HoYoVerse has announced that it released a Genshin Impact Required Resource Package for the PS4 version of the game. This is to better support how much storage the game takes up.

The Required Resource Package for Genshin Impact is already live, and it’ll take up approximately 16.194 GB on your system. To download it, you simply need to search for it in the PlayStation Store. If you go to the game’s page, you can also find it as an Add-On. From there, you will simply need to download it.

Though the page for the resource package does not give details beyond “better support the storage” of the game, it’s likely to do with how the game handles updating itself for patches, as well as help with load time. PS4 players, for example, experience significant lag when loading into worlds or domains compared to PC, mobile, or PS5 players.

Comments on HoYoLab express relief that HoYoVerse is optimizing PS4 performance for Genshin Impact. Common complaints until the resource package, aside from the aforementioned load time, include how big each update is (thus bloating up the PS4’s storage) and how long they take to download.

Atlus has announced a world tour for Metaphor: ReFantazio, which is its upcoming fantasy RPG. It also released a statement about the game on its official Twitter account.

News for the world tour appeared during the live stream on December 11, 2023. Atlus first announced this broadcast during TGA 2023, which was also our first look at members of the main Japanese cast. There’s not much information about the world tour except that it will also commemorate the 35th anniversary of the Atlus brand.

Judging by the description for the world tour, though, it looks like there will be booths at events around the world where players can experience a test build of Metaphor: ReFantazio. Aside from the world tour, Atlus has also released a statement on the setting for its upcoming RPG. Here is a translation of its Tweet:

The drama-filled saga behind one of Steam’s most-anticipated games of 2023 just took its weirdest turn yet. The Day Before maker Fntastic announced it will cease operations less than a week after accusations of swindling players with a massive bait-and-switch when it came to the true nature of its The Last of Us-lookin…

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Square Enix’s latest insight into FFVII Remake design and development involved concept art of Tifa as a child in a different childhood costume. Her hairstyle was also different in this design.

First, here’s a look at how Tifa looked in the outfit from her childhood that did make it into FFVII Remake. It is a plain, white dress with a black ribbon and additional accents. It also has pockets on the side. Her hair is long in the design. There’s also a screenshot from the game that accompanied it, which offered extra insight into how it looked in the final product.

You know Analogue: The company that makes those premium-priced retro consoles that sell out in three minutes, at which point Analogue tweets “Sold out.” as if you needed reminding that its damn website crashed while you were struggling to complete your purchase. But while Analogue can be exasperating, its products,…

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Alan Wake 2, Remedy’s survival horror sequel, came out in late October, but if you’re already longing for another trip through the spiral, I have good news: “The Final Draft” update has arrived, and with it a new game plus mode and new story content. Not convinced? Then just watch this trailer and try not to lose your…

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During November in Japan, the Nintendo Switch moved 296,000 units across its three models.

Famitsu's monthly retail sales data from October 30 to November 26 shows that by comparison, Sony's PlayStation 5 console hit 231,000 systems sold during the month.

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Atlus released a Metaphor: ReFantazio “Creator’s Voice” video with Director Katsura Hashino, Character Designer Shigenori Soejima, and Composer Shoji Meguro discussing the game while gameplay plays. It also goes over characters and their Archetypes.

As Hashino explained in the first few minutes of the video, people need to buy equipment to use magic. There’s an over-reliance on spells to do things, and the characters in the party transform into Archetypes. As Hashino is explaining this, footage shows the players’ avatar transforming into an Archetype in-battle to attack an opponent. These seem to be similar to Personas, as it’s tied to an Awakening by talking with other people. So the Archetype of a warrior can awaken. 

After that, Hashino noted that the competition to become king is essentially a popularity contest. People trying to become king are showing their own power to maintain their own positions and grow in power. Hashino then noted part of the game involves players “gathering support” for this election, while Metaphor: ReFantazio gameplay footage shows the hero speaking with Hulkenberg and Strohl while traveling on some sort of vehicle. During this portion of the video, Hashino compared this new game to Persona 5. 

