Baldur’s Gate 3 is best experienced as blind as possible. While there are some very light early game spoilers in this feature, there are no major story, character, or gameplay spoilers to worry about. 

There was a moment early on during my cooperative playthrough of Baldur’s Gate 3 that had my group lost in confusion and uncontrollable laughter. Shortly after completing the game’s prologue, we stumbled across someone being held prisoner while exploring the overworld. After a short discussion on how to proceed, I deceived the captors and sent them on their way. We quickly realised the character in question was Lae’Zel, one of the game’s many companion characters.

After running into Lae’Zel during the aforementioned prologue, we felt some obligation to free her from her suspended cage. While I got to work on destroying the bottom of the cage, one of our party members mistakenly targeted her with an ability, instigating combat. After a chaotic back-and-forth on what to do next, Lae’Zel was dispatched just as we realised we could disengage. We cut our losses, looted the body of our accidental adversary, and checked out the rest of the camp.

After our resident dwarf went ahead and equipped her gleaming armour, it dawned on us that we could use a Revivify Scroll on Lae’Zel to bring her back from the dead. We didn’t stop to think twice, opting to raise the Githyanki as we eagerly awaited to see how she would react. Alive but stripped down to her undergarments, we instigated conversation with Lae’Zel, only to watch her exchange pleasantries with a dwarf donning her very own equipment. We’re reminded of this hilarious whirlwind of events every time we return to camp, where a half-naked Lae’Zel waits to be brought into the fray.

It’s moments like these that capture the potential absurdity that can happen with Dungeons and Dragons in a tabletop setting. A moment of sheer hilarity that would’ve been impossible to experience in a solo playthrough. Organic, player-created stories lie at the heart of Baldur’s Gate 3, and the expansive list of options available to you in any situation feels tailor made for this purpose.

Playing with friends adds a layer of consideration and delineation not found in solo play. Differing playstyles and approaches to build crafting lead to dynamic combat encounters and puzzle solving. It isn’t just combat that’s affected , as conversation choices are made by the player who initially spoke to the NPC. While other party members can vote on which response they want to be chosen, you’re ultimately victim to whoever’s representing the group.

An early game quest showcased this to us first-hand. Our search for a lost druid led us deep into goblin territory, patrolled by countless guards who report to three goblin generals. After my charismatic warlock swayed the gatekeepers to let us through, we quickly found one of the generals; Priestess Gut. After some small talk, Gut took an acute interest in the mind flayer tadpole infecting the head of our troublemaking dwarf, separating him from apart from the rest of the team.

Priestess Gut quickly offered to remove the parasitic pain from the dwarf’s head on the condition he drinks a suspicious potion. The writing was on the wall at this stage, nothing good could come from a mystery liquid concocted by a goblin priestess. Despite having every reason to turn down Priestess Gut’s offer, our dwarf opted to drink the potion in the name of comedy and morbid curiosity – reasoning that we couldn’t fault. Unsurprisingly, the dwarf fell unconscious and was briskly whisked away to the basement’s holding cells, leading to an impromptu prison break.

That isn’t to say that things can’t come together in a satisfying fashion in coop. Another early example of our collaborative escapades saw some unfortunate positioning instigating a combat encounter we were very much ill-prepared for. Loading our most recent save meant losing almost half an hour of progress, so we chose to buckle down and attempt to overcome impossible odds. Through smart use of abilities, communication, and target prioritization, we were able to survive a gauntlet we presumed would spell our doom from the start. While this is relatively standard fare for Dungeons and Dragons regulars, seeing roll after roll play out on-screen as we held our breaths in uncertainty was an experience to behold.

What’s remarkable about co-op combat in Baldur’s Gate 3 is the way it forces you to work together and find optimal strategies. As a warlock, I have to be constantly aware of my area of effect spells and how they can damage my teammates. I also have to be mindful of how one of my main Cantrips, Eldritch Blast, can knock enemies back, potentially moving them out of the melee range of my allies. This is all without considering turn orders, de-buffs, ability cooldowns, items, and so much more. The flexibility Baldur’s Gate 3 affords in so many of its systems, means you have to work together to find the synergies that your group has.

There’s also the way in which our builds and classes leave the team feeling like each member has their own skills and specialties. Where my warlock can provide a historic lens to the investigation of certain objects and conversations, our monk can lend a more level-headed and peace-minded approach. It often has us thinking about who is best for any given interaction in Baldur’s Gate 3, both in combat, and general exploration.

The differentiations in classes also leads to less conflict over who gets what gear. If you’ve got a wide selection of classes and subclasses, you’re bound to be proficient in different weapon and armour types. Similarly, you’re all going to be looking for accessories that bolster your strengths and shore up your weaknesses. Not once have we wasted time trying to decide who gets what – a far cry in comparison to some of the irreparable damage done by other co-op games with shared loot.

If you’re worried about missing out on content due to the flexibility afforded to each player, fret not. There’s plenty of systems in place to ensure everyone gets a piece of the pie no matter what’s happening in-game. From the aforementioned dialogue choice voting, to the ability to watch conversations from anywhere, a staggering amount of consideration and thought has been put into how co-op impacts every aspect of the game. These countless quality of life inclusions cement Baldur’s Gate 3 as the de-facto way to experience Dungeons and Dragons in a video game format.

One of the best inclusions is the ability to make your conversations private. This defaults to off in public settings, but automatically turns on during scenes that only involve your character. Not only does this allow romance decisions and intimate scenes to be kept close to the chest, but it also enables players to act as agents of chaos in their runs. Sowing the seeds for future conflict without other players realising until it’s far too late. This goes a long way to making your character feel like their own amongst the group, reinforcing that each of you are defined pieces of a larger puzzle.

After 15 or so hours, it feels like we’ve barely scratched the surface of what Baldur’s Gate 3 has to offer. All of our solo runs on the side have sounded markedly different from our collaborative experiences, which keeps us coming back for more. It’s a more thoughtful and mature co-op offering that’s unrivalled in scale and player choice.

What makes it all the more enticing, is its tendency to descend into utter chaos, presenting situations you simply wouldn’t find in more structured and defined co-op experiences. It’s hilarious, chaotic, tactical, and rewarding all at the same time.

Baldur’s Gate 3 is out right now on PC, and aPS5 release is set to launch on September 6th, both with online co-op for up to four players along with two player local co-op.

The post Baldur’s Gate 3’s Co-op Play Is Intricately Chaotic In The Best Way appeared first on Press Start.

The weekend is upon us! And for many people, that means it’s time to kick back, crack open a cold can of Monster Energy Superdry and get into some video games.

If you’re like me and the decision to sit down and play something comes easy but the idea actually deciding what to play is completely paralysing, I have good news! We’ve taken the time put together a real quick look at just a few of the games you could potentially fire up this weekend, hopefully narrowing down the choices at least a little bit for you.

(If you like this and would like to see these more often, let us know!)

How About A Visual Novel? Or A Musical Visual Novel??

Fans of rich narratives presented through static, or mostly-static art and a bit of weekend reading have a heap of great options this week with Steam’s Visual Novel Fest sale bringing discounts on some classics plus demos of new and upcoming VNs to sink your eyes into.

You could practice your best “Objection!” and make your way through The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles at half price, or take a more relaxed approach and sip some hot bean juice in Coffee Talk for just $11.37. If you’re excited for Devolver and Deconstructeam’s upcoming The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood (and you should be) there’s also a playable demo of that to check out ahead of its August 17th release date.

Or, might I recommend you check out Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Music, the just-released gem from Melbourne’s own Summerfall Studios that breaks new ground by offering a choice-driven narrative adventure in the form of a whole-arse musical. It’s gorgeous, the characters are fresh and wonderfully-realised takes on Greek gods and there’s an obscene amount of work poured into its branching musical concept. Stray Gods is out now on basically every platform.

What’s On Xbox Game Pass?

If you’ve got an Xbox console, a PC, or just a device capable of accessing the enormous Game Pass library via cloud streaming, there’s a world of possibility for your weekend gaming sessions.

This weekend, you could jump into the enhanced port of Quake II, which just dropped as a surprise release for QuakeCon. It’s got visual improvements, heaps of content including a brand-new expansion and even comes with Quake II 64. You can find it on Game Pass right here.

If you want something much more chill, A Short Hike is an indie classic that just landed on Game Pass earlier this month across PC, console and cloud. It has you hike, climb and soar through a peaceful mountain landscape, making your way to its summit as you meet folks, find hidden secrets and just enjoy the world around you. Find it here.

I’m cheating a little bit with this last recommendation because it’s actually not on Game Pass, but did just arrive on Xbox after being a PlayStation and PC exclusive for a bit, and that’s Stray. It’s an unmissable third-person narrative adventure starring an adorable cat in a cybercity populated entirely by robots. Find it here with a launch discount.

Something For The Pokémon Tragics

In case you missed this week’s Pokémon Presents showcase, and you’d be forgiven for having skipped it, Nintendo just dropped two Pokémon classics on Nintendo Switch.

Nintendo Switch Online members can now play the Game Boy Colour’s timeless digital take of the Pokémon Trading Card Game, including support for playing your friends online!

For those with the higher-tier Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack membership, you can also play Pokémon Stadium 2 for the N64. Battle your friends on the same console or online with all of the Pokémon from the first two generations in this 2001 classic.

Or, You Know, Baldur’s Gate 3

I almost wasn’t going to add this one in as a suggestion because it seems like every person and their dog is playing this game already, and if so they already know exactly where their weekend is heading. If somehow you haven’t joined the hundreds of thousands of people already playing Baldur’s Gate 3 and you have a PC capable of running it, get around it here!

The post What To Play This Weekend appeared first on Press Start.

Despite the axing of Overwatch 2’s ambitious PvE mode earlier this year, the game has just received its most comprehensive content update yet in the form of Overwatch 2: Invasion. Invasion brings all-new PvE content, a new game mode in Flashpoint, improved player progression systems, and Overwatch’s latest support hero; Illari. There’s a breadth of stuff to sink your teeth into here, so let’s break down what to expect when you login to Invasion for the first time.

New PvE Content Marks the Beginning of Overwatch 2’s Canonical Narrative

Story missions are the hallmark inclusion of the Invasion update, marking the beginning of a narrative being told in Overwatch 2. Able to be played in coop or as a solo player, each mission takes you to the homes of different heroes as they attempt to fight against the looming threat of Null Sector. Invasion is launching with three missions out of the gate, each fitted with cinematics, new enemy types, and difficulty settings for added replay value. A unique set of heroes are available for each missions to fit within the narrative context at hand.

Each character combination brings with it unique interactions and lines of dialogue offering up even more replay value. Blizzard poised Invasion’s three missions as the start of a specific story arc, with plans to expand for many years to come. Null Sector are more dangerous and capable now than they were in Uprising. New systems have also been put in place to support these new missions and map sizes. Most impressive is a destructible limb system with the Null Sector enemies, where parts are blown off in combat, limiting their functionality.

On top of this, players can also expect Event Missions to be released seasonally, alongside the addition of Hero Mastery Missions. These replayable single-player experiences are built to hone and refine a player’s skills with specific heroes in Overwatch 2. Invasion brings the first courses for a selection of heroes, with more to follow in future seasons. Hero Mastery Missions are also scored and placed on a leaderboard against other players, incentivizing you to flex your abilities as you compete against one-another for the highest scores.

Illari is a Peruvian Support Hero Powered by the Sun

Touted as an attack-centric support, Illari is Overwatch’s second South American hero. Hailing from Peru, Illari is a young and fierce solar warrior with new healing mechanics and a focus on precision play. Her design is heavily inspired by Peruvian culture, with a strong focus on the sun motif as well as culturally significant details like her hair. She’s also Overwatch’s youngest hero thus far, but her trauma has hardened her into one of the more mature heroes to be found among the cast.

Her main source of healing comes in the form of Healing Pylon; a deployable piece of tech that attaches to any surface and single-target heals allies with low health. Her Solar Rifle allows for long-range precision shots that automatically recharge, with an alt-fire that functions as a healing beam. Outburst acts as a much needed keep-away and repositioning tool in moments of peril. Illari’s Ultimate is unique in that she’s the first support hero with an ultimate that targets enemies. Captive Sun fires off an explosive ball of solar energy that slows enemies when hit, and also triggers an explosion after they take significant damage.

Flashpoint Brings Overwatch’s Biggest PvP Maps to Date

Overwatch 2’s latest PvP mode, Flashpoint, is also launching with Invasion. Invasion is played on Overwatch 2’s biggest maps yet; Suravasa and New Junk City, where teams compete over rotating capture points. Capturing three of them before your opponents do results in victory. Available in both Open and Role queues, Flashpoint is set to become a staple game mode within Overwatch 2. New maps and a Competitive Queue for Flashpoint are also set to be implemented into the game at later dates.

Bigger maps also allow for new locations and deeper representation previously unexplored in Overwatch. Suravasa and New Junk City are massive in scope to accommodate the total of three capture points, simultaneously improving spawn locations and preventing excessive amounts of steamrolling. Much like Push, Flashpoint looks to be a game mode built around momentum swings and more fluid gameplay loops as opposed to the more static nature of modes like Escort.

New Player Progression to Flex Your Skill

The last major inclusion brought with Invasion is a new player progression system. Hero Progression tracks the way you play heroes through individual categories. As your heroes level up, so does your account, earning you emblems and name card upgrades that show-off dedication and skill in a particular character, as well as your playstyle. These bonuses can even be earned in PvE, and are exclusively unlocked through levelling heroes.

All in all, Invasion is a beefy update for Overwatch players to get into in full, while also offering a PvE component for players who don’t gel as much with the PvP side of things. Illari is also charting new ground as far as support hero design goes, offering a particularly offensive playstyle not found with other heroes of her type. Overwatch 2: Invasion is live right now on all platforms, including Steam! You can also check out our hands-on impressions of the update right here.

The post Everything You Need To Know About Overwatch 2: Invasion appeared first on Press Start.

We don’t get many games like Lords of the Fallen 2023. This industry is saturated with IP reboots and sequels but rarely does a developer and publisher sit down and just say, you know what, let’s take another run at this. The “this” in this case being Lords of the Fallen 2014, one of the first major studio swings at the then-relatively fresh Soulslike genre. Co-developed by Deck13 and CI Games, it was a largely forgettable fantasy action outing that attempted to recapture the, uh, soul, of FromSoftware’s booming Dark Souls franchise, a monumental task too great for such a green concept. But a lot can change in a decade, and while Deck13 carved its own niche, CI Games never quite let go.

That dedication to the series has finally borne fruit, though not without years of tumultuous growth and pruning. Originally planned as Lords of the Fallen 2, the game I got to play a few hours of earlier this month now emerges from Hexworks, a CI Games internal studio formed in 2020 to fulfill the publisher’s vision for the series. A vision that passed through both Deck13 and the now-shuttered New York based Defiant Studio, before finally finding its footing some five years later back in the CI Games fold.

In many ways, it feels like Hexworks has made its best approximation of Dark Souls 4; a relentless blend of FromSoftware’s past decade of ideas and aesthetics, cobbled together with its own ambitions and Euro-centric fantasy vibe. Which is, frankly, pretty bold; the original Lords of the Fallen made a name for itself with its proximity to Dark Souls and the newly imagined version seems to have distinctly doubled down on the connective tissue. But where FromSoftware has garnered a reputation for deliberately considered design, Lords of the Fallen sprints in the other direction, opting for decadent art and a stacked array of mechanics that majorly impact everything from combat to exploration. It’s big, brash, and hard to not find kind of compelling.

THE CHEAPEST PRE-ORDER: $84.99 AT AMAZON WITH FREE SHIPPING

Things begin as they often do in these affairs, with a crunchy character creator followed by a mysterious, solemn awakening in a prison. There are a handful of potential classes to choose from with some banger names like Udirangr Wolf, Hallowed Knight, and my personal favourite, the Blackfeather Ranger, a multifaceted build that was doing their best at a Bloodborne cosplay, right down to the silly little hat. Classes followed the basic archetypes of strength, agility, magic and so on, each sporting a fun bit of worldbuilding and lore. Once you’ve chosen your class, you’ll be stirred awake in a gloomy cave by a mysterious figure talking in riddles about your “sacrosanct flesh” before asking you to find him in the world.

The overall onboarding of Lords of the Fallen can be a little much as the game is tasked with not only teaching you the basics of combat but the mechanics of its signature idea, the Lantern. This cursed object always hangs from your hip and is somewhat clumsily equipped by holding both LT and LB in a crab-like grip. With it you can peer into the Umbral Realm, a shadowy mirror of the real world that hides new pathways through levels, different enemy types and an all-seeing ominous eye that gets wider the longer you spend in Umbral. You can fully enter the Umbral by holding X and tearing your soul from its flesh, giving you decreased defences but the ability to exist within the realm for lengthy periods of time. Conversely, if you’re downed in the “real” world, the Lantern will give you one final chance at life in a form neither corporeal nor spirit, dramatically altering your health pool.

It’s a neat trick, and one that the game will be using regularly to help you navigate world puzzles, obscured pathways and take on increasingly gruesome foes. Aesthetically the Umbral is a bit washed out, layering existing gameplay areas with a blueish grey filter, and littering them with piles of corpses and congealed fleshy goo. But the details really make it sing, those same piles covered in eyes that follow your movements, heightening the feeling that you’re not supposed to be here, and somebody knows it. Imagine the Insight endgame of Bloodborne and you’re halfway there, only now those mammoth Lovecraftian horrors are everywhere and waving at you.

Soulslike combat is also impacted by the Lamp, giving you the ability to rip souls from bodies for increased damage strikes and strip enemies of otherworldly protections. Baseline is exactly what you’re imagining; light and heavy attacks assigned to bumper and trigger respectively, a dodge roll, block, parry, and stance swapping all tethered to a limited pool of stamina. There’s a lightness to the combat that does raise an eyebrow from time to time, your character feeling a little less grounded in the world and the swings of weapons than I’d like for the genre. But the primary concern with combat was the camera, which swung wildly between functional in open spaces and frustratingly clumsy in tighter, smaller arenas. I died to one boss about half a dozen times thanks to the camera and lock-on system breaking, something that will hopefully be tweaked before launch.

Lords of the Fallen closes this gap through sheer force of will though, papering over its limitations with a collage of weapon and build variety, a generous parry window, and fantastic enemy diversity. My Ranger was positioned as a dual melee/ranged build, capable of wielding a swift one-handed axe and switching to a long bow with the press of a button. Both would prove vital and fun across my few hours with the game, as I could easily pick off foes from a distance with a variety of arrows (even in boss arenas) before rolling in with my axe and shield for a more traditional bout.

Parrying is kind to the player too with a rather wide window of opportunity but the trade-off being much less of a stun on the enemy when successfully done. Damage is mitigated by blocking but not entirely done away with too, leaving a greyed-out portion of your health bar that you can claim back by hitting foes, encouraging more aggressive play. And while I didn’t have time to try them out, I also picked up a bevy of cool weapons to skill up into, and even found a little freak to sell me powerful Umbral spells for a magic build.

The world of Lords of the Fallen is actually packed with little freaks come to think of it. This is a vaguely Dark Fantasy, Pagan-esque shitshow of a land drowning in bloody ritualistic magic and colliding power systems. To try and recount the full table of proper nouns and plotting I saw would take most of the day but essentially the citizens of Mournstead have been locked in an endless war to prevent the return of a tyrannical demon overlord and they’re losing. Begrudgingly sanctioned to use dark magic to prevent the end of the world, you’re enlisted as a Dark Crusader by the Church of Orius to become hero of the Radiant God and stop Adyr’s army of demonic beasts. In practice this means you’ll be running operations from a central church hub that can be used to connect to various corners of the world in which you’ll find giant beacons to destroy. But the true Lords are the friends you’ll make along the way.

Over time the church becomes more populated with folks you find in the overworld and even former bosses. After the first major boss encounter wraps up, your foe is reborn from a spewing mass of blood (I know) and later shows up at the church to be your maiden of sorts, allowing you to level up and purchase items. I explored this church for a good while, finding secret alcoves with strange figures happy for a chat and another vendor menu. Though many of them would recoil at the Lantern and call me a heathen, I still appreciated how far Lords of the Fallen goes to make this space feel inhabited. Down some stairs I found sleeping quarters even, and raising the Lamp revealed a room-sized creature who was actually rather nice if you got to know them.

It all coalesced into a dense experience that had me hanging out for just a bit more time in the world, out of both sheer curiosity for its oddities and a need to poke at its systems a little longer to better understand where it’s all headed. Lords of the Fallen is clearly winding up for a major swing, layering its own unique concepts on top of years of genre staples and aesthetics, and these hours with the game at least hint at it all paying off. With some combat refinement and polishing, this could easily be one of the cooler action fantasy experiences of the year, even if it took a second run at it to find solid ground.  

Lords of the Fallen releases October 13th for PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC. Amazon has pre-orders for $84.99 including shipping.

The post Lords Of The Fallen Hands-On Preview – Any Soul Is The Goal appeared first on Press Start.

It’s hard to believe August is here already, but to be fair I usually kick off these articles with “I can’t believe it’s X month” so maybe that means nothing. Either way, August is upon us and with it a fairly big month of new video game releases.

While the absolute heaviest of hitters might not be occupying the eighth month of 2023, August still has some bangers to offer up like the full PC release of Baldur’s Gate III, FromSoftware’s return to a beloved franchise in Armored Core VI and some Aussie-made future indie classics like Stray Gods: A Roleplaying Musical and Moving Out 2.

As always, the list below is far from exhaustive and there are likely plenty more games set to debut in the coming weeks that are just as exciting, but there’s only so many hours in the day and I reckon the internet is filling up pretty quickly these days so I’m conserving both time and space by being as succinct as possible. Check ’em out:

August 2023 Video Game Releases

Atomic Heart: Annihilation Instinct (DLC Expansion)

Platforms: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC

Release Date: August 2nd

Continue the story in the Annihilation Instinct DLC, Atomic Heart’s upcoming DLC expansion, and learn what happened in its dystopian world after the game’s climax. Prepare to embark on a journey through the new mind-bending Mendeleev Complex and its surrounding swamps and discover the truth about NORA as Major P-3 is pulled back into Facility 3826. Survive vicious, shape-shifting new enemies and take them down using two new cunning weapons the ranged Secateur and melee Klusha – as well as your glove’s new Techno-Stasis ability, allowing you to manipulate time itself. Meet a new enigmatic character, as well as returning ones in surprising circumstances, and dive deep into the AI’s insanity to curb its Annihilation Instinct.

Baldur’s Gate III (PC Release)

Platforms: PC

Release Date: August 3rd

Gather your party and embark on an epic campaign in this next-generation Dungeons & Dragons RPG from the makers of Divinity: Original Sin II. The land of Faerûn is under siege. Captured and infected by the invading Mind Flayers, will you choose to resist their corruption or embrace the mysterious power that is growing inside you?

Embody bespoke Origin Characters or create your own custom protagonist and experience a dynamic story that is shaped by every roll of the dice. Join forces with a cast of complex characters as you loot, battle and romance your way through the Forgotten Realms – and beyond. Roll for initiative and leverage both advantage and disadvantage with fluid, tactical combat.

VR Skater (PS VR2 Release)

Platforms: PS5 (PS VR2)

Release Date: August 4th

VR Skater is designed from the ground up for VR to give you the most authentic, challenging, and immersive skating game ever.  Picture the board under your feet, the rolling, clicking sound of rubber wheels against the tiled pavement before you pop that perfect ollie.

Feel like you are really skating, with the most innovative input mechanics allowing you the board control you’ve always dreamed of. Moving your hands in the same motions you would follow with your feet gives a perspective and level of control never before seen and the sense of fulfilment experienced upon perfectly executing even the most basic tricks is something that never leaves you!

Gord

Platforms: PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC

Release Date: August 8th

Gord is a dark-fantasy, adventure-strategy game set in a hostile, forsaken land inspired by Slavic mythology. Besieged by vile creatures, you must build to survive. But to prevail, you must conquer the darkness beyond the gates.

On the orders of the King, you are charged with striking out to make your mark on an untamed world—building and growing settlements in the face of resistance from raiders, monsters and more. You must prepare your party, find the courage to explore these forsaken lands, lead the conquest, and carve a path that will shape the kingdom. Wretched creatures and malevolent deities await you, but powerful incantations and skilled combatants give you a fighting chance to bring light to the darkness.

WrestleQuest

Platforms: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Switch, PC

Release Date: August 8th

TAG TEAM WITH DESTINY! Pro wrestling and RPG fantasy collide in the ultimate pixel powered adventure. “Macho Man” Randy Savage and tons of other icons offer guidance as you powerbomb your way to glory beyond the ring. This hero’s journey ain’t just an epic quest, it’s WRESTLEQUEST!

I Am Future: Cozy Apocalypse Survival (Early Access Launch)

Platforms: PC

Release Date: August 8th

You wake up on an overgrown skyscraper roof – not a living soul in sight. Cosmopolis, once a mighty array of metal and glass, lies shattered in ruins and flooded. The decades-long struggle between UNICORP and the rival corporations pursuing transhumanism ideas seems to have been over for good when society collapsed. Now it is up to you to try and solve the mystery of the last days of civilization… and your sudden awaking. Or you can just build your own future and enjoy the view of what remains of humankind.

I Am Future is a relaxing survival game about building a cozy rooftop camp amid a flooded post-apocalyptic city. Set up a farm, cook delicious food, dismantle tools for crafting resources, automate chores by recruiting cute robots, and uncover the mystery behind the catastrophe.

30XX

Platforms: Switch, PC

Release Date: August 9th

Jump, shoot, and slash your way through 30XX, the roguelike action platformer you can play with a friend! Explore lush, ever-changing worlds that mix precise platforming with fevered combat. Destroy fearsome Guardians. Master unique Powers. Rediscover the thousand years we’ve lost.

Stray (Xbox Release)

Platforms: Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One

Release Date: August 10th

Lost, alone and separated from family, a stray cat must untangle an ancient mystery to escape a long-forgotten city. Stray is a third-person cat adventure game set amidst the detailed, neon-lit alleys of a decaying cybercity and the murky environments of its seedy underbelly. Roam surroundings high and low, defend against unforeseen threats and solve the mysteries of this unwelcoming place inhabited by curious droids and dangerous creatures.

See the world through the eyes of a cat and interact with the environment in playful ways. Be stealthy, nimble, silly, and sometimes as annoying as possible with the strange inhabitants of this mysterious world.

Read our original review.

Atlas Fallen

Platforms: PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC

Release Date: August 10th

The Cheapest Copy: $79 at Amazon with free shipping.

Rise from the dust and liberate mankind from the oppression of corrupted gods. Glide the sands of a timeless land, filled with ancient dangers, mysteries and fragments of the past. Hunt legendary monsters, using powerful, shape-shifting weapons and devastating sand-powered abilities in spectacular, super-powered combat. Target and gather the essence of your enemies to shape your own custom play style, forging a new era for humanity in a fully cooperative or solo story campaign.

Read our preview.

Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical

Platforms: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Switch, PC

Release Date: August 10th

In a modern fantasy world, college dropout Grace is granted the power of a Muse – power she’ll need to find out the truth behind her predecessor’s death before time runs out. You’ll decide who Grace allies with, who she can trust, and who may betray her in this beautifully hand-illustrated roleplaying musical.

Written by David Gaider comes Stray Gods – an urban fantasy tale of finding your place, taking charge of your fate, and discovering answers. Your choices will change the endings, as well as the path you take to get there.

Tower of Fantasy (PlayStation Release)

Platforms: PS5, PS4

Release Date: August 11th

In Tower of Fantasy, you play as a Wanderer and immerse yourself into an open-world adventure, exploring sci-fi wastelands, deserts, and cyberpunk metropolises, ecologically complete underwater worlds and the enigmatic “Domain 9” that embodies eastern aesthetics.

Customise your character to make it uniquely yours, and establish deep bonds with Simulacra who offer powerful support. Each of them has a fascinating story waiting to be discovered. Embark on solo adventures or team up with other Wanderers to explore diverse areas, and engage in highly immersive, real-time action combat. Uncover the hidden truths from a veil of conspiracy within the Tower of Fantasy!

Moving Out 2

Platforms: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Switch, PC

Release Date: August 15th

The Cheapest Copy: $49 plus shipping at Mightyape.

Moving Out 2 will take players back to the breakneck, breakback (and break-knee) world of Smooth Moves’ Furniture Arrangement and Relocation Technicians (F.A.R.Ts), as they pack furniture, technology, and everything including the kitchen sink across increasingly bizarre locales, with increasingly deadly challenges.

Moving Out 2 will see the introduction of online co-operative, cross-play enabled gameplay to the series, allowing F.A.R.Ts around the world to team up and creatively move furniture from point A to point B and beyond!

Everspace 2 (Console Release)

Platforms: PS5, Xbox Series X|S

Release Date: August 15th

EVERSPACE 2 puts you in the pilot seat in this fast-paced single-player space shooter, where vicious encounters and brutal challenges stand between you and that next epic loot drop. Explore the war-torn star systems of the Demilitarized Zone of Cluster 34—each massive handcrafted area is packed with secrets, puzzles, and perils to encounter.

Discover alien species, unveil mysteries, find hidden treasures, and defend your cargo against outlaw gangs in an exciting 30-hour campaign. Fire up your hyperdrive to discover more than 100 unique, handcrafted locations spread across seven distinct star systems and shape your legacy among the stars.

En Garde!

Platforms: PC

Release Date: August 16th

From the forgotten pages of history, comes Adalia de Volador! Legendary swashbuckler. Dashing adventurer. Hero of the people. Play as Adalia in her daring escapades full of sword-fighting, satire and shenanigans. Challenge the cruel Count-Duke and oppose tyranny with panache.

Beautifully painted locations, charismatic characters, and an astounding amount of battle banter will transport you to the golden age of swashbuckling comedy. So, sharpen your sword, grab your boots and hat, and embark on a hilarious, action-packed spectacle!

Vampire Survivors (Switch Release)

Platforms: Switch

Release Date: August 17th

Vampire Survivors is coming to Nintendo Switch! Choose from several characters, each with their own starting weapon and stats, and begin mowing down hordes of enemies across a variety of Stages. Once players collect enough gems in-level, they can choose from a random selection of weapons, upgrades or buffs, to attempt to survive 30 minutes. After finishing a run, players can choose to spend Gold on more characters or permanent stats to increase their chance against surviving once more.

Madden NFL 24

Platforms: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC

Release Date: August 18th

The Cheapest Copy: $79 at Amazon with free shipping.

Only on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC, SAPIEN Technology delivers a leap forward in NFL player realism with more body definition and variation to athlete physiques resulting in realistic player movement, while smarter AI behaviour provides more confidence in your teammates to execute your game plan and a suite of additional enhancements to FieldSENSE gives you greater control and realism on the field.

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre

Platforms: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One,PC

Release Date: August 18th

The Cheapest Copy: $59 at Amazon with free shipping.

Take on the role of one of the notorious Slaughter family, or their victims, in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, a third-person asymmetrical horror experience based on the groundbreaking and iconic 1974 horror film.

As a victim you must use your wits and stealth to stay out of the Family’s reach and find the tools you need to lead to your eventual freedom. Slaughter Family players must seek out, track down, and stop their guests from escaping. Players of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre can finally find out if they have what it takes to survive.

Bomb Rush Cyberfunk (PC/Switch Release)

Platforms: PC

Release Date: August 18th

Bomb Rush Cyberfunk, brought to you by Team Reptile, is a futuristic realm conceived by Dion Koster, where graffiti crews armed with personal boostpacks vie for dominance over the city streets. Establish your own cypher and engage in dance-offs, create graffiti art, gather beats, perform trick combos, and confront the police to lay claim to the vast metropolis of New Amsterdam.

