We saw that Nendoroid Mei was coming at New York Toy Fair (along with Mercy and a figma Genji). Good Smile Company has recently announced that pre-orders are opening for Mei, starting today and going until May 15.
Locomotion is something that far too many video games take for granted. Standard fare for movement is often reduced to holding an analog stick in a direction and you'll get where you need to be. This approach is so ingrained in game design that when something as experimental as Snake Pass comes along, it sticks out as a stark reminder of what developers could be doing (not that they all need to be doing it).
There's a certain progression of emotion to playing Snake Pass. First, it's novel. Then, it's brilliant. Then, it's frustrating. Eventually, it's an amalgamation of all that other stuff but maybe more tedious than anything.
When Google's Daydream headset came out, we praised it for its comfortable construction, but noted its bare game library. Little by little, the platform is adding experiences, even if many are ports that have already had successful runs on other VR platforms. Today, Daydream got its own version of SculptVR, a Minecraft-like world-building sandbox game that had previously been released for Oculus Rift and HTC Vive.
Via: Twitter
Source: Google Play Store
I can't say I've ever thought about Leon Kennedy in a romantic light, but apparently there is a group of Resident Evil fans who have. Enter Resident Evil 4: Otome Edition, a fan-made dating simulator based on Resident Evil 4 from the perspective of Ashley Graham. Seeing as how she basically amounted to an objective in the original game, it looks like this fan creation is attempting to flesh out her character while also poking fun at how vapid some visual novels can be.
Otome Edition works in a prequel, of sorts, to the plot of Resident Evil 4. I guess just accepting that the president's daughter was kidnapped is too much of a task for some people, but then I bet there is a really creative reason for how Ashley ended up in Europe. I also find it hysterical that one of the screenshots refers to Leon as an Adonis; I always thought he looked like a reject Abercrombie model.
Otome Edition is currently a demo, so a full version must still be being worked on. I can't wait to see how the ending is taken from Ashley's perspective, especially since Leon basically turned down a sure thing. What an idiot.
Resident Evil 4: Otome Edition is a dating sim played from Ashley’s perspective [PC Gamer]
If you equate spring with buying even more PC games, this post is for you. With a week to go before Easter Sunday, popular digital retailer Green Man Gaming has started up its Easter Sale. We're seeing new low prices on Resident Evil 7, Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen, XCOM 2, Killing Floor 2, and more.
Well over 300 titles are on sale from publishers like Capcom, 2K, and Bethesda. We've crunched the numbers on the entire sale here, or you can check below to see the best picks of the bunch.
Among the deals are great price drops on titles like Civilization VI, at only $40 and change. Even the all-popular Rocket League is 42% off with a drop to $11.57. There's also Mad Max and Risen 3 at $4.29 a piece.
You'll have to move somewhat quickly on these deals, as the sale expires next Tuesday, April 18 at 10AM Pacific. That gives you a week to take advantage of the price breaks and sort through all the deals.
PC Games Easter Sale Top Picks
I can’t say I’ve ever been a particularly big fan of real-time strategy games' multiplayer portions. I know that sounds crazy (seeing as how StarCraft is almost a national sport in Korea), but I like devising tactics and executing them against AI more than other humans. When playing against living beings, I typically don’t think as fast due to my lack of ability in the genre. I don’t do well with micromanaging or base building.
So Dawn of War II was more my speed when it came to exhibition matches. I liked that the game put a stronger emphasis on the action elements while relegating traditional-style RTS staples to specific game modes. The same as the campaign, you had a few "Champion" units and small squads that could be recovered from capture points, putting an emphasis on pushing forward and bringing the fight to the enemy instead of meticulously researching upgrades, placing buildings, and managing resources.
Still, I understand the appeal behind that style of gameplay. It rewards more careful thinking and cautious play. It doesn’t even slow down the pace of the game, if you’re able to quickly grasp the mechanics. That being said, Dawn of War III’s multiplayer beta showed me very little that I particularly find interesting about strategy games.
I've been sleeping on the latest Steam success story, but enough people have brought it up and shared amusing clips that I've finally started to pay attention. PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds is a battle royale game whose roots go back to the Arma modding scene, and people are eating it up.
In its first 16 days on Steam Early Access, the chart-topping multiplayer shooter secured over a million sales, peaking at 89,000 simultaneous players, according to developer Bluehole, Inc. From the way people describe it, that success is well-earned, and I don't see sales slowing down anytime soon.
"We couldn't have reached this milestone without the dedication of our players and we are truly humbled by their passionate response," said Brendan "PlayerUnknown" Greene.
