Over the past two days, Nicalis dropped two new trailers for its upcoming crossover fighter Blade Strangers that confirmed Quote from Cave Story and Gunvolt from Azure Striker Gunvolt will be playable characters in the game. The hits just keep on coming because the publisher has now confirmed Isaac from The Binding of Isaac is also joining the roster.
Idea Factory have now launched Megadimension Neptunia VIIR on PS4. An enhanced port of 2016's Neptunia VII, this re-release boasts a whole new engine, alongside a slew of new features.
The biggest addition, of course, is PSVR implementation. This allows players to enter Gameindustri like never before and can hang out with Nep, Vert, Noire and friends in the all-new Player's Room, an immersive, customisable VR hub. It should be noted that VR is only an option. Everything in VIIR can be experienced without wearing Sony's wacky visor.
As for the main game itself, the battle system has been tweaked from the original release to include new moves and combos, full team attacks and a second stage of character transformation. The aforementioned new engine gives a new level of fluidity to character movement and improves the overall clarity of the game's world.
A new trailer has been uploaded to celebrate the game's launch, which you can check out below. Megadimension Neptunia VIIR is available now for PS4/PSVR.
There are two takeaways from Agony's story trailer. 1) Everything in hell is incredibly demented. All the iconography screams torture and suffering, which seems perfectly appropriate for a place rooted in eternal punishment. It's a quick-cut paradiso of always wondering if the next second will be more fucked up than the previous second.
And 2) There sure is a lot of nudity! Demon nipples and butts at every turn. There's even some subservient dong if you watch closely. Lust is one of the seven deadly sins and everyone here is a de facto sinner. You know what they say about laughing with the sinners and crying with the saints.
Agony releases on May 29 on PC, PS4, and Xbox One. Judging by this trailer, it seems like a game that will stretch the limits of a mature rating.
One of my favorite things to do in Zelda: Breath of the Wild was to just mess around in the wilderness. I totally get why people may have been down on the game in terms of dungeon design with a lot of repeating shrines, but the random adventures I had on my own while exploring more than made up for it.
One of my favorite things to do was go back to the starting area and glide off cliffs, and frequently I'd end up at the Temple of Time, staring straight at the giant statue within. Reddit user Alzate decided to take that admiration to the next level, and has 3D-printed their own set of Goddess statues.
Alzate explains that the printer is a Lulzbot Mini, which generally runs for $1250. As another commenter points out you can grab a 3D model for the statues on Thingiverse right here if you're interested in printing your own one day.
I've been making the smaller Goddess statues from BotW for a while now [Reddit]
Sherlock Holmes 3 has been talked about since before the second film landed, but Robert Downey Jr. being so busy being Iron Man has meant the film has been shelved for years now. What was supposed to be a trilogy released close to each other has turned into 12-year slog to get to the final film. Yes, I said 12 years. Sherlock Holmes 3 is landing in Christmas of 2020.
Downey Jr. and Jude Law are both returning for the film, band one can assume the plot will pick up off where the second one ended... if you happen to remember where that ended. I vaguely remember a Moriarty cliffhanger.
Narcos co-creator Chris Brancato is writing the screenplay, but there is no word whether or not Guy Ritchie will be directing, but, in a rare case, I kind of hope so. The Sherlock films were one of the few where his style actually worked in some way, and he brings a decently different take to a character who has been done a million times over.
After months of re-releasing classic SNK fighter and shooters onto modern platforms, retro-loves Hamster's latest release is something completely different, as Stakes Winner hits PS4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch.
Launching in arcades and on the Neo Geo platform in 1995, Saurus' Stakes Winner is an equestrian racer that essentially comes down to meter management and forward thinking. Players pick one from a selection of fine fillies, each with their own stats, before engaging in a series of intense races.
The game's simplistic controls allow jockeys to control their horse with the joystick, using double-taps to pass opponents or reduce speed, while the A and B buttons control acceleration. Tapping A builds moderate speed while slowly draining the stamina meter, while B activates the whip, causing a burst of acceleration at the cost of a huge chunk of stamina.
The game is about balance; knowing when to overtake and when to hang back, knowing when to conserve energy and when to expend it, as well as maintaining reasonable control of the pack, until the chaos of the final furlong. It's definitely something else, and its fun music and cutesy sprites add to its unique feel. Of course Stakes Winner is a particularly niche title, certainly not to everyone's taste, but if you fancy something a little bit different, why not hop into the saddle?
Stakes Winner is available now on PS4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch, priced around $8.
Earlier today, Walmart Canada goofed and prematurely listed a bunch of games that might get announced at E3. Someone at Bethesda has taken it upon themselves to use the official Rage Twitter account to dunk on Walmart.