Meet Red, a graffiti artist who has lost his organic head, only to have it replaced with an AI-driven robotic one. In a quest to unearth his origins, Red joins the Bomb Rush Crew alongside Tryce and Bel, who have set their sights on becoming All City. Together, they gradually uncover who was responsible for severing Red’s head, and they explore how deeply Red’s human element is intertwined with the graffiti universe.

Fort Solis

Platforms: PS5, PC

Release Date: August 22nd

Fort Solis is a condensed narrative thriller set on Mars, with exploration, nerve-racking set pieces, and a deep plot to discover, told across four chapters, each roughly an hour in length. Like a Netflix series, Fort Solis can be binged in one intense session, or played chapter by chapter like an episodic TV show.

Fort Solis is the vision of Fallen Leaf, an indie team of games industry veterans, was to create a hybrid piece of media, emphasising narration and immersion.

Immortals of Aveum

Platforms: PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC

Release Date: August 22nd

The Cheapest Copy: $83.99 at Amazon with free shipping.

Summon your power, stop the Everwar, save the realms. Immortals of Aveum is a single-player first person magic shooter that tells the story of Jak as he joins an elite order of battle mages to save a world on the edge of abyss. Master three forces of magic, unleash spells with deadly skill, and decimate legions of enemies in a game that defies conventions of what we’ve come to expect from first person shooters. Immortals of Aveum is developed by Ascendant Studios, an independent AAA team led by Bret Robbins, creative director of Dead Space and Call of Duty, and published by EA Originals.

Read our preview.

Blasphemous II

Platforms: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Switch, PC

Release Date: August 24th

The second scripture in the Blasphemous series portends the return of The Penitent One, with a story that continues from the free Wounds of Eventide DLC for the original game, where The Heart in the sky heralded the return of The Miracle and foretold the birth of a new miracle child. Awakened in a strange new land, and displaced from his final resting place, The Penitent One is thrust back into the endless cycle of life, death, and resurrection, with no other option than to explore this perilous new world and uncover its long-forgotten secrets.

Firewall Ultra

Platforms: PS5 (PS VR2)

Release Date: August 24th

Step into a shadow-filled secret world of high-stakes multiplayer tactical espionage in the next evolution of the Firewall franchise. Form an elite squad of contractors and strategise as a team to attack targets, cover each other’s backs, and complete objectives in Firewall Ultra’s 4v4 PVP mode.

RIDE 5

Platforms: PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC

Release Date: August 24th

The Cheapest Copy: $79 plus shipping at Mightyape.

Looking for fame and success? It’s gonna be a long way to the top, but the journey will be incredible! From local competitions to the most challenging races, you will test yourself on the most exciting tracks and face fiery rivals, ranked by their skill, guided by our advanced AI. Prove you are the best and climb the rankings to make your dreams of glory come true. Core and secondary events will also bring you more than just the joy of victory: depending on the difficulty of the event, you’ll gain credits that can be used to upgrade and develop your bike and your outfit.

Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon

Platforms: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC

Release Date: August 25th

The Cheapest Copy: $74.99 at Amazon with free shipping.

Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon combines FromSoftware’s longstanding expertise in mech games with their signature action gameplay to bring a brand-new, high octane experience to the series. In Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon, players will assemble their mech from a wide variety of parts and weaponry to soar freely through mission locales that redefine three-dimensional mobility. Face down overwhelming opposition by outgunning and overrunning your enemies with dynamic movement that makes full use of ranged and melee combat. Players can experience frenetic and fast-paced action that can only be truly realised with mechs.

Read our preview.

Sea of Stars

Platforms: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Switch, PC

Release Date: August 29th

Promising the Sabotage touch in every system, Sea of Stars aims to modernise the classic RPG in terms of turn-based combat, storytelling, exploration and interactions with the environment, while still offering a hearty slice of nostalgia and good old, simple fun.

Under the Waves

Platforms: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC

Release Date: August 29th

Experience a surreal adventure in the depths of the North Sea — and the human psyche. Under the Waves is a narrative-driven adventure game about the engulfing power of grief. Set in the depths of the North Sea in the techno-futuristic 1970s, professional diver Stan is struggling to overcome a life-changing loss and embrace a new future.

The isolation of the deep sea is a fitting manifestation of his state of mind, and as Stan retreads further into his self-imposed solitude, he starts to experience strange events far beneath the waves. He will eventually have to make a difficult choice…

Goodbye Volcano High

Platforms: PS5, PS4, PC

Release Date: August 29th

Goodbye Volcano High is a story-driven, choice-based cinematic adventure game about personal growth, acceptance, and the power of community. What will you do when you’re faced with the end of the world? Your choices determine the branching narrative: Fang’s own decisions and the affinity you’ve built with the cast of characters change your fate.

Get close with friends, family, acquaintances, frenemies, and crushes. Figure out how you’re going to be there for your loved ones when it matters most—it is the literal end of the world, after all. Nurturing relationships builds affinity, alters self-perception, and shifts your story outcome.

The post Games Coming In August That You Should Be Excited For appeared first on Press Start.

Gunbrella is shaping to be one of those uniquely Devolver Digital games.

It’s a spry platformer that offers up a lethal take on something as generic and commonplace as a waterproof canopy.

While previewing the game’s first couple of hours, we got a chance to speak to doinksoft, the team behind Gato Roboto, the physical only release of Demon Throttle, and now Gunbrella about how they conceptualised a weaponised brolly, how they had to scale their grand ideas back, and how they’re finally going steady with their parent company, Devolver Digital. The studio’s co-founder and developer on Gunbrella, Cullen Dwyer, was on-hand to asnswer our burning questions.

How did the “Gunbrella” come about as a concept?  

Cullen Dwyer: I always forget if the word “Gunbrella” or the idea of a gun-umbrella came first. They definitely came within minutes of each other. It’s something you say to your fellow designers and they immediately know what to do next.

Did it become competitive brainstorming all of the badass ways to utilise an umbrella in this hard-boiled setting?

CD: From the beginning, we tried to make as many context-sensitive basic movements you could do with the umbrella and general player movement. Joseph [Bourgeois] prototyped what are basically the controls you have now years ago at the beginning of the project. Of course, we polished it and tweaked it and any time we got to a new area, we invented new props and ways to interact with it, like ziplines and hooks and wind drafts.

There seems to have been a real focus on swift movement, how important was it to make sure this world was fun to get around?

CD: That was definitely the core pillar of the game. I recently played a very early build of the game just to see how far we’ve come, and was surprised that the movement and test levels were still fun, even that long ago! Most of the levels, including towns, are designed to be fun to move around in. The real challenge comes from making those playgrounds feel like real spaces.

This game seems to have the lot going on—cults, scrap bandits, a parasol-wielding hit squad all within a “noir punk” setting. Did it ever feel like too much to balance?

CD: Yes! There was a time when all of the ideas we had for the world and the story seemed kinda chaotic and it was overwhelming to manage. There’s a lot going on in this game. I think that we managed to wrangle up all of the parts and tie them together nicely, with themes you wouldn’t think to be related supporting and enhancing one another.

Where did you look for inspiration, beside your own dark hearts, for the Lovecraftian horrors in Gunbrella’s world?

CD: Most of the bosses in the game are a class of enemies we call “abominations” which, in lore, have a lot of conflicting theories describing where they come from. There are environmentalist angles, corporate greed angles, religious and supernatural angles to defining them. We embraced the in-game townsfolk’s half-understandings of them. Of course, we each know the canon origins of these monsters, but I think we all might slightly disagree with each other on it. I guess it’s the result of us collaborating to create gnarly and scary manifestations and never truly being able to understand what one another finds horrific.

Having done “Metroidvania” so well previously, was the shift away from that purely due to wanting a new challenge creatively?

CD: It was partly that. We never want to tread the exact same ground. It’s very stimulating and rewarding to try new things. The practical reason is that we didn’t want to limit the player’s moveset from the beginning, which makes it hard to design metroidvania-style progression. Like, I already have the double jump and can glide across like three maps. So rather than take away core moves, we give the player them all at the beginning, which means we gate the world through story, keys, and bosses instead.

Is there any one thing you learned from Gato Roboto that helped inform Gunbrella’s direction?

CD: Plenty! We learned a lot about level design and enemy design. We built up a wealth of technical tools and tricks that we were able to further develop and adjust for Gunbrella, but I won’t bore you with that. I think in regards to player feedback, we were surprised how much people liked the short length of Gato Roboto. That made it easier for us to feel okay with cutting back the scope of Gunbrella so that it could be released this decade. Also, I adore the Gato Roboto speedrunning community, so I think some of the branching paths decisions had speedrun routing in mind, if only a bit subconsciously.

Adjacent to the main quest are these little side endeavours you can pursue if you choose to. Although I don’t expect Gunbrella has deep morality systems, but can we seek out different outcomes to these little distractions?

CD: There is no “morality” system, necessarily. Some decisions have a lot of weight, and some are just a bit of player expression flair. There are some inconsequential touches, like a character remembering that you insulted them when you return much later in the game, as well as some with very big consequences, like what happens later down the line if a particular character is dead?

Do you think you’ll gauge interest after launch for things like Xbox and PlayStation ports, or even a physical release through Special Reserve?

CD: We don’t have any current plans for other platforms, but depending on interest we’ll always consider it. I’d love to do a physical release, I’m a big fan of instruction manuals in particular, so…

You guys were acquired fully by Devolver Digital this year, has that had much bearing on proceedings or is it business as usual?

CD: It’s business as usual, except that we have more resources at our disposal and can focus more on creating games than on managing a small company. We’ve been really close friends with Devolver ever since we first teamed up for Gato Roboto, and now we’re finally dating and are proud to be Devolver’s girlfriend.

Oh la la, thanks for your time.

Gunbrella is set to launch later this year for PC and Nintendo Switch.

The post We Spoke To The Gunbrella Developers About Juggling Big Ideas While Going Steady With Devolver appeared first on Press Start.

Discover new worlds, uncover lost secrets and unlock the new Arcanist class in Necrom, the latest Chapter for The Elder Scrolls Online, available now on PC/Mac, PlayStation and Xbox! Find out more here.

So you’re looking to start your adventure in The Elder Scrolls Online, eh?

Whether you’re a long-time Elder Scrolls fan pining for a new adventure, a curious onlooker or you’re just after that next hook, there’s never been a better time to jump into the thriving MMO set in Bethesda’s iconic fantasy universe. For starters, The Elder Scrolls Online’s exciting new Necrom Chapter is available now on PC/Mac, Xbox, and PlayStation, bringing with it a brand-new adventure and the mystical new Arcanist class.

Also, to celebrate The Elder Scrolls Online launching on the Epic Games Store for the first time ever, ESO is offering the standard edition for free on the Epic Games Store right now until July 28th. Grab it here.

With years of great content and updates to experience in ESO, the possibilities are endless and exciting – but crucially, not daunting. Still, there’s something be said about introductions so we’ve gone ahead and put together a very quick and easy-to-read guide on taking your first steps in Tamriel and charting a course all your own in The Elder Scrolls Online.

First things first though, if you’re yet to pick up the game you can find out where and how to get The Elder Scrolls Online base game and the new Necrom expansion on your platform of choice right here.

Step I: Create Your Character

Your first task in ESO is arguably one of the most exciting parts of diving into any new MMO or RPG world – creating a character. Much like the single-player Elder Scrolls games, The Elder Scrolls Online features a ton of customisation options for players to sink their teeth into. You’ll get to choose your gender, Alliance, Race and Class and as well as tweak your look from a range of presets and sliders for your body and face.

While we’d encourage you to experiment and play with a character that feels uniquely you, and every class can fulfill multiple roles and playstyles, it’s also important to understand how some of the options will affect your journey, so below is a quick breakdown of each of the available races and classes that you have to choose from:

Playable Alliances/Races

Aldmeri Dominion Alliance

• High Elf – Powerful spellcasters with increased experience gain in the Destruction Staff Skill Line, increased Maximum Magicka and increased Weapon and Spell damage.
• Wood Elf – Acrobatic archers with increased experience gain in Bows as well as decreased fall damage, faster movement and stamina recovery and resistance to Disease and Poison.
• Khajiit – Experience gains with Medium Armour, higher pickpocket chance and better stealth ability make this a good class for players interested in being a little sneaky and cutthroat.

Daggerfall Covenant Alliance

• Breton – Masters of the sword with One Hand and Shield skill line experience bonus, decreased Weapon Ability cost and stamina bonuses.
• Redguard – Opportunists with a boon to Maximum Magicka and Spell Resistance, and increased experience gain with the Light Armour skill line.
• Orc – A very physical race with an experience bonus in Heavy Armour, increased movement speed and stamina when sprinting, and Maximum Stamina and Health bonuses.

Ebonheart Pact Alliance

• Nord – Hardy folks with a Two Handed skill line experience bonus as well as increased Physical, Spell and Frost Resistance.
• Dark Elf – Intelligent and agile, Dark Elves get better experience gain with the Dual Wield skill line, improved Maximum Magicka and Stamina and increased Flame Resistance.
• Argonian – A life in the swamps gives Argonians better resistance to Disease and Poison as well as increased healing and experience gains with the Restoration Staff skill line.

Any Alliance

• Imperial – Available for purchase in the Crown Store. As well as being able to join any faction in the game, Imperials get an experience bonus with the One Hand and Shield skill line, better Maximum Health and Stamina, and a decreased ability cost.

This is very important.

Playable Classes

Classes in The Elder Scrolls Online each have three unique Skill Lines that players can progress and will affect what type of role or playstyle they fall into, which can be important down the line when it comes time to play in groups and tackle late-game content. You can learn more about each one in-game or on the ESO website but here’s a quick run-down of each:

• Dragonknight – A tank-focused class that wields destructive fire magic and unbridled rage in battle.
• Nightblade – A stealthy class that can poison, sap and cripple foes from the shadows.
• Sorcerer – A magic-wielding class that can channel various elements and stand strong in battle.
• Templar – Another magic class that wields both holy spells in battle as well as healing and support to allies.
• Warden – Available for purchase in the Crown Store, this class is in touch with nature and can summon Animal Companions to aid in battle.
• Necromancer – Available for purchase in the Crown Store, this class is in tune with the dead (and undead) and able to perform unspeakable acts that can land players in actual trouble with the law.
• Arcanist – Available for purchase in the Crown Store, the Arcanist is introduced in the new Necrom Chapter and also deals in the undead and other creepy, Eldritch horrors with a variety of different magical abilities.

Step II: Complete The Introductory Quest

Your very first steps in the game will come by way of a tutorial quest that’s the same for every player regardless of who they are and where their journey will eventually take them.

After being unceremoniously teleported to the Isle of Balferia and finding yourself in a position very familiar to Elder Scrolls fans – behind bars – you’ll need to aid Norianwe of Clan Direnni in taking down a Daedra named Shyazzel, who’s seized control of some local Golems and powerful Gargoyles and is using them to reign terror on Balferia.

In this tutorialised section of the game you’re encouraged to not just learn the ropes of ESO’s very dynamic combat and gameplay but also experiment with any and all of the available weapon and armour types, skill lines and abilities. Try out as much as you can to get an understanding of how everything works and how you’d like to play, and use the opportunity to get into the habit of looting everything that isn’t nailed down to fill your pockets with useful items and gold for the adventure ahead.

Step III: Choose A Portal And Start Your Journey

Once you’ve completed the tutorial quest, which should take less than 20 minutes if you’re not dawdling too much, you’ll have access to a number of portals, all leading to different regions of Tamriel with different adventures to kick off, depending on which The Elder Scrolls Online content you own or have access to. The first four portals will take you to areas and questlines from the base game and from Morrowind:

• The Portal to Stros M’Kai leads to the Daggerfall Covenant questline.
• The Portal to Khenarthi’s Roost leads to the Aldmeri Dominion questline.
• The Portal to Bleackrock leads to the Ebonheart Pact storyline.
• The Portal to Vvardenfell leads to Morrowind for a brilliant, standalone adventure that will definitely still work as a first experience with the game, but if you’re just starting out and would prefer to start from the start, you can always save this for later.

The important thing is, there are no wrong turns in The Elder Scrolls Online and you’re free to play your way, in every way. Which leads us to the final step in our brief introduction to your very first ESO journey…

Step IV: Go Forth And Play Your Way

MMO or not, this wouldn’t be an Elder Scrolls RPG without a massive amount of freedom to go questing, delve into dungeons, fight monsters, pick up a trade, seek hidden treasures, find companions, join guilds or anything in-between, now would it?

Once you’ve stepped through that portal, you’ve entered your new life in The Elder Scrolls Online, and what you do with it is entirely up to you. Don’t feel like heading straight into combat scenarios? Why not take up fishing? Or become an antiquities expert and search Tamriel for lost artifacts and special rewards while levelling up two special non-combat skill lines. Or how about crafting? With seven different professions from alchemy to blacksmithing and woodworking the opportunities are plentiful.

And as any seasoned Elder Scrolls player would know, Guilds are the place to be for would-be adventurers to find companionship and take on new questlines for orders like the Dark Brotherhood or Thieves Guild.

Most of all, don’t forget to find allies out in the world – whether they’re well-versed in all things ESO and can give you a guiding hand or similarly green and willing to take on this new adventure with you, Tamriel is better with friends!

But Wait, There’s More… With Necrom!

Now that you’re well and truly on your way to exciting adventures in The Elder Scrolls Online, don’t forget to check out Necrom – the brand-new expansion for ESO that’ll see you discover the forbidden secrets of Apocrypha and fight to preserve the very fabric of reality in an all-new adventure and with the addition of the dark and mystical Arcanist class.

It’s a good time to jump into Necrom too – ESO is currently having a limited time Ascent of the Arcanist in-game event until July 28th. All you have to do to be a part of it is level up your brand-new Arcanist character class to level 10, and you’ll receive free in-game rewards for your Arcanist during the event.

The Collection and Deluxe Collection versions of Necrom also grant access to the base game and all of the previous ESO Chapters including High Isle, Blackwood, Elsweyr and Summerset. And to further enhance your Elder Scrolls Online experience you can also become an ESO Plus member to get access to a huge number of added perks, including bonuses to earned Gold and XP, free Crowns to spend in the store, access to all of the DLC game packs, exclusive abilities and more:

ESO Plus Member Benefits

• Full access to all DLC game packs
• Unlimited storage for crafting materials
• 1650 crowns per month for mounts, pets & more
• Double Bank space for your account
• 10% increase to Crafting Inspiration & Trait Research rates
• Double Furnishings & Collectibles space in player housing
• Exclusive ability to dye costumes
• Double currency cap for Transmutation Crystals
• Exclusive access to unique Crown Store deals

Find out more about ESO Plus and sign up here.

The post A Beginner’s Guide To Taking Your First Steps In The Elder Scrolls Online appeared first on Press Start.

It’s hard to fathom but here we are, at the midway point of the year 2023. Congratulations and I’m sorry.

With that in mind, and an already-stacked six months of incredibly video games behind us, we wanted to take a quick (very long) look at the rest of the year ahead. Spoiler alert: There are still loads of exciting major video game releases to come in the back half of 2023, and that’s just the ones we know of. If you scroll down, you’ll see what we reckon is a pretty comprehensive list of the heavier hitters on the way, including when they’re dropping, what platforms you can play them on and where to pick up the a cheap retail copy.

If you notice anything missing below there’s probably one of a few reasons. This list based entirely on games that are confirmed to be coming in 2023 with an actual release date (we didn’t forget Skull & Bones or Sonic Superstars so make sure you read this before suggesting them in the comments!), and for the most part are “big” enough releases to sit on store shelves as a full-priced product. Blockbusters, AAA, AA whatever you want to call them. Rest assured that we haven’t forgotten all of the fantastic indie releases coming this year – we’ll call those out separately in the future.

Video Games Releasing In The Second Half Of 2023

Exoprimal

Platforms: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC

Release Date: July 14

The Cheapest Physical Copy: $69 at Mightyape (not including shipping)

It’s 2040 and the planet is in crisis. Dinosaurs are appearing from thin air and laying waste to cities across the globe. Threatened by history’s deadliest creatures, the world turns to the powerful Aibius Corporation and its revolutionary technology for help. The company’s next-generation AI, Leviathan, can forecast where dinosaur outbreaks will occur and deploy Exofighters to the area. Armed with state-of-the-art mechanized combat armor known as Exosuits, these warriors represent humanity’s last hope.

The Legend of Heroes: Trails into Reverie

Platforms: PS5, PS4, Switch, PC

Release Date: July 14

The intertwining fates of three figures in Zemuria will be decided in this climactic chapter of The Legend of Heroes series! Follow the footsteps of the war hero Rean Schwarzer, the liberator Lloyd Bannings, and the masked enigma “C”, and switch between each of their paths freely with the Trails to Walk system.

Lloyd Bannings, leader of the Crossbell Police Department’s Spe­cial Support Section, finds himself fighting for his city’s freedom once again after Crossbell’s in­dependence celebrations are interrupted by the sudden reappearance of an old threat.

PIKMIN 4

Platforms: Switch

Release Date: July 21

The Cheapest Physical Copy: $69 at Amazon with free shipping

Meet Pikmin, small, plantlike creatures you can grow, pluck, command, and overpower your enemies with! These curious helpers come in different types—fire is no sweat for Red Pikmin and the brand-new Ice Pikmin can freeze enemies and the environment. Use your Pikmin’s miniature might (and a bit of strategy) to explore this mysterious planet. You get a dog, too! Oatchi (pronounced oat-chee), resident good boy and dependable partner, can help with things like smashing obstacles and carrying Pikmin throughout your adventure. With the miniscule Pikmin and a capable canine in tow, no challenge is too big!

A free playable demo for Pikmin 4 is available now on the Nintendo Switch eShop with save progress transfer to the full game.

Remnant II

Platforms: PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC

Release Date: July 25

The Cheapest Physical Copy: $79 at Amazon with free shipping.

Remnant II is the sequel to the best-selling game Remnant: From the Ashes that pits survivors of humanity against new deadly creatures and god-like bosses across terrifying worlds. Play solo or co-op with two other friends to explore the depths of the unknown to stop an evil from destroying reality itself. To succeed, players will need to rely on their own skills and those of their team to overcome the toughest challenges and to stave off humanity’s extinction.

DISNEY ILLUSION ISLAND

Platforms: Switch

Release Date: July 28

The Cheapest Physical Copy: $49 at Amazon with free shipping

Join Mickey & Friends on a quest to explore the mysterious island of Month and recover three mystical books to save the world from disaster! Choose your favourite character and unlock special abilities as you perform high-flying platforming feats, solve fun puzzles, and take on epic boss battles.

Play solo or grab up to three friends to save the island of Monoth in 4-player couch co-op. Team up with friends and utilize unique skills such as Rope Drop, Leap Frog, and a heart gifting Hug. Experience a brand-new Mickey & Friends adventure with hand-drawn animation, an orchestrated original score and authentic voice talents.

Baldur’s Gate III (PC Launch)

Platforms: PC

Release Date: August 3

Baldur’s Gate III is an entirely next-generation RPG taking place in the Forgotten Realms setting from Dungeons & Dragons and 20 years in the making. Return to the legendary city of Baldur’s Gate in a tale of fellowship and betrayal, sacrifice and survival and the lure of absolute power. Dark powers are awakening inside you, drawn from a Mind Flayer parasite planted in your mind. Resist, and turn evil against itself. Or embrace corruption, and lay claim to the Forgotten Realms.

Atlas Fallen

Platforms: PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC

Release Date: August 10

The Cheapest Physical Copy: $79 at Amazon with free shipping

Rise from the dust and liberate mankind from the oppression of corrupted gods. Glide the sands of a timeless land, filled with ancient dangers, mysteries and fragments of the past. Hunt legendary monsters, using powerful, shape-shifting weapons and devastating sand-powered abilities in spectacular, super-powered combat. Target and gather the essence of your enemies to shape your own custom playstyle, forging a new era for humanity in a fully cooperative or solo story campaign.

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre

Platforms: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC

Release Date: August 18

The Cheapest Physical Copy: $64 at Amazon with free shipping

Assume the role of a member of the infamous Slaughter family, or one of their victims, in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, an asymmetric third-person horror game inspired by the revolutionary and iconic 1974 horror movie. As a victim, you must rely on your cunning and stealth to evade the Family’s grasp while finding the essential tools that can lead to your eventual escape. As a member of the Slaughter family, your objective is to hunt down, track, and prevent your ‘guests’ from fleeing. In The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, players are finally given the chance to discover if they possess the resilience needed to survive.

Madden NFL 24

Platforms: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC

Release Date: August 18

The Cheapest Physical Copy: $74 at Mightyape (not including shipping)

Only on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, SAPIEN Technology delivers a leap forward in NFL player realism with more body definition and variation to athlete physiques resulting in realistic player movement, while smarter AI behavior provides more confidence in your teammates to execute your game plan and a suite of additional enhancements to FieldSENSE gives you greater control and realism on the field.

Immortals of Aveum

Platforms: PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC

Release Date: August 22

The Cheapest Physical Copy: $78 at Mightyape (not including shipping)

Immortals of Aveum is a groundbreaking new single-player, first-person magic shooter that delivers a visceral, cinematic campaign experience. The game is set in an original fantasy universe engulfed in magic, rife with conflict, and on the verge of oblivion. Made by the creators of Call of Duty and Dead Space, Immortals of Aveum is set in an original fantasy universe engulfed in magic, rife with conflict, and on the verge of oblivion.

Fort Solis

Platforms: PS5, PC

Release Date: August 22

Fort Solis is a single player third person thriller set over one long night on the far side of Mars. Engineer Jack Leary responds to a routine alarm where events unravel and escalate out of control in a way he could never have imagined.

Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon

Platforms: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC

Release Date: August 25

The Cheapest Physical Copy: $74 at Amazon with free shipping.

ARMORED CORE VI FIRES OF RUBICON combines FromSoftware’s longstanding expertise in mech games with their signature action gameplay to bring a brand-new, high octane experience to the series. In ARMORED CORE VI FIRES OF RUBICON, players will assemble their mech from a wide variety of parts and weaponry to soar freely through mission locales that redefine three-dimensional mobility. Face down overwhelming opposition by outgunning and overrunning your enemies with dynamic movement that makes full use of ranged and melee combat. Players can experience frenetic and fast-paced action that can only be truly realized with mechs.

Samba de Amigo: Party Central

Platforms: Switch

Release Date: August 29

The Cheapest Physical Copy: $49 at Amazon with free shipping.

Samba de Amigo: Party Central marks the return of the rhythm action series with a playlist that will get you and your friends moving thanks to 40 hits from the world’s most popular genres including EDM, pop, Latin, and more. Plus, with a wide variety of minigames and challenges to enjoy; a ton of unique costumes and accessories to unlock and wear; and new online features – including an 8-player World Party mode, there’s plenty of fuel to ignite the party!

Read our preview of Samba de Amigo: Party Central right here.

Starfield

Platforms: Xbox Series X|S, PC

Release Date: September 6

The Cheapest Physical Copy: $94.99 at Amazon with free shipping.

Starfield is the first new universe in 25 years from Bethesda Game Studios, the award-winning creators of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and Fallout 4. In this next generation role-playing game set amongst the stars, create any character you want and explore with unparalleled freedom as you embark on an epic journey to answer humanity’s greatest mystery.

Baldur’s Gate III (Console Release)

Platforms: PS5

Release Date: September 6

Baldur’s Gate III is an entirely next-generation RPG taking place in the Forgotten Realms setting from Dungeons & Dragons and 20 years in the making. Return to the legendary city of Baldur’s Gate in a tale of fellowship and betrayal, sacrifice and survival and the lure of absolute power. Dark powers are awakening inside you, drawn from a Mind Flayer parasite planted in your mind. Resist, and turn evil against itself. Or embrace corruption, and lay claim to the Forgotten Realms.

The Crew Motorfest

Platforms: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC

Release Date: September 14

The Cheapest Physical Copy: $74 at Mightyape (not including shipping)

The Crew Motorfest has settled down in one of the most breath taking and vibrant places on Earth: the island of O‘ahu in the Hawaiian archipelago. This is the perfect playground for players to have fun together in with their vehicles: racing through the city streets of Honolulu, going down the ashy volcano slopes, adventuring deep in the lush rainforest, drifting along the curvy mountain roads, or just chilling on the sunny beach. On their own or with their crew, they will be able to explore the entire island behind the wheel of hundreds of the most legendary vehicles.

SUPER BOMBERMAN R 2

Platforms: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Switch, PC

Release Date: September 14

The Cheapest Physical Copy: $69 at Amazon with free shipping

The latest title of the party battle games series SUPER BOMBERMAN R! With new adventures and game modes, it has the largest content volume in the series’ history! The game features not only offline battles that can be played with family and friends, but also online battles that connect players from all over the world, as well as a single player mode.

BATEN KAITOS I & II HD Remaster

Platforms: Switch

Release Date: September 15

The Cheapest Physical Copy: $69 at Mightyape (not including shipping)

Unearth the mysteries of the skies above and reclaim the lost ocean below in two timeless RPGs, remastered in HD. Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean and Baten Kaitos Origins are back with improved graphics and new features to aid game progression, making them even more accessible for new players.

Read our preview of The Crew Motorfest here.

Mortal Kombat 1

Platforms: PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC

Release Date: September 19

The Cheapest Physical Copy: $84.99 at Amazon with free shipping.

Experience the resurgence of the Mortal Kombat Universe, reinvented by Fire God Liu Kang. Mortal Kombat 1 marks a new chapter in the legendary franchise, introducing a fresh fighting system, innovative game modes, and thrilling Fatalities. It’s in our blood.

Lies of P

Platforms: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC

Release Date: September 19

The Cheapest Physical Copy: $79 at Amazon with free shipping.

Inspired by the familiar story of Pinocchio, Lies of P is an action souls-like game set in a dark Belle Époque world. Guide Pinocchio on his unrelenting journey to become human. A free demo is available to download now on PlayStation, Xbox and PC.

Witchfire (Early Access)

Platforms: PC

Release Date: September 20

Armed with strange weapons and forbidden pagan magic, hunt a powerful witch holding the key to your salvation. Witchfire is a dark fantasy roguelike shooter from the creators of Painkiller, Bulletstorm, and The Vanishing of Ethan Carter.

Payday 3

Platforms: PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC

Release Date: September 21

The Cheapest Physical Copy: $54 at Amazon with free shipping.

PAYDAY 3, the eagerly awaited successor to one of the most renowned co-op shooters of all time, promises to deliver an unrivalled, adrenaline-fueled, co-op FPS experience. Since its inception, PAYDAY has captivated players with the exhilaration of flawlessly orchestrated and executed heists. Resurface from retirement to reimmerse yourself in the criminal world as a member of the notorious Payday Gang, both admired by rivals and dreaded by law enforcement agencies alike. After several years of their reign of terror in Washington DC, the crew reconvenes to confront the impending threat that has drawn them out of their early retirement.

Read our preview of Payday 3 here.

Harvest Moon: The Winds of Anthos

Platforms: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Switch, PC

Release Date: September 22

The Cheapest Physical Copy: $49 on Amazon with free shipping.

Anthos was a peaceful land guarded by the Harvest Goddess and Harvest Sprites, protecting its inhabitants from natural disasters. However, a volcanic eruption devastated the region, requiring the protectors to exhaust their power safeguarding the people and animals of Anthos. Villages were separated and unfortunate souls were trapped, unable to return. The Harvest Goddess, believing in future reconnection, sent a message in a bottle before falling into a deep sleep. Now, 10 years later, you discover the SOS. With the help of your inventive friend Doc Jr., you must revive the Harvest Goddess and Sprites while reuniting the villages. Explore and farm across Anthos using Doc’s Expando-Farm, spanning snowy mountains to beautiful beaches.

Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty

Platforms: PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC

Release Date: September 26

Phantom Liberty presents an electrifying spy-thriller expansion for Cyberpunk 2077. Reprise your role as the cybernetically enhanced mercenary, V, and plunge into a mission fraught with espionage and suspense to rescue the NUSA President. Amid the perilous environs of Dogtown, you are challenged to weave through a labyrinth of broken allegiances and nefarious political schemes, creating strategic alliances along the way. Do you possess the mettle required to endure and succeed?

Infinity Strash: Dragon Quest The Adventure of Dai

Platforms: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Switch, PC

Release Date: September 28

This new game is a fast-paced and visually dynamic action RPG based on the acclaimed anime series DRAGON QUEST The Adventure of Dai. The story focuses on the titular Dai – a young man raised by monsters, who finds himself on the path to becoming a hero. Joined by a growing group of allies, he fights to protect the world from the sinister Dark Lord Hadlar, and his monstrous army. You take command of Dai and his companions in a sprawling story that takes you from his humble beginnings up to episode 41 of the anime. The game features two specific modes of gameplay – Story Mode and the Temple of Recollection.

ROBOCOP: Rogue City

Platforms: PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC

Release Date: September 30

The Cheapest Physical Copy: $69 at Mightyape (not including shipping)

Welcome to Detroit; crime runs rampant as the city lies on the edge of ruin, people fighting for scraps as others live extravagant lives of luxury. Control of the Detroit Police Department is given to the Omni Consumer Products corporation in an attempt to restore order. You are that solution, RoboCop, a cyborg tasked with protecting the city.

Cricket 24

Platforms: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Switch, PC

Release Date: October 5

The Cheapest Physical Copy: $69 at Mightyape (not including shipping)

Cricket 24 is the culmination of a decade of Cricket video game development and includes teams from every corner of the globe. Players will be able to take on major cricket nations including Australia and England in the official Ashes, West Indies, New Zealand, Ireland and more, plus for the first time ever, professional Indian T20 teams, all set in over 50 detailed official stadiums. Cricket 24 is the most complete video game simulation of cricket seen to date.

Detective Pikachu Returns

Platforms: Switch

Release Date: October 6

The Cheapest Physical Copy: $64 at Amazon with free shipping.

Solve mysteries with the personality-packed Detective Pikachu! Unravel a series of mysteries across Ryme City with a tough-talking, coffee-loving Pikachu who calls himself a great detective. This Pikachu may have a self-assured attitude and talk like a middle-aged man, but he somehow manages to keep his lovable charm. Together with his partner Tim Goodman, this great detective duo cracks several cases with the help of the many Pokemon and people who live in Ryme City. Investigate Ryme City, where Pokemon and people live side by side Search for clues in Ryme City, where Pokemon and humans coexist in harmony. With the help of many other Pokemon, Tim and his talkative Pikachu partner work together to solve a series of mysterious incidents in this cinematic adventure game.

Forza Motorsport

Platforms: Xbox Series X|S, PC

Release Date: October 10

The Cheapest Physical Copy: $79 at Mightyape (not including shipping)

Race 500+ cars including modern race cars across 20 living environments featuring dynamic time-of-day with weather and multiple layouts. Out-build the competition and race cutting-edge AI opponents in the all-new Builders Cup Career Mode. Compete in adjudicated online events with advanced physics, tyre and fuel strategy and driver ratings.

Assassin’s Creed Mirage

Platforms: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC

Release Date: October 12

The Cheapest Physical Copy: $64.99 at Amazon with free shipping.

Experience the story of Basim, a cunning street thief with nightmarish visions, seeking answers and justice as he navigates the bustling streets of ninth-century Baghdad. Through a mysterious, ancient organization known as the Hidden Ones, he will become a deadly Master Assassin and change his fate in ways he never could have imagined.

Read our preview of Assassin’s Creed Mirage here.

Disgaea 7: Vows of the Virtueless

Platforms: PS5, PS4, Switch, PC

Release Date: October 13

The Cheapest Physical Copy: $74.99 at Amazon with free shipping.

Join protagonist Fuji for a Disgaea adventure that’s bigger and better than ever before! Dive into the demonic realm of Hinomoto where the bushido code is out, and the Hinomoto Code of Destruction is in! Consisting of a myriad of Netherworlds, Hinomoto is home to a multitude of demons, each with their own beliefs. Enter bushido fan-girl Pirilika, a naive and rich young lady who manages to convince Fuji to protect her as she pursues her ambitions. But there’s more to this contract than meets the eye, so be sure to check the fine print…

Lords of the Fallen

Platforms: PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC

Release Date: October 13

The Cheapest Physical Copy: $84.99 on Amazon with free shipping.

Taking place more than a thousand years after the events of the first game, The Lords of the Fallen introduces an all-new adventure in a vast, interconnected world, more than five times larger than the original game. An expansive RPG experience – filled with NPC quests, compelling characters, and rich narrative – players will need to create their own hero before tackling the immersive single player campaign. They will also have the option to invite a second player to join their adventure in uninterrupted online co-op – a new feature for the franchise.

Alan Wake 2

Platforms: PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC

Release Date: October 17

The long awaited sequel to the award-winning cinematic action-thriller and Remedy Entertainment’s take on survival horror. A string of ritualistic murders and a supernatural darkness begin to corrupt the locals of the quirky, idyllic small town of Bright Falls. Can Agent Saga Anderson and Alan Wake break free from the desolate horror story they’re trapped in and be the heroes they need to be?

Read our preview of Alan Wake II here.

Hot Wheels Unleashed 2: Turbocharged

Platforms: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Switch, PC

Release Date: October 19

The Cheapest Physical Copy: $69 at Amazon with free shipping.

The world’s raddest cars are back and taking the fun to the next level! Race over 130 vehicles with crazy new mechanics and even more vehicle types. Plus, build your tracks with stunning new environments and different game modes to have fun off and online!

Read our preview of Hot Wheels Unleashed 2: Turbocharged here.

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2

Platforms: PS5

Release Date: October 20

The Cheapest Physical Copy: $99 at Amazon with free shipping.

Spider-Men, Peter Parker and Miles Morales, return for an exciting new adventure in the critically acclaimed Marvel’s Spider-Man franchise. Swing, jump and utilise the new Web Wings to travel across Marvel’s New York, quickly switching between Peter Parker and Miles Morales to experience different stories and epic new powers, as the iconic villain Venom threatens to destroy their lives, their city and the ones they love. An evolution of the Spider-Man story, experience the incredible power of the symbiote forces Peter and Miles to face the ultimate test of strength, both inside and outside the mask, as they balance their lives, friendships and their duty to protect those in need.

Super Mario Bros. Wonder

Platforms: Switch

Release Date: October 20

The Cheapest Physical Copy: $69 at Amazon with free shipping.

The next evolution of 2D side-scrolling Super Mario Bros. games is making its way to Nintendo Switch! When you encounter a Wonder Flower in the game, it triggers miraculous changes – pipes spring to life, waves of enemies materialize, and characters might undergo cosmetic transformations – thereby modifying the gameplay in unforeseeable ways. Each course is a reservoir of excitement and unique surprises. Super Mario Bros. Wonder introduces Princess Peach, Princess Daisy, and Yoshi as playable characters, alongside familiar favorites like Mario, Luigi, and Toad. Moreover, it marks the debut of Mario’s newest power-up, allowing him to morph into Elephant Mario!

Cities: Skylines 2

Platforms: PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC

Release Date: October 24

The Cheapest Physical Copy: $64.99 at Amazon with free shipping.

Create and manage your own city without restrictions. Offering a deep simulation and a living economy, Cities: Skylines II will challenge your decision-making skills and allow you to build the cities of your dreams. Get ready for a new epic scale in the most realistic city builder – ever. Here your city will evolve and react to your decisions. A dynamic and ever-changing world that is both challenging and rewarding. Use your creativity and strategic planning skills to grow your city into a thriving metropolis that will attract businesses, residents, and tourists alike. From residential neighborhoods to bustling downtowns, the possibilities are endless. Navigate through the complexities of running a city and keep up with the needs and demands of your citizens.

Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 1

Platforms: PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch, PC

Release Date: October 24

The Cheapest Physical Copy: $84.99 at Amazon with free shipping.

Players will have the chance to relive the first three entries into the Metal Gear Solid franchise through the Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 1. Infiltrate enemy fortresses all over the globe, stealthily complete your missions and experience the thrilling cinematic story of the Metal Gear series. The Vol. 1 collection contains the beginning of the Metal Gear series in one complete package including: Metal Gear Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake Metal Gear Solid Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater.

Just Dance 2024 Edition

Platforms: PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch

Release Date: October 24

The Cheapest Physical Copy: $64.99 at Amazon with free shipping

Dance and share exciting moments all year long with the #1 music video game platform of all time! Just Dance 2024 Edition features 40 songs, from the latest hits and beloved classics including “Flowers” by Miley Cyrus, “Tití Me Preguntó” by Bad Bunny, “How You Like That” by BLACKPINK and “I Want to Dance With Somebody” by Whitney Houston! Extend your experience with Just Dance+! Unlock your one-month free trial included with the game to get access to hundreds of songs!

Alone in the Dark

Platforms: PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC

Release Date: October 25

The Cheapest Physical Copy: $74.99 at Amazon with free shipping.

This love letter to the ground-breaking original lets you experience a haunting story through the eyes of one of two protagonists. Play as either Edward Carnby or Emily Hartwood and explore your environments, fight monsters, solve puzzles and uncover the uneasy truth of Derceto Manor… Deep in the 1920’s south, Emily Hartwood’s uncle has gone missing. Together with private investigator Edward Carnby, she embarks on a journey to Derceto Manor, a home for the mentally ill where something is lurking. You’ll encounter strange residents, nightmarish realms, dangerous monsters and ultimately uncover a plot of rising evil. At the intersection of reality, mystery, and insanity, an adventure waits that will challenge your core beliefs. Who can you trust, what will you believe, and what will you do next?

Star Ocean: The Second Story R

Platforms: PS5, PS4, Switch, PC

Release Date: November 2

The Cheapest Physical Copy: $59 at Mightyape (not including shipping)

The highly celebrated second entry in the STAR OCEAN series makes a triumphant return in a comprehensive remake, beautifully recreated with enchanting 2.5D graphics that blend 3D environments and 2D pixel characters. Immerse yourself in an epic narrative where Fantasy and Science Fiction intersect. Learn about your party members through the unique Private Actions system, cultivate their relationships, and discover a multitude of distinct endings. Step into the shoes of either Claude or Rena and make choices that will shape your destiny. Relish the thrilling, visually stunning, and swift-paced action battles that are enhanced by comprehensive skills and crafting systems, allowing you to customize your party to your liking.

WarioWare: Move It!

Platforms: Switch

Release Date: November 3

The Cheapest Physical Copy: $59 at Mightyape (not including shipping)

Strike a pose with a multitude of motion-based microgames in a brand-new entry in the WarioWare series! Grab a pair of Joy-Con controllers and get moving as you gently shake, punch, dance, wiggle, and even curtsey through over 200 lightning-fast microgames (minigames that last just a few hilarious seconds). A second player can use another set of Joy-Con controllers to join the treasure-guarding, sheep-twirling fun. Up to four players, each with one Joy-Con controller, can laugh out loud in the local Party Mode’s minigames like a dicey board game with Wario-style rules.

Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name

Platforms: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC

Release Date: November 9

The Cheapest Physical Copy: $79 at Mightyape (not including shipping)

Once a legendary yakuza, Kazuma Kiryu faked his own death and abandoned his name for the sake of protecting his family. Now, he is thrust into conflict by a mysterious figure attempting to drive him out of hiding. Under the codename “Joryu,” Kiryu embarks on a gripping action narrative with bone-shattering combat in vibrant locations filled with exciting characters and activities.

Persona 5 Tactica

Platforms: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Switch, PC

Release Date: November 17

The Cheapest Physical Copy: $79 at Amazon with free shipping.

Following an unusual event, the Phantom Thieves find themselves lost in a peculiar domain, a place where its inhabitants suffer under despotic rule. Encircled by a militant faction known as the Legionnaires, the group faces a perilous situation until they are rescued by a mysterious revolutionary named Erina, who proposes an intriguing pact in return for their aid. What truths are concealed behind Erina and the bargain she presents to the Phantom Thieves? “Persona 5 Tactica” boasts an entirely new narrative, re-introduces fan-favorite characters, and adds fresh allies and adversaries. Stand with the team as they instigate a passionate revolution in this exhilarating combat journey!

Super Mario RPG

Platforms: Switch

Release Date: November 17

The Cheapest Physical Copy: $69 at Amazon with free shipping.

Initially launched on Super NES, Super Mario RPG now returns with a fresh graphical makeover! Join forces with Mario, Bowser, Princess Peach, and original characters Mallow and Geno, in an RPG brimming with unexpected twists, thrilling turns, and hidden treasures. Mario and his allies must confront the ominous Smithy Gang to reclaim seven stars and mend the Star Road. Whether you’re a veteran of the original game or a newcomer to the adventure, this Nintendo Switch edition invites you to embark on the very first RPG journey in the Super Mario series!

Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince

Platforms: Switch

Release Date: December 1

The Cheapest Physical Copy: $65 at Mightyape (not including shipping)

Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince gives players the power to command and recruit various types of monsters to join them on an epic new adventure. The game features Psaro, the demon prince, whose curse prevents him from harming monsters. As a result, he must become a Monster Wrangler, recruiting, and fighting alongside monsters throughout the various environments of the fantastical world of Nadiria. Over the course of this adventure, the seasons will regularly cycle through Spring, Summer, Winter, and Fall, which not only changes the landscape, but also opens new areas and players will encounter different monsters specific to that season.

Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora

Platforms: PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC

Release Date: December 7

The Cheapest Physical Copy: $79 at Mightyape (not including shipping)

Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora is a first person, action-adventure game developed by Massive Entertainment—a Ubisoft studio, in collaboration with Lightstorm Entertainment and Disney. Built using the latest iteration of the Snowdrop engine, and developed exclusively for the new generation of consoles and PC, Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora brings to life the alluring world of Pandora with all of its beauty and danger in an immersive, open world experience. In this new, standalone story, play as a Na’vi and embark on a journey across the Western Frontier, a never-before-seen part of Pandora. Explore a living and reactive world inhabited by unique creatures and new characters, and push back the formidable RDA forces that threaten it.

The post The Biggest Games Coming Out In The Second Half Of 2023 appeared first on Press Start.

Despite the middling reception to Destiny 2’s fifth major expansion in Lightfall, the live service train has kept chugging along. Season of the Deep launched in late May, kicking things into gear as we creep towards the conclusion of this decade-long saga. From new details on the Veil to the attempted resurrection of the Taken King, much has been happening in the now partly undersea world of Destiny.

Perhaps most interesting of all, is the reveal of the origins of the Witness, as well as the need to bring the dreaded Witch Queen back from the dead to prevent catastrophe. It’s the answers we’ve been waiting for since Lightfall dropped earlier this year, and we got to sit down with Bungie to discuss the narrative escapades of the season thus far, alongside what we can expect in the coming months.

Season of the Deep’s Unique Nautical Setting and the Return of Titan

Regardless of their overall quality, Destiny 2’s seasons have always succeeded in delivering unique player fantasies through settings and seasonal activities. When asked about how the team landed on the nautical concept of season 21, senior design lead Tom Farnsworth discussed the process; “We knew we wanted to go back to Titan and tell a story with Ahsa. We’d planted some seeds there years ago that we wanted to revisit. When talking about those aspects with our narrative lead, he asked about the idea of going underwater. It was a provocative question, you know? We don’t really usually do that, water in Destiny is often just a hazard off to the side. That’s a challenging space to go into, it’s almost like building another game.”.

“We’re trying to find a unique narrative direction to take the overall story that’s surprising and lined up with a compelling aesthetic. The visuals for going underwater is a huge opportunity to create new spaces in the game. Bioluminescent coral and sunken Hive ships – there’s a lot of rich gameplay and visual space for us to lean into”.

Design lead on raids and dungeons, Brian Frank, also chimed in on why the team leant into the Arcology as the setting for the Ghosts of the Deep dungeon; “The setting was immediately identified as an opportunity to create a link to the past and a nostalgic premise for returning players. Our lead for the raids and dungeons team actually worked on the original palette and environment for the Arcology. We had some expertise and familiarity with the environment going into it. The first area of the dungeon gave us an opportunity to create something more open-ended. You’re left to explore and wander, and it lets us include Sparrows in the activity.”.

Dropping Curtains and Parting Veils

The one thing the community wants more than anything else in regards to narrative at the moment, is answers. Who or what is the Witness? What’s the Veil? And what does the Final Shape look like? We’ve been getting a lot of answers over the course of this season, with it all coming to a head during week 5’s cutscene, revealing the origins of the Witness.

Senior narrative designer, Robert Brookes, spoke to these big reveals; “There’s so many curtains to drop, or should I say veils to part. It feels great to explore and reveal some of the story people have been champing at the bit for. We’d always planned that Lightfall would lead into a period of answers, but not necessarily answering them as it happened. The Veil Containment quest that’s available now has content that runs for the entirety of Season of the Deep’s calendar. There’ll also be entries at the start of the next two seasons. I think those are going to be revelatory – not just for the Witness, the Traveler, and the Black Fleet, but also some of the stories that will be coming up after The Final Shape. It’s awesome to be able to get that out there and see how the players react. It’s really rewarding.”

Robert was asked to expand on the idea of the seasons being a bridge between Lightfall and The Final Shape. “In a lot of our previous releases, the seasons ramp up to a major expansion which is kind of like the end of that story. The next set of seasons starts a new one. We saw this with Beyond Light and The Witch Queen. Lightfall is a bit of a different experience in that it isn’t just another ramp-up, it’s a bridge. There’s the fallout, the deconstruction of events that happened and the way characters react to it. Each season will hand-off to the next more immediately than before. We want it to be the same when we hand-off The Final Shape into what comes next.”.

The War God Takes Centre Stage

While the Witness is putting its final plan into motion, the last of the three big Hive Gods has emerged to keep us at bay. Xivu Arath made her voiced debut in Season of the Deep, with Kimberly Brooks taking up the mantle of the anguished Hive God of War. Xivu has made herself known to be a ruthless tactician over the years, but Season of the Deep looks to add more depth to her character. The Ghosts of the Deep dungeon has positioned Xivu in a way that has her questioning her faith in the Darkness and the Witness. The previously infallible Sword Logic is crumbling before her at its very foundations.

When asked about the angle the team took with Xivu’s characterisation, Robert got excited to share his insights. “These were some of the first things I wrote for this season, actually. We were still trying to figure out what Xivu Arath’s voice would sound like, it’s different than just writing her in all caps and making her angry like she is in the lore. I wanted to show depth to her because she’s not only a brilliant tactician and invulnerable war god, she’s also a person deep down inside. There’s emotional conflict there – I thought it would be compelling to reflect on her loss. Her brother is dead, her sister turned on her and is dead. You feel the raw emotion she doesn’t show anyone other than her siblings and herself.”.

Robert talks about how they wanted to reinforce this through her vocal performance; “We wanted her to speak with the cadence of something akin to a Southern Baptist pastor or a megachurch pastor. Having that rising cadence like she’s preaching to her Hive sycophants. Then you get these vulnerable moments where her voice is small in comparison. She doesn’t sound like a war god, she sounds like a person who’s scared and vulnerable. While the Hive Gods are genocidal, evil monsters, they still were and are people who’ve made terrible choices. I wanted to humanise them while still showing they’re beyond redemption.”.

Nikko also chimed in to touch on her relationship with the Witness and the way she’s perceived as a God of War. “That’s why we were excited to bring a voice to her – she’s no dummy. Xivu isn’t some crazed berserker running into battle, she’s very smart. She’s been around for a while, enacting the plans of the Witness but she’s in an awkward position. She’s been told answers are coming in regards to The Final Shape and her place in it but she’s not getting them. Anyone would start having doubts in that position.”.

The Return of the Witch Queen

Season of the Deep delivered what might be its biggest surprise at the conclusion of its story. The discovery that our only hope of following the Witness lies with Savathûn. While many players expected the return of the Witch Queen, it remains to be seen how much of an impact she’ll have on the ongoing narrative. When asked about her role in coming events, senior narrative designer Nikko Stevens explained her place in the greater story; “She will be a part of the story moving forward, but Savathûn’s role won’t be as prevalent as it was in The Witch Queen. That expansion and the seasonal events leading up to it were her story, whereas here, she’s a piece of the larger narrative – it doesn’t revolve around her.”

Robert doubled down on this, expressing that seasonal narratives have characters that fit better into their themes and settings than others. “We’re an ensemble story now with quite a large cast. When we craft narratives, we look for the best fit for that beat – what characters do we want to have involved in this, and does it make sense? That’s what we’re going to do with Savathûn going forward, it’s what stories make the most sense for her to be in. It’ll fluctuate depending on what we’re doing, but there’s definitely more to tell with Savathûn.”.

If you need to catch up on recent events, Lightfall and Season of the Deep are available right now, with the promise of two more full seasons before The Final Shape launches early next year. If you’re keen for more information on the future of Destiny, be sure to tune into the Destiny Showcase on August 22nd as we move into the conclusion of this epic saga.

The post We Spoke To Bungie About Narrative In Destiny 2: Season Of The Deep And Beyond appeared first on Press Start.

Well and truly into the current generation of consoles and with some huge hitters finally seeing their long-anticipated releases, the first half of 2023 has been an absolute cracker six months for fans of video games of all kinds. With the likes of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, Final Fantasy XVI bringing out the big guns alongside some bonafide indie gems, we’re spoiled for choice so far this year.

With that in mind, we’ve put together a list of the very highest rated games of 2023 so far, according to review score aggregators Metacritic and OpenCritic. Of course, review scores should never be the be-all-and-end-all of your gaming decisions, but if you’re somehow stuck for what to play right now, hopefully the below list of everything currently sitting over an average 85 review score for the year so far will help you find your next fave.

In the interest of consistency, we’ve omitted any releases that are strictly ports from previous generations to the newer consoles, like The Witcher 3’s new-gen release earlier in the year. Brand-new remakes, remasters and the like are fair game, though. The scores listed for each game are also the highest aggregate rating the game received across all of its release platforms, so something like Diablo IV that has a Metacritic score of 91 on Xbox and 87 on PC will show the higher Xbox number.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

Release Date: May 12

Platforms: Switch

Metacritic Score: 96 | Opencritic Score: 96

Our Review: 10/10 “The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom builds upon Breath of the Wild’s robust systems to offer an experience that eclipses the original in practically every way.” Read more.

The Cheapest Copy: $69 at Amazon with free shipping.

Metroid Prime Remastered

Release Date: February 8

Platforms: Switch

Metacritic Score: 94 | Opencritic Score: 94

Our Review: 9.5/10 “Metroid Prime Remastered is, without a doubt, the best way to experience Metroid Prime.” Read more.

The Cheapest Copy: $54.95 at Amazon with free shipping.

Resident Evil 4

Release Date: March 24

Platforms: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, PC

Metacritic Score: 93 | Opencritic Score: 92

Our Review: 10/10 “Resident Evil 4 translates a game already revered into an absolute masterpiece.” Read more.

The Cheapest Copy: $59 at Amazon with free shipping.

Street Fighter 6

Release Date: June 2

Platforms: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, PC

Metacritic Score: 92 | Opencritic Score: 92

Our Review: 9/10 “Street Fighter 6 rights the wrongs of its past with multiple modes for every player and strong battle systems like no other.” Read more.

The Cheapest Copy: $74 at Mightyape

Diablo IV

Release Date: June 6

Platforms: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC

Metacritic Score: 91 | Opencritic Score: 88

Our Review: 9/10 “Diablo IV is an unquestionable win for Blizzard and one of their foundational franchises when it needed it most.” Read more.

The Cheapest Copy: $83.99 at Amazon with free shipping.

Persona 4 Golden

Release Date: January 19

Platforms: PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Switch, PC

Metacritic Score: 90 | Opencritic Score: 88

Dead Space

Release Date: January 27

Platforms: PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC

Metacritic Score: 89 | Opencritic Score: 89

Our Review: 9/10 “EA Motive could have taken a path of least resistance in delivering a Dead Space remake, though I’m thankful for everything they’ve poured into what is a tremendous reimagining of one of gaming’s truly iconic horror games.” Read more.

The Cheapest Copy: $49.95 at Amazon with free shipping.

Hi-Fi Rush

Release Date: January 25

Platforms: Xbox Series X|S, PC

Metacritic Score: 89 | Opencritic Score: 89

Dead Cells: Return to Castlevania

Release Date: March 6

Platforms: PS5, PS4, Xbox One, Switch, PC

Metacritic Score: 88 | Opencritic Score: 87

Final Fantasy XVI

Release Date: June 22

Platforms: PS5

Metacritic Score: 88 | Opencritic Score: 89

Our Review: 10/10 “Final Fantasy XVI is an epic in every sense of the word. Consistently sharp writing, a captivating cast of characters, exhilarating combat, and a timeless soundtrack coalesce into an experience that showcases what the PlayStation 5 is capable of at the highest level.” Read more.

The Cheapest Copy: $84.99 at Amazon with free shipping

Theatrhythm Final Bar Line

Release Date: February 16

Platforms: PS4, Switch

Metacritic Score: 87 | Opencritic Score: 86

Our Review: 8.5/10 “Final Bar Line is another fantastic entry in a great rhythm series, propped up by an enormous catalog of essential video game music and a variety of fun and engaging (if slightly superfluous) systems.” Read more.

The Cheapest Copy: $79 at Amazon with free shipping.

A Space for the Unbound

Release Date: January 19

Platforms: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Switch, PC

Metacritic Score: 86 | Opencritic Score: 85

Octopath Traveller II

Release Date: February 24

Platforms: PS5, PS4, Switch, PC

Metacritic Score: 86 | Opencritic Score: 85

Our Review: 8.5/10 “Octopath Traveler II does an earnest job of trying to right the wrongs of its predecessor, making more attempts than ever to integrate the stories of its eight characters.” Read more.

The Cheapest Copy: $57 at Amazon with free shipping.

Fuga: Melodies of Steel 2

Release Date: May 16

Platforms: PS5, PS4, PC

Metacritic Score: 86 | Opencritic Score: 85

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor

Release Date: April 28

Platforms: PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC

Metacritic Score: 85 | Opencritic Score: 85

Our Review: 9/10 “Star Wars Jedi: Survivor sharpens combat and exploration to a fine point while delivering a story that goes all in on its characters and human drama.” Read more.

The Cheapest Copy: $64 at Amazon with free shipping.

Humanity

Release Date: May 16

Platforms: PS5, PS4, PC

Metacritic Score: 85 | Opencritic Score: 86

The post All Of The Best-Rated Games Released In 2023 So Far appeared first on Press Start.

Now that the dust is beginning to settle on a stacked month of game releases and future-looking showcases to set the tone for a busy-as-hell year and beyond, it’s nice to know that July is something of a reprieve. It’s certainly not entirely devoid of releases, but it’s at least a little quieter and more spread-out overall as we approach a hectic back half of the year.

Here’s just some of what’s worth keeping tabs on in the month ahead, in case you find yourself done with Final Fantasy XVI:

Synapse

Platforms: PS5 (PS VR2)

Release Date: July 4

Dual-wield brutal firepower and surging telekinesis in the ultimate mind-breaking VR action shooter. Unleash your inner anti-hero and invade the twisted subconscious of a notorious enemy of the state. From the award-winning team behind Fracked, Phantom: Covert Ops and Far Cry VR: Dive into Insanity comes the next generation of immersive VR action.

Evolve and master your own combat style by combining increasingly sophisticated skills and abilities. Risk everything on a desperate, final mission into the darkest corners of a corrupted mind. Visceral, fast-paced and visually explosive, Synapse is a never-before-seen experience created exclusively for PlayStation®VR2.

GYLT (Console/PC Release)

Platforms: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Switch, PC

Release Date: July 6

Shape the fears… Fear the shapes. Set in a creepy and melancholic world, GYLT is an eerie story mixing fantasy and reality in a surrealist place where your nightmares become reality. Hide from terrible creatures or confront them as you find your way through the challenges of this wicked world.

The Legend of Heroes: Trails Into Reverie

Platforms: PS5, PS4, Switch, PC

Release Date: July 7

The Cheapest Physical Copy: $84 at Amazon with free shipping

What destinies await these three fateful figures? Use the Trails to Walk system to switch between Rean Schwarzer, Lloyd Bannings, and the masked figure “C,” and determine the fates of key characters and locations within Zemuria. Dive into refined tactical combat with new features such as United Front, and discover new allies and challenges within the halls of the True Reverie Corridor!

The Valiant (Console Release)

Platforms: PS5, Xbox Series X|S

Release Date: July 11

Follow the story of Theoderich von Akenburg, a former crusader knight who, after becoming disillusioned with the cruelty of war, is called back into action by events set into motion 15 years ago when he and his former brother-in-arms, Ulrich von Grevel, stumble upon a fractured piece of an ancient artifact – the Rod of Aaron. A young monk named Malcom appears at Theoderich’s doorstep, bringing him news that the Rod contains power never meant for mortals, and Ulrich has become obsessed with finding the remaining pieces and unifying the rod, an event that could bring untold evil and suffering to the world.

Oxenfree 2: Lost Signals

Platforms: PS5, PS4, Switch, PC, Netflix (Mobile)

Release Date: July 12

TVs turn on and off. Planes lose radar. Radio stations can’t broadcast through the static. In the small coastal town of Camena, unnaturally occurring electromagnetic waves are suddenly causing interference with electrical and radio equipment. Reluctantly, Riley Poverly returns to her hometown to investigate the mystery, but what she finds is more than she bargained for.

OXENFREE II: Lost Signals is the mind-bending follow-up to the critically-acclaimed narrative adventure game OXENFREE from Night School Studio. Play it as a standalone story or dive deeper by playing the original – it’s up to you. As you play, you’ll shape every step of the story through your choices. How you choose to deal with the supernatural events at hand will forever alter the future.

Atelier Marie Remake: The Alchemist of Salburg

Platforms: PS5, PS4, Switch, PC

Release Date: July 13

A carefree, cozy RPG adventure…

At the Royal Academy of Magic (the Academy for short), Marie is failing in her attempts to study alchemy. One day, she is given an atelier by her professor as part of a special graduation exam. In order to graduate, Marie must complete an item that will impress her professor.

But first, Marie must strive to improve her alchemy skills, collect ingredients, and earn money to hire adventurers and buy recipes and utensils… Add all of that to the synthesis, battles, and quests she must undertake, and it’s clear that she has a lot to do before she’s ready for her exam!

Exoprimal

Platforms: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC

Release Date: July 14

The Cheapest Physical Copy: $69 at Mightyape

Exoprimal is an online, team-based action game that pits humanity’s cutting-edge exosuit technology against history’s most ferocious beasts – dinosaurs.??

Exosuits are grouped into different roles, and players will pilot these exosuits to hold firm against overwhelming dinosaur swarms in online-only, team-based action game modes.
Dino Survival, the main game mode, sees two teams of five players compete in a variety of PvE and PvP missions. Players will be transported to the scene of the latest dinosaur outbreak and follow Leviathan’s guidance to complete objectives. The team that completes the mission first will emerge victorious.

Jagged Alliance 3

Platforms: PC

Release Date: July 14

Grand Chien, a nation of rich natural resources and deep political divides, is thrown into chaos when the elected president goes missing and a paramilitary force known as “The Legion” seizes control of the countryside. Now, the President’s family has pulled together all their resources, including an arrangement with the powerful Adonis corporation, to hire a group of skilled mercenaries tasked with finding the President and bringing order back to the country.