Battlegrounds dumps up to 100 players on an island and let's them sort it out until only a single winner (or team) remains. It's a game of reflexes, wits, and improvisation that ratchets up the tension by corralling combatants into tighter and tighter quarters with a shrinking playing field. I can absolutely see how a concept like this would catch on with the Steam audience and especially streamers.
As far as it being an Early Access game goes, the main criticism at this point seems to be performance and optimization (or a current lack thereof). The developer is on track to push out weekly updates for bugs and stability improvements, and monthly updates for new content and balancing.
It's been roughly five months since EVE Online went free-to-play, and developer CCP seems to be pretty happy about how it's went so far -- at least on the surface.
"We were super nervous, both internally and externally in terms of our playerbase, when it came to going free-to-play," said EVE designer Steven Clark. "Last year we were sitting at roughly a 50% retention rate, and now we're much lower than that, but partially because we have so many more people coming in and trying the game. That's always a good problem to have."
It's staggering to think that EVE Online, a single-server MMO started all the way back in 2003, as they've come so far in their near 15-year journey. And yet they have so much farther to go when it comes to keeping new players invested.
This might not be the Serious Sam game we were expecting, but it has my attention.
Serious Sam's Bogus Detour is monster-killing twin-stick shooter from the makers of Hammerwatch. You'll get to paint the floors red either alone or with up to three others in online co-op for the campaign, and there's also Survival and Versus modes on top of mod support.
Fans anxious for Serious Sam 4 aren't too thrilled by this "indie"-looking side game, but I'm down as h*ck (pardon the language) to play it. If you're similarly interested, keep an eye out for a summer release.
Ahead of a planned full reveal and release tomorrow, a trailer for the next Overwatch event inadvertently popped up today. Aside from lots of alluring and surely bank-breaking new skins (check the gallery!), the update will bring a mode not unlike what we saw in the Halloween Terror event. Seemingly, it's Reinhardt, Mercy, Torbjörn, and Tracer fighting back against waves of Omnics.
After reading the recent Uprising comic, this is pretty much what I had envisioned for the event -- both in terms of fending off a robotic horde on King's Row and these exact character skins -- so I'm pleased.
Based on this trailer, Insurrection will run from April 11 to May 1.
Although he was confirmed to be returning to the roster back when Injustice 2 was first announced, we have yet to see any of The Flash's gameplay until now. The character may share some moves and combos from the Injustice: Gods Among Us incarnation, but The Flash just looks cooler here. The added flare adds a ton of, well, flash to his moves and seems all that more impressive.
And just like the first game, The Flash has my favorite super. I didn't think they'd find a way to improve upon his round the world punch, but NetherRealm did it. I'm officially in The Flash hype camp right now.
Too bad about those Source Crystals though.
Injustice 2 is out on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One May 16.
Bethesda is trying to boost The Elder Scrolls Online's player base less than two months before the launch of its big Morrowind expansion. Starting tomorrow at 10 am EST, anyone can download and play the game on PC, Xbox One or PlayStation 4 for free for an entire week.
Source: Bethesda
If you've been looking to dive into The Elder Scrolls Online ahead of the Morrowind update, this week will be your chance. Running from April 11 till the 18th, Bethesda has announced that their MMO will be going free on all platforms. In a further show of good faith, there will be no restrictions on gameplay and all progress can be carried over into the regular game once finished.
For PC users, the free client will be available from Steam and console users just need to go to their respective storefronts for the download. You'll be able to hop in starting at 3 PM BST (10 AM EST). All in all, this sounds like a good time. I might have to give it a go as I'm curious if the game has been fixed up since launch.
The Elder Scrolls Online gets another free play week [Videogamer]
I know it may not be the coolest thing to admit, but when I was first getting into anime I was a huge Naruto stan. I'd write fan fiction, try and find manga scans on the Internet because they hadn't released in the West yet, and naturally, played almost every Naruto fighting game I could get my hands on. My favorite series of them, to this day, is the Ultimate Ninja series.
While I may prefer the early 2D versions on the PlayStation 2, the jump to a full-scale Naruto experience in the Ultimate Ninja Storm series was an awesome one. Legacy collects all four of the games -- Ultimate Ninja Storm, Ultimate Ninja Storm 2, Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 Full Burst, and Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 Road to Boruto -- with remastered visuals for the last gen iterations, all of the released DLC, a steelbook case, and a bonus anime episode.
Needless to say, if you've been even slightly curious about this franchise this is the package to get. Also on the way is Naruto to Boruto: Shinobi Striker, a four versus four fighter that lets you believe it dattebayo with seven other ninja buddies.
Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Legacy is coming to PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC this fall, and Naturo to Boruto: Shinobi Striker is releasing at a later date.