As part of the FFVII Ever Crisis Christmas and holiday event, there’s an Aerith banner with a Snowflake Staff and Fairy of Snowfall costume. Two new videos show off the weapon in action and the live wallpaper for the outfit.

First, here’s Aerith wielding the Snowflake staff against the Gingerbread Cactaur. As the name suggests, it has a giant snowflake on the end of it. Its C. Ability is Snowspell. That means it deals ice magical damage and reduces the enemy’s magical defense. The staff also boosts the effectiveness of ice attacks and her HP when equipped.

Next, here’s the live wallpaper of the FFVII Ever Crisis Christmas Aerith Fairy of Snowfall holiday costume. She’s standing outside just as it is starting to snow in her winter coat. She’s holding her hand out to catch some of the flakes, and you can tell how cold it is as you can see her breath. In her left hand, she’s holding the new Snowflake staff people can get from the gacha.

True confession: while I admire and enjoy the heck out of Undertale, the hugely influential 2015 indie RPG that rewards a peaceful approach to conflict, I’ve never actually managed to complete a pacifist run of the game. That’s because I stink at its bullet-hell combat, which demands lightning reflexes and…

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Doom co-creator John Romero has marked the seminal FPS’ 30th anniversary by releasing his second unofficial campaign for the hell-shooter. Sigil 2 follows on from Romero’s previous expansion for the Doom engine - released in 2019 for its quarter-century celebrations - by adding nine new levels that you can go and grab for free right now.

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As ZeniMax Workers United and the Communication Workers of America continue to negotiate their first contract with Microsoft subsidiary ZeniMax, the groups today released an update on talks, saying they have reached a tentative agreement with the company that would impact how it can incorporate artificial intelligence into its business.

The union said that the deal "commits ZeniMax to uses of AI that augment human ingenuity and capacities, to ensure that these tools enhance worker productivity, growth and satisfaction without causing workers harm."

Under the terms of the deal, wherever ZeniMax rolls out AI in a way that impacts the work of union members, the company will provide advance notice to the union and negotiate its plans upon request.

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Pre-orders are now open for Dollfie Dream doll of Hatsune Miku NT through the Volks US store. The doll is available for $690 and will ship in Summer 2024.

The Hatsune Miku NT doll is built on a special model of the DD Base Body, featuring an “01” mark painted on the left upper arm. It also comes with an Original Style wig styled in Miku’s iconic turquoise pigtails. The doll comes with a set of clothes that includes optional arm covers, and comes with a second set of hands giving a peace sign. Other accessories include two hair accessories, a headset and a ribbon tie.

You can see a gallery of the doll along with its accessories here:

Remember when finding and capturing a Legendary Pokémon felt special? You would stumble upon these powerful creatures whose stories were woven into the world’s history. The Mewtwo encounter in the original Pokémon Red and Blue is an incredible endgame payoff for a story that’s unfolding in the background the whole…

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Square Enix has been sharing developer messages congratulating the Final Fantasy XIV team on the 10th anniversary of A Realm Reborn, and some of the developers offering congratulations include Yoko Taro and Yasumi Matsuno.

Yasumi Matsuno, director of Final Fantasy Tactics, offered his message through his Final Fantasy XIV character. He gave thanks to the team and reminisced on the challenges of working on the Return to Ivalice and Save the Queen quest lines. He also talked about being surprised at the Emperor of Garlemald’s role in Shadowbringers.

Yoko Taro and Yosuke Saito, director and producer of Nier: Automata respectively, also offered a joint message congratulating the team on the Final Fantasy XIV anniversary. Their message was much more chaotic, as Taro asked Saito about his divorce, the two discussed Naoki Yoshida’s tendency to wear heavy shoes and “jingle-jangle accessories”. The message ends with them discussing whether they’ll still be alive for the 20th anniversary.