In Jagged Alliance 3, select from a huge cast of mercenaries all with their own unique personalities, quirks, and backstories. Then go out and explore Grand Chien as you meet new people, earn money, grow your team, and ultimately make your own decisions that will decide the country’s fate.

Viewfinder

Platforms: PS5, PC

Release Date: July 18

Challenge perception, redefine reality, and reshape the world around you with an instant camera. Viewfinder is a new single player game offering gamers hours of interesting and fun experiences while uncovering the mysteries left behind.

Viewfinder is a mind-bending first person adventure game in which you can bring pictures to life by placing them into the world.

Sea of Thieves: The Legend of Monkey Island (Part 1)

Platforms: Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC

Release Date: July 20

Split across three hilarious Tall Tales packed with secrets and side-quests, Sea of Thieves: The Legend of Monkey Island invites pirates to meet classic characters, in a new narrative that brings the iconic locations of Monkey Island to the Sea of Thieves.

This love-letter to the classic adventure game series will be available to play alone or with a crew, with three Tall Tales being added over three months as free updates for all players, starting July 20th.

Pikmin 4

Platforms: Switch

Release Date: July 21

The Cheapest Physical Copy: $69 at Amazon with free shipping

Meet Pikmin, small, plantlike creatures you can grow, pluck, command, and overpower your enemies with! These curious helpers come in different types—fire is no sweat for Red Pikmin and the brand-new Ice Pikmin can freeze enemies and the environment. Use your Pikmin’s miniature might (and a bit of strategy) to explore this mysterious planet. You get a dog, too! Oatchi (pronounced oat-chee), resident good boy and dependable partner, can help with things like smashing obstacles and carrying Pikmin throughout your adventure. With the miniscule Pikmin and a capable canine in tow, no challenge is too big!

A free playable demo for Pikmin 4 will be available on the Nintendo Switch eShop starting June 28.

Remnant 2

Platforms: PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC

Release Date: July 25

The Cheapest Physical Copy: $79 at Amazon with free shipping

REMNANT II is the sequel to the best-selling game REMNANT: FROM THE ASHES that pits survivors of humanity against new deadly creatures and god-like bosses across terrifying worlds. Play solo or co-op with two other friends to explore the depths of the unknown to stop an evil from destroying reality itself. To succeed, players will need to rely on their own skills and those of their team to overcome the toughest challenges and to stave off humanity’s extinction.

Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (PC Release)

Platforms: PC

Release Date: July 26

The intergalactic adventurers are back with a bang in Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart!

Go dimension-hopping with Ratchet and Clank as they venture onto a PC near you for the very first time. Help them take on an evil emperor from another reality as you jump between action-packed worlds and beyond. Enjoy a dazzling interdimensional adventure. Developed by acclaimed studio Insomniac Games and brought to PC by Nixxes Software

The Expanse: A Telltale Series (Episode 1)

Platforms: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Switch, PC

Release Date: July 27

Experience the exciting universe of The Expanse like never before in Telltale’s latest adventure, The Expanse: A Telltale Series. Take on the role of Camina Drummer and explore the dangerous and uncharted edges of the Belt aboard the Artemis. From scavenging wrecked ships in a zero-g environment, to surviving a mutiny, to combating fearsome pirates, you make the difficult choices and reveal Camina Drummer’s resolve in this latest Telltale adventure.

Disney Illusion Island

Platforms: Switch

Release Date: July 28

The Cheapest Physical Copy: $49 at Amazon with free shipping

Join Mickey & Friends on a quest to explore the mysterious island of Month and recover three mystical books to save the world from disaster! Choose your favourite character and unlock special abilities as you perform high-flying platforming feats, solve fun puzzles, and take on epic boss battles.

Play solo or grab up to three friends to save the island of Monoth in 4-player couch co-op. Team up with friends and utilize unique skills such as Rope Drop, Leap Frog, and a heart gifting Hug. Experience a brand-new Mickey & Friends adventure with hand-drawn animation, an orchestrated original score and authentic voice talents.

Venba

Platforms: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Switch, PC

Release Date: July 31

Venba is a narrative cooking game where you play as an Indian mom who immigrates to Canada with her family in the 1980s. Players will cook various dishes and restore lost recipes, hold branching conversations and explore in this story about family, love, loss and more. Venba’s recipe book gets damaged when she moves to Canada – restore the lost recipes to cook delicious, mouth-watering dishes that serve as a connection to the home left behind.

The post Games Coming Out In July That You Should Be Excited For appeared first on Press Start.

Steam’s always-incredible Next Fest event is back, following up a stacked couple of weeks of gaming showcases and announcements with an all-important opportunity for fans across the globe to actually try some exciting, upcoming releases for themselves.

With hundreds of games included in the line-up with demos planned to drop, there’s a lot to get through across the week-long event that kicked off on June 20th and ends on June 27th (AEST). Luckily, known Press Start indie enjoyers Brodie and Kieron are on hand and churning through as many demos as possible. And as is tradition, they’ve picked a handful of stand-outs each that should absolutely be on your to-play list for Next Fest.

You can see the first lot of picks right here, or keep reading below for an update with even more hot and fresh demo recommendations:

Broken Roads

Brodie: “Do we really sound like that?” A phrase often uttered to my wife whenever I hear an Australian accent anywhere it sounds foreign. Broken Roads, a ripper role-playing game set in a Mad Max-ian outback dystopia, is ripe with ockerisms that would often make my skin crawl, and yet I find them truly endearing here. It makes the harsh world feel authentic. 

The characters are there and their relationships already feel complex and historic, however our sunburnt country is clearly the centrepiece of Broken Roads and, as an Aussie, that’s really cool to see. 

The game riffs on the likes of Wasteland to present a rich, laboured-breathing world full of dust, grit, and questionable ethics. Although I felt somewhat limited by the character creation side of things, perhaps due to it being a demo, I love the idea of being able to tinker with the spectrums of morality and ideology as a starting point for my avatar within a world so grey morally.

Download the demo here.

Crime O’Clock

Kieron: Joined by an AI companion in overlooking gorgeous, monochrome hand-drawn scenes, Crime O’Clock tasks players with investigating crimes throughout time that were never meant to happen, causing ripples through the fabric that disrupt the one true timeline.

For each new crime, you’re presented with a huge and detailed depiction of a scene frozen in time, which you can zoom and pan around to try to discover important details, with the extra wrinkle that you can also observe the scene from different points in time. So you’ll scour for things that look suspicious in the moment, try to piece together how they came to be based on context clues, and then follow them through time to see how events change and play out. It’s kind of like doing a Where’s Wally in 4D.

At the end of a solve, you also get a report telling you how long it took you to get to the bottom of it, which is both exciting and anxiety-inducing.

Download the demo here.

Knuckle Sandwich

Brodie: Another game that caught my eye and has definite hints at Australiana in it is Knuckle Sandwich, a J-RPG that has its fair share of quirks. I’ve seen it described as Earthbound for fast food working type operators, and it has the off-beat humour to back that up. But I’m easily pleased, my heart fluttering at the instantly recognisable Melbournian bus stop, complete with its orange-coded PTV schedule. 

Raffling through the jobs that the town has available to you shows off the game’s rapid mini-games that make up half of the core loop. I mashed my way through a Dance Dance-like rhythm game, shot down disembodied facial features floating on a starfield, and fought a gang of bees only for the demo to suffer a code error on my Steam Deck which I mistook as a meta gag.

This game from Andy Brophy, which is a damn cool name, has rocketed up my list of anticipated homegrown indies and I expected it’s all but guaranteed to please the crowd hunting for the next Undertale, which itself was a super self-aware, ingenious role-playing game that broke the mould.

Download the demo here.

En Garde!

Kieron: This is one that I totally came across while scrolling through the Steam Next Fest demos, going in having no prior knowledge of the game (I missed the Future Games Show, apparently). I’m so glad I did though, because this is one surprisingly dense, polished and gorgeous hidden gem.

En Garde! is a swashbuckling action game starring a sword-swinging scoundrel and adventurer named Adalia de Volador, who fights tyranny with a sense of style and stinging barbs that would make Antonio Banderas blush. The first thing that struck me about this demo, other than the lush environmental visuals and energetic animations that give it a high-quality sheen I wasn’t expecting, was how fantastic the writing and voice work is – especially in its humour.

As an approachable swashbuckling sim, En Garde has you traversing stages with acrobatic jumping and climbing and cutting down your foes in a parry-riposte-attack fashion with a focus on using your surroundings to your advantage – kicking crates into folks to stun them and pushing adversaries into weapon racks, rivers and more. At one point an enemy loudly gasped and exclaimed, “She’s using the environment!” which got me pretty good.

Download the demo here.

Firebird

Brodie: A dubious contract, a desperate protagonist, and the Baba Yaga. These three ingredients alone sold me on Firebird. 

The game’s beautiful hand-drawn art from Quentin Vijoux reminded me a lot of Valiant Hearts, another colourful narrative game from back when UbiArts was a thing. It’s described as a “narrative road trip” and that feels more than apt. At risk of losing your truck to debt, you make a risky deal and head north, carefully juggling your resources and braving Slavic folklore along the way. 

It strikes me as a game that’ll be there for a good time rather than a long one. That said, its layered narrative, along with the choices you’ll be forced to make, should position Firebird as a story you’ll play again and again.

Download the demo here.

Goodbye Volcano High

Kieron: This is one that’s been on my radar for quite a while, so I jumped at the chance to get claws-on with it. Goodbye Volcano High takes the incredibly inventive premise of crafting a facsimile of life as we know it in the modern age, but populating it with anthropomorphic dinosaurs facing their potential, belated extinction.

The very short demo is designed to give players a small taste of how this visual novel-esque game plays out in the moment, with characters conversing in familiar genre fashion and the player being afforded chances to choose their responses, peppered throughout. One thing that stood out is just how often the game reports a player choice as having a tangible and/or lasting effect on how everything plays out, which should give the game a heap of replay value as you explore different outcomes. It’s also gorgeous, with far more animation and scene direction than I’m used to from the bog standard visual novel.

Download the demo here.

Laika: Aged Through Blood

Brodie: Laika is absolutely bad ass. It’s a refreshingly unique twist on the Metroidvania formula we’re all across by this point, as it puts you in the saddle of a dirt bike in what is described as a “western-inspired motorvania”.

Getting around the world on bike-back feels a lot like Trials, although it’s the offensive and defensive capacities of the game’s mother coyote lead that separates it from Ubisoft’s motocross stuntfest. The chassis itself can be used to block enemy fire, tail whips can return bullets to sender, and you can slow time to reflexively shoot occupant forces. Risky stunts like front and back flips are tied to reloads for abilities and guns, so it adds an even greater element of danger to it all. 

If I had any complaint at all, Laika is pretty squishy and any glancing blow, or bail, will send her back to the last checkpoint which, so far, hasn’t appeared to be generous. To be a fresh perspective on a pretty saturated genre is a gift in itself, but staging it all within the game’s wasteland setting makes it all the sweeter.

Download the demo here.

Nour: Play With Your Food

Kieron: This game initially caught my attention just because the title makes me feel like I’m an American attempting to say “No” in an Australian accent, but also simply because I couldn’t figure out just what it was.

Now, after having spent some time with its playable demo, I’m still not quite sure I know.

Nour is probably best described as a physics toy, but it’s also so much more than that. In the same way that the preparation and presentation of food can be a form of artistic expression, Nour invites those who interact with it to experiment with the dishes and gastronomic concepts it serves up, playing with form, colour and composition and discovering how elements interact and come together.

The demo showcases just four “dishes,” with the full game reportedly set to contain over 20 in total. I’m not quite sure how well the full game will hold my interest beyond the initial delight of messing with each new set of ingredients and tools, but it’s certainly something I’m keen to find out later in 2023.

Download the demo here.

Viewfinder

Brodie: Every so often I happen upon a video game so mind-bogglingly creative and perplexing in terms of its execution that I just can’t help but gush. If you’ve ever experienced Superliminal, Viewfinder’s surreal, reality-bending twist on a player’s perception won’t be a novel idea, though it doesn’t make it any less impressive. 

Framed as a technical experiment and housed within lush sky gardens that call to mind the peaceful world of Jon Blow’s The Witness, this demo does a remarkable job of making the game’s world-altering mechanic something you stumble upon. By finding photos in the world, holding them up in front of you and pressing the magic button, the world in front of you morphs in an instant to mirror the photo. 

Everything the demo throws at players feels easy to decipher given it’s an onboarding process, but stepping into a photo for the first time is astounding. And it’s not just photos—kid’s drawings, oil paintings, and pencil sketches all get rendered as living spaces in an instant for you to hop into like you’re Dick Van Dyke hopping into a chalk mural.

Download the demo here.

Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Music

I’ve covered this particularly special Melbourne-made title a fair bit here, but the limit does not exist and this new Steam demo gives us even more of the game to play than before, with even more scenes than previous playable slices of the game.

In case you’ve somehow missed this game up until now, it’s a bold musical roleplaying game set in a modern fantasy world where Greek gods exist at the same time as depressed zoomers, where player choice will shape outcomes – not just across the narrative but in the songs themselves. The folks at Summerfall Studios have put an absurd amount of work into integrating branching paths each musical number that change the very composition and lyrics as players make choices, which still blows my mind each time I play. And you really do need to play it to understand just how special it is, so…

Download the demo here!

The post Here Are Our Favourite Demos From Steam’s Next Fest (Part 2) appeared first on Press Start.

Steam’s always-incredible Next Fest event is back, following up a stacked couple of weeks of gaming showcases and announcements with an all-important opportunity for fans across the globe to actually try some exciting, upcoming releases for themselves.

With hundreds of games included in the line-up with demos planned to drop, there’s a lot to get through across the week-long event that kicks off in earnest on June 20th and ends on June 27th (AEST). Luckily, there’s already quite a few to check out ahead of time, and that’s exactly what known Press Start indie enjoyers Brodie and Kieron have been doing. And as is tradition, they’ve picked a handful of stand-outs each that should absolutely be on your to-play list for Next Fest.

Take a look at the picks below, and keep coming back as more demos become available:

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The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood

Brodie: Based on the huge demo available, The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood feels like an amalgamation for a lot of Deconstructeam’s past work. It takes the creative assembly style of gameplay of The Red Strings Club and melds it with the personal, poetic storytelling from their collection of reflection, Essays on Empathy. 

The hook here is you’re a fortune-telling witch floating through the void of space having only served a fraction of a coven-imposed, millenia-long exile. Without your powers or deck, you summon a behemoth—an all-powerful cosmic entity that skirts the edges of reality itself—to get you out of your jam. 

The Red Strings Club had you mixing cocktails, this one has you create from scratch a whole new deck of cards, imbued with universal elements and tied to human conditions. I’ve only scratched the surface of experimenting, but there’s a lot of fun to be had in blending together all of the pre-built backgrounds and assets.

Check out the demo.

Saltsea Chronicles

Kieron: I’ll famously not ever shut up about Mutazione, the superb narrative indie from Copenhagen studio Die Gute Fabrik, so the announcement of their new joint had me understandably stoked.

Having now tried it out for myself thanks to the Steam demo, I can unequivocally say that it’s one of my utmost anticipated games for 2023. Saltsea Chronicles takes a slightly different tack to its predecessor with streamlined interactions supporting a more complex story progression. 

Even in just this small slice of the game, which takes the crew of the ship, De Kelpie, to an offshore community with a heavy cat population, there are multiple conversational outcomes and little nuances to discover depending on which crew members you choose to make land. There’s a rich, interactive compendium of information that you discover and evolving relationships and tensions between your crew, plus an entire card-based minigame to play, which gives the impression that this game is a vastly more ambitious undertaking than Mutazione.

Check out the demo.

Venba

Brodie: Food is a core component for comfort and nostalgia, through the coming together over a meal it represents togetherness. And all of these things make up the core of Venba, a South-Indian tale of connection told through mouth-watering food.

The demo is very short, perhaps giving a window into just how long the game could end up being, but it’s well-written and was profoundly relatable for me as one half of a young married couple, even with the obvious cultural divide. 

Even from this small appetiser, the cooking itself is central to the fears and frustrations of a young Indian couple who consider trading opportunities for a return home. I expect crushing ebbs and flows in what’ll undoubtedly be a heartrending story of family and the thankless work that goes into keeping it all afloat.

Check out the demo.

Wood & Weather

Kieron: This is actually one that I’ve written about before thanks to a little hands-on with the game at the very studio that’s crafting it, Melbourne’s own Paper House, but I jumped at the chance to try my big blue hand at it again.

Wood & Weather is a very unique take on the “god game” that sees you play as an ethereal, disembodied hand that’s able to float down from the heavens to interact physically with the world – picking things up, giving objects to folks or (rudely) taking them, pulling levers, walking at ground level on your index and middle fingers, and of course changing the weather at a whim. By these powers combined you’ll summon Captain Planet puzzle out little tasks within an adorable wooden-block society through experimentation, earning Inspiration to unlock new weather types while filling out a compendium of things you’ve seen and done.

The writing is also unmistakably Australian, with the wooden doll citizens saying things like “you’re actually going to laugh but this fully isn’t my van” after I’d just used my otherworldly might to drag said van across two blocks like I was Jim’s Divine Intervention. Brilliant.

Check out the demo.

Cipher Zero

Brodie: Perhaps the simplest of the demos I’ve played, so far, Cipher Zero is a pretty basic puzzle title in futuristic dressage. 

Having dabbled with a couple of his titles, it actually feels like the central mechanic for what might be a Mike Bithell game. Without any external factors like a narrative, it’s instead bound to its alien and mechanical setting which at least gives an air of mystery to it all. 

I particularly enjoyed the lack of onboarding. Without stating it outright, it gave the impression that I’m a stranger, arriving to unravel these glyphs centuries after. However, the tasks remain intuitive and satisfying to decode. There’s certainly the promise of great escalation from “level” to “level” so I hope it continues throughout the entire game.

Check out the demo.

Jusant

Kieron: This game caught my attention immediately when it was shown off at the recent Xbox Games Showcase, so having a public demo of DON’T NOD’s unique and gorgeous blend of climbing, puzzles and adventure available so soon is a treat.

Jusant’s bold premise sees players scale an unfathomably tall, rocky tower, using a variety of tools and your wits to push higher and higher among different biomes, structures and caverns along the way. The section in the demo is fairly straightforward, giving you a tutorialised climb to a kind of waypoint building, punctuated by the odd hidden path or secret to find, but I can’t wait to see if and how the game gives players more freeform climbing objectives as the game goes on

A game designed entirely around climbing might conjure memories of the absolute least interesting part of most third person blockbuster action adventures, but Jusant couldn’t be any more its own incredibly unique and engaging take on the concept and it’s not until you try it for yourself that it becomes so very clear.

Check out the demo.

The Invincible 

Brodie: The Invincible is a moody and beautiful explorative sci-fi adventure set within the far reaches of space as you’re marooned, along with your research team, on an uncharted planet. It might seem serene, however you’ll uncover dangers both scientific and philosophical that’ll make you question everything. 

As the player, we go along with Yansa, a steely astrobiologist with a healthy curiosity about the cosmos, on her journey to find her team while filling out the blanks in her Swiss cheese-like memory of how they came to be stranded. 

The developer’s inspirations, so far as gameplay goes, include both Alien: Isolation and Firewatch, which already serves as an exciting basis for a thrilling, tense adventure. On top of all of that, the retro futuristic, atompunk art design embeds the game firmly in time, amid an alternate spin on one of mankind’s most costly dick-measuring contests: the space race.

Check out the demo.

SteamWorld Build

Kieron: I’ve long been a fan of the SteamWorld games, not least for the way that Thunderful keeps finding new ways and genres to present the same essential concept – the American West mining boom but make it robots.

This time around, it’s a town building strategy game that tasks players to build their robotic mining community in classic genre fashion, expanding and upgrading their settlements to attract more robo-residents and opportunities. The twist though, is your town is built above a rich, abandoned mine just ripe with resources, so you’ll also spend plenty of time below the surface, managing your mines and the workers within them.

SteamWorld Build’s demo does a great job at painting an accessible and immediately gratifying town management experience, but it’s the feedback loop of bettering your community to improve your mining, to pump more resources back into the community, that’s well and truly got me hooked.

Check out the demo.

The Isle Tide Hotel

Brodie: If there’s a publisher who has built a reputation on delivering schlocky, interactive live-action narratives, it’s definitely Wales Interactive. There’s an irresistible pull that I find in these choose your own adventure games that isn’t at all satisfying, in fact they’re effectively the fast food of video games. 

As is always the case, the acting is infomercial-grade and the cuts—which occur with every trivial choice you’ll make en route to one of your dozen endings—are far from seamless. That said, the mystery at the heart of it, which is built up around this eclectic cult who spend a few nights every few years in a strange hotel, seems hard to resist. 

Unlike others, which I’ve found can be very to the point, The Isle Tide Hotel feels like it has a deeper lore to unearth as you race to rescue one of the cult’s abductees. I also adore how these games can feel so landlocked in a time so long ago, and, like fast food, which tends to fill you with calories and self-loathing in equal measure, The Isle Tide Hotel is perhaps only recommendable if you’re laid up and can’t be arsed with a hearty meal. 

Check out the demo.

Jumplight Odyssey

Kieron: The folks at League of Geeks are a creative and talented bunch with the excellent Armello under their belt as well as both Solium Infernum and Jumplight Odyssey on the way. It’s the latter that’s dropped a wonderful Steam demo, and one I urge fans of strategy, social simulation, sci-fi and probably numerous other words beginning with ‘s’ to try.

At its core, Jumplight Odyssey is a game about being the captain of the enormous interstellar ship, the SDF Catalina, and a captain’s work is clearly never done. The sheer depth of the game’s simulation of starship captaincy is seriously impressive. Everything from your ship’s resource management, construction, manufacturing, defenses, crew roles, away missions, relationships and morale and a heap more all factor into the success of your runs within its roguelike structure, as you fend off attacks and work your way across the galaxy and toward the Forever Star.

Also, it opens with a brilliant 70s anime-esque animated sequence that really sets the tone for the game’s entire vibe.

Check out the demo.

The post Here Are Our Favourite Demos From Steam’s Next Fest (So Far) appeared first on Press Start.

Final Fantasy XVI is nearly upon us, and the next big blockbuster mainline series entry from Square Enix is set to be a pretty big deal. A PlayStation 5 exclusive made by a team with the legendary Naoki Yoshida at the helm and set to deliver a drastic departure in tone from recent entries, all eyes are on Final Fantasy XVI to blow fans away as well as introduce newcomers to the franchise.

With that in mind, we decided to channel our inner Harpocrates and put together a quick compendium of the most important things to know about Final Fantasy XVI, whether you’re a rabid Final Fantasy fan excitedly awaiting the June 22nd release or a curious onlooker considering dipping your toes into the franchise for the first time.

The easiest advice, though? Try out the free prologue demo containing the first two hours of the game, and transfer your save data across to the full thing! Check it out here.

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A Moogle’s Guide To Final Fantasy XVI

What Is Final Fantasy XVI About?

Final Fantasy XVI is set in the world of Valisthea, a land where magical aether flows from enormous Mothercrystals set across its two continents. A resource precious to the Valisthean ways of life, nations fight for dominion over the Mothercrystals and wield powerful beings called Eikons, controlled by extraordinarily unique humans known as Dominants, as weapons of war. Players take on the role of Clive, the son of a ruling family and bodyguard to his younger brother and heir to the throne, Joshua, who happens to be the Dominant blessed with the power of the fire Eikon, Phoenix. After a mysterious second fire Eikon, Ifrit, appears and attacks their home, Clive goes on a journey to seek out this second Dominant of fire and exact his revenge.

Do I Need To Play The Previous Final Fantasy Games?

Not at all! Like most mainline Final Fantasy games, this one is completely self-contained with its own original world, characters and gameplay systems. This entry in particular is a pretty big departure from recent entries in terms of tone, content and combat so even if you’ve tried previous titles and didn’t gel with them, this one might just be the ticket. Think less old-school turn-based JRPG and more a blockbuster mix of Game of Thrones and God of War.

What Kind Of Game Is Final Fantasy XVI?

Final Fantasy XVI is an action RPG featuring the first fully real-time combat system in a mainline entry (although Final Fantasy XV’s hybrid action came close). The combat closely resembles that of action games like Devil May Cry, with Combat Director Ryota Suzuki having previously worked on titles like Devil May Cry 5 and Dragon’s Dogma at Capcom. It’ll still feature hallmarks of the franchise like the use of elemental magic, character progression and equipment, only translated into fast-paced combat using Clive’s melee skills and unique Eikonic abilities.

Will Final Fantasy XVI Feature Party Members?

Much like previous Final Fantasy games, Final Fantasy XVI will see Clive frequently journeying with companions, although this time around they won’t feature as playable characters. Clive’s friends will join him in combat, but they’ll be strictly AI-controlled and will leave or join the party depending on what point in the game players are at. The slight exception to this is Torgal, Clive’s faithful canine who acts as a constant support and has his own set of commands that players can give him for timely assistance during combat.

Is Final Fantasy XVI Open-World?

While it’s not a seamless open world, Final Fantasy XVI will feature numerous large, explorable zones, which will open up as the story progresses. The main story quests will mostly take Clive and friends to more linear “stages” that take place in their own self-contained areas, but in-between big story moments players will be able to fast travel to each of Valisthea’s regions to freely explore, pick up sidequests from towns and settlements as well as the Hideaway hub area, complete monster hunts and more.

Who’s Making Final Fantasy XVI?

Final Fantasy XVI is the creation of Square Enix’s Creative Business Unit III, the studio largely responsible for the hugely-popular MMORPG, Final Fantasy XIV. Led by Naoki Yoshida (affectionately known as Yoshi-P), some of the team’s main creatives include director Hiroshi Takai (The Last Remnant, Final Fantasy XIV), writer Kazutoyo Maehiro (Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, Final Fantasy XII), translation director Michael-Christopher Koji Fox (NieR Automata, Final Fantasy XIV), combat director Ryota Suzuki (Devil May Cry 5, Dragon’s Dogma) and composer Masayoshi Soken (Drakengard 3, Final Fantasy XIV).

How Long Will Final Fantasy XVI Be?

Final Fantasy XVI’s creators have previously stated that the game will run for around 35-40 hours for anyone playing through just the core quests and ignoring side content, with a more complete playthrough including side content potentially running up to double that. It’s been claimed that at least 11 hours of the game’s runtime will be taken up by cutscenes, though it’s unclear whether that number represents just major cutscenes or (more likely) also includes all of the incidental conversations and optional sequences throughout.

Is There A Demo For Final Fantasy XVI?

There sure is! A playable demo is available for Final Fantasy XVI that gives players the chance to try the first couple of hours of the game for free, with progress carrying over to the full game should they decide to pick it up. During that time you’ll get to experience the game’s prologue setting up the world and characters, and get an early taste of the combat. Also included in the demo is an added battle showcasing some more of Clive’s later abilities, though this is a standalone section for the demo and won’t carry over to the full game. You can download the demo right here.

Does Final Fantasy XVI Have A 60FPS Mode?

Final Fantasy XVI feature’s two visual modes for players to choose from, a Quality mode that emphasises resolution and image quality and targets 30 FPS, as well as a Performance option that targets 60 FPS at the cost of some clarity and visual quality. Given the fast-paced action nature of the game, most players will likely lean toward the higher-performance mode, and while cutscenes will still be locked at 30FPS and performance can vary in general exploration, the team at CBUIII has said it’s optimised the combat experience especially to be as smooth as possible.

Will Final Fantasy XVI Have Difficulty/Accessibility Options?

Final Fantasy XVI has been designed with both modern action game fans and series diehards who are less familiar with fast-paced, real time combat in mind, so it’ll have two base difficulty settings alongside some extra assists. While the game won’t feature the depth of accessibility tweaks of some other AAA PlayStation exclusives, those playing in the easier Story-Focused mode or the standard Action-Focused mode will be able to make use of special equippable accessories that can smooth out the combat experience and take the edge off for anyone that finds themselves struggling with things like evasion timing, combos and Torgal commands. You can read more about those here.

Will There Be A Post-Game In Final Fantasy XVI?

Final Fantasy XVI’s post-game content will come in the form of a New Game Plus mode that allows players to carry over all of the gear and abilities they’ve obtained in a completed playthrough, while adding extra challenge in the form of a harder difficulty mode titled Final Fantasy Mode. Enemies will be stronger, and harder enemies will be placed earlier and more frequently throughout the game, but players will also be able to strengthen Clive and his gear beyond what was possible in their first playthrough. You can read more about that here.

What Is Final Fantasy XVI’s Trophy List Like?

While the PlayStation trophy list for Final Fantasy XVI hasn’t been officially published yet, we know thanks to early leaks that it’s going to be a big task. While revealing the full run of unlockable trophies would spoil some surprises, one particular task to note is that you’ll need to play through the game at least twice – once on either of the standard difficulties and then once more on that extra-hard Final Fantasy Mode difficulty. Good luck!

Is Final Fantasy XVI Coming Out On Other Platforms?

At launch, Final Fantasy XVI will be a PS5 exclusive. That exclusivity period is set to end on December 31st, 2023, after which point we don’t yet know if Square Enix is considering bringing the game to other platforms like PC – but it’s certainly possible!

Will Final Fantasy XVI Require A Day One Update To Play?

While it won’t require a day one update to play, and the team at Creative Business Unit III were adamant about not having a day one patch at all, it’s ultimately come to be that there is a small patch available at launch that adds some performance optimisations and prevents very rare and specific instances of bugs.

Final Fantasy XVI releases on June 22nd exclusively for PS5. Amazon has pre-orders for $84.99 with free shipping.

For even more on Final Fantasy XVI, check out our introduction to this new mainline entry’s dark fantasy world, or read about how it’ll cater to both longtime fans and brand-new players alike.

The post Everything You Need To Know About Final Fantasy XVI appeared first on Press Start.

Final Fantasy is back with an immersive, dark fantasy world and the series’ most action-packed combat yet. Pre-order Final Fantasy XVI now, coming exclusively to PlayStation 5 on the 22^nd June. Start your adventure with the demo today and carry over your progress! Learn more here.

Final Fantasy XVI, the next massive, mainline entry in one of gaming’s most storied and respected franchises, is nearly upon us. Launching exclusively for PlayStation 5 on June 22nd, it promises to be a blockbuster event and one of the most exciting releases this year. It’s also a pretty big departure from what long-time Final Fantasy fans know from the series in a few key ways, but with a development team rocking some impressive pedigree at the helm and all of the envelope-pushing spectacle that comes with the Final Fantasy name, there’s still plenty of reason to expect another thrilling entry.

Whether you’re a veteran Final Fantasy player or a complete newcomer drawn in by the promise of a huge and gorgeous action RPG on the PS5, there’s absolutely going to be something here for you, so let’s look at some of the ways that Final Fantasy XVI is aiming to shake things up and offer an experience that nobody should miss – and don’t forget to download and play the demo for yourself right here.

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A Visually Spectacular Rollercoaster Ride Built For PS5

It’s no secret that Final Fantasy XVI is going to be an absolute visual tour de force for the PlayStation 5 when it launches this month, joining the ranks of games like God of War Ragnarök, Horizon Zero Dawn and Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart as a showpiece for the console and a great way to see just what the new hardware is capable of.

At the core of Final Fantasy XVI’s impressive presentation is an immense sense of scale. Whether it’s the enormity of the backdrops you’ll encounter as you traverse the various and diverse regions of Valisthea or the colossal and fearsome Eikons towering over battlefields in ferocious clashes, right down to the intricate costuming and detailed, expressive faces of its characters, there’s that classic Final Fantasy quality showing through in every pixel. More than just raw detail though, the power of the PS5 is being used to enable an incredibly seamless experience that deftly weaves through exploration, combat and cutscenes without every skipping a beat or leaning on any pre-rendered sequences – from the moment you fire the game up to the moment you see the credits roll it’s a rocketing rollercoaster ride in real-time.