When it was announced back in 2010 that Gearbox would acquire and finish Duke Nukem Forever, people let out a sigh of relief. Gearbox had a great track record of excellent first-person shooter games and had recently released Borderlands to critical and commercial acclaim. There was no way gaming’s longest running joke was going to be bad.
Despite six years having passed since then, people still look at Duke Nukem Forever with a mix of derision and disgust. It was a mashup of old-school design philosophy with new-school mechanics alongside poorly constructed levels and some questionable humor. It brought up the debate of whether or not Duke Nukem, as a character, had any relevance in the modern world.
I like to check in with the Facebook group "100,000 Strong for Bringing Back Mega Man Legends 3" quite a bit, as they've become a definitive source for tons of Mega Man-related happenings over the years. It's insane to think that Legends 3 was canceled all the way back in 2011, but a dedicated group of fans have been giving off positive vibes for years on end, providing original content and even a documentary on the situation.
That includes this fan book (which you can read here in PDF form for free, but a printed version is in the works) that includes heartfelt letters, tributes, and artwork dedicated to the project. It's a lot to skim through, especially if you couldn't care less about Mega Man anymore (heck, Capcom doesn't), but there's a few really heartfelt stories in there -- especially the ones that involve children -- and some great art.
100,000 Strong [Facebook]
In just under five minutes with The Sexy Brutale, I watched a man die. He was gunned down; left slumped and lifeless next to a stone altar, all before the murder weapon's echo faded. There was nothing I could do except watch the grisly scene unfold through a dimly lit keyhole. I was a silent witness, complicit in murder by way of inaction.
But time has a funny way of righting wrongs, especially in The Sexy Brutale. Before I could understand what had happened, I got a second chance. Tucked among the dead man's body was a broken pocket watch that, surprisingly, allowed me to rewind time. And so, I set out to save a man whose death I previously watched, using his own watch's time-bending power.
For many, the biggest limitation of Minecraft's Pocket and Windows 10 Editions has been the lack of community material. What good is playing on your phone if you can't try out that sweet new texture pack you saw on your PC? You're about to get that option. Microsoft and Mojang are launching a Marketplace that lets both Pocket and Windows 10 gamers download content from community creators, including skins, textures and whole worlds. You don't buy any paid content directly -- instead, you buy "Minecraft Coins" that let you snap up the add-ons you want. It's ostensibly to help producers set "flexible prices," although it also helps mask the value of what you're buying. You might not want to let kids have unfettered access, in other words.
Source: Minecraft
As promised, Koei Tecmo is launching its PVP update for Nioh for free on May 2. Originally slated for "late April" it's been pushed back just a tiny bit, but it's close enough!
Launching alongside of that will be a bit of paid DLC called Dragon of the North. It'll hit on the same date for $9.99, and will include new enemies, guardians, levels, and weapons. You can also grab the Season Pass for $24.99, which has three DLCs packed in -- with Defiant Honor and Bloodshed's End capping off Dragon of the North.
I can't believe how much time I've spent with this game. Originally, based on the beta, I suspected that the level-based system would grate over time, but I ended up loving it in the end. The easy swap between the OG difficulty and NG+ with separate world maps was genius, and a far better way to handle it than the "all or nothing" approach of recent action RPGs. Even old school ones would force you to choose a difficulty at the start and stick to it.
Nioh [Game City]
I have been in love with the Zero Escape series since former Destructoid editor Tony Ponce reviewed the first game in the series, Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors, seven years ago. He gave it a well deserved 10/10 and after reading that review, I went out and bought it the next day. Oh, how I wish I could have got my hands on that pre-order bonus.
Anyway, that game was released on the Nintendo DS and ported in an augmented form to iOS. Until last month, it wasn’t available on the PlayStation Vita even though that machine saw both of its sequels. Last month, Spike Chunsoft sought to rectify this with the release of Zero Escape: The Nonary Games. Hitting the Vita, PC, and PlayStation 4, The Nonary Games collects the first two entries in the series, so if you missed out on 999, now is your chance to see where this all started. I spent the weekend playing the game, reliving the adventure that captivated me all those years ago. 999 on the Vita features new artwork, a much-appreciated ability to jump back to any forks in the branching storyline, and voice acting in English and Japanese.
Two years ago I took my first trip to Tokyo. The city exceeded my wildest expectations, an addictive blend of ramen, neon nightlife and tranquil parks. I spent a fortnight exploring the place, absorbing every street, shrine and video game store that wandered into my peripheral vision. It was a glorious adventure, and I would give anything to go back there.
Directly following statements by the company president that Square Enix would be investing more into the Nintendo Switch, here comes Chrono Trigger director and Square long-timer Takashi Tokita with another tease. Just the other day on Twitter he posted a picture of the Switch tablet, noting "top secret mission starts!"