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Fntastic has shut down less than a week after The Day Before launched in Early Access on Steam.

The open-world survival MMO, as of writing, has a mostly negative rating on Steam.

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Less than a week after The Day Before’s disastrous launch on PC, following multiple delays and becoming the most wishlisted game on Steam, the makers of the zombie-survival shooter have announced their closure.

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Hogwarts Legacy hit PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC back in February – you can read Game Informer's Hogwarts Legacy review here. Now, as 2023 comes to a close, Google has released the top 10 trending searches in games on Google over the year and in the top slot is Hogwarts Legacy.

Rumors about a supercharged PS5 (or “PS5 Pro,” if you will) are floating around the internet once more. Whether there’s merit to these rumors, of course, remains to be seen. There’s little use speculating about specs for a rumored, potentially nonexistent console. So, instead, let’s ask if we would even want such a…

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Koei Tecmo's Romance of the Three Kingdoms 8 Remake is still slated for release in 2024, but is delayed. The company initially planned to release the remake in the early months of 2024, however it later announced a delay that changed the release window to cover the whole year.

Koei Tecmo first revealed Romance of the Three Kingdoms 8 Remake at the Japanese September 2023 Nintendo Direct. As the title implies, this title will be a remake of the strategy game that originally came out in 2001. The remake will also add new features like Tales based on historical events and Links forged by improving relationship levels with other characters.

The game's producer Kazuhiro Echigoya and development producer Hisatsugu Ishikawa shared a message detailing the reason for delaying the remake's release. The message is also available in English via Koei Tecmo America's official X account:

Viral Steam hit Lethal Company is no stranger to mixing the scary with the slapstick, as anyone who’s been dispatched with a ladder to the head or eaten by a fire exit knows. The co-op scrap scavenging game’s absurd humour might just have peaked though, thanks to one of the funniest additions I’ve ever seen in a PC game.

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Square Enix is continuing to share Final Fantasy VII Rebirth screenshots of people and places, with the FFVII Gold Saucer park being the latest. Both images offer an overview of the area.

First, here are some views of the Gold Saucer itself. In one image, we can see the Battle Square and Chocobo Square areas. The Battle Square is the arena where people can face a gauntlet of battles. It’s also the home of the museum and private collection of Dio, owner of the park. The other screenshot offers a look of some of the other areas, like the Ghost Square haunted house, Wonderment Square, and Speed Square. 

Update, December 13, 2023: Plaion confirmed the closure of Free Radical Design in a statement on Tuesday.

"It's with a heavy heart that we must announce yet another difficult decision," the Embracer-owned publisher wrote. "Today, we have to confirm the official closure of Free Radical Design, and say goodbye to many remarkable, talented and hard-working people."

It continued: "We are beyond grateful for their incredible contributions to Plaion and wish them the best of luck and success on their professional journey from here on out."

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It’s been a good few months since Final Fantasy 16 was properly confirmed as coming to PC. While we’re yet to get a release date, development of FF16 on PC clearly continues apace, as the game’s producer has teased a few more details - including the fact you’ll need an SSD to play.

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Graniph revealed a collaboration apparel lineup of clothing based on the Rebuild of Evangelion movie series. The items will be officially available on December 19, 2023, but the brand has opened pre-orders on its web store since December 6, 2023. [Thanks, Famitsu!]

The collection primarily consists of t-shirts, socks, and sweaters, although it will also include long pants, bags, a thermo mug, and a hat featuring Gendou Ikari. The prices range from 1,200 yen (~$8.20) for the socks to 13,000 yen (~$89) for a reversible blouson jacket.

The brand's physical stores in Japan will set up Evangelion-themed decorations once the items are up for sale. When the Graniph Tokyo flagship store makes its grand opening in Harajuku on December 21, 2023, it will feature large illustrations of the Evangelion Unit-01 and the 4th Angel on its windows. The Tokyo store will also sell exclusive skateboards adorned with images from the movies at 17,000 yen (~$116).