Now that hit mobile game HQ has become more social, the company is reportedly planning to let you see your friends' answers on Fridays. TechCrunch says the feature has been in testing for a while, now, and will roll out to all HQ players this week.
Source: TechCrunch
If you were hoping that Lara Croft would bring back the very brief dual pistols she wielded at the end of the 2013 reboot game, it's still not going to happen when Shadow of the Tomb Raider rolls around.
While it could have been a possibility, the game's director, Dan Bisson, didn't want it to happen -- so it didn't. Speaking to OXM, Bisson notes, "No. I don’t want that. For us this is her defining moment. We’re not going to put her in shorts with double-pistols, wearing a bikini; that’s not what this is. It’s because the twin pistols have an iconic thing about them. For this trilogy – not saying anything about later on, I don’t know about the future titles – but for this trilogy, the bow is still her signature weapon."
So there you have it! I'm perfectly cool with that so long as Shadow delivers, though I'm over the "this is her defining moment" marketing strategy as Tomb Raider 2013 and Rise of the Tomb Raider (ha, it even says it in the title) were both her "defining moments" too. The semi-shade tone of calling out the original Lara also vaguely reminds me of when Ninja Theory dumped on the original Dante during the making of DmC. Thankfully the new Lara isn't written like a 10 year old.
Tomb Raider [OXM via Sirus Gaming]
Pre-E3 leaks are a part of the process. Every year, the rumor mill churns full steam ahead and we inevitably learn about a few top-secret projects that were supposed to be grand reveals at E3. However, a recent retailer blunder might've given us most of the big surprises all at once.
Twitter sleuth Wario64 noticed that Walmart Canada accidentally posted listings for a bunch of not-yet-announced games from some of the industry's biggest publishers. They include: Borderlands 3, Gears of War 5, Just Cause 4, LEGO DC Villains, Rage 2, and Splinter Cell.
The end of May will see Capcom release the Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection, a compilation of some of the greatest fighting games of all-time. Although fans were concerned that the compilation would feature bare-bones arcade ports, a new post over at Capcom Unity confirms the rumour that the games will include Training and Vs. modes.
First and foremost is the all-important Training Mode. This, unarguably, is what makes the difference between being a warrior king and being sparked the fuck out. Many players find training modes - or "the lab" as some fight fans prefer - unequivocally boring. But the fact remains that time spent in Training; honing your skills, experimenting, getting that muscle-memory down, learning what's safe and what isn't, is the difference maker. This is where the mightiest warriors are born.
Once again Destructoid will be covering E3 2018's press conferences live on location, and now that we basically know where everyone stands outside of Sony, it's time to publish the full schedule and see what we're looking at.
In the past few years E3 has crept up on the weekend, and we basically have conferences from Saturday June 9 all the way through Tuesday June 12. Once again Nintendo has bogarted the Tuesday slot all to themselves, and Monday is completely packed to the point where some of you are probably going to be taking off work. There's a lot of slight changes and at least one big alteration this year -- Bethesda isn't annoyingly going to run at 12 midnight Eastern anymore, as it's now been shifted to 9:30 PM ET on Saturday, June 10.
Once we get more information on potential smaller conferences (remember that crazy one from Konami eight years ago?) we'll add them in. Also, once the conference is done and we've recapped it, we'll post that below too. Strap in, E3 is nearly here and the ride has already begun.
The FTC reported last month that they had found "Warranty void if removed" stickers, which have been used for an age to prevent consumers tampering with their electrical goods, to actually be a violation of law, specifically the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act.
After receiving a grumpy letter from the FTC, Sony have announced that they have updated their warranty terms in the United States and Canada accordingly, with some compromise. Now, if your PlayStation-branded console is at fault, but the warranty seal is broken, you can still send it in to Sony for repair. However, the warranty still does not apply to damage caused by the act of opening the product, damage caused by service carried out by someone other than an authorised representative of Sony, or damage caused by usage of an unlicensed peripheral.
So, essentially. If your seal is broken, you can still send your product in under warranty. But if the fault is directly because you, or someone else, worked on the console, or if the fault is directly attributable to the usage/installation of unlicensed components and peripherals, then your warranty is still voided.
The terms and conditions have also been re-worded to note that Sony offers free return shipping for all in-warranty products, or for the delivery of replacement or factory-refurbished units, in the case that your product has seen its last days. These new rulings are effective immediately and replace all previous printed materials, so one can assume they apply to the devices you already own. Just remember your device does still have to be within it's warranty time-frame.
The letters sent out by the FTC also landed on the doorsteps of several other main-eventers, such as Microsoft and Nintendo, so it is likely that they will be making similar changes to their own warranties in the near future.