A Darker, More Complex Fantasy World

It might be beautiful, but Final Fantasy XVI is also going to be grim. Of that, there is no doubt. It doesn’t take much to see the influences present in this departure from what fans know of most modern Final Fantasy games. Harking back to the classically-styled Final Fantasy games of the 16-bit era there’s still plenty of talk of crystals, Chocobos and Moogles to be found, but it’s also drawing heavily on more recent and popular fantasy media, in particular the likes of Game of Thrones and The Witcher, when it comes to its themes.

This is a darker and more mature Final Fantasy experience, dealing in themes of oppression, warfare and frequent, bloody betrayals. Caught up in a grand-scale conflict between nations vying over control of a precious, magical resource, Final Fantasy XVI’s protagonist, Clive, and his growing cohort aren’t the fresh-faced teenage world-savers you’ll find in most Japanese RPGs. These are people clawing and scraping their way out of a doomed existence, literal weapons of war that are barely considered human forced to tear each other apart at the behest of kings and queens, lending a complex emotional weight and sense of desperation to everything that fans of George R. R. Martin and Andrzej Sapkowski’s works will appreciate.

Modern Action Combat That Hasn’t Lost The Final Fantasy Essence

It’s a big shift from what a lot of Final Fantasy fans know, but the series’ first fully action-based combat system is exciting for a number of reasons. For those accustomed to modern action blockbusters, it’s going to be a much more familiar prospect than the turn-based and hybrid systems of old, but even veterans have a lot to like here.

It’s no secret that having Ryota Suzuki (Devil May Cry, Dragon’s Dogma) on board as the game’s Combat Director has given the game a distinct feel in its action, but there’s no shortage of Final Fantasy-isms here whether it’s the damage numbers flying out of enemies or the Eikonic abilies that Clive will gain over the course of the game that keep things feeling like a proper RPG. There’s a ton of depth to the systems at play for those that want it, but players unaccustomed to action games will still have a fighting chance thanks to an optional easier difficulty setting and a series of equippable items designed to smooth over some of the edge in combat by simplifying or automating things like evasions, combos and Torgal commands – all without sacrificing the fun and pace of fights.

Leaderboards? In My RPG?

Something that’s going to feel a little different to a lot of RPG fans but will definitely excite anyone that enjoys the Devil May Cry flavour of fast-paced action games is a host of features that add a ton of replayability and competition into the mix. From the Arete Stone in the game’s central hideaway, which acts as a hub for shopping and important NPCs among other things, players can not only replay sections of the game to relive their favourite moments or pick up missed items but there’s also a dedicated Arcade Mode for testing your combat skills and chasing high performance grades.

Arcade Mode will even have leaderboards available for those that jump back into a New Game+ playthrough with the game’s even more challenging Final Fantasy Mode difficulty, adding a huge amount of replay value and action-focused fun into the mix. Further to all of that, special “Chronolith Trials” based on each Eikon will put players in different situations with specific character abilities in challenging time trials, and again will have leaderboards available on the higher difficulty levels unlocked post-game.

Lore In Order

One of the more exciting and relatively unsung new features in Final Fantasy XVI is a comprehensive lore offering that aims both to please loreheads with a veritable library of in-depth knowledge on the game’s world, characters, factions, kingdoms, history and more as well as keep those that struggle with information overload in the loop. In the hideaway hub area, players can visit a Loresman named Hypocrates to pore over a gradually-expanding trove of information on everything a resident of Valisthea could hope to know, as well as Vivian Ninetales – another scholar with a taste for politics who can keep players apprised of the state of the world as the narrative plays out.

For those that aren’t into heavy lore dumps or just don’t have a mind for details, an intuitive Active Time Lore feature allows players to pause the action at any point in the game to see a handful of lore entries at a glance, all based on where they are, who they’re with and what’s happening – even during cutscenes. For someone like me that constantly finds themselves asking “Wait, who is that again?” it’ll be a relief to know you can quickly pull up a handy explainer in the moment.

Final Fantasy XVI is launching on June 22nd exclusively for PlayStation 5. A demo is available now with save transfer to the full game. Learn more and pre-order here.

The post How Final Fantasy XVI’s Fresh Take On The Series Caters To Fans And First-Timers appeared first on Press Start.

Final Fantasy is back with an immersive, dark fantasy world and the series’ most action-packed combat yet. Pre-order Final Fantasy XVI now, coming exclusively to PlayStation 5 on the 22^nd June. Start your adventure with the demo today and carry over your progress! Learn more here.

Final Fantasy has a knack for reinventing itself with each mainline entry into one of gaming’s most well-known franchises. Alongside pivoting to an action framework, Final Fantasy XVI has a strong focus on building a dark fantasy world, drawing from contemporary epics like Game of Thrones and The Witcher. It’s not the first time Final Fantasy has ventured into a medieval setting, but new ground is being broken in the way it explores themes and characters.

It’s a markedly different approach from what we’ve seen in prior entries, but not one that’s all too surprising given the recent resurgence of dark fantasy media. Here’s a look at a few of the things that Final Fantasy XVI is doing to deliver on this commitment to a darker, grittier Final Fantasy – and don’t forget to check out the playable PS5 demo for yourself right here.

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The Legacy of the Crystals

Conflict in Valisthea comes down to the Mothercrystals; sources of aether that powers the magicks many rely upon in daily life. This power is dwindling, though, and the deadlands close in on untainted land. It’s these final flickers of aether that ignites the struggle for power and control over the Mothercrystals. Neighbouring kingdoms are locked in conflict while contending with the inevitable creep of Blight and the deadlands.

Despite their imminent downfall, the people of Valisthea hold on to the blessings of the Mothercrystals as if their lives depend on it. It’s the steadfast belief in the Mothercrystals that leads to shaky alliances and backstabbing betrayals akin to what you’d find in Game of Thrones. It’s a narrative embroiled in uncertainty, desperation, and oppression that doesn’t shy away from all the brutality that comes with it.

Weapons of War

Final Fantasy’s legendary summons – better known as Eikons in Valisthea – are at the forefront of XVI’s narrative, but in a way we’ve not seen them before. Eikons are beings of immense power, each one residing within a single person called a Dominant. While some regions in Valisthea herald Dominants as war heroes and treat them as royalty, others live in fear of their power and enslave them as weapons of war. Dominants are portrayed in Final Fantasy XVI similarly to the handling of Witchers, both in reputation and the way they’re perceived by those around them.

Regardless of which kingdom a Dominant is born into, it’s a life of cruel and inescapable fate shaped by bloodshed and the wars fought by those that harbour these titanic entities. The fallout of a duel between Eikons is catastrophic. Armies are crushed underfoot and stray elemental blasts snuff out the lives of unsuspecting victims. It’s this senseless, perpetuated violence that moulds Valisthea’s perception of Eikons and Dominants at large, stoking the flames of conflict and fostering fear within the people.

Pawns of Fate

An RPG isn’t an RPG without an engaging cast of characters to accompany and play as during your journeys. Clive Rosfield is Final Fantasy XVI’s protagonist, the firstborn son of the Archduke of Rosaria. After failing to awaken as Phoenix’s Dominant, he lives to protect his younger brother, Joshua, who inherited the Eikon of fire instead. Childhood friend of Clive and Joshua is Jill Warrick, Dominant of Shiva, who was raised as a Rosfield after being taken from her homeland. It’s these three that form the backbone of Final Fantasy XVI’s exploration of fate, burden, and revenge.

It’s through the lens of these characters that we’ll come to learn what life is like as a Dominant in Valisthea. While Clive is quick to throw himself into harm’s way to protect Joshua, the young Dominant is much less confident in his abilities. He struggles to understand why he was chosen to inherit the flames of the Phoenix over Clive, and contends with the burden of expectation that comes with inheriting an Eikon. These themes are at the core of Final Fantasy XVI’s dark fantasy narrative, and will no doubt define its characters across Clive’s journey.

A More Mature Fantasy

All of these elements are wrapped up in presentation that reinforces the dark tone and gritty world setting of Valisthea. Creature designs for Final Fantasy staples are more rooted in traditional fantasy while still retaining their core identities, people are killed in ruthlessly violent fashion, and voice work delivers the emotional depth and tact you’d expect from the sharp tongue of characters like Geralt. If you’re concerned about the potential lack of Moogles and Chocobos, there’s no need to worry – they’ve made the cut.

Dark themes and ideas are nothing if they can’t be explored in an appropriate fashion, and Final Fantasy XVI looks to deliver in spades in this regard. Aside from a more gritty presentation through incredible visual fidelity afforded by the PS5, Masayoshi Soken’s original score is sure to provide. If the trailer themes are anything to go off of, it’s clear that Final Fantasy XVI will deliver orchestral bliss similar to what can be found in Soken’s recent work on Final Fantasy XIV.

Final Fantasy XVI is launching on June 22nd exclusively for PlayStation 5. A demo is available now with save transfer to the full game. Learn more and pre-order here.

The post Building A Dark Fantasy World In Final Fantasy XVI appeared first on Press Start.

I’ve been using the Samsung S95C OLED TV for the last two weeks. It’s Samsung’s second attempt at an OLED and it uses a QD-OLED display, which has some huge benefits over others on the market such as the LG C2 that we reviewed last year.

Whilst you can read my full review of it HERE, I did want to call out why it’s such a good TV for gaming. You’ve got four HDMI 2.1 ports, but the panel is able reach 144hz for PC gaming, which is a big boost above TVs from other manufacturer. You’ve also got FreeSync Premium Pro and the ability to turn on ultrawide modes in both 21:9 and 31:9 as well.

Samsung is still the only TV provider to have Xbox Game Pass Cloud Gaming built-in, and with the likes of Starfield and Forza Motorsport releasing this year, it’s still insane to me that you’ll be able to just connect any controller and be able to jump into those games without any console needed.

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Game Bar has gone to a new level this year, still easily displaying your frame rate and VRR status in real time, but you can now add a virtual aim pointer and also zoom in your minimap for games like Call Of Duty. Sure, these aren’t things that every gamer will use, but it’s nice to have them.

CURRENTLY ON SPECIAL AT THE GOOD GUYS: 55-INCH / 65-INCH / 77-INCH

Overall, the picture quality is just absolutely fantastic, with those super inky blacks that we’ve come to know and love from OLED displays, with a whole new level of brightness and vibrancy that I haven’t seen before in an OLED TV, and paired with the likes of 144hz, Xbox Cloud Gaming built in and the improved Game Bar, it really does just feel a notch about any other TV that I’ve used in the OLED space.

@shannongrixti

The Samsung S95C OLED is the best TV that I’ve used for gaming #Samsung #OLED #SamsungOLED #S95C #gaming #gamingontiktok

? original sound – Shannon Grixti | Gaming & Tech

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After being revealed two years ago, the recent Ubisoft Forward finally gave us our first real look at what Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora looks like.

It turns out there was some validity to the months-old leaks that suggested Frontiers of Pandora would be a first-person game and, expectedly, pit the player against the humans as a Na’vi native.

Following our hands-off presentation at Ubisoft’s event, we got a brief moment to chat with Magnus Jensen, the game’s Creative Director, about whether Frontiers of Pandora might mix in with the films, flying your Ikran, and how they’ve worked Avatar’s environmental ethos into the game itself.

To read our hands-off preview click HERE.

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The showcase obviously made mention of side quests, can you elaborate on what they might look like in Frontiers of Pandora? 

So one of the coolest aspects of making a game, especially an open-world game, is that you can go out on the periphery of everything that is Pandora. 

You can go and look at any plant, anything really, from any angle, you can go into the cultures of the different clans we’re making for you. We have three completely separate clans for three new regions.

But yes, many of the side quests are about getting a deeper understanding of what this particular culture is, what it means to be Na’vi, and ultimately going into this world of Pandora and discovering and learning about it. It’s about the depth of the world, the side quests, and everything you do in the open world is a fantastic canvas for us to allow players to go much deeper than they could otherwise. 

Frontiers of Pandora is occupying its own little slice of the world established across two films, but can we expect any crossover at all considering it is ultimately a concurrent narrative? 

So primarily, we have really gone in wanting to do something completely different from the movie. And this is something that was worked out super early when we started discussions. 

I was also super pleased to learn that Lightstorm were not interested in retreading or having a recreation of the movie, or its characters. Because Pandora’s a vast culture, a vast world, we went with all new characters, all new story, new everything. 

It’s really about the Western frontier, that’s what it’s all about. 

Just on Lightstorm, their involvement, as well as Disney, were you given the freedom to create this original story, or was it largely managed from the top? 

Oh, we had enormous freedom, but we wanted help from the best and the best are the people making these films. 

It really is a collaboration, a co-creation. We work every day with the people from Lightstorm, and many of them are from New Zealand so the time zone shenanigans are enormous for us over in Sweden. 

But we work with the story experts, the creature experts, the animation experts, biome experts, and costume experts. I don’t get starstruck very easily, or often, but these people we’re working with are super early on the film’s credits. And they’re so excited to be working on this because something they created might be visible for one frame in the film, but here you can go up, look at it, turn it around, and inspect it. 

When I first considered what an Avatar game could be, my mind drifted more toward an Assassin’s Creed-like. How did you arrive at the concept of a first-person shooter? 

So I just wanted to say that I don’t agree that it’s a first-person shooter, and it’s an important distinction to make. 

Yes, there is a tremendous amount of spectacular action in the game and you have a vast array of weapons and approaches that you can take. You can go loud, or you can sneak in with Na’vi weapons, it’s really about being a freedom fighter, and that’s true of all of Avatar. 

But it’s so much more than that, it’s going to Pandora and stepping into the screen. To me, it’s an immersion vehicle, an escapism machine. Being able to go there and be immersed, that has a lot of value. And in the first-person perspective, it’s the most immersed and close you can possibly be to something. You go up and they react to your touch.

And it’s not just the animals that react. Plants react, and the whole world is living and simulated, it pushes back. So the first-person perspective was a natural choice for us. 

The decision to make the character a Na’vi returning to Pandora in a sense and coming to understand their heritage, was that a deliberate effort to have players share her journey?

Oh, totally. 

We’re super happy about our origin story. First of all, because it further drives home and really shines some light on the exploitation of the RDA and how they treat everything as theirs. Everything is a tool or a resource to them, like how they’d try and train these kids as Ambassadors. 

But you know, as a game maker breaking the fourth wall a bit here, it has the advantage of allowing the player-character and the player to be on equal footing when it comes to discovering and learning things for the first time. 

The growth journey is amazing when you start from being completely out of touch with Pandora and everything Na’vi, the journey is just that much more amazing. 

So with your Ikran, or banshee, are we able to freely fly and land them anywhere? 

Yeah, you can. You can fly absolutely anywhere. I won’t go into specific details on missions or story twists, there are some moments where it mightn’t be available but, in general, everything you see in those trailers you can fly to. 

It’s very open and you can get off anywhere. It’s perhaps not advisable to get off anywhere, but you can. It’s up to you, we trust players to make mistakes and learn from them, just don’t land anywhere dangerous, maybe? 

Avatar has always had environmentalism at its heart. Is that where the idea of careful harvesting emerged from? 

The ethos of Avatar, which is environmentalism and sustainability, is one that we are super behind, and something that we wanted to embrace and run with. 

So, as a game maker, we’re not just creating this bigger message about pollution and the way the RDA are exploiting, we’re tying that to the gameplay. The pollution actually has a negative effect, it shuts down Na’vi camps you’d otherwise access for missions and gear.

More to your question about harvesting, that same pollution can also taint something you might really want for crafting or cooking.  

So the message is there and very much there in both the gameplay and the story. We wanted to try and embed it in a meaningful way so that the gamer could really feel it. 

Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora releases December 7, 2023 for PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC. Amazon has the Standard Edition pre-order for $89 with free shipping and the Gold Edition for $149 with free shipping.

The author travelled to Los Angeles as a guest of Ubisoft for the purposes of this preview.

The post We Spoke With Massive Entertainment About Creating Their Piece Of Avatar With Frontiers Of Pandora appeared first on Press Start.

One of the big surprises from the Xbox Games Showcase was definitely our first glimpse at Massive Entertainment’s ambitious Star Wars project and the first truly open-world game in the franchise Star Wars Outlaws. Obviously, we got a deeper look at the game prior to Ubisoft’s Forward event which debuted gameplay.

We got to have a quick chat with the game’s Creative Director, Julian Gerighty, about what it means to work on the mammoth IP, some of Kay’s trade secrets, and just how big the galaxy out there could be.

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Firstly, what does it mean to you to work on an IP as big as Star Wars, a huge privilege I imagine. 

Julian: Yeah, the short answer is yes. 

Yeah, I think if you ask a developer at my age, who grew up with Star Wars where it was such a culturally important milestone in their life, this is like a dream come true. 

If you told a seven-year-old me: “Put down the VHS of Star Wars, you’re gonna be able to work on a Star Wars game, help create a droid, a creature.” It would have blown my mind. So, this is unbelievably cool. 

What made the gap between empire and return feel like the right moment for this scoundrel story?

Julian: So when we pitched a scoundrel, fantasy game to LucasFilm Games, they pointed to this one period, between those two movies, which is perfect. The Empire has just won this incredible battle at Hoth, the rebels are on the back foot, have been fractured, and disappeared. The syndicates are taking advantage of that chaos, taking power and fighting amongst themselves. 

So, with all of this happening, it’s a perfect moment for a scoundrel to fit in and find opportunities.

Looking at the shooting, and the cover combat in particular, it feels like there’s some of The Division’s DNA present here. Did your experience with that game inform the direction here at all?

Julian: To be honest, not at all. In the sense that what we wanted to do is to create something that really fit the scoundrel fantasy and a scoundrel, especially this scoundrel Kay Vess, she’s not a trained soldier. She’s a resourceful underdog.

So, how does that feel super different from any other shooter? Maybe we’re going to have a little bit more precision on hip-fire, there’ll be elements within the world where you can do ricochets, you can lean into trick shots, you can use gadgets, anything you can put your hands on to get the upper hand when you’re in a situation. 

And sometimes that means not fighting at all, stealth becomes a huge part of the experience.

We obviously saw the game’s wanted system in action after Kay doesn’t go through with bribing the Imperial guard. I expect there are other ways you can find yourself wanted in this world?

Julian: Of course! If you commit a crime in front of an Imperial officer, or if you get caught sneaking into Empire territory, that’s going to shift your wanted level up a notch. 

Everything we saw alludes to Outlaws being not only a very big open world but a big open galaxy (far, far away). Just how big is this game?

Julian: We’re not going to go into exactly how many planets, we featured Toshara and there are a lot of other planets sort of hinted at in the gameplay walkthrough and each planet has all of these elements of cities, settlements, and wide-open spaces. Things to discover like caves, artefacts, it’s got a full open-world library of things.

Then, on top of that, you have got your speeder bike. And, on top of that again, you’ve got your ship that you can jump into, go into the orbit of all of these moons and planets, and explore. All of their contracts, the smuggling, dogfighting, larger scale battles, that type of thing. 

So, it’s quite an expansive experience.

We saw a moment where Kay is sprung by a hired gun, and it ultimately leads to a shootout. I presume we’ll be able to diffuse these situations from time to time?

Julian: This is through the lens of the scoundrel experience, and part of that fantasy is talking your way out of the situation. So, giving you that option, which sometimes it’s going to work, sometimes it’s not going to work, was very important for us.

Being set between Empire and Return, and having worked with LucasFilm so closely, is it right to presume Outlaws will officially be canon? 

Julian: Yes. 

Amazing. And as cute as Nix is, I don’t want anything bad to happen to him. Obviously, we can send him out into action. Tell me he can’t get hurt.

Julian: I did not anticipate this question. And I think you’re a cruel, cruel man for even asking that. 

Well, I hope he can’t!

Julian: He can’t die, are you kidding? We’re not going to harm Nix.

Good, I’m glad to hear it. The game looks phenomenal, thanks for giving up your time to talk with us. 

Star Wars Outlaws is coming to PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC in 2024.

The author travelled to Los Angeles as a guest of Ubisoft for the purposes of this preview.

The post We Spoke With Massive Entertainment About Being A Scoundrel In Star Wars Outlaws appeared first on Press Start.

The season of June gaming showcases continues with Ubisoft the next cab off the rank with a stacked line-up of announcements, updates and of course plenty of new trailers.

Ubi had a strong showing this year with a heap of new looks at some of its exciting future line-up, including the just-announced Star Wars Outlaws as well as Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora and, of course, plenty of Assassin’s Creed.

Read on for a breakdown of everything we saw at the event, and be sure to follow along with all of the links for our direct impressions right out of the event in LA, including hands-on with some of the titles shown.

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Ubisoft Forward Showcase 2023

Star Wars Outlaws

Yves Guillemot turned up to close out the huge Ubisoft Forward showcase and introduce creative director, Julian Gerighty, with the first-ever look at gameplay from Star Wars Outlaws. The game will star thief, Kay Vess, and her adorable animal partner Nix, as they seek their freedom and inadvertently find themselves some of the galaxy’s most wanted outlaws with bounty hunters and criminals at their backs.

It’s a fully open-world adventure set between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, and it looks positively gorgeous in action. We see Kay and Nix work together to make their way through a restricted area with stealth, before being spotted and engaging in some good, old-fashioned blaster combat (with some melee thrown in for good measure), escape on a speeder bike, navigate tense dialogue sequences and then flee the planet out to space for some dogfighting action.

Star Wars Outlaws launches for PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC in 2024.

Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora

We finally got our first major look at Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, including a look at the game’s story, protagonist and proper gameplay footage. It looks visually stunning, and almost like an Avatar-themed take on the modern Far Cry formula – just with more flying around on freaky creatures and touching glowing plants.

We also got a release date of December 7th this year, for PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One and PC. Also, James Cameron was there.

Assassin’s Creed Mirage

Ubisoft introduced a new story trailer for this new Assassin’s Creed title, which takes the series’ gameplay back to its roots and follows Assassin’s Creed Valhalla’s Basim on as-yet-untold adventures. Sarah Beaulieu, narrative director, describes Basim’s journey in Baghdad and his path to becoming a Hidden One.

This was followed by a nearly-eight-minute gameplay showcase for the title, which goes into detail on Mirage’s back-to-basics approach to gameplay complete with free-flowing parkour and detailed stealth mechanics plus some of the more modern concessions that fans will know from recent games.

Assassin’s Creed Mirage releases on October 12th for PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One and PC.

Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown

Another look at the exciting new direction for Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, this time by way of an impressive, stylised cinematic trailer, followed by a deeper introduction to gameplay with game director, Mounir Radi. Radi explains the game’s blend of classic Prince of Persia gameplay and concepts championed by the “metroidvania” genre.

We get a good look at Sargon’s platforming and combat prowess and the game’s incredibly stylish 2.5 visuals. Time powers have returned as well, making for some incredibly cool-looking action and puzzle solving with a focus on creativity in-the-moment.

Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown releases on January 18 for PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Switch and PC.

Captain Laserhawk: A Blood Dragon Remix

Far Cry 3’s Blood Dragon expansion is being turned into an animated series from Adi Shankar. Pegged as a violent, satirical dystopian fiction with animation from Bobbypill studios and it’s coming to Netflix later this year. This was announced back in 2021, but now we have a new teaser:

The Crew Motorfest

Ubisoft dropped a saucy new sizzle trailer for The Crew Motorfest, before inviting creative director, Stephane Beley, on stage to introduce the game the future of The Crew in depth. It’s all about car culture, and finding fun on the dazzling island of O’ahu in Hawaii. The game will feature a number of Playlists, each with its own atmosphere and unique gameplay feel based on different categories and cultures of racing.

The Crew Motorfest is launching on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One and PC on September 14th. The Crew 2 players will also be able to import their car collection to the new game for free.

Assassin’s Creed Nexus VR

A new trailer was shown for Ubisoft’s VR take on Assassin’s Creed, which we very recently learned has been given the title Assassin’s Creed Nexus VR. It’s coming to Meta Quest at an unannounced date. The game will put players in the virtual bodies of Ezio, Kassandra and Connor.

Assassin’s Creed Codename Jade

In the same breath, Ubisoft re-introduced Assassin’s Creed Codename Jade, the new free-to-play mobile RPG. A beta is incoming, and players can register here for a chance to participate.

Skull & Bones

Ubisoft brought a band on stage to perform a shanty-inspired acoustic number, complete with beatboxer. A closed beta for the game is happening from August 25th to August 28th, and keen players can register for a chance to participate here.

The Division Resurgence

A new promo trailer premiered for Ubisoft’s mobile take on The Division, which promises a full-on series experience on-the-go. It does look mighty impressive for something running on mobile hardware, and it’s slated to launch in Spring this year. Pre-registrations are open now with rewards for those that do.

XDefiant

Ubisoft announced it’s holding another beta test for its upcoming online shooter, this time completely open to the public, from June 21st to 23rd in order to get a feel for the improvements made since the closed beta.

The game’s launch season and year 1 roadmap was also revealed, which will roll in new factions, weapons and maps over the course of the game’s first 12 months.

The post All Of The Announcements And Trailers From Ubisoft Forward appeared first on Press Start.

Another year and another Summer Game Fest, and we also have yet another Xbox Games Showcase. The event is slated to kick off at 3AM EST on June 12th and is slated to feature a mix of first and third-party games for the publisher.

Notably, the showcase this year is said to contain a good mix of gameplay and CG footage, though Xbox Games VP Aaron Greenberg has confirmed that “none of our first-party games in the show are full CG trailers” and added that everything shown will contain in-game footage, in-engine footage or a mix with cinematics.

There are also no time restrictions, so that awkward showcase from last year where almost nothing eventuated (yet) won’t happen again.

So, take my hand and skip with me down the green brick road to reminisce on what games I think Xbox might show at their showcase this weekend, complete with arbitrary percentages that I’ve completely made up. Some of the games are even made up.

And as a disclaimer – I won’t mention Starfield here. We know it’s coming; it has its event after, and there is no point in ruminating on its presence at the event.

FORZA MOTORSPORT

Likelihood: 100%

Can you even believe we’re up to thirteen instalments in the Forza series? Me neither.

This one is the eighth in the Motorsport and you know they mean business because they’ve dropped the number from the title. Nobody wants to know you’ve been around the bend eight times, so this is a good choice.

The game will feature more than 500 vehicles and 800 upgrades and everyone’s favourite resource-hog, ray-tracing. There’s even a fully procedural cloud system, so if you ever want to look in the sky, you can rest assured that the clouds will look nice.

Forza Motorsport is due for release in 2023 for PC and Xbox Series X|S.

FABLE

Likelihood: 43.2%

I feel like I’ve been talking about this game for about twenty years, but it’s only been five years, apparently.

Developed by Playground Games, the British-born studio responsible for Forza Horizon, the game is purported to be a reboot. It was revealed to the masses almost two years ago and while we didn’t see anything resembling gameplay, the tone and whimsy was certainly there.

Since then, we’ve seen almost nothing of the game and there’s even been rumours that Playground, who usually make racing games, are struggling to make an action RPG like Fable. Who would have thought? Regardless, let’s hope that we’ll get some kind of update on the game in the near future. The niche that Fable inhabits has been largely untapped, so I’d welcome it back into my home with open arms. Which is more than I can say for most games and even some of my friends.

Fable is due for release at some point for PC and Xbox Series X|S.

CONTRABAND

Likelihood: 66.2%

No, this isn’t the middling 2012 film starring Mark Wahlberg and Kate Beckinsale. It’s an honest mistake that I made myself.

But rather, it’s a brand new IP from Avalanche, the studio who has already done some great work in bringing us Just Cause, Mad Max and RAGE 2.

All we know about the game so far is that it’s a “co-op smugglers paradise” that’s set in a fictional world of Bayan during the 1970s. The concept is great, but given that’s all we know about it, it’s hard to get too excited without seeing more.

Contraband has yet to be dated but it’s releasing for PC and Xbox Series X|S.

SENUA’S SAGA: HELLBLADE II

Likelihood: 87%

It truly feels like a saga at this point, but it’s high time that Senua made a pilgrimage along our screens again.

Once again announced at the 2019 Game Awards, we’ve since been treated to photos of the development teams trip to Scandinavia and a lengthy and super realistic gameplay sequence too.

The time feels right for Hellblade II to make an appearance and maybe even nail down a release window. Ninja Theory have proven time and time again they can craft compelling stories in even more fantastic worlds, so here’s hoping.

Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II will release with or without it’s dead husbands skull for PC and Xbox Series X|S.

EVERWILD

Likelihood: 75%

Announced back in 2019, there were rumours that not even Rare knew what Everwild was.

Originally, the word on the grape vine was that it was a third person adventure game with elements taken from god games, while other reports claimed that the game had no combat whatsoever.

More recent comments on the game claim that it’s been rebooted several times since then, though the latest implies that it could be something like Viva Pinata. Regardless, with Gregg Mayles at the helm, who’s directed greats like Banjo-Kazooie, I’m excited to see what direction Everwild takes.

Continuing tradition, Everwild doesn’t yet have a release date, but it’s releasing for PC and Xbox Series X|S.

A NEW BANJO-KAZOOIE GAME

Likelihood: 12%

Look, I don’t know what else I can say about this, but it’s clear Microsoft isn’t done with Banjo or Kazooie.

Not only has he made his way to Nintendo’s online services, but he’s even appeared in Super Smash Bros. It’s time Microsoft took back some of that furry or feathery goodness for themselves.

I’m honestly at the point where I’ll take just one of them. Give me a Banjo game. I’ll even take a Kazooie game. Even a game where I scrub rust off of Clankers cavernous undercarriage. Please. Anything.

The new grimdark Banjo-Kazooie reboot doesn’t exist yet but if it does it’ll be releasing for PC and Xbox Series X|S.

PERFECT DARK

Likelihood: 6%

It’s been a long time since Joanna Dark graced our screens and perhaps it’ll be even longer until she does again.

Originally announced with a snazzy trailer at The Game Awards, Perfect Dark was slated to be a reimagining of the franchise taking place in an “eco sci-fi” landscape.

It’s a cool take that’ll lean into the spy side of things to differentiate itself from other shooters, but we’ve seen nothing of it since. Several key staff have left and Crystal Dynamics has stepped in to help new studio The Initiative to work on what’s been dubbed the first ever “AAAA” game, whatever that means.

Perfect Dark remains in the dark but when it emerges into the light, it’ll be for PC and Xbox Series X|S.

STATE OF DECAY 3

Likelihood: 82%

It’s been almost five years since State of Decay 3 was announced and even then it was done with a CG trailer by the finest CG purveyor, Blur.

Since then, we’ve, once again, heard nothing. The point of the trailer was to convey a sense of fear, isolation and horror – which is how it feels to be an Xbox fan in 2023.

Jokes aside, there’s so much that can be done with State of Decay’s people-focused take on a pandemic. The trailer seemed to imply animals might be added to the mix, though perhaps I’m being too ambitious.

State of Decay 3 is targeting release for PC and Xbox Series X|S.

HIDEO KOJIMA’S XBOX GAME

Likelihood: 12%

Hideo Kojima reckons that the game he announced in partnership with Xbox last year is the “game he always wanted to make”.

The game is said to be a game that is completely new and that nobody has experienced before. It will apparently utilise the cloud technology that Xbox provides to provide a player experience like no other.

Rumours are swirling that this project is called Overdose and is a horror game of some sort. But, once again, we haven’t seen anything more since the original announcement. The time feels right to show off whatever Kojima’s project is, even if it’s just in-engine footage without raw gameplay.

THE EVIL WITHIN 3

Likelihood: 0.2%

The true Evil Within is the fact that Zenimax hasn’t commissioned another Evil Within game. See what I did there?