Fntastic, the developer behind controversial Steam Early Access launch The Day Before, has shut down with immediate effect.

A statement posted to X, formerly Twitter, announced the company's closure this evening - just days after The Day Before launched to overwhelmingly negative response last week.

In its statement, Fntastic said The Day Before had "failed financially, and we lack the funds to continue. All income received is being used to pay off debts to our partners".

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Developer Dlala Studios and publisher Walt Disney Games released Disney Illusion Island, a 2D Metroidvania-esque platformer, exclusively on Switch earlier this year. It was nominated for Best Family Game at The Game Awards 2023 – check out all the winners here – and now, Dlala has revealed it is launching new content this week. 

More specifically, the Keeper Up update will go live in Disney Illusion Island for free on Wednesday, December 13. It includes new time trial challenges, quality of life updates like an improved map, and more. 

TimeSplitters studio Free Radical have closed, according to social media messages from staff who have lost their jobs this week. Load up the Free Radical website, and you'll get the message: "404 Company Not Found :-(" I think it's safe to call this rumour confirmed, though we're still waiting for a formal announcement from parent Deep Silver or their overall owner Embracer Group.

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Neowiz released the new Lies of P holiday update, which includes Christmas cosmetic items for P. People should see them all in your inventory immediately after updating to 1.4.0.0.

The announcement for the new items appeared on Steam. However, the company did note that the Mac version of the update isn’t ready yet. The primary addition this time is the set of three new items for P to wear. However, the Japanese localization also apparently ended up adjusted as well.

As for the three Lies of P holiday update Christmas items, there are essentially two hats and one facial accessory. The Earnest Reindeer’s Antlers are a pair of brown antlers for the top of his head. P can wear a Midwinter Night’s Red Nose, which is a red ball on his nose to make him resemble Rudolph. Finally, the Winter Festival Peaked Hat is a Santa hat. 

This appeared alongside a Lies of P Holiday Edition bundle. Until December 21, 2023, people can get a $63.99 bundle on Steam that includes the main game, Deluxe upgrade, and soundtrack.

Banishers: Ghosts Of New Eden is a game of twos. It has two protagonists and two broad ways of playing, leading to two broad narrative outcomes, and is created by a company who, as Don’t Nod’s lead narrative designer Elise Galmard explained to me at a preview event, feel like they make games for two different audiences - fans of noodly narrative intrigues on the one hand, and of fantasy combat games on the other. Among the game's challenges, of course, is to blend these halves convincingly.

A spiritual (hah) follow-up of sorts to 2018’s fairly well-received Vampyr, it takes place in the alt-historical realm of New Eden, which is kind of 17th century colonial North America through the lens of Dragon Age: Inquisition with a pinch of Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice. The titular Banishers are a ghost-hunting couple, the Scotsman Red MacRaith and the Cuban Antea Duarte. Antea is killed at the very beginning of the game, during a battle with an especially noxious spook, but she soon returns as a spirit, and your overall story objective is to either resurrect her body or help her "Ascend" to the afterlife.

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A Florida man is calling on Rockstar Games to pay him $2 million for showing literally one second of a character who looks like him in the reveal trailer for Grand Theft Auto 6. Lawrence Sullivan, AKA “Florida Joker,” accused the studio of stealing his likeness in his latest TikTok video. But a Red Dead Redemption 2 vo…

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Aniplex and ufotable confirmed the launch window for Season 4 of the Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba anime series. The new season will cover the Hashira Training arc from Koyoharu Gotouge's original manga, and it will start airing in Spring 2024.

Aniplex will also hold a special screening world tour that combines the eleventh episode from the Swordsmith Village arc with the upcoming first episode from the new Hashira Training arc. Several Japanese voice actors for the key characters will also be present in each venue. For instance, Natsuki Hanae and Hiro Shimono—the respective voice actors of Tanjiro Kamado and Zenitsu Agatsuma—will attend the New York event on February 10, 2024.