Warranty Updates for U.S. and Canada Playstation Systems [Official]
Niantic may have split from Google years ago, but there's a little bit of Google culture left -- namely, the Maps part. The developer told Reuters that it's planning to create 3D augmented reality maps with the help of Pokémon Go players' cameras. Gamers would help map public spaces (such as parks and plazas) so that the AR experience could extend to the entire environment, not just characters. And crucially, these wouldn't be limited to Niantic's own games -- the company hopes to offer these AR maps to third-party developers.
Source: Reuters
One of the first things Sony Santa Monica promised when God of War was released is a photo mode, and that promise is going to be delivered later today according to the studio's Twitter account. Expect it to be inline with the rest of the photo craze, which used to be few and far between and can now be found in pretty much every modern AA release.
Santa Monica shared a few details on the mode, which showcases greyscale close-ups, traditional behind-the-back shots, and first-person angles. It'll roll out with patch 1.20, and you can access it in the options menu or by assigning it to a touch pad press. You can adjust the camera, filter, border, aperture, or various character-centric options (visibility and facial expression changes).
Given that God of War is prone to over-the-top situations fans suggested a photo contest, which Santa Monica responded to with a thinking man emoji. So, that could happen at some point.
Santa Monica Studio [Twitter]
Screenshots don't really do Atomic Heart enough justice, but that's perfectly fine when there's a well-put-together trailer to do the heavy lifting. The team at developer Mundfish promises to bring "insanity" to its first-person action/shooter set in an alternate-history sci-fi Soviet Union.
Between the strangely adorable killer robots, the secret-agent protagonist chugging a can of paint, and other double-take-worthy stuff happening in this footage, they're on the right track. If you or anyone you know is big into ACE Team (Zeno Clash, Rock of Ages), holler at them to come take a look.
Atomic Heart is planned for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One this year. More immediately, Mundfish is also cooking up another charmingly off-kilter game called Soviet Luna Park VR.
[Thanks, Dwavenhobble]
With Jordan Peele creating an Oscar-winning cultural phenomenon with Get Out, we've all been wondering what his next project will be. Just last night, Peele pulled back the curtain to give us a little tease for his next film, Us.
— Jordan Peele (@JordanPeele) May 9, 2018
THR reports that the film will focus on two couples, one couple white and the other black. Currently, Oscar winner Lupita Nyong'o and Winston Duke, both coming out of the crazy success of Black Panther, are in negotiations to star as the black couple. Meanwhile, Elisabeth Moss (The Handmaid's Tale) is in negotiations to be one half of the white couple.
Get Out was a "social thriller" that converted real-life race relations in America into a Stepford Wives-style tale of paranoia. The header for the Us poster promises "a new nightmare," implying a return to a similar thriller/horror genre. But with Peele stating in the past that he'd like to tackle other issues besides race, we can only speculate what Peele will tackle next: the dynamics of marriage? Classism? Whatever it may be, expect it to be handled with nuance—the opposite of mother!, let's say.
Universal will distribute the film as they did with Get Out, with Peele again directing his own script. The release date for Us, a title that is sure to inspire pronoun fun for us (heh) in the future, is already set for March 15, 2019.
Winston Duke, Lupita Nyong’o, Elisabeth Moss Circling New Jordan Peele Movie 'Us' [THR]
The Overwatch League is in the final stage of its first season and playoffs are right around the corner. Like the regular season games, the playoffs will take place at Blizzard Arena Los Angeles, but the Grand Finals, the league just announced, will take place at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Playoffs will include the top team from both divisions as well as the next four teams in the standings and they'll battle it out between July 11th and 21st. The final two teams will then head to the Grand Finals to compete on July 27th and 28th.
Source: Overwatch League
It's the season where industry giants announce their End of Fiscal Year results and Capcom are no exception. The developer/publisher released a new presentation where, alongside much chest-puffing over the incredible sales of Monster Hunter: World, the company also spoke of their plans for the year ahead.
Of note is the declaration that Capcom will be releasing "two major titles" in this fiscal year, so anytime between now and the end of March 2019. No further details were given, but it can only be assumed we may hear more on at least one of these new games come E3, which takes place in Los Angeles next month.
Monster Hunter: World also looks set to run and run, not only is there currently a PC port on the books, but the report pushes plans to "release multiple updates to maintain players' interests and catalog sales". Once again, Capcom reiterate their desire to blow up in the esports market, with plans to run numerous events in Japan. Marvel vs Capcom: Infinite was supposed to be the major spearhead of this, but clearly that ain't happening anymore.
It will be interesting to see what the company has in store for the next 12 months. Given the bolstered coffers of Monster Hunter: World, as well as the realisation that you can make bank on what may have appeared a relatively smaller brand, hopefully the company will start experimenting more with their current catalogue of IPs, or even try something brand new.