Hi-Fi Rush was fantastic, but I would be lying if I said that I wasn’t a little bit disappointed that Tango might not be working on another Evil Within game. I recognise that the first two weren’t great commercial performers, but the market is different now.

Resident Evil is a stronger brand than ever. Alan Wake is pivoting to horror. Even EA put out a stellar horror game earlier this year, even if it was a remake.

Shinjin Mikami has left Tango, but his protege John Johannsen proved that he could direct a game in the series with the second game. The time is right to bring back The Evil Within and tie up all those loose ends left hanging by both games.

The Evil Within 3 doesn’t exist yet but I hope it will someday for PC and Xbox Series X|S.

The post 10 Games We Want To See At The 2023 Xbox Games Showcase appeared first on Press Start.

It was only last year that I was ruminating that we might have a Silent Hill announcement at last year’s Summer Game Fest. Now, we have that, so what else could I want?

I’m not sure, but I stayed up until 3AM to bring you all the latest announcements, so please read on and make it all worth it. Thank you.

There are heaps of announcements, so be sure to read ahead to recap yourself in the most stylish way possible.

ALL OF THE SUMMER GAME FEST 2023 ANNOUNCEMENTS

The Show Closed With Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth

It’s looking mighty fine, with the trailer showing off a lot of the expansive open worlds you’ll be able to explore this time around. It’s releasing in early 2024 for PlayStation 5.

Insomniac Showed Off The Box Art And More Details About Spider-Man 2

We got a look at some cool concept art and lots of teases about Venom which is what people care about. The release date was also revealed, and it’s coming on October 20th.

Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown Is A Brand New Take On The Franchise

It’s an action-adventure platformer that’s releasing on January 18th 2024 for all major platforms. It’s basically the old Prince of Persia style but with a more high octane action-filled style.

A Brand New 2D Sonic With Co-Op Is On The Way

There are abilities to master, friends to play with and a crispy and colourful art style. I was ready to shit on this, but I’m actually pretty keen for it. It’s called Sonic Superstars and it’s coming to all major platforms. It’s out this year.

We Finally Got Our First Look At Mortal Kombat 1 Gameplay

The gameplay reveal showed off a heap of characters, the story mode and characters we’ll be able to summon mid-battle using the brand new Kameo system. It’s just as gorey as you’d expect and releases in September.

We Got To Have A Peek At Some Gameplay Of Path of Exile 2

We have Diablo at home. You’ll be able to find out more on July 28th at ExileCon.

Exoprimal and Street Fighter Are Crossing Over

The trailer showed us robotic Ryu and Guile fighting dinosaurs in Exoprimal. I’m not sure how to feel, but bless Capcom for throwing Exoprimal a bone.

Nicolas Cage Joined Geoff On Stage To Show Off……Himself in Dead By Daylight

Geoff even brought out Nicolas Cage himself to chat about it. He’s coming to Dead By Daylight in July. I will still not be playing. Sorry. Shannon thought it was Alan Wake. It’s all so much.

The Season 3 Trailer For The Witcher Was Shown

Mmm. Witchery. Not the David Jones brand, but the err Witcher. There was lots of blood and magic but no sex, but I’m sure that will come when the season premieres later this year.

We Got A Brief But Juicy Look At Witchfire And A Date Too

It’s like a ye olde first-person shooter with some cool magical effects and skulls. The full package really. It’s launching in early access in September.

We Got A Better Look At Remnant II And It’s More Sci-Fi Than You’d Expect

It has a much more science-fiction tinge than the previous game. It’s releasing on July 25th. Tom, if you’re reading this, we’re playing this. xoxo

Honkai Star Rail Is Coming To PlayStation 5

This was Shannon’s pick of the show. The free to play RPG is coming to PlayStation 5 at the end of the year.

Lies Of P Got A New Trailer, A Demo And A Release Date

This has the potential to be “we have Bloodborne at home” but my nose would grow if I said I wasn’t still keen to try it out. See what I did there? I hope you can grow your nose, snap it off and use it as a weapon. Is that too much to ask? It’s releasing September 19th. It’s also on Game Pass.

Sandland Is A Manga Adaptation From Akira Toriyama

It features a post-apocalyptic desert setting and vehicular combat. Groundbreaking. It’s from Akira Toriyama, and it’s called Sandland. Mmm.

Yet Another Free To Play MMORPG From The Makers Of Guild Wars Is On Its Way

It’s called Throne and Liberty. NCSoft and Amazon Games have teamed up to offer another free-to-play RPG with PvPvE elements. I guess NCSoft succeeded with Lineage and Guild Wars, but I’m still unsure if this is it.

Another Warhaven Trailer Was Shown

It’s a 16v16 third-person action game set in a medieval battlefield. It’s not my vibe, once again, but I’m sure someone will enjoy it.

Party Animals Finally Got A Release Date

It’s looking like a more cooked Gang Beasts. It’s out on September 20th, and is also coming to Game Pass.

The Next Batch of Dying Light 2 Updates Were Teased

The June update will bring more dangerous nights and improved parkour, while future updates will be unlike “anything we’ve done before”. Cute, I guess.

Sam Lake Rocked Up And Chatted About Alan Wake II And Show Us More Of It

The brief gameplay clip showed off some of the combat in Saga’s side of the story. It looks juicy, and I’m ready. It’s coming October 17th.

Warhammer: Space Marine II Has A Co-Op Campaign Now And Looks Better Than The Other 20 Warhammer Games Released This Year

What if Gears of War, Dead Space and Warhammer had a baby? That’s kind of what you’ve got here. The trailer confirmed that the campaign will support co-op for up to three players. It’s still on track for this year, but they won’t confirm when. Sorry.

Yes, Your Grace Is Getting A Sequel Next Year

It’s one of those pixel-art games with realistic lighting, and looks great. It’s out in 2024 and it’s called Yes, Your Grave Snowfall.

John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando Is Giving Left 4 Dead

It’s a brand new world that’s channelling Days Gone and Left 4 Dead. I think I’m done with zombies, but I guess this looks alright. Shannon thinks it looks good so maybe we’ll play it together. It’s out in 2024.

We Got Yet Another Baldur’s Gate III Trailer With Jason Isaacs Too

Please release this so I don’t have to see a trailer at every Geoff Keighley event ever again. Jason Isaacs has rocked up to voice someone who is no doubt the villain, so that’s cool, I think. It’s out on August 31st 2023.

That Game That’s Basically Pokemon With Guns Is Coming To Early Access In 2024

It looks like one of those weird “this is what Pokemon would look like in Unreal Engine!!!!!” YouTube videos and Ewan thinks it looks fresh which is all I think we have to say on the matter. It’s called PalWorld and it enters early access in January 2024.

Lord of the Rings: Return To Moria Is A Thing

The franchise has a stellar reputation in games so far, so hopefully this will do a good job of upholding that. It’s a survival crafting game that takes place in the fourth age of Middle-earth.

Square Enix Is Continuing To Try It With Mobile Games With Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis

It’s looking kind of like it will have $100 microtransactions and basically tells the story of Final Fantasy VII in it’s entirety – expect scenes from the original game, Crisis Core, Before Crisis and Dirge of Cerberus. There’s a beta too.

The First Gameplay Of Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden Was Shown

It’s a supernatural-looking action game from the team that brought us Life Is Strange and Vampyr. I like the look of this – it could be a new Plague Tale style surprise from the developer. It’s out towards the end of 2023.

The Yakuza Spin-Off Was Given A Release Date And New Trailer

Calm down. I know it’s called Like A Dragon now. This leaked earlier in the week so yeah. You’re getting two Like A Dragon games this year. Nuts. But good.

Under The Waves Looks Like A Contemplative Underwater Exploration Game

It is absolutely my vibe, and I can’t wait to explore whatever this world is. It’s out on August 29th 2023.

Call of Duty: Warzone Got A New Trailer Detailing Its Fourth Season

Warzone is looking extra arcadey and is maybe jumping the shark now but I know everyone is going to play it. Geoff also confirmed that a new Call of Duty is coming this year.

There’s A Special Limited Edition Porsche Xbox Series X Coming But….

Only a few of them were made and you’ll have to win one through various promotions throughout the year. Trust me, they’re doing you a favour.

Faefarm Is Yet Another Farming Cosy Game

So cosy that I fell asleep. Is there a genre as over-saturated as this one? It’s available on September 8th for the Switch and PC.

A Brand New Hack And Slash Indie Is Coming To PC

It’s a “tactical hack and slash” that’s coming to PC that allows you to rewind time. It’s trying to give Hades, but it’s not quite. It’s called Lysfanga: The Time Shift Warrior, and it’s out in 2023.

Some New Immortals Of Aveum Footage Was Shown

It’s kind of like if Call of Duty replaced guns with magic and spells. While that might not sound super inspiring, I think this could be pretty solid. It’s an EA Original, and it’s out in July.

The Next Fortnite Update Was Shown

I can respect the way Fortnite keeps reinventing itself, but I’d also love it if we could stop trying to make Transformers happen again. The update launches tomorrow.

The post All The Big Summer Game Fest Announcements For 2023 appeared first on Press Start.

E3 may have been cancelled for this year, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty of other huge gaming events and showcases to get excited about this June.

The list is massive, and with everything slowly being pencilled into the schedule we thought we’d put together a handy guide to all of the presentations, streams, events and celebrations happening over the month, including all of the times converted to local time zones and the best places to catch them live.

Take a look at everything you can look forward to in June, below:

June Gaming Showcase 2023 Schedule

Meta Quest Gaming Showcase – June 2nd

• 3.00 AM AEST (Melbourne/Sydney/Hobart/Canberra/Brisbane)
• 2.30 AM ACST (Adelaide, Darwin)
• 1.00 AM AWST (Perth)
• 5.00 AM NZDT (Wellington)

While we don’t have any kind of idea as to what titles might feature, this year’s Meta Quest Gaming Showcase promises the usual new game announcements, first looks at gameplay, updates to games already out and more than likely some other surprises. The main showcase will be hosted by Oculus Studios Executive Producer Ruth Bram at and the whole thing will be streamed on Twitch, Facebook, YouTube, and in Meta Horizon Worlds.

Guerrilla Collective Showcase – June 8

• 3.00 AM AEST (Melbourne/Sydney/Hobart/Canberra/Brisbane)
• 2.30 AM ACST (Adelaide, Darwin)
• 1.00 AM AWST (Perth)
• 5.00 AM NZDT (Wellington)

The MIX team is preparing showcases to reveal fresh announcements, trailers, gameplay, a Steam event page for wishlisting, demos, game ordering and more – bringing together many of the hottest developers and publishers from around the world! Watch it on YouTube and Twitch.

Summer Game Fest – June 9

• 5.00 AM AEST (Melbourne/Sydney/Hobart/Canberra/Brisbane)
• 4.30 AM ACST (Adelaide, Darwin)
• 3.00 AM AWST (Perth)
• 7.00 AM NZDT (Wellington)

Watch it on YouTube and Twitch.

Summer Game Fest is back at the YouTube Theatre and streaming live around the world. It promises announcements and updates from some of the industry’s leading publishers, platforms and studios but it’s still being kept mostly under wraps – although we can be fairly certain that Cyberpunk 2077’s Phantom Liberty DLC will be a big feature.

???? #SummerGameFest szn is almost here.

The video game industry comes together to show you what's next.

Look for updates from 40+ partners.

?? Public tickets for our live showcase event at @youtubetheater on June 8 are now on sale at https://t.co/vpFuPnfyTe pic.twitter.com/hH9fhqGoT9

— Summer Game Fest (@summergamefest) May 11, 2023

Day of the Devs – June 9

• 7 .00 AM AEST (Melbourne/Sydney/Hobart/Canberra/Brisbane)
• 6.30 AM ACST (Adelaide, Darwin)
• 5.00 AM AWST (Perth)
• 9.00 AM NZDT (Wellington)

The Double Fine and iam8bit-founded event, Day of the Devs, is back again for 2023 and will showcase a heap of exciting and upcoming indie games. The show is scheduled to air “right after” the Summer Game Fest showcase.

Devolver Direct 2023 – June 9

• 8.00 AM AEST (Melbourne/Sydney/Hobart/Canberra/Brisbane)
• 7.30 AM ACST (Adelaide, Darwin)
• 6.00 AM AWST (Perth)
• 10.00 AM NZDT (Wellington)

Watch it on YouTube and Twitch.

Access-Ability Summer Showcase – June 10

• 1.00 AM AEST (Melbourne/Sydney/Hobart/Canberra/Brisbane)
• 12.30 AM ACST (Adelaide, Darwin)
• 11.00 PM, June 9 AWST (Perth)
• 3.00 AM NZDT (Wellington)

Watch it on YouTube.

The Access-Ability Summer Showcase share looks at recently-released as well as upcoming games made by disabled game developers, with each title shown also giving viewers a look at the accessibility options on offer so that disabled gamers watching are able to see whether or not a game will cater to their needs.

Tribeca Games Spotlight – June 10

• 5.00 AM AEST (Melbourne/Sydney/Hobart/Canberra/Brisbane)
• 4.30 AM ACST (Adelaide, Darwin)
• 3.00 PM, June 9 AWST (Perth)
• 7.00 AM NZDT (Wellington)

Watch it on YouTube.

The Tribeca Games Showcase is back with a digital showcase featuring exclusive gameplay and interviews with creators for its official selection of titles, which includes Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical, Nightscape, A Highland Song, The Expanse: A Telltale Series, Despelote, Chants of Sennaar and Goodbye Volcano High.

Wholesome Direct – June 11

• 2.00 AM AEST (Melbourne/Sydney/Hobart/Canberra/Brisbane)
• 1.30 AM ACST (Adelaide, Darwin)
• 12.00 AM AWST (Perth)
• 4.00 AM NZDT (Wellington)

Watch it on YouTube.

This year’s Wholesome Direct promises an hour of content with exclusive footage and announcements from more than 70 cozy indie games – that’s more than one game a minute!

? Wholesome Direct will premiere Sat, June 10
? 9am PT / 12pm ET / 6pm CET
? See the future of cozy and uplifting gaming with an hour of exclusive footage and announcements from 70+ amazing indie games!! pic.twitter.com/15mkewJ0PS

— Wholesome Games | Live June 10 12pm ET (@_wholesomegames) May 15, 2023

Future Games Show – June 11

• 3.00 AM AEST (Melbourne/Sydney/Hobart/Canberra/Brisbane)
• 2.30 AM ACST (Adelaide, Darwin)
• 1.00 AM AWST (Perth)
• 5.00 AM NZDT (Wellington)

Watch it on YouTube and Twitch.

GamesRadar+ is back with another Future Games Show, promising over 40 new trailers for upcoming games across PS5, Xbox, Switch, PC and VR.

OTK Games Expo – June 11

• 4.00 AM AEST (Melbourne/Sydney/Hobart/Canberra/Brisbane)
• 3.30 AM ACST (Adelaide, Darwin)
• 2.00 AM AWST (Perth)
• 6.00 AM NZDT (Wellington)

Watch it on Twitch.

Content creator extraordinaire, Asmongold, is hosting a 3-hours, livestreamed celebration of 30 games from a huge array of genres.

Final Fantasy XVI Pre-Launch Celebration – June 12

• 8.00 AM AEST (Melbourne/Sydney/Hobart/Canberra/Brisbane)
• 7.30 AM ACST (Adelaide, Darwin)
• 6.00 AM AWST (Perth)
• 10.00 AM NZDT (Wellington)

No further information has been revealed about what will feature at this event, but Square Enix says more details are to come, and it will be livestreamed for those around the globe who can’t just pop over to LA for a cheeky showcase. Given the proximity to release there’s probably not going to be any new and mind-blowing reveals or stunts, but who knows? Maybe a shadow drop of a demo? Square Enix loves a good demo lately.

Xbox Games Showcase – June 12

• 3.00 AM AEST (Melbourne/Sydney/Hobart/Canberra/Brisbane)
• 2.30 AM ACST (Adelaide, Darwin)
• 1.00 AM AWST (Perth)
• 5.00 AM NZDT (Wellington)

Join Xbox for some new surprises and first-looks from internal studios, as well as its many creative partners around the world. The Xbox Games Showcase is set to give viewers a massive new look at what’s ahead for Xbox, PC, and Game Pass.

Starfield Direct – June 12

Directly following the Xbox Games Showcase, the Starfield Direct will virtually invite fans inside Bethesda Game Studios to learn much, much more about Starfield with tons of new gameplay, developer interviews, and behind-the-scenes insider information.

You’ll be able to watch both on YouTube, Twitch and Facebook.

Spoiler Alert: we'll be talking about games ?
??
Tune into the Xbox Games Showcase followed by Starfield Direct on Sunday, June 11 @ 10am PT: https://t.co/3mhkAsswII | #Starfield #XboxShowcase pic.twitter.com/4uFHPmqLyK

— Xbox (@Xbox) May 3, 2023

PC Gaming Show – June 12

The PC Gaming Show is returning once again, with two hours of reveals and announcements including 15 brand-new game announcements.

• 6.00 AM AEST (Melbourne/Sydney/Hobart/Canberra/Brisbane)
• 5.30 AM ACST (Adelaide, Darwin)
• 4.00 AM AWST (Perth)
• 8.00 AM NZDT (Wellington)

Watch it on YouTube and Twitch.

Ubisoft Forward – June 13

Ubisoft’s bringing its A-game this year with a big showcase planned, both live from Los Angeles and livestreamed for the rest of the world, where it’ll show off the latest game updates, news, and reveals from Ubisoft studios. Presumably we’ll see the likes of Assassin’s Creed Mirage and Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, among others.

• 3.00 AM AEST (Melbourne/Sydney/Hobart/Canberra/Brisbane)
• 2.30 AM ACST (Adelaide, Darwin)
• 1.00 AM AWST (Perth)
• 5.00 AM NZDT (Wellington)

Watch it on YouTube and Twitch.

?SAVE THE DATE ?

Join us on June 12 at 10 AM PST for #UbiForward live from Los Angeles, for game updates and reveals!

? https://t.co/OHJXAPwlmg

— Ubisoft (@Ubisoft) March 28, 2023

Capcom Showcase – June 13

• 8.00 AM AEST (Melbourne/Sydney/Hobart/Canberra/Brisbane)
• 7.30 AM ACST (Adelaide, Darwin)
• 6.00 AM AWST (Perth)
• 10.00 AM NZDT (Wellington)

Watch it on YouTube and Twitch.

Capcom is back with another June showcase, this time following the releases of some of its biggest titles in Resident Evil 4 and Street Fighter 6. Whether the company has anything up its sleeve to match the impact of those titles remains to be seen but hopefully we’ll at least get more Dragon’s Dogma 2!

Xbox Games Showcase Extended – June 14

• 3.00 AM AEST (Melbourne/Sydney/Hobart/Canberra/Brisbane)
• 2.30 AM ACST (Adelaide, Darwin)
• 1.00 AM AWST (Perth)
• 5.00 AM NZDT (Wellington)

Watch it on YouTube and Twitch.

Like last year, Xbox will be hosting an “Extended” version of its main showcase, going even more in-depth into some of the titles featured with developer interviews and other updates from Xbox Studios and other partners. It runs at the exact same times as the main event on June 12th, just a couple of days later.

Grasshopper Direct – June 15

Along with announcing a remaster of the cult classic Shadows of the Damned, Grasshopper Manufacturer is putting on its own special showcase this month, presumably with that and even more to show.

• 2.00 PM AEST (Melbourne/Sydney/Hobart/Canberra/Brisbane)
• 1.30 PM ACST (Adelaide, Darwin)
• 12.00 PM AWST (Perth)
• 4.00 PM NZDT (Wellington)

RGG Summit – June 16

Rya ga Gotoku Studio has announced that its holding its next “RGG Summit” showcase very soon, on June 15th (16th AEST), where it’ll presumably be revealing more information around its upcoming projects including Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name and Like a Dragon 8.

• 1.00 PM AEST (Melbourne/Sydney/Hobart/Canberra/Brisbane)
• 12.30 PM ACST (Adelaide, Darwin)
• 11.00 AM AWST (Perth)
• 3.00 PM NZDT (Wellington)

Annapurna Interactive Showcase – June 29

Annapurna Interactive has announced that it’s adding to the June gaming chaos with a showcase of its own, the aptly title Annapurna Interactive Showcase.

• 5.00 AM AEST (Melbourne/Sydney/Hobart/Canberra/Brisbane)
• 4.30 AM ACST (Adelaide, Darwin)
• 3.00 AM AWST (Perth)
• 7.00 AM NZDT (Wellington)

Watch it on YouTube or Twitch.

The post Here Are The Aussie Times For Every June Gaming Showcase appeared first on Press Start.

The Australian games industry is changing. Decades of market forces, genre trends, federal inquiries, emerging talent and old-guard persistence have cultivated a landscape prime for growth. Chris Mosely is a man who’s been tilling that particular soil for over two decades now; a staple of the Aussie development scene, Mosley has had a hand in several studios and is now using that experience to help bring about a shift in the industry.

We recently had a chance to have a lengthy chat with Mosely about the exciting changes happening in our own backyard, as well as dive deep into his latest venture, the genre-bending sci-fi sim Beyond Contact.

Chris Mosely, CEO/Director/Co-founder at Playcorp

Well first up, for those who don’t know your path through Australia’s development scene, can you tell us your story? 

Chris Mosely: So I’ve been in the Australian game scene for about 30 years. I’m quite the reclusive, but I’ve been involved in a lot of game studios here and games that have been developed by Australians. So going back 30 years, I was one of the co-founders of Blue Tongue Entertainment, which went on to do some great stuff locally. After Blue Tongue, founded Red Tribe and the newest studio right now is Playcorp.

So back then, I think I was in my early 20s when we started Blue Tongue, there was certainly no sort of idea that you could go out and find investors or anything like that. And the idea that you could make games from Australia was still quite foreign to a lot of the international community. They weren’t aware of the fact that we had some really great development talent in Australia. So it was quite an uphill battle at that point. But I think we became one of four or five of the biggest game studios in the country at that time, so we had a lot of fun with that.

On the topic of the Australian development scene, what’s your current take on it as a whole? The climate, the people, the “vibes” for lack of a better term?  

CM: I think there’s just such a breath of fresh air. There’s so much fantastic talent that’s come into the Australian development scene. I remember when I started, there was a huge lack of confidence. Like, Australians lacked confidence in their own abilities, they lacked confidence in competing on a world stage. And I think more recently, it’s almost the opposite. We’ve got so much confidence and so much ability to express ourselves the way that we want to express ourselves, which is critical to success in the games industry. You can’t simply be trying to please your overseas masters and hope to do well in the games industry. So we’ve got more of the risk takers, we’ve got more of that self-confidence within the industry. And this is all coming from a new generation of game developers, in my opinion.

I definitely see and feel that confidence you mentioned in this space but do you think there are challenges that specifically exist for Aussie devs? 

CM: I think that there always is going to be. You can sense it in the DNA of the way that government thinks about games, for example. There’s always been a challenge for a country and where it’s come from to take games as a serious art form. We were fighting for many, many years to get games to be seen as a serious art form, on an equal footing with film and other types of art, which I think it is and we’ve come a long way, but you can still see that there’s still work to be done in that area. And I think with the new initiatives that the government has put in place and the various funding opportunities that the government’s put in place, you’re probably going to see huge dividends for Australia. For every dollar that the government invests in this industry, I think it brings in many multiples of dollars in revenue and export revenue into the country. So it’s definitely a very good investment when you look across the board.

The Digital Games Tax Offset Has Officially Passed Through Aussie Parliament

Over the past year, we’ve seen a bit of boon from the Australian Federal Government with programs like the Games: Expansion Pack funding. Do you think enough is being done to support local devs? 

CM: It’s a really hard question. I mean, we haven’t had anything like this before and I think the danger is that you really want to be supporting the startups and the homegrown developers within Australia. And a lot of these programs tend to get sidetracked along the way, so they start off with the best of intentions and they end up essentially bringing competition or large companies into Australia that then end up competing with these little smaller studios. And so you start to lose your best staff and things like that. Over the last 30 years, I’ve seen quite a bit of this where the government will say that they’ve spent a large amount of money on the games industry, but what it really translated into was this sort of “head office” mentality where they bring large publishers into the country and unfortunately, that tends to stifle a lot of the local studios that are in place. 

Now, having said that, any money is great and everyone sort of benefits and all ships rise when the water level rises, all the ships rise together. And so the talent pool overall has grown. It’s very, very hard and very, very complicated to try and assess how well these programs have done, but I think overall, you can see that from the point of view of educating a new group of developers and the talent pool itself, and access to money from the government and access to investors, we’re in a much healthier situation than we’ve ever been in the past. And then if you look at the sales records of Australian companies, it’s really quite astounding.

Do you think we’re doing enough to incentivise young Australians to consider a career in game development?

CM: This is a really tricky question. For me, being a game developer is like one of the most painful things you can do *laughs*. You don’t get into this industry to get rich. You get into this industry because you absolutely have no choice. You just love and you’re so passionate about games and you have this thing that you want to do. And if you don’t have that, you’re just not going to survive. You’re just not going to be in it for the long haul because it’s going to kick you in the guts over and over. You may spend two or three or four years working on a project and it doesn’t work out, and that’s absolutely heart-wrenching and mentally destructive. So should you encourage people, more people to want to do that? I think really they themselves need to want to do that.

Having seen the effects over the last 30 years of what the games industry can do, like the creative industries as a whole, I think you really want it to happen organically and naturally, and I think that does happen within Australia. I think we have that breadth of talent across the board that you need to create studios to create projects. A lot of countries don’t have that. They’ve got these little they’ve got bits and pieces of it that they don’t have that whole, but Australia does. 

While we’re talking about support networks for studios such as yours, how has your working relationship with Plaion been? 

CM: We’ve had a very good experience with Plaion and the particular group that we’re working with, I mean, they’re all veterans of the industry. They know their stuff really, really well. These are people who are independently successful developers who Plaion has kind of purchased and cherry-picked some of the talent. And that talent is now rising through the ranks within Plaion. So I imagine in the next five to ten years, you’re going to start to see a lot of this play out. But they’ve got some great talent there. They know their stuff. They know that they need to give developers time to create great products. Great products take time, they don’t happen overnight. And so this is all very positive.

You’ve recently launched the 1.0 version of your game, Beyond Contact, can you tell us a bit about the journey to 1.0 and how it feels to finally arrive?

CM: It’s been a hell of a ride for us. We had to build the studio from scratch. We have, I want to say 30% of our staff are veterans from the games industry. And then we’ve got a whole new cadre of people who are up and coming in the games industry and maybe don’t have as much experience, so they’re learning very rapidly. And this project was probably a great one for them to learn because we had this opportunity of working with a community. So we silently launched the game into early access and then started to work with what turned out to be a very vocal and passionate and small community of people who were playing the game, who helped us to get to the stage that we’re at now.

It’s actually a much, much bigger game than we first envisaged and there’s many, many elements to it. It’s almost retro in style as well, in the sense that it has this intro story mode that you can play. And adding a story mode to a survival game is no small feat, as you can imagine. And then having the more traditional endless survival mode as well on top of that is kind of reminiscent of RTS games in the late 90s, early 2000s.

Something that struck me as I was playing the game is the polish and ambition around its systems, but how does it feel entering into a market as full as the survival sim? 

CM: It’s a huge challenge. We’re really passionate about the survival game genre. That’s where it all started. So our strategy was essentially, if we keep iterating on this, if we keep making the game as good as we possibly can, then more and more people are going to start to notice that and the review scores will slowly increase. And if we get enough momentum around it with its unique pulp science fiction comic style and then some of these much more ambitious features within the game over time, that’s going to draw a bigger and bigger crowd. 

Now, the problem with our industry in general, obviously, is that things change very rapidly, but game development is a very slow process, so you have to be very careful. So, yes, there’s a lot more competition now in this area than when we started, but we have a huge list of things that we want to do to the game. The game is not by any means finished. We’re just really touching upon what’s possible with the farming system. So there’s kind of three stages that we envisaged for the game. Stage one was supposed to be this hunter gatherer stage, and then stage two is supposed to be more of a base building and a farming stage.

And then stage three is supposed to be more about automation and optimization. We’ve got as far as stage two so far, which is the farming and building stage, but we haven’t gotten to stage three. And so you see some players and they don’t like the grind in the later parts of the game. And that’s actually a valid response because there are certain features that still need to go into the game such as auto mining and late game farming. So we’re trying to get these features out as quickly as we can, but it’s unclear whether we can get them out in time, I guess.

That’s understandable – are you looking to add these extra elements as free updates or are we expecting a more traditional expansion pathway? 

CM: It’s a fully paid up game, so all of the major content that we update will be free. So we’ve got a new planet underway, we’ve got a new playable character that’s arriving. Actually a lot of the changes that I’m talking about, about the automisation and optimisation will probably arrive in the next four to six weeks. With a bit of luck. So again, that’s going to transform the experience of the game. 

There will be DLCs. We haven’t quite figured out what they’re going to look like yet, but more than likely when we introduce a new feature to the game, I can’t mention exactly what new features are coming in, but there’s some really exciting new features that we’re putting into the game. Those features will be free for the players. And then there’ll also be some special shiny versions of those new features that can be purchased by DLC packs. So they’re going to be additional customisations that certain people may want to pay for, but you certainly don’t need in order to play the game by any stretch of the imagination. And you’re still going to get the full experience and all of the features within the game without having to pay any additional money. And this comes from the team, the team wouldn’t let us do anything else. There’s no in game shop for example.

I can imagine you’ve got a million different answers but what’s something in Beyond Contact you’re most excited for players to see? 

CM: Well, it’s really hard because over the last few weeks, I mean, all we’ve been doing internally is talking about all of these exciting new features. I’ve got to put my mind back to where we were when that game released. I think the most exciting features are going to be the new habitat system. You can literally build a habitat that covers the entire surface of a planet. You can do that with the current game, with the current engine, you can just keep playing indefinitely. I think a lot of players haven’t fully engaged yet with the raid system.

I know that if you look at the recommendations or the reviews on Steam, you’ll see that you’ve got your normal trolls that play the game for 5 seconds and don’t give it the time of day. And that tends to happen because the game isn’t well known. If the game was better known, they’d probably give it a bit more time and get into it and understand it more. But if you look at the higher quality reviews, things like the Raid system and the territory war system, it’s a whole other overlay on top of survival crafting again, which is quite unique along with having a story. So having the story mode itself was quite unique. And then having this whole territorial warfare system on top of the endless survival mode again, quite unique.

Beyond Contact is available on Steam now. Grab it here.

The post We Spoke To Aussie Studio Playcorp About The Local Development Scene And Its Ambitious New Game appeared first on Press Start.

Following the lengthy and explosive gameplay reveal of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 that capped off last week’s PlayStation Showcase, we were able to chat to two of the creative leads behind Insomniac Games’ upcoming PlayStation 5 exclusive sequel to dive a little deeper into what we saw and how the studio is pushing the Spider-Man video game fantasy even further than before.

Read on to see what Game Director, Ryan Smith, and Creative Director, Brian Intihar, had to say about Spider-Man 2’s dual protagonists, expanded game world, new-gen features, exciting new abilities, villains and more.

This is Spider Man’s first outing exclusively on PS5, so how are you using that power to push things forward beyond obviously things such as fast-loading.

Ryan Smith (Game Director): Number one thing for us on the gameplay side is the speed of traversal that we’re able to achieve right now. It of course leverages that loading, but it’s a lot more seamless for the player, so that you can go much faster, and then what we could do on our side was build a lot of mechanics, whether it be our core swinging experience that we always have, or the web wings and the wind tunnels that go with them, that allow us to build up that speed, maintain and push that speed for the player.

So it’s a lot of fun just to weave those things together. Also, I think in the gameplay reveal, we showed the super slingshots that are in the world that really propel you very quickly just to start traversal and then you can keep it going from there. So I think that’s the number one sort of Spider-Man-traversal way that the PS5 SSD and loading capabilities come across with flair.