The full schedule for the Demon Slayer screening world tour is as follows:

• Tokyo, Japan - February 2-3, 2024
• New York, USA - February 10, 2024
• Seoul, South Korea - February 11, 2024
• Mexico City, Mexico - February 17, 2024
• Singapore - February 17, 2024
• Jakarta, Indonesia - February 18, 2024

AMD's Ryzen 7 7800X3D is the best value gaming CPU by a wide margin, as it manages to overpower the Intel Core i9 14900K regularly while costing nearly half the price. Perhaps it's unsurprising then that a major German PC retailer recorded the 7800X3D as massively outselling any other processor on the market as of late.

As of today, the best prices available in the UK and US are at Overclockers (£330) and Amazon ($358). Both retailers offer the CPU with a free copy of the truly stunning Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora game.

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Dell's Alienware m17 gaming laptop is normally quite a pricey proposition, especially when you want one with an RTX 3070 Ti 8GB graphics card and Ryzen 6800H processor, but today you can get a machine with these specs - and a 17.3-inch 4K 120Hz screen - for just £1069 at Dell UK using the code VOUCHERCODES7, versus the recently-discounted price of £1149.

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Square Enix took to social media for spoilers about FFVII Remake Avalanche character, specifically mentioning Biggs. At the end of the retelling, the fates of certain characters differed a bit compared to the original story.

Editor’s Note: There will be FFVII Remake spoilers about the Avalanche characters Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie below.

FFVII Remake breaks from tradition when it comes to the fates of certain characters in the game. In the original Final Fantasy VII, Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie all died during the events of the fall of the Sector 7 pillar and plate. However, the events of the remake suggested different possibilities. Wedge immediately survived that instance. Jessie’s fate seemed ambiguous. While Wedge seemed blown off of Shinra tower during Cloud and the party’s rescue of Aerith, the game ended with Biggs in a bed recovering while Jessie’s equipment was nearby.

With the new social media update, Square Enix confirmed that Biggs is the one surviving Avalanche character in FFVII Remake. It shared a piece of art showing his updated appearance. It also noted he fully recovered. 

Baldur’s Gate 3 shadow-dropped on Xbox after winning Game of the Year at The Game Awards, and Larian Studios is already pushing out updates and hotfixes as the dust settles. If you’re playing the fantasy epic on your Xbox, you may be at risk of losing your saves, and Larian is warning players to update their system to…

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UPDATE 12/12/23: Following yesterday's reports that Free Radical Design - the studio set up in 2021 specifically to work on a new TimeSplitters game - had been closed, studio owner Plaion (a subsidiary of the beleaguered Embracer Group) has made the news official.

"It's with a heavy heart that we must announce yet another difficult decision," Plaion wrote in a statement provided to VGC. "Today, we have to confirm the official closure of Free Radical Design, and say goodbye to many remarkable, talented and hard-working people.

"We are beyond grateful for their incredible contributions to Plaion and wish them the best of luck and success on their professional journey from here on out."

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With the release of the Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy on the horizon, fans will be able to revisit beloved cases and newcomers will have the chance to experience these adventures for the first time. To learn more about the bonus features that will be included with the trilogy and get a better look at the prospects of the future of the Ace Attorney series, Siliconera spoke with Producer Kenichi Hashimoto.

Lauren Palmer: When did the development of Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy begin? How did the releases of the past collections affect it?

Kenichi Hashimoto: Development began in 2021. Since Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy brings the last of the series' mainline games to modern consoles, we took steps to ensure the collection's offerings -- including playability, visual fidelity, and content volume -- were on par with previous Ace Attorney collections.

Can you talk about one or two specific steps the development team took during development to appeal to both newcomers and longtime fans?