Capcom Business Divisional Strategies and Direction FY2018 [Official]
Following in the footsteps of Fortnite and PUBG, Dota 2 is introducing The Underhollow, which is another version of an underground battle royale. Billed as "a multi-team dungeon clash," that involves going on a quest for cheese, it's only available to 2018 International Battle Pass subscribers.
Via: PC Gamer
Source: Dota 2 2018 International Battle Pass
With invites starting to go out and streaming events beginning to materialize, E3 feels like it's fast-approaching. The inevitable leaks can't be too far off, and before you know it, it'll be June.
Square Enix is hosting another E3 showcase. The pre-recorded event will be streaming live on Monday, June 11 at 10:00am Pacific, giving us a few precious hours before Ubisoft's event starts at 1:00pm.
You'll be able to follow along on Twitch, YouTube, and of course right here on Destructoid.
What's in store for E3 2018? It feels like the time is right for Square Enix to lift the lid on its bound-to-be-huge Avengers game. We'll also surely see more from Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Final Fantasy VII Remake, Kingdom Hearts III, and Dragon Quest XI, along with the usual surprise announcements.
E3 Showcase 2018 [Square Enix]
Electronic Arts will "push forward" with loot boxes in its future video games, despite admitting that "all loot boxes are gambling." Yeesh. In an investor's call, CEO Andrew Wilson said that EA has worked with "all the industry associations" and with regulators across the globe to establish that programs like FIFA Ultimate Team (FUT) are not gambling.
Source: Seeking Alpha
I haven't thought about Origin in a while, but I think of Peggle often. It's such a timeless classic, and I can hear the celebratory anthem of Ode to Joy and the little "bump" sound effects in my head.
If you have no idea what I'm talking about you should probably change that, and it won't cost you anything (for now). While it's normally five bucks, Peggle is now free on Origin again. If you have an account for the service you can either log into the app or grab it at the link below, and you're good.
EA has frequently put Peggle up for free as part of its "On the House" promotion, and I have this theory that if Origin usage isn't up to par, they just flip the Peggle switch.
Peggle [Origin]
You don't know what you've got till it's gone, and this week our dear old friend RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 is missing. The theme park management sim is unexpectedly no longer available for purchase on PC.
The game still has a landing page on Steam, but the store listing on GOG.com has straight vanished. It could be a while before it resurfaces on digital storefronts, too. As first reported by TMZ, RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 developer Frontier is currently suing publisher Atari over a years-old royalty dispute.
Google's annual developer conference usually gives us a pretty good idea of what to expect from the company for the next several months. This year's I/O opening keynote was no different as yesterday's 2-hour event was jam-packed with AI, Android, accessibility and more. You probably don't have a couple hours to burn rewatching the whole thing, so we've distilled the important bits down to a 20-minute clip. When you take a break to grab a snack this morning, you can catch up on what you might've missed in a fraction of the time.
Click here to catch up on the latest news from Google I/O 2018!
Prepare to die, Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition.
While the original 2012 released PC port thrived after myriad updates, it's now completely wiped from purchase on Steam to pave the way for the newly minited remaster. You can still download it, you can look at the cool icon of the Black Knight -- you just can't buy it if you're a new potential onlooker.
Instead, you'll be able to pick up the Remastered edition on May 25 when it's released on PC, PS4, and Xbox One (Switch was delayed), which sports dedicated servers and DLC bundled in. As a reminder if you own the Prepare to Die Edition already, you can grab Remastered for half off.
Dark Souls [Steam]
Throughout the week, Rockstar is handing out free fun bucks in Grand Theft Auto Online. All you have to do is show up, sign in, and wait for your payout. It's money for (next to) nothing!
The first time you log in, you'll earn yourself $250,000, followed by another $150,000 for each additional day you sign into the game through Monday, May 14. All told, you can pull in an easy $1 million in GTA Online cash. (How far said money will get you, well, that's another story. A sad one.)
Rockstar expects to add the funds to players' Maze Bank accounts between May 15 and May 21.
There are a few other goings-on this week, including cars like the Överflöd Tyrant and Vapid Dominator GTX and a chance to earn double cash and RP. If you're only in it for a payout, though, I feel you.
New Vehicles, Cash Giveaway, 2X GTA$/RP on Contact Missions and More [Rockstar Games]
If revenge is a dish best served cold, the long con is the aged whiskey with which to wash it down. This is the process that makes the initial Terminal reveal feel predictable, but when the other shoe drops is when the story truly takes its twists and turns. It’s a curvaceous trail of interwoven characters who meet at the intersection of manipulation, validation, and of course, death.
The eminent quote from Terminal can double as the movie’s synopsis with fluid accuracy:
“An over elaborate scheme perpetrated mercilessly upon you by highly motivated, highly intelligent individuals with a penchant for amateur dramatics.”