Brian Intihar (Creative Director): One is the the ability to switch between the heroes in the open world. You saw that in the story mission that we created, where in that particular instance, we tell you to switch because Pete’s in Queens and Miles is in Manhattan, but those are kind of main story and predetermined.

In the open world, you’ll have more flexibility to switch between the two heroes. We’ll have content made for Peter, content made for Miles, content that either one can play and with a simple quick button switch you can take control and go around the world. So just that having that flexibility to really capitalise on the idea of having two heroes and then I would just say like, in the gameplay reveal was a good example of just the breadth and scope of how big these action moments can get where it’s not just contained to one arena. It takes place across multiple city blocks, inside/outside, cool, quick transitions. So that gameplay example was a good example of what you can expect across the game.

So obviously there will be story moments where you’re switching between Peter and Miles, but you will have free switching at certain points throughout the game?

Brian Intihar (Creative Director): In the main story mission, we basically are here to tell you who you are. We’ll have some missions that are Peter, some Miles, some that are they are together and then we kind of tell you when based on the story, it’s kind of crafted around what we want to accomplish with the story and the mission. But in the open world, we will basically give you the ability to switch between the characters so that you can do, whether it’s a specific piece of content that one character can interact with, or you may decide this particular activity where you think, how rad to do it with Miles and Peter and vice versa. You have that flexibility and it really changes up the feel of the previous two games by having that flexibility.

Co-op was something that was thrown around a lot before this particular reveal. I can’t remember if maybe something teased it initially or why people got this idea. You came out before the gameplay drop and confirmed it was a single-player experience. Is co-op something that was ever toyed with?

Brian Intihar (Creative Director): Yeah, in the the announce trailer, the blog post said it was a single-player game, but it was always the goal was to have a single-player adventure featuring two playable spider heroes.

We’ve seen at least part of game that takes place in Queens, but I’d love to hear a little bit more about how the game’s map has been expanded upon for the new game, and what the team sat down and thought about in evolving that map beyond the last two games?

Ryan Smith (Game Director): So we’ve added Brooklyn and Queens, so that’s two huge new boroughs that you can explore. I think the map is nearly double the size, so that’s really exciting. A lot of what we did, in terms of adding those spaces, is think about what makes those spaces recognisable, whether it’s residential areas of Queens, like you saw on the gameplay trailer, or views and vistas that you would know from your imagination of what New York and Brooklyn should be like, and make sure that those are representative in-game. It’s very similar to how we crafted the Manhattan Island. And then I think from a gameplay standpoint, traversal feels a bit different. Having the web wings makes that a more interesting experience, because you’ve got an option for when the buildings are lower, you can swing low if you want to, but you’ve got to get this gliding option. And I think crossing the river is one of the coolest things. If you spent a lot of time in Marvel’s Spider Man, or Miles Morales, in Manhattan, and then suddenly you can go across the river, I think it’s really, really fun. It’s really fun way to use the web wings and it sort of just feels like it opens up.

Brian Intihar (Creative Director): If you look at that gameplay reveal, it starts out in a neighbourhood backyard. We didn’t have anything like that in the previous game. That’s very different in terms of how it feels. Obviously, we have a whole section that’s on the river and it’s very different. I would say, yes, we are in New York City, but the benefits of having now Queens and Brooklyn in some other areas, allows us to kind of create missions and spaces that maybe are both different and unexpected throughout the experience.

One thing that we’ve seen other PlayStation titles like God Of War do is make side content matter and almost as important as the core stuff. Has there been any effort to expand what is happening in Spider-Man 2 outside of those core story moments?

Brian Intihar (Creative Director): Yeah, we’re really not getting into what the open world is at this moment and kind of focusing on the gameplay reveal. But yeah, obviously we want to put time and attention to making sure that all of our content hits a certain quality bar and has a strong narrative and is only enhancing the experience of being Peter and Miles.

The other major change that we saw in the reveal trailer is the black Spidey suit. I’d love to hear about how this plays into the overall game and how you ended up bringing that into this world in an Insomniac way.

Ryan Smith (Game Director): From a gameplay side, the symbiote for us really is about that power and that transformation element that we showed in the gameplay reveal. So it’s about adding those symbiote abilities that enable you to target one enemy and like stick it to the wall basically, or lift multiple people up in the air and continue your basic air combat and shift gears from the ground to the air with a really powerful move that has the symbiote tentacles all around it. It’s all about bringing those different ways of expressing a newfound power to the Spider-Man gameplay that we know and building off of that sort of acrobatic improvisation that we have at the core of our combat

Brian Intihar (Creative Director): And then on the narrative side is just really taking advantage of the symbiote, which is such a such a requested thing in terms of Marvel lore and Spider-Man fans, just doing it not only justice as Ryan said on the gameplay side but making sure that how we introduce it and utilise it in the story really is not only what fans are hoping for but also has some elements of surprise. And then you saw some of that tease in the gameplay reveal about how it’s impacting Peter and, you know, how it’s gonna impact the people around him.

And on Miles side, we might have seen one or two new abilities, but I assume he has some new things to work with as well?

Ryan Smith (Game Director): We showed the chain lightning and the thunderbust where the power is a little bit more volatile. We’re not showing more right now, but he has a full skill tree where you can upgrade those powers, and so does Peter, actually. They have their individual skill trees and then a shared skill tree, so that we make sure when you’re playing, you feel comfortable when we switch in a mission or if you switch in the open world, but you still have that flexibility and expressiveness for, like Ryan said, maybe choosing what you want to do in the open world because it best reflects your upgrades that you’ve got.

Brian Intihar (Creative Director): The other thing is there’s a narrative design tie with the symbiote, the same thing with Miles. Yeah, obviously they’re part of a bigger story but they also have both their individual journeys they go on and how they evolve and how they come to be will be part of Miles’ story.

I’d love to hear a little bit about the villains. Coming off No Way Home, which had every Spider-Man villain imaginable, how much time is put into crafting this experience and what is going to be used at which moment knowing there might be more Spider-Man games in the future?

Brian Intihar (Creative Director): Well, we started working on this game after Spider-Man shipped and we’re still working on villains as of today so we’ve spent a lot of time working on them for sure. I think the journey starts with just talking to the team and what characters they’re excited about not only from a gameplay standpoint and a design challenge, but also how’s it gonna play a role in the narrative so absolutely looking at the announce trailer we mentioned and we finally confirmed Kraven is in the game, you saw Lizard, so I think it was about what’s going to allow us to create really awesome big spectacle moments, boss fights with our villains, but also we always talk about the villains also having a great story, and that they’re the heroes of their own story and I think that’s something we try to make sure that we’re not just throwing someone in just for the sake of being a cool character. Are we paying it off narratively, and giving them their story and their own time in the spotlight.

You touched on the Lizard set piece which made up quite a big chunk of the gameplay demo. Is there that goal to make things bigger and better in these big villain boss fights. I mean we’ve seen some cool stuff in the last two games, but this did seem beyond that?

Brian Intihar (Creative Director): Yeah, I think that’s a good kind of microcosm of the scale and scope that we’re going forward with a good amount of these story missions. And even some of our other content in the game, we want to make sure that we’re fulfilling that Marvel fantasy of those big set pieces, while at the same time also delivering that heartfelt, humour-filled narrative. When we say that, it’s telling you the story of the person behind the mask as much as the person in it, we want to make sure we show both sides of the character. I think that’s something we really push ourselves in making to see if we can really push the scale and the spectacle as much as possible. Obviously, making sure that we have all those other elements that make for a fun Spider-Man experience.

Were there certain challenges involved with having two Spider-Mans and then a cast of villains that we were just talking about? At any point did you think hang on, is this too big of a task?

Brian Intihar (Creative Director): Every single day, especially on the story side, it’s extremely challenging because you’re like, okay, well, we have to have a story for the big game, for just the overall world and then we have to also the same time come up with what Peter’s story is, what Miles’ stories are, and how do they intersect? What’s their hero story, what’s their superhero story? What’s their outside of the suit story? How are we juggling that with where you are with the symbiote and Kraven? I haven’t even mentioned how that all ties into the gameplay design, mission design and skill trees and all that stuff. So yeah, it’s pretty tough, but it’s fun when you play it.

Ryan Smith (Game Director): It’s also a big opportunity. The Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales game was really great, and it’s really great to be able to carry that forward, as well as all of our story characters from the original Spider-Man game, so it’s really cool to be able to do that.

For the real hardcore Spider Man fans there any comics that were used as sort of points of reference or inspiration that come to mind for the game?

Brian Intihar (Creative Director): Any story that, for example, when it comes to Kraven, and his Last Hunt, Grim Hunt, and any of those kind of things. Not to recreate them word-for-word, point by point but just understanding the psychology of the character especially someone like Kraven, who is such a psychological kind of threat, and obviously, somewhat different from whatever other villains that we’ve featured so far. And then obviously, with that we started right at the very beginning with the stories of the symbiote and how that all took place, but all the way up recently to Donny Cates and Ryan Stegman and their work on the newer Venom books, definitely stuff that we looked at. So it’s kind of across the board. And obviously just keeping up with what they’re doing with Peter and Miles in the comics or other mediums.

Are you able to talk about how soon after Miles Morales the game takes place?

Brian Intihar (Creative Director): It’s about 10 months after the events of Miles Morales, so Miles has kind of gone through his journey to understand what kind of Spider-Man he wants to be and him and Peter are a great team. And that’s kind of where we kick things off at the beginning of this game.

Not to end on a sombre note, but there was some commentary following the reveal about silly things like the water, with people dubbing it Puddlegate 2.0, but I just wanted to ask if this is something the team read and look into, or kind of just stick to your path?

Brian Intihar (Creative Director): We are always looking at all the feedback and we’re probably our harshest critics, right? I think that we’re always gonna look to improve the game I think when you see comments like that it comes from a place of fans being passionate and they just want the best experience possible. But you know, we’re going to continue to work on the game till our Project Director tells us to stop working on it. So imagine what you see today will only get better. Of course, we wouldn’t be doing our jobs if we weren’t listening to our fans. And we’re gonna do the best job we can to ship the game at the highest quality and the best ability we can just like any other Insomniac game.

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is due to launch exclusively on PlayStation 5 later this year.

The post We Spoke To Insomniac Games About How Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 Takes Things To New Heights appeared first on Press Start.

June is going to be a huge month for gaming in 2023, not just because of the incoming onslaught of new announcements and trailers out of a stacked Summer Game Fest season, but also a ton of great game releases from big, AAA blockbusters to neat-looking indies and everything in-between.

I’ll keep the intro short and sweet this month, because I’m trying to rest my brain and hands before Final Fantasy XVI drops. So here’s just some of what’s worth keeping tabs on in the month ahead:

We Love Katamari REROLL+ Royal Reverie

Platforms:PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Switch, PC

Release Date: June 1

The Cheapest Physical Copy: $54.99 at Amazon with free shipping

The second title in the Katamari Damacy series has returned in a remastered, powered-up version! This new REROLL comes with improved graphics and gameplay enhancements. In Royal Reverie, roll up katamari as the King of All Cosmos in his boyhood!

Killer Frequency

Platforms: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Switch, PC

Release Date: June 1

Killer Frequency is a first-person, black comedy, slasher adventure that puts you in the shoes of Forrest Nash, a late-night radio host whose callers are being stalked by a mysterious killer. Solve puzzles, run the switchboards, and above all else, save lives!

Street Fighter 6

Platforms: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, PC

Release Date: June 2

The Cheapest Physical Copy: $79.99 at Mightyape after shipping

Here comes Capcom’s newest challenger! Street Fighter 6 launches worldwide on June 2nd, 2023 and represents the next evolution of the Street Fighter series! Street Fighter 6 spans three distinct game modes, including World Tour, Fighting Ground and Battle Hub.

Read our review here.

Diablo IV

Platforms: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC

Release Date: June 2 (Early Access), June 6 (Standard)

The Cheapest Physical Copy: $83.99 at Amazon with free shipping

Diablo® IV is the ultimate action RPG experience with endless evil to slaughter, countless abilities to master, nightmarish dungeons, and legendary loot. Embark on the campaign solo or with friends, through beautifully dark settings, or explore a shared world where players can meet in towns to trade, team up to battle world bosses, or descend into PVP zones to test their skills against other players.

Read our review here.

The Elder Scrolls Online: Necrom

Platforms: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC

Release Date: June 5 (PC), June 20 (Console)

Return to Morrowind and discover the mysteries and dangers of the Telvanni Peninsula and Apocrypha in The Elder Scrolls Online: Necrom. Wield unknowable arcane powers as you explore two all-new enigmatic zones, investigate and unravel a Daedric conspiracy, and fight on behalf of Hermaeus Mora to preserve reality itself.

Amnesia: The Bunker

Platforms: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC

Release Date: June 6

Amnesia: The Bunker is a first-person horror game from the makers of SOMA and Amnesia. Left all alone in a desolate WW1 bunker with only one bullet remaining in the barrel, it’s up to you to face the oppressing terrors in the dark. Keep the lights on at all costs, persevere, and make your way out alive.

MotoGP 23

Platforms: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Switch, PC

Release Date: June 8

The Cheapest Physical Copy: $74.99 at Amazon with free shipping

Open the throttle, pass your opponents and cross the finish line: live the dream of being the next champion with the new MotoGP23, more amazing and challenging than ever!

Harmony: The Fall of Reverie

Platforms: PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch, PC

Release Date: June 8 (PC, Switch), June 22 (PS5, Xbox)

The fate of humanity is at stake. Use your gift of clairvoyance to see into the future and stop an apocalypse that threatens the balance between your world and the deities’.

Bleak Sword DX

Platforms: Switch, PC

Release Date: June 8

Discover and destroy increasingly horrifying creatures across an oppressive lofi world, wielding fierce weaponry and powerful magic in this pocket-sized action adventure.

Dordogne

Platforms: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Switch, PC

Release Date: June 13

Immerse yourself in a unique narrative experience and explore the thousand summer colors of Dordogne as you revisit your childhood to uncover lost family secrets in this touching formative journey.

Pixel Ripped 1978

Platforms: PS VR2, Quest 2, PC VR

Release Date: June 15

The latest game in the Pixel Ripped series! Travel back to Pixel Ripped creator Bug’s past at ATARI and team up with Dot on another adventure to defeat the evil Cyblin Lord.

Layers of Fear

Platforms: PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC

Release Date: June 15

All stories must come to an end, even twisted and eerie ones. The canvas. The stage. The novel. This narrative-focused psychological horror experience is ready for its final brushstrokes, its curtain call, its final chapter. Are you ready to return and face your fears one last time?

Park Beyond

Platforms: PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC

Release Date: June 16

The Cheapest Physical Copy: $79 at Amazon with free shipping

If you’ve ever wanted to whip through the tentacles of an octopus, rocket across a canyon, or be shot into the stars you’re in the right place, because you’ve officially been hired to build an entire park full of rides that shatter the limitations of the ordinary with impossification. Welcome to a world where the fantasy of creating the universe’s greatest theme park comes true – welcome to Park Beyond!

Crash Team Rumble

Platforms: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One

Release Date: June 20

The Cheapest Physical Copy: $54.99 at Amazon with free shipping

From Toys For Bob, the studio that developed Spyro’s Reignited Trilogy and Skylanders, get ready to collect and drop off Wumpa fruit before the competing team across a variety of maps, along with the heroes and villains of the Crash universe; all bringing their own unique abilities to make their team “wump” up more fruit than the other.

Aliens: Dark Descent

Platforms: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC

Release Date: June 20

The Cheapest Physical Copy: $59 at Amazon with free shipping

Drop into the gripping journey of Aliens: Dark Descent, a squad-based, single-player action game in the iconic Alien franchise. Lead your soldiers in real-time to stop a new and terrifying kind of Xenomorph outbreak on Planet Lethe.

C-Smash VRS

Platforms: PS VR2

Release Date: June 22

Experience SEGA’s beloved arcade and console classic reimagined for VR and online gameplay. Go on a transformative Journey to the edge of space and time – alone or with a friend – or play a variety of competitive modes against players worldwide.

Final Fantasy XVI

Platforms: PS5

Release Date: June 22

The Cheapest Physical Copy: $84.99 at Amazon with free shipping

An epic dark fantasy world where the fate of the land is decided by the mighty Eikons and the Dominants who wield them.
This is the tale of Clive Rosfield, a warrior granted the title “First Shield of Rosaria” and sworn to protect his younger brother Joshua, the dominant of the Phoenix. Before long, Clive will be caught up in a great tragedy and swear revenge on the Dark Eikon Ifrit, a mysterious entity that brings calamity in its wake.

Sonic Origins Plus

Platforms: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Switch, PC

Release Date: June 23

The Cheapest Physical Copy: $54.99 at Amazon with free shipping

Sonic Origins Plus will be available as an all-in-one bundle that includes the Sonic Origins base game and the Plus Expansion Pack, featuring 12 Sonic Game Gear titles, playable Knuckles in Sonic CD, and for the first time ever: Amy Rose as a playable character in Sonic the Hedgehog 1, 2, Sonic 3 & Knuckles, and Sonic CD!

Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life

Platforms: PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch, PC

Release Date: June 27

The Cheapest Physical Copy: $59 at Amazon with free shipping

A reimagining of the beloved classic title, STORY OF SEASONS: A Wonderful Life invites a new generation of players to work their own farms, grow their own families, and live their own wonderful lives in this peaceful farm sim.

AEW: Fight Forever

Platforms: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Switch, PC

Release Date: June 29

The Cheapest Physical Copy: $74.99 at Amazon with free shipping

Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective

Platforms: PS4, Xbox One, Switch, PC

Release Date: June 30

Relive the cult classic mystery-solving adventure like never before! Experience Ghost Trick all over again in the long-awaited remaster – by Director Shu Takumi, creator of the Ace Attorney series.

Play as Sissel, the deceased lead character who has somehow mysteriously regained consciousness and is now armed with the power to travel back in time. Uncover Sissel’s unknown past and help unravel mysteries that occurred that fateful night.

Crime O’Clock

Platforms: Switch, PC

Release Date: June 30

Crime O’Clock is a story-driven investigation and time exploration game based on the well-known hidden objects mechanic. As a time detective, your job is to solve crimes through time that should never have happened! You must use a deductive method to combine the clues collected and search for the missing pieces: each map has multiple time ticks to visit and use to resolve various criminal cases. By resolving cases, the map changes, and new adventures are unlocked, allowing you to unravel a full multi-eras story, as in the best crime tv series.

The post Games Coming Out In June That You Should Be Excited For appeared first on Press Start.

Company of Heroes 3: Console Edition brings the acclaimed blend of action, tactics and strategy to consoles for the ultimate WW2 experience on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, available now. Get your copy here.

The long-running and acclaimed Company of Heroes franchise has finally arrived on consoles, bringing the previously PC-centric WW2 action to the lounge room with Company of Heroes 3: Console Edition. It’s no mean feat translating the blend of fast-paced action and tactical strategy to a controller, but the folks at Relic Entertainment have pulled out all the stops to make the console Company of Heroes 3 experience a worthy rival to its PC iteration.

Whether you’re a PC player looking to take the fight from your desk to your couch, or you’re on console and hoping to dip your toes into the franchise for the first time, here’s how Relic has adapted the action to the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.

The Command Wheel

Specially designed to give Company of Heroes 3: Console Edition players a fighting change sans the typical keyboard-and-mouse setup, the Command Wheel is a great tool to rapidly adapt and improvise your strategy to the ongoing action, giving you the ability to quickly issue orders to your units on the fly.

The controller’s face buttons are your most immediate tool, with the on-screen cursor surrounding by icons mapped to each, that contextually change depending on what units or objects you have selected and what the cursor is hovering over, naturally following the flow of your actions to ensure you have instant access to the commands you need at any given moment. Likewise, the Command Wheel will bring up what’s possible and useful in the moment so that you can quickly and easily issue commands that make the most sense to what you’re looking at and interacting with.

Effectively replacing dozens of keyboard and mouse inputs with a (literal) handful of controller buttons without sacrificing tactics or tactility is no mean feat, but Relic Entertainment has taken the challenge head-on with Company of Heroes 3: Console Edition.

Full Tactical Pause

Available in Company of Heroes 3: Console Edition’s single-player, Tactical Pause allows players to do just what it says on the box – pause the action at the press of a button to give them time to breath, consider their options and issue commands at their own pace.

It’s not just a change of speed to the on-the-fly strategising and urgency of real-time play but its a way for players to really feel like the commander they want to be, queueing up a series actions in an easy-to-read display before letting loose and watching all the chaos unfold to see if their strategic chops will have them live to fight another day.

Tactical Pause effectively raises the ceiling of how many actions a player can fire off in a given amount of time, by stopping time entirely. It’s not only a good fit for those wanting a slower-paced and more considered experience but also those hoping to kick back in front of the telly and enjoy a skirmish or two without having to hunch over, frantically bashing away at a keyboard to secure victory.

The Full Company Of Heroes 3 Experience

With two full single-player campaigns, there’s a lot for budding commanders to sink their teeth into in Company of Heroes 3 and console players are getting the full experience.

In the huge and replayable Italian campaign, players find themselves amongst not just outright war but inner turmoil as commanders from different regions clash and vie for their attention, with players deciding where to provide their efforts. Your choices will change both the campaign narrative outcomes and what gameplay features, like perks, you’ll have access to.

Also included is the North African campaign, a more traditional Company of Heroes single-player experience set in a part of WW2 that’s been less explored in video games and aims to offer a new and exciting story for fans.

Dynamic Campaign Map

The Italian campaign also introduces the Dynamic Campaign Map, a brand-new feature for Company of Heroes 3 that gives players full control over how they navigate the campaign.

Which points you choose to capture, who you engage and how are all up to you. Not only will your decisions have an effect on the RTS gameplay, changing up the field of battle and tactical options as well as affording you the opportunity to flank or soften up your targets ahead of time, but where you go and what you do will also impact your resources and future options, the campaign’s narrative and how your allies and enemies consider you.

For console players it adds what it says on the tin – a more dynamic and detailed way to play the game that’s going to look fantastic on a big screen, and all adapted to controller with the same considerations as the RTS gameplay.

Company of Heroes 3: Console Edition is available now on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. Learn more here.

The post How Company Of Heroes 3: Console Edition Takes The Fight To Your Controller appeared first on Press Start.

Before today, when one thought of what’s next for PlayStation and its many talented studios, the big things that sprung to mind would be Insomniac’s Marvel efforts with Spider-Man 2 and Wolverine. Outside of rumoured projects, not much else is slated. Part of that is due to the fact PlayStation hasn’t had a fair dinkum blowout showcase like this for a couple of years.

Jim Ryan stated recently that one of PlayStation’s new goals, outside of their already staggering market dominance, would be mindshare and that they were looking to make some noise.

With that in mind, here are all of the announcements from this morning’s PlayStation Games Showcase.

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 Is Shaping Up To Be One Hell Of A Sequel

This trailer did a lot. I mean everything except confirm a date, which has long-rumoured to be September.

PlayStation Announced Their Streaming Device Project Q

It features all of the DualSense capabilities while including an 8″ screen. It’ll stream games from your console, which is certainly rad.

We’re Getting The Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater Remake After All

They definitely kept us waiting, huh? As the title has what is essentially a triangle in the title, it’s tough to transcribe. But let it be known, it got a pop from all on the call.

Metal Gear Solid’s Master Collection Vol. 1 Is Coming To PlayStation 5 This Year

This collection bundles the first three games in the Metal Gear Solid franchise, which will be handy for those like me who’ve never played them. Shameful, I know.

Bungie Has Announced Their Marathon Reboot

It looks bloody synthy, and you know how we feel about synthy. The game is said to be a PVP extraction shooter and is also multiplatform with full crossplay and cross-save.

Bungie Also Showed Off A Beautiful Trailer For Destiny 2: The Final Shape

This lovely trailer, which confirmed the long-rumoured return of Nathan Fillion’s Cayde-6, also confirmed a showcase that is happening on August 22.

Remedy Wasn’t Kidding When They Said Alan Wake II Would Be Horror

*rapturous applause*

We Got A Good Look At Basim’s Journey In Assassin’s Creed: Mirage

Everything that has been promised, a return to stealth and the series’ roots, appears to be evident in this punchy gameplay trailer. The game is also coming out in October, which is already looking stacked.

Fairgame$ Looks Fair-Okay

The first post-acquisition effort from Haven Studios has all the trimmings of a live-service game all dressed up as a Robin Hood-esque “eat the rich” narrative. It’s described as a competitive heist game where you’ll visit exotic locations to capture the cargo.

Helldivers 2 Is A Big Change On The Original

Out of the team at Arrowhead, Helldivers 2 looks to a much more robust, traditionally third-person action game. The game is coming to PlayStation 5 and PC this year.

Immortals Of Aveum Combines Might And Magic

I must say, this is the prettiest and most expensive-looking EA Originals title we’ve seen yet. The game is set to launch July 20.

Ghostrunner 2 Looks To Go Beyond The Tower

One More Level dropped a teaser trailer for their Ghostrunner sequel that seemingly goes beyond the constraints of the tower that housed the entire first game. Amazingly, it’s set to launch this year.

Phantom Blade 0 Is Yet Another Ninja Game

Steeped in myth and fantasy, this game looks like it’s a frenetic, fast-paced action-slasher that’ll do enough to separate itself from the million other games like this we’ve seen emerge in the last couple of years.

Sword Of The Sea Is Another Gorgeous Odyssey From Journey’s Creators

It’s like Tony Hawk half-pipin’ through the desert, what’s not to love?

The Talos Principle II Is A Happening Thing

It’s got beautiful visuals and a swelling, hopeful score. So look, I’m probably in.

Neva Is A Beautiful Ghibli-Esque Game Out Of Devolver Digital

I got huge Studio Ghibli vibes from this one. A light and dark battle, a somber piano score, and a cute animal companion? Checks all of the boxes for me.

Cat Quest: Pirates Of The Purribean

Meow!

Foamstars Is Basically Jet Set Splatoon

…much to Kieron’s chagrin, who let out a yelp at the Square Enix logo. I, for one, can’t wait to blow my foam wad.

We Got Another Look At Storybook Adventure The Plucky Squire

The concept of this game continues to blow my mind. It’s beyond creative, it’s Aussie made, and it’s coming this year.

Teardown Is Set To Come To PlayStation 5

Despite being out for PC already, this voxel art, open-world game basically lets you wreck absolutely anything. It’s pretty wild.

Towers Of Aghasba Seems To Take The Adventure Skyward

There are a lot of sky whales.

Final Fantasy XVI Got Yet Another Glorious Trailer

To say Harry and Kieron were making noises in the chat doesn’t quite do justice to what I heard. They were a regular pair of “foamstars”.

Revenant Hill Is A Cute Countryside Indie Starring A Cat

Meow, again!

Granblue Fantasy Relink Is Still Happening

Looks like another winner for the crowd that loves their JRPGs.

We Got A Good Look At Street Fighter VI Ahead Of Its Launch Next Month

They also showed off the pre-bonuses, which are plentiful.

Ultros Is Definitely Your Brain On Drugs

This looks like an acid-trip Metroidvania. The colour palette is absolutely to die for.

Tower Of Fantasy Looks Like An Aldi-Brand Genshin Impact

I am not going to insult fans of this any further by trying to describe what I saw, so moving on.

Dragon’a Dogma II Got A New Epic Trailer

How he had anything left in him I’ll never know, but Harry went off again for this.

Five Nights At Freddy’s: Help Wanted Is Coming To PSVR2

And the PlayStation VR2 onslaught begins, both literally with this game and in terms of the showcase itself.

We Got A Look At Resident Evil 4 VR Mode

Although it was only a small slice of the game, it confirmed at the very least that parrying will be a thing in VR.

Arizona Sunshine II Is Coming To PSVR2 This Year

You can pick up dismembered zombie heads and make them chatter. That’s a good use of the tech right there.

We Got A Big Look At Synapse

It’s coming pretty soon and looks like the first PSVR2 game to grab my attention. It looks like Control in a twisted dreamscape.

Beat Saber Is Now Available For PSVR2 Along With A Queen Song Pack

Don’t stop me now.

Concord Is Also Appropriately Synthy

Although the trailer shows nothing else.

We Got A Gran Turismo Trailer

God, these graphics are great! Oh, it’s a movie.

The post All Of PlayStation’s Showcase Announcements appeared first on Press Start.

Our ASUS ROG Ally review unit arrived earlier today following the Aussie price and release date announcement, and whilst I wanted to save a lot of my opinions and thoughts until I’ve had more time with it, I did see a lot of questions about it after my briefs hands-on earlier this week, so I wanted to talk a little bit about the biggest advantage which is the fact that this is a Windows 11 device.

The ASUS ROG Ally runs rings around the Steam Deck in terms of performance thanks to its Z1 Extreme RDNA3 chip, but more importantly, the fact that it runs Windows 11 means that you can play literally any game that’d run on a normal Windows PC on the ASUS ROG Ally.

Unlike the Steam Deck, you’re not limited to Steam games (yes I know there are workarounds). This means that you can install games from the likes of the Epic Game Store, Ubisoft, Rockstar and EA launchers, but most importantly the Xbox app including Xbox Game Pass games, which is a big advantage considering you won’t need to re-buy a lot of PC games that you might own on consoles

Now, I saw a lot of confusion about people thinking this was a cloud streaming device, but I assure you it is not. You are downloading these games to play locally, just like you would on the Nintendo Switch, and playing them at quite decent frame rates on the gorgeous 1080p/1440p display.

Other devices such as the AYANEO 2 run Windows 11 as well and are similar powered, but to be honest, Windows 11 isn’t the greatest experience with a touch-screen (you can collect a keyboard/mouse), but what ASUS has done really well is use its own Armoury Crate SE software that acts as one single launcher that pulls all the others together, as well as your games.

Another great feature is Command Centre which basically is a quick menu that will overlay your game. You can use it to change brightness and sound as well as the resolution and framerate and also do other more advanced things such as limit the frame rate or turn on AMD FSR to smooth frame rates further. You can also really handily turn on a real-time monitor to keep tabs on frame rate, temperature etc.

It wasn’t without glitches, but the ASUS ROG Ally is still almost a month from launching, and it’s still miles ahead of the what I’ve experienced with AYASPACE (AYANEO’s software that overlays Windows), and I’d hope to see more improvements before launch.

With the ASUS ROG Ally costing $1,299 AUD (far less than I expected), and the 512GB Steam Deck being the same price on Amazon currently, I do feel like this is the better buy for most people if the software ends up getting up to scratch.

@shannongrixti

The ASUS ROG Ally is a super powerful Windows gaming handheld and it’s launching in Australia on June 13th for $1,299 AUD #ASUS #ASUSROGally #ROGally #steamdeck #windows11 #gaming #techtok

? original sound – Shannon Grixti | Gaming & Tech

I’m excited to spend a solid weekend with the hardware, and will have a more comprehensive review in the next week or two before its Australian release on June 13th.

The post The ASUS ROG Ally’s Biggest Advantage Is That It Can Play All PC Games Including Xbox Game Pass Games appeared first on Press Start.

Uncover the truth and take back Redfall from a legion of vampires. Slay alone or squad up with friends in an open-world filled with threats. Redfall is out now on Xbox Series X/S and PC. Learn more here.

Arkane’s blood-soaked open world vampire slaying adventure, Redfall, is finally out in players’ hands, and it’s a foray into some new territory for fans of a lot of the developer’s previous work.

Where games like Prey or Dishonored were designed around a single-player experience in their immersive and creative worlds, Redfall is a bit of a change of pace that introduces full, four player co-operative play online while still holding on to the fabric of what Arkane is known for.

