Saturday, May 2 at 1 p.m. ET: Level 1 (White) armor
• Saturday, May 2 at 1:01 p.m. ET – Wednesday, May 6 at 1 p.m. ET: Level 2 (Blue) armor
• Wednesday, May 6 at 1:01 p.m. ET – Saturday, May 9 at 1 p.m. ET: Level 3 (Purple) armor
• Saturday, May 9 at 1:01 p.m. EDT – Tuesday, May 12 at 1 p.m. ET: Evo armor

The Battle Armor event will run until the beginning of Season 5 for Apex Legends on May 12. Respawn said the event is “one way we are going to start experimenting with the core gameplay of Apex Legends,” and teased more plans for Season 5 and beyond.

Pearl Abyss’ Black Desert appears to be often involved with celebrity collaborations and the latest comes all the way from Japan. 

A few days ago, the local branch of Pearl Abyss published a music video featuring the song “Mata Koko de Aimashou” by the super popular Japanese J-pop and rock band GLAY, and it certainly caused a buzz. 

The video was viewed one million times in 48 hours, and today it has reached nearly 2.5 million views, which certainly isn’t bad for a YouTube channel that counts less than 8,000 subscribers.

Today the Japanese arm of Pearl Abyss reached out with a press release announcing that the game just broke its record for simultaneous connections, which certainly isn’t anything to sneeze at five years after its local launch. 

You can watch the video below. The song “Mata Koko de Aimashou” is from the 2002 album with the same title, so it may prove rather nostalgic for those familiar with GLAY’s music. 

Of course, Black Desert is also playable in the west for PC, PS4, and Xbox One. Recently, Pearl Abyss updated the console versionsadding cross-play.

We’re coming up on a new generation of consoles if you can believe it. The PS4 and Xbox One have finally reached the end game and their successors are not far off. While new features and graphics are important, what generally kicks off a console generation are the games.

While we wait to hear what the launch games for the Xbox Series X and the PlayStation 5 will be, let’s look back at some of the best launch day game lineups of all-time.

We’re going to take a look specifically at the U.S. since that’s my personal bread and butter, but perhaps some of my international colleagues here at Twinfinite will feel motivated to look back at Japan and Europe as well.

Note that we’re comparing day one launch day lineups only. We won’t compare features, launch window games, how the console wound up doing in the long term, etc. nothing like that.

In fact, some of the consoles on this list had great launch day lineups, but ultimately for one reason or another, never found long-term success.

What you’re going to find instead, is that a lot of consoles have crappy launch lineups. You won’t find any PlayStation consoles on this list other than the PS Vita for example despite how popular the brand is.

What appears to be more important is how well the console is supported after launch. So while consoles like the PS2 and the PS4 failed to make this list, the first and third-party support they received after the launch is a major reason for their long-term appeal. The first entry on this list is a prime example of exactly this point.

Season of the Worthy is a fairly light season, content wise. Just about everyone playing Destiny 2 will acknowledge that at this point.

What many people, including myself, were pinning their hopes on though, was that two new pinnacle level activities, Trials of Osiris and Grandmaster Nightfall, would spice up the endgame for the hardcore portion of the player base.

Instead, both have released with significant issues. Trials has serious problems with hackers and cheaters, especially on PC, which has prompted Bungie to consider harsh (but necessary) measures such as banning people who play with cheaters.

They are also considering introducing a paywall (such as owning the latest season/expansion) and/or a 100-hour playtime requirement to participate in Trials of Osiris.

Grandmaster Nightfalls is just not all that exciting. It’s effectively just a sluggish version of the already slow Master Nightfalls. Master Nightfalls require players to play extremely passively and cautiously with long-range weapons to avoid a quick death, and the addition of even more punishing modifiers further encourages that strategy.

While it’s fine to play, it’s not something I’d ever want to watch on Twitch. Bungie stated that they wanted Grandmaster Nightfalls to be watchable but yeah… they’re not quite there yet.

A big part of building up your island and its reputation in Animal Crossing New Horizons comes from collecting fish, bugs, and art for the Museum. Here is every fish and bug that is leaving the game in April. You’ll want to catch these before the month is over.

Our good pal Blathers the owl is always looking for new stuff to add to the museum. Every new fish, bug, or piece of art you donate to Blathers will be showcased in your museum for your villagers and friends to see.

Animal Crossing New Horizons is a game meant to be played over a long stretch of time, which means certain fish and bugs are only available for short periods of time throughout the calendar year, and April is no different.

Due to the current COVID-19 pandemic and people maintaining distance from each other, tons of folks are working from home and taking classes online. With some people having to use video conferencing apps like Zoom, having the perfect virtual background is a must if you want to add some pop to your next meeting and what better way than with Pokemon.

The Pokemon Company has graciously released dozens of neat virtual Pokemon backgrounds that should serve to be useful for those hardcore fans out there.