In recent years Tokita has served as a producer for side projects like Final Fantasy ports, as well as garnering "special thanks" credits on a number of bigger projects like I Am Setsuna. A Final Fantasy legacy collection has been rumored for a long while on multiple platforms, and given the recent announcement of the Seiken Densetsu collection for Switch, this seems to perfectly line up with Tokita's recent happenings and Square Enix's business model of pushing more remakes.
All we know for sure is that there's going to be a lot of Square stuff to play on the Switch in a year's time.
Takashi Tokita [Twitter]
Right before launch, it was revealed that Atlus and/or Sega were implementing strict guidelines when it came to streaming Persona 5.
This wasn't a "you should probably do this" type of thing either -- they were threatening to hit channels with strikes or take entire streams down if they didn't comply to their laundry list of rules. Obviously, this doesn't fly with folks who make their living streaming games, but there's always the age-old debate (since streaming was a thing) that you don't have the right to stream games, so some people are turning a blind eye to it.
Whether that's a right or not is irrelevant to me. So many publishers have embraced streaming culture, and have greatly benefited from it. Just look at anything published by Devolver Digital -- they constantly encourage everyone who owns the game to stream and monetize their stuff to their heart's content, just because they know that getting the word out there and potentially earning more sales is a common byproduct of streaming. It's common sense, and especially given the rise of eSports, if a company wants to increase their cachet, they need more eyes on their product at all times.
Yet, many eastern organizations are fighting this revolution tooth and nail. They see streaming as a form of piracy, and aim to shut it down as often as possible. Nintendo is one of the biggest proponents of this philosophy, and has earned the ire of many top streamers. Make no mistake, if this hurts their bottom line directly enough where they can see a correlation between a drop in streaming activity and sales, they'll likely change their tune. But for now, I'd posit that they're straight up missing out on additional sales by being so archaic about a practice that so many other publishers have embraced.
There's been a lot of conversation about streaming recently given the Persona 5 situation, so I figured I'd give folks an avenue to sound off below.
The latest Nintendo Direct is coming this Wednesday, April 15 at 6:00pm EST (11:00pm GMT) and will focus on upcoming Switch games Arms and Splatoon 2. Part of the direct will be dedicated to the 3DS as well. You can watch at their website.
It's been so long since we've heard anything about Arms I've almost forgotten about it. I'm really hoping to see some of the single player shown off. Likewise they need to show what they have in store for Splatoon 2's campaign. The Global Testfire beta gave everyone a sense of how the multiplayer will be, and many say it doesn't seem all too different from the first game. A beefy single player, perhaps co-op, could rekindle the excitement.
We aren't getting Diablo IV at the moment, but Blizzard is keen on still keeping the game relevant with more bite-sized content drops.
That includes the upcoming Necromancer character (which comes with its own host of minor changes), a premium add-on that's nebulously coming out this year. Before it does though you'll get a chance to try it out, with the always Blizzard-like timeline of "soon" (tm). To get in just head to your beta profile settings page (link here), check Diablo, and you're good. You're not guaranteed access but you'll get an email if you are selected.
I was pretty impressed with the level of detail that went into the animations for the Necro at BlizzCon last year, but how he actually plays (and if he retains my attention long enough to warrant another full set of runs) remains to be seen.
Necromancer [Battle.net]
This May, Minecraft is getting its biggest update in months. Set to debut on the Windows 10 and Pocket Editions of the game, 1.1's "Discovery update" brings in a new currency (Minecraft Coins) and a marketplace, which is sure to be polarizing, barring one potentially cool development -- content creators get a big cut.
After purchasing Coins by way of IAP, ($1.99 for 300 Coins) users can buy stuff, at which point App Store platforms get a 30% cut. But after that delineation, Microsoft states that content creators get "the majority of the remainder." How much of a taste Microsoft gets is unknown, but majority in this case would likely mean at least 50%, if not higher. "Registered businesses" can apply for the program here if they want.
It's an interesting and brave new world for Minecraft. While Valve is struggling in many ways with this system (right now DOTA 2 creators are just getting a 12.5% cut), there's plenty of ways for this to thrive, given that Minecraft is one of the biggest games ever.
What I like about the program, in theory, is that there will be a better curation system for total conversion/RPG mods for me to peruse. For all of the other esoteric type stuff, there's the Java version.
Still haven't cut the cord from your cable TV package? YouTube might get you there. In more outlandish weekend news, international scientists plan to drill deep into the Earth, and are searching for the ideal chunk of oceanic crust to get things started. We also explain why Ghost In The Shell's remake underwhelms and ransomware that demands a high score.