You can download the images down below and if you want even more, just go over to the official Pokemon site:

Sakura Wars on PlayStation 4

Sakura Wars is one of those games which is hard to nail down as good or bad – not because it lacks major flaws or strengths, but because it manages to offer them up in a package which walks the middle of the road and fails to venture out toward something remarkable.

The latest iteration in the Sakura Wars franchise and a soft reboot of the series proper, the game sticks to a familiar set-up. As the newly instated commander of the Imperial Combat Revue’s Flower Squadron, players must come to know and trust in the team members of a demon-fighting task force through visual novel-style interactions and join them in battles for the safety of the city.

Establishing stronger bonds with each character reveals more about their pasts and motivations, and by getting to know each character well enough, players might have what it takes to inspire them to protect the city, save their struggling theatre, win a competition between Combat Revues from across the globe and stop a plot being carried out by a masked ally of the demons.

If this sounds like a few different stories competing with each other at once, that’s because it is. Sakura Wars has several plots competing for main billing at any given time, and it can make the narrative feel cluttered and unfocused on more than one occasion.

Granted, each one has its high points. Gaining the trust of and inspiring each team member makes for some interesting sub plots, and overcoming the latest evil plan made by the demons comes together in a satisfying enough way by the game’s end.

Today Volks released images and details about the upcoming Sakura Amamiya Fashion doll from Sakura Wars among its Dollfie Dream line.

The doll isn’t available for pre-order yet, but its official shop listing indicates that orders will be available between June 6 and June 12. Deliveries will start on June 15.

The price isn’t exactly cheap, set at 74,800 yen, which translates approximately into $697.

This price tag shouldn’t surprise as this kind of fashion doll is seen as a luxury item in Japan. The level of craftsmanship involved in the Dollfie Dream line (and other similar products from other manufacturers) is extremely high.

It’s most certainly not a cheap hobby even considering that the garments created for this kind of doll are usually priced comparably to full-sized clothes for humans.

If you want to see what she looks like, you can check out a gallery below.

Bethesda and its parent company, Zenimax, have pledged a $1 million donation to support efforts to battle COVID-19. The money will be spread across several local and international “front-line organizations.”

A blog post over on Bethesda’s website earlier today highlights how the funds will be allocated with the following breakdown:

• $500,000 will be given to Direct Relief, a charity which is directly involved in COVID-19 relief efforts, including the critically important work of providing personal protective equipment to health care workers.
• $250,000 will go to UNICEF, which partners with front-line responders around the world to keep children and their families safe and protected.
• $250,000 will be donated to local COVID-19 relief efforts within the communities where we work and live. These recipients will be chosen by our individual studios and international offices. This way we can support worthy charities fighting COVID-19 in our local communities across the world.

As the impact of the pandemic is felt across the world, it’s nice to see companies within the video game industry both big and small doing their bit to help. Last week, the speedrunning group Games Done Quick raised $400,000 during its Corona Relief Done Quick charity event.

In related news, members of the Final Fantasy XIV community marched in remembrance of a member who had lost their battle to COVID-19.

Even though Secret of Mana originally released in 1993, its fans are still willing to produce high-quality, beautifully animated tributes to the classic JRPG. Have you ever wondered what a cinematic cutscene before the final battle would look like? Well, you can stop wondering.

Uploaded on April 24, animator Benoit Tranchet released one such tribute to YouTube to show appreciation for the Secret of Mana, which took just shy of a year and a half to produce.

Check out the result of all of the hard work yourself:

Though Secret of Mana has been re-released throughout the years on a handful of different platforms, it’s amazing to see what fans can do with a seed that was planted 27 years ago. The cinematic, depicting the moments before the final battle with the Mana Beast, should definitely get you in the mood for some classic RPG action.

Today Sony Interactive Entertainment provided an update for the release dates of The Last of Us Part II and Ghost of Tsushima.

The new release date for The Last of Us Part II will be on June 19.

On the other hand, Ghost of Tsushima has been delayed by a couple of months and will come on July 17.

Both dates are valid for both the North American and European markets, and of course, both games are coming exclusively for PS4.

Below you can read the full message from Sony Worldwide Studios head Hermen Hulst.

“As our teams at Sony Interactive Entertainment and Worldwide Studios approach development milestones and confront a world changed by COVID-19, we find ourselves having to adapt to today’s ever-changing environment. Amidst some disruptions to our working styles, we wanted to provide an update to PlayStation gamers who are eager to learn when our next exclusive titles will arrive to PlayStation 4.

As we begin to see an ease in the global distribution environment, I am pleased to confirm that The Last of Us Part II will arrive on June 19. And Ghost of Tsushima will follow on July 17.

I want to personally congratulate and thank both the teams at Naughty Dog and Sucker Punch Productions on their achievements, as we know it’s not an easy feat to reach the finish line under these circumstances. Both teams have worked hard to deliver world-class experiences, and we can’t wait to see what you think of them when they release in just a few short months.

And finally, I want to thank the PlayStation Community for their continuous support and patience.”