If you’re looking to dive into the town of Redfall, but you’re a solo player looking for that classic Arkane feel or you’re someone who’s happier shooting the shit (out of vampires) with your mates, the good news is that both bases are covered here.

For those firmly in the camp of wanting to kick back on the couch, pick up a controller and ignore the rest of the world for a few hours at a time, Redfall’s solo play offering will see you choose from one of the four unique playable heroes before finding yourself trapped in the island town of Redfall, Massachusetts where a vampire invasion has cut off the town completely and sparked a vampire-worshipping cult to contend with.

Setting off on a journey to uncover the origins of these vampires and liberate Redfall, you’ll openly explore the town, interact with the human survivors and learn their stories, piece together lore through notes and other discoveries and build your chosen character into a vampire killing machine with unlockable skills and upgrades. For the solo player, there’s a heap to sink your teeth into (pun intended), and you won’t be missing out on anything to be seen, done or staked in the town.

When it comes to playing co-operatively in Redfall, it’s a whole new playing field that doesn’t take away from the tried-and-true Arkane experience but instead adds new layers to it.

Players can host a game and have up to three friends jump in as the other vampire hunters, assisting the host player in their mission progress while also earning new hero levels, skills, items, weapons and more for their own character, to take back into their own game. 

There’s a synergy between each of the four heroes that makes them compelling to play on their own, or with one, two or three friends. Naturally, enemy encounters will get harder the more players you have, but working together and figuring out the best way to combine your unique abilities, like Layla’s telekinetic elevator and umbrella shield or Dev’s translocation device and lightning javelin, is key. Learning how best to marry up everyone’s skill levels and unique abilities adds another layer on top of the combat experience.

You’ll even get a “Trust Buff” for sticking close by your friends in a co-op game, though Redfall’s open world can be freely explored by everyone in a co-op session without the need to stay tethered to each other. Then, after a long and bloody battle or five, you can kick back at a safehouse, discuss your wins and any cool loot you found along the way and really bond over your shared impending demise.

Arkane’s immersive sim expertise also continues to show through even in co-op with each of the hunters having their own unique dialogue based on which other characters are in the group, bantering amongst themselves as you roam the open world and revealing nuggets of information on their backstories and current feelings towards the situation.

Whether you go it alone or bring mates along, Redfall’s open world melds the classic Arkane flavour with greater freedom and more social possibilities than before, and with the game included in Xbox Game Pass and PC Game Pass subscriptions the barrier of entry for you or your friends to give it a go is lower than ever.

The post How Redfall Keeps The Vampire Slaying Party Going Solo Or With Mates appeared first on Press Start.

With April done and dusted, and most of us still playing through the excellent Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, May 2023 is somehow both modestly quiet and incredibly loud. There might not be the same constant onslaught of big-ticket titles this month than there has been in others, but there’s no doubting the impact at least one game will have on the rest of the year (or eternity). I’m talking, of course, about Gollum The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.

You can read our previews of Tears of the Kingdom and Redfall, or our interview with some of the team behind another of the month’s exciting releases, LEGO 2K Drive.

Redfall

Platforms: Xbox Series X|S, PC

Release Date: May 2nd

The Cheapest Physical Copy: $94 at Amazon

Redfall is an open-world, co-op FPS from Arkane Austin, the award-winning team behind Prey and Dishonored. Slay alone or squad up with up to 4 player co-op and face off against the vampires holding the island hostage. Redfall brings the studio’s signature gameplay to this story-driven action shooter.

Showgunners

Platforms: PC

Release Date: May 2nd

Explore and survive arenas filled with environmental hazards, traps, and puzzles before facing off against psychopath mercenaries in dynamic tactical battles. Win over fans to win fame points that can unlock game-changing sponsorships. Earn experience and level your characters’ skill trees in the way that best suits your playstyle.

AFL 23

Platforms: PS5, PS4, PC (Xbox TBA)

Release Date: May 4th

AFL 23 is the most authentic video game football experience to date.

Featuring the fully licensed 2023 AFL Premiership and AFL Women’s competitions and over 30 detailed stadiums, it’s time to play footy for real.

Jected: Rivals (Early Access Launch)

Platforms: PC

Release Date: May 4th

Take down your Rivals in this destructive, arcade, stunt royale! Jected – Rivals is all about the biggest jumps, fastest stunts and bone shaking explosions. Tackle 18 other players across 4 events to be crowned the Unrivalled Champion of the tournament.

Ravenlok

Platforms: Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC

Release Date: May 4th

Embark on a delightful adventure through enchanted lands, delving into a lost Labyrinth, a menacing Mask Mansion, and more. Solve puzzles and complete quests to help the quirky yet endearing inhabitants restore their realm to its former splendour. Travel through a cinematic 3D pixel fairy tale, accentuated by the studio’s signature voxel aesthetic.

Bare Butt Boxing (Early Access Launch)

Platforms: PC

Release Date: May 4th

Take control of mischievous aliens mesmerized by the sport of boxing as they battle it out all over our beloved planet Earth, unaware of the laws and traditions of human society. Enjoy the chaos and whimsy of simulated characters and environments in this action arena brawler that will keep you hooked with surprising combat twists and gameplay variety. Board the spaceship, we’re off to the next scrimmage!

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

Platforms: Switch

Release Date: May 12th

The Cheapest Copy: $74 at Amazon

An epic adventure across the land and skies of Hyrule awaits in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom for Nintendo Switch. The adventure is yours to create in a world fuelled by your imagination. In this sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, you’ll decide your own path through the sprawling landscapes of Hyrule and the mysterious islands floating in the vast skies above. Can you harness the power of Link’s new abilities to fight back against the malevolent forces that threaten the kingdom?

Humanity

Platforms: PS5, PS4, PC

Release Date: May 16th

A unique blend of devious puzzle-solving and platformer-action mechanics, HUMANITY’s ever-changing and eclectic gameplay experience will have you lead a horde of ever-forward-marching people into the light. Place commands to direct the masses to turn, jump, push, float, climb (and more!) to salvation. Venture through a robust, 90-level narrative-driven story mode filled with mind-bending challenges, bosses, and a wide array of optional cosmetic unlockables.

Another Fisherman’s Tale

Platforms: PS VR2, PC VR

Release Date: May 17th

Another Fisherman’s Tale, sequel to the award-winning A Fisherman’s Tale, is a new mind-bending VR puzzle-adventure. A poetic story with unique VR puzzle mechanics. Detach, Replace and Control your hands, solve puzzles, explore new locations and discover the truth.

Warlander (Console Launch)

Platforms: PS5, Xbox Series X

Release Date: May 18th

Up to a hundred players will be able to join up and battle it out as part of two or five armies in skirmishes and castle sieges with the goal of breaking into the opponents’ stronghold and destroying its core. Playing either as a warrior, cleric, or mage with their own unique set of skills, players will have the option to build up decks of finely customized characters for the battles ahead.

The Outlast Trials (Early Access Launch)

Platforms: PC

Release Date: May 18th

The Outlast Trials is a survival horror game you can play by yourself or with other players online. You’ll have to survive the twisted, sadistic and bizarre experiments of the Murkoff Corporation, alone or in a group up to 4 players.

I Am Future: Cozy Apocalypse Survival

Platforms: PC

Release Date: May 18th

Awakening atop an overgrown skyscraper roof, you find yourself surrounded by silence and devoid of any living soul. Cosmopolis, once a towering symbol of metal and glass, now lies in shambles and submerged in water. The fierce, decades-long conflict between UNICORP and rival corporations advocating transhumanism ideas appears to have reached its end with the collapse of society. Your mission is to unravel the mystery of civilization’s final days and your sudden awakening. Alternatively, you can forge your own path, building a future while appreciating the remnants of humankind’s legacy.

LEGO 2K Drive

Platforms: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Switch, PC

Release Date: May 19th

The Cheapest Copy: $74 at Amazon

A world-class team at Visual Concepts with deep experience in the genre will bring AAA quality, depth of gameplay and stunning visuals to a LEGO driving game for the first time. LEGO 2K Drive will combine the best elements of open-world driving and fast-paced competitive racing, while introducing a diverse vehicle customization system.

Glitch Busters: Stuck On You

Platforms: PS4, Switch, PC

Release Date: May 23rd

Glitch Busters: Stuck on You, a fun, frantic single player or co-op shooter perfect for gamers and the entire family will be out on May 23rd!

Work alone or together with 3 friends to exterminate viruses across wildly inventive stages, including a towering metropolis and roaring volcano using special magnetic co-op abilities and an arsenal of unlockable weapons. Play, laugh, and shout with your team to take on the net’s kookiest bugs in an online world gone haywire.

Amnesia: The Bunker

Platforms: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC

Release Date: May 23rd

Amnesia: The Bunker is a first-person horror game set in a desolate WW1 Bunker. Face the oppressing terrors stalking the dark corridors. Search for and use the tools and weapons at your disposal, while keeping the lights on at all costs. Overcome fear, persevere, and make your way out alive.

Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun

Platforms: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Switch, PC

Release Date: May 23rd

Load up your Boltgun and unleash the awesome Space Marine arsenal to blast your way through an explosion of sprites, pixels and blood in a perfect blend of Warhammer 40,000, frenetic gameplay and the stylish visuals of 90’s retro shooters.

After Us

Platforms: PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC

Release Date: May 23rd

Play as Gaia, the Spirit of Life, and navigate stunning platforming environments in an abstract world to salvage the souls of extinct animals. Revive these creatures after learning their final fate: the last whale harpooned, the final eagle caged, the last deer hunted down, and more, while you survive encounters with dangerous, oil-covered Devourers that roam the wasteland in search of remaining life.

Miasma Chronicles

Platforms: PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC

Release Date: May 23rd

From the creators of Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden comes a beautifully crafted tactical adventure you won’t forget. Embark on a quest across a post-apocalyptic wasteland torn apart by a savage force known only as the ‘Miasma’.

The Lord of the Rings: Gollum

Platforms: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Switch, PC

Release Date: May 25th

A narrative-focused adventure game that will centre on J.R.R. Tolkien’s famous tricksy, dual-personality character. The game will explore events that occur between Gollum’s finding of the One Ring and the start of The Lord of the Rings story.

Company of Heroes 3 (Console Launch)

Platforms: PS5, Xbox Series X|S

Release Date: May 30th

The Cheapest Copy: $89 at Amazon

Purpose built for Console with custom UI, full controller support, and features that allow you to play at your own pace, Company of Heroes 3 deploys its acclaimed blend of action, tactics and strategy to PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S in full strength.

System Shock

Platforms: PC

Release Date: May 30th

System Shock, rebuilt from the ground up with the Unity Engine, is a complete remake of the genre-defining classic from 1994. One of the first 3D games to take a methodical approach to exploration, System Shock’s story-driven narrative was revealed through audio logs and messages scattered throughout the game world, making it a revolutionary step forward for interactive storytelling.

The post Games Coming Out In May That You Should Be Excited For appeared first on Press Start.

The World of Warcraft team is gearing up for the biggest content update since Dragonflight launched late last year. 10.1 Embers of Neltharion is an exciting new patch that will introduce a whole new zone, a new raid, a new season of Mythic+ dungeons, cross-faction guilds and much much more. Ahead of the launch on May 2nd, 2023, we sat down with Game Director Ion Hazzikostas and Lead Quest Designer Josh Augustine to discuss little cowboy hats, snail racing and some other pretty cool stuff as well.

This is the biggest Dragonflight update since the game launched late last year – can we expect the timing of major updates to follow a pattern or is it dependent on other, less predictable factors?

Ion Hazzikostas: This is our first major content update and brings with it an entirely new outdoor zone, a new dungeon season, a new PVP season, a massive raid to explore and more. I think these big updates have generally been considered the mainstays of past World of Warcraft expansions. The thing we’re doing differently this time in Dragonflight is we’ve had two updates already and as we laid out in a roadmap at the end of last year, we always want to have there be something just around the corner for players. There’s always something that has just gone live, something that is on our playtest realm, something we’ve just announced. There’s a wide range; big, small, serious, competitive activities, lighthearted activities, cosmetic pursuits – whatever you as a World of Warcraft player want to chase, there’s something new lurking around the corner.

As you mentioned, one of the most exciting features of the update is the new zone, Zarelek Cavern. Can you tell us a bit more about it?

Josh Augustine: Yeah, I’d love to talk about Zarelek Cavern, there are a lot of fun new activities down there.

The campaign that kind of takes us down there is really exciting.

You head down with the Black dragons and they’re looking into an Neltharion’s past. He was a former leader of the Black Dragon Flight that became corrupted and so wrestling with the history and what does it mean to be a Black Dragon? What is that future going to be? Do they want to choose a new direction? On the story side, I’m really excited about the opportunities there and for the Dracthyr to wrestle with what they find down there.

During the endgame, there are a lot of new, fun things in the zone. One of the things we’ve enjoyed doing in Dragonflight is faction activities. So when you meet the Tusk, you have the feast with them, when you meet the Maruuk Centaur, you go on hunts. When you meet the DragonScale Expedition, you go rock climbing. When we were looking at the Niffen, the new group of mole people that we meet underground there, we had a lot of fun exploring, like, “What’s gonna be their fun new gameplay and game activity? What is it? What do these people bring to the table that’s uniquely them and uniquely cool about them?”

The Niffen are adorable, can you tell us a bit more about them and the inspiration for them? 

JA: It’s a fun process with the whole team. We start early on with the narrative and the art team jumps in on what could be down here. What could they look like? You know, there’s tons of iteration that goes on there on the design side. That’s where we get a lot of our inspiration. I don’t know if you’ve seen it, but they have fun little cowboy hats as well, right? So like, you see that in the artwork and immediately we can come up with a hundred ideas of rewards or activities and stuff we could do.

We also have a quest designer on the team named Laura, who loves rats and she has a bunch of pet rats. She wrote this document about like, rat social structures and how they compete for Alpha Dominance and brought that to the team and it inspired ideas about these different aspects of the culture. That’s one of the things I love, working with a new culture like this, there are opportunities for everyone on the team to jump in and leave their mark on what it becomes.

Do you have a favourite quest or quest line that you tell us about?

JA: Absolutely. I’m gonna cheat a little bit here because it’s not technically a quest line but there’s a new activity called Sniffen Seeking, which is an adorable name on its own. Basically, you meet a Niffen in town who’s sad because Niffen love to go digging underground, searching, exploring, and finding new treasures but they always use the buddy system, ’cause you need to be safe underground. He’s sad because his buddy can’t go diving with him anymore. You, the player, look like a potential new dive buddy,  so you get to go on your first dig with him and it’s a lot of fun. It’s almost like an escape room kind of feel.

You get in there, there’s a treasure, there are tools, and you can pick them up and uses your buddy’s super sniffer nose to smell out clues. It’s all about finding the prize and figuring out how to use the tools to get it. Along the way you meet your buddy’s friends in different caves, you see their reaction to him and how he interacts with them and you just kind of get to know him and just fall in love with him throughout the whole feature. That’s my absolute favourite.

Yeah, that sounds really cool and very different. You know, you’re fighting epic world bosses on one side and then just helping out this little guy in the meantime.

JA: Yeah! That was some of the fun of going through the iterations. We’re always looking to make faction activities special and something new. We don’t want it to just be like go kill twenty things again. So we went through a lot of iteration with that, getting feedback from people on the team, then on PTR. It’s really fun to find new gameplay types in WoW.

On the other side of gameplay, there’s a new nine-boss raid, can you tell us a bit more about that? 

IH: Sure. So, the raid is called Abberus, the Shadowed Crucible and it’s in the ancient underground laboratory research facility of Neltharion, the former Black Aspect who later became Death Wing and ravaged Azeroth during the Cataclysm expansion. We’re returning to a place that shaped the future of all Dragon Kind and all of Azeroth.

The Dracthyr, the Dragon Aspects, everyone has a reason to seek our Aberrus because it contains powerful secrets about the origins of Dragon Kind and their purpose in Azeroth. When creating this raid, the team was inspired by past Black Dragon raids that old-school World Warcraft fans may remember from all the way back in Classic. Black Wing Lair was the second big raid zone ever introduced to the game.

It was a similar laboratory that was the home of Nefarian who was Neltharion’s son. This is sort of just a styled up to 11, super modern version of that with the same general vibe of tinkering with forbidden experiments and secrets. It’s just a really fun space to explore.

Do you have a favourite boss from the raid?

IH: One of the bosses you fight is actually an Echo of Netharion himself, who we knew as Death Wing. I think something we’ve seen across the Dragon Isles is the ability for these powerful dragons that may have faded from this world to leave behind echoes of their consciousness that we can interact with, so of course in Netharion’s laboratory, we’re gonna find one of him.

I mean, I’m not gonna lie, it’s an excuse just to get to fight Neltharion who has long been dead otherwise. It’s just a really cool look at a very charismatic and interesting character.

JA: I’m a sucker for the story, I love the end fight. Not necessarily for the fight mechanics itself, but the things you learn and how the characters react, I love that.

Onto Mythics. We have a new rotation of Mythic+ dungeons. What goes into picking which older dungeons go into rotation?

IH: That’s a great question. It’s something we’re doing really for the first time, this is the first season in the middle of a of a WoW expansion that will have an all new pool of dungeons; four new dungeons from Dragonflight, plus four older ones.

I think the team was looking for a mix of thematics. Neltharion’s from the Legion expansion was a very natural fit in this expansion, we gotta do that one. For the others, it’s about fleshing out the range of layouts, hazing, aesthetics. Dungeons could be more linear, they can have different numbers of bosses or they can have branches or hub and spokes layouts. I think recognising that we’re asking players to spend tons of time across this pool of eight dungeons over the course of the season, we want as much variety in setting everything from the colour palettes to the mechanics.

We’re looking to figure out what helps complement what we already have as we flesh out the rest of the set. That actually led the team to pull in the oldest dungeon we’ve ever used in Mythic+, which is the Vortex Pinnacle dungeon from all the way back in Cataclysm with some updates to adapt it to the modern system.

Do you have a favourite of the new Dungeons?

IH: It’s a good question. Probably I think, Brackehide Hollow. It’s a dungeon that was very, very difficult, arguably, notoriously difficult right when Dragonflight launched. I know some folks were dreading seeing it come back into the season two rotation but we’ve done a lot of work on it to smooth out some of the rough edges and pain points and I think gonna be a great example of modern dungeon design.

Players will be able to complete it in Cross-Faction Guild from now on and a lot of people are excited about that. Why was now the right time to launch this feature?

IH: To be honest, it’s the soonest we could get it in players’ hands at a high level of quality. It’s something that we started thinking about after we rolled out Cross-Faction instance gameplay last Summer, late in Shadowlands, and allowed players to play with their opposite faction friends in dungeons and raids for the first time.

We quickly heard, ‘Hey, this is awesome, but I raid with my friend’s Guild and I can’t access their Guild repairs. They’re making jokes in Guild Chat, and then they have to repeat them for me because I can’t hear them‘ and so on and so forth and so that led us to start asking, what would it look like? What would it take for us to allow friends to join each other’s guilds across faction lines? One of the quirks of navigating this entire space is that we are swimming upstream against 20 years of precedent in history that were designed to work the other way. So we just need to make sure that we’re, checking everything, fixing bugs making sure all the logic works and also so that we’re moving conservatively, but steadily in the direction of tearing down barriers that prevent friends from playing with each other and making faction more of a choice about personal identity rather than who you can and can’t play with.

Another thing from the technical side is that you’re introducing the gear upgrade system. We’ve heard a lot about how that’s gonna work. I’m just wondering from a game direction side of things, when did you decide that you should look into this gear upgrade system, and why?

IH: This is actually something that started out as a pitch from a great designer on our rewards team. She was looking at the landscape of what we were laying out as we prepared for Dragonflight before the expansion had even shipped. It had different currencies involved in upgrading different sorts of items and different parallel paths and if you got this item from this vendor in the outdoor world, you needed this currency to upgrade it. If you got that one, you needed that currency. So, if you got something from a dungeon, well then you should get valour and if you were a raider, too bad, you don’t get to upgrade your things at all.

That naturally got us thinking surely there’s gotta be a better, more elegant way to do this – a way of not having so many different currencies, of unifying these progression tracks like a grand unified theory of item upgrading that also gives raiders the ability to access to the same progression as others.

Originally we talked about doing something like this for Dragonflight at launch, but that was a terrifying idea given the ambitiousness of the system and the time remaining at that point.

We wanted to give it a shot, so we kind of planned it around our first big content update from the ground up. The theming is definitely very much tied to this update but we’re not trying to make any secret of the fact that if this works well and is well received, we would likely evolve and enshrine it as a more permanent part of how the game works.

The goal is just more flexibility and while it’s a lot of change upfront and if you read the blog, it’s a lot of words. It’s ultimately more simple than the different upgrade tracks for different items depending on where they were retained.

What are you most excited for people to see, experience and explore in Embers of Neltharion?

IH: For me, I think it’s what comes next in the story. The community is so adept at figuring everything out. Everything is pored over and data mined and guides are written and everything is laid bare before it reaches players’ hands.

One of the exceptions is our story. We’ve tried to do what we can to keep the surprise around our big narrative moments, around cutscenes, and cinematics. The things that are going to set up in a big way, what comes next for the story. So much care has gone into crafting Dragonflight’s story, it’s just really exciting for the team and everyone who’s worked on it and touched it to see players experience that together in real-time.

Seeing that unfold is gonna be a really fun part of the next couple of weeks.

JA: Yeah, I mean, that’s a good answer, but I’m gonna go even more specific. I’m really excited about Fyrakk. His name isn’t in the title of the content update but he is a big deal. He’s the big fire dragon in the cinematic.

There are really fun moments with him during the campaign where you get to see him powering up in an area and not really even paying you attention because you’re not even worth the hassle – there are some fun little touches too, where if you emote at him, he’ll do something back at you. There are a lot of fun things like that.

Then on the surface, we have Fyrakk assaults where he’s gonna be blazing through. I love those times when we pay homage to the great moments in the World’s history, like that Cataclysm pre-patch event where he and Death Wing went through and torched everyone. We’ve got a mini version of that. I’m just in love with Fyrakk and so I’m excited, I think this is gonna be his content update.

We’re running out of time but this is a little callback to something you said earlier. You mentioned cowboy hats, and I just have to ask, is that tied to the snail racing?

JA: Oh, I’m so glad you asked me about snail racing. I can fill the rest of the time talking about snail racing, don’t worry. Yeah, so snail racing, it’s one of those features that when we knew the Drogbar were coming back, we wanted to – kind of like what we just mentioned, pay homage to the history of the World. So we were looking at like, what is something that players loved about Drogbar?

So of course we’ve got plenty of weightlifting and all that kind of stuff too, but like the snail race was something we wanted to do a callback to. We kind of just handed it to a designer, like, ‘Hey, we know we wanna do snail racing. You wanna figure out something that could be fun?’ and they just ran with it.

It’s one of those things you see in the game and can just tell the designers were having a lot of fun making it. There’s way too much detail, they went way too far in depth. The designers turned it into a social event, where the race starts publicly for everyone. You can choose which snail you wanna root for and then all the players who are rooting for that snail can get treats to throw at ’em to like speed ’em up or you can throw rocks or something to block the other snails. Then you have randomised events where maybe a spectator NPC gets angry and runs out and starts attacking one of the snails or whelplings swoop through and burn everyone in the course. It just became this big social activity where everyone’s working together and then if you get your snail to win, everyone’s cheering and you get the little check mark on your achievement to get all the snails. It’s just super fun. It’s one of those things that I love about the work we get to do on the quest team because we help populate the whole outdoor world.

Quests are awesome but the thing that makes Warcraft, Warcraft for me is those little details out in the world where there’s no reason this thing has to be here, right? But you get this fun little story. That’s the little stuff that makes the world feel real and lived in.

So yeah, snail racing.

I can’t wait to get my guild into snail racing!

JA: Oh yeah. I’m gonna give you a bonus here too. Snailys is a daily set of quests but we call ’em snailys because…snails. You get a snail mount! You go through a series of quests but I love the twist we did on it this time. We’ve done a series of quests to get a mount several times now and we’re always looking for a twist. So, we have a snail and snails move really slowly, right? So we give you the mount immediately but then your series of quests slowly make the snail faster and faster until you get it up to regular mount speed. So there’s just a lot of fun in there. I love snails.

World of Warcraft: Dragonflight is available exclusively on PC via Battle.net and requires an active subscription. Patch 10.1 Embers of Neltharion goes live on Tuesday, May 2nd, 2023, and is available for World of Warcraft players who own the latest expansion.

The post World of Warcraft: Dragonflight Interview – Digging Into Embers Of Neltharion With The Lead Developers appeared first on Press Start.

Explore iconic, gore-drenched Los Angeles, meet larger-than-life characters, slay countless foes in exquisitely bloody detail and evolve to become the ultimate Zombie Slayer in Dead Island 2, out now. Buy it here.

Dead Island 2 is finally here, and it’s taking the zombie-slaying action to the streets of HELL-A, throwing the larger-than-life personalities of the City of Angels with the shambling hordes of the rotting undead.

The latest and long-awaited game in the series ups the ante with no less than six playable Slayers to take control of, whether you’re going it alone or taking to the dangerous HELL-A streets with friends, each with their own distinct personalities and gameplay styles. Depending on who you pick, you’ll get access to two different Innate Abilities, and each character comes with their own backstories and personal stakes in Dead Island 2’s narrative.

We realise picking one of these Slayers at the outset can be an intimidating proposition, so we’ve put together a guide to who’s who and what type of player each is best suited to below:

The Lowdown

Hailing from London, former stockbroker Jacob moved to LA with dreams of a career as a stuntman. Don’t let the aggressive demeanour and complete disregard for his own personal safety and wellbeing fool you – Jacob’s also very well-read and has a particular fondness for the works of Shakespeare.

Innate Skills

Jacob’s starting playstyle is all about attacking with ferocity, getting up close and relentless with HELL-A’s zombie residents and being rewarded for effort exerted with additional damage and stamina gains.

Feral: Jacob gets a (stackable) minor boost to damage when attacking in quick succession.

Critical Gains: Jacob gets a moderate boost to his critical damage while his stamina is low, and critical hits regain some stamina.

Pick Jacob If…

You lack the patience to hang back in a fight and do silly things like “manage” your “stamina.”

The Lowdown

Dani’s a foulmouthed Irish import with an attitude as foul as her sense of humour. With a history of roller derby competition Dani’s not afraid to throw herself at her opponents and her experience in retail means she’s well-versed in dealing with braindead hordes.

Innate Skills

Thunderstruck: Dani’s heavy attacks trigger a forceful explosion on impact.

Bloodlust: Dani regains some health when slaying multiple zombies in quick succession.

Pick Dani If…

You’re a melee-focused player who doesn’t mind risking life and limb in a scrap, and hearing a constant stream of colourful language along the way.

The Lowdown

Amy is an LA local with a laidback manner typical of a Californian. As a Paralympian she’s also no stranger to challenging herself and overcoming obstacles, which lends itself well to the city’s new climate of constant challenges and obstacles. The need for a keen eye and quick thinking make Amy a formidable opponent to HELL-A’s undead population.

Innate Skills

Relief Pitcher: Amy regains stamina when hitting a zombie with a weapon throw.

Divide & Conquer: Amy gets a minor damage boost when she attacks isolated zombies.

Pick Amy If…

You like to stay on the move, looking for opportunities to single zombies out of a crowd and hit them with deadly precision.

The Lowdown

Bruno is a savvy hustler with a disdain for corruption – whether it’s on the side of the law or not. He’s an LA native that’s had to fend himself from a young age, but that just means he’s learned the skills necessary to keep himself alive in the worst situations and somehow come out on top every time.

Innate Skills

Backstab: Bruno gets a moderate damage boost when attacking zombies from behind.

Rapid Reprisal: Boost Bruno’s agility and heavy attack charges when he avoids attacks with a block or dodge.

Pick Bruno If…

You love to outsmart and outmanoeuvre your opponents with and you have the reflexes to back it up. If sticking it to the man gets you going, then imagine sticking it to the undead!

The Lowdown

Jacob might dream of being a stuntman, but Carla’s a certified, death-defying stunt god. She’s a mechanically-minded adrenaline junkie so naturally her default position is atop a motorcycle at 200 km/h, but with resources at a premium in HELL-A she’ll have to settle for getting her kicks in a crowd full of bloodthirsty zombies.

Innate Skills

Mosh Pit: Carla gets a minor damage boost when close to multiple zombies.

Dig Deep: Carla gets a moderate toughness boost while her health is critical.

Pick Carla If…

You’re a risk taker who doesn’t mind taking one (or two, or five) for the team. You’re at your best when things are at their worst and you thrive in the mosh.

The Lowdown

Part beefcake and part tank, there’s only one real way to describe Ryan – he’s a beeftank. An exotic dancer with abs of steel and a heart of gold, Ryan’s less concerned with his own survival and more about reuniting with his little brother at any cost.

Innate Skills

Retaliation: Ryan gets a moderate force boost when using block or dodge to avoid an attack.

Seesaw: Ryan regains some health each time he knocks down a zombie.

Pick Ryan If…

Steamrolling everything in your path, using a combination of heavy hits and timely guards to knock zombies off their feet while staying on yours.

Dead Island 2 is out now for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S. The cheapest copy is Amazon where it’s available for $78 including free shipping. 

The post Meet The Slayers – Dead Island 2’s Diverse Cast Of Playable Characters appeared first on Press Start.

As soon as LEGO 2K Drive, a new open-world driving adventure game from the folks at 2K’s Visual Concepts, was announced I knew I was all-in. The game promises a proper, open-world gameplay experience that’s based around the idea of vehicles and racing but with the sense of fun and discovery of a LEGO game.

To learn a bit more about the team’s approaching to designing this open world and making it an engaging and exciting space for all kinds of players, I was lucky enough to chat with Visual Concepts’ Design Director, David Msika, and Lead World Designer, Jon Dunsmoor.

“When we set out to build an open world, there were a few guidelines that we wanted to adhere to, based on our core values for gameplay and for the game as a whole,” begins Msika. 

“The first and most important one was to make it feel ‘LEGO.’ This is a LEGO game, so we have as much LEGO as we can from the buildings, the signs, the vehicles, the minifigures, all of that makes up a very complex sort of urban planning of LEGO sets. On top of that, we have the organic side of the biomes, which are all inspired by what LEGO looks like.”

“So everything has to be reminiscent of LEGO but also the tone. LEGO is tongue in cheek, the humour is accessible by all. So that, again, needed to also be accessible by all, with everybody finding something that they would love in it. It’s an open world, so obviously promoting exploration and discovery was super important for us. And that’s why we created the open world in a way that every corner has something for you to discover, like an activity or a little story vignette.”

To support their visions for this open world, the team at Visual Concepts focused on three core gameplay pillars – transformation, destruction and the driving model. Msika says that thinking about each of these was a huge influence on how the world itself was designed. The idea of player vehicles being able to instantly transition from being a street vehicle to off-road vehicle or watercraft meant that they really needed to plan for where surfaces were placed within the world, for example.

Similarly, destruction felt important from a LEGO perspective – after all what’s the only thing more fun that building a LEGO creation? Busting it to pieces, of course. So the team populated the game with things to destroy, and promoted and contextualised the idea by making it so destroyed LEGO objects add health and boost back to the player.

Lastly, the driving model was crucial to how LEGO 2K Drive’s open world was designed because the team sees the vehicles here as the player’s direct connection to the world, their very LEGO avatar on wheels as opposed to a secondary tool.

“People need to understand that the vehicles in the game – they’re your character. It’s not just a car that you get into, it’s you. You can walk, you can run, you can sprint, you can jump, you can use weapons, you can turn around quickly, you can climb the environment. It’s all of these things that a biped will normally do in an adventure game, but you do it as a vehicle. It’s interesting because as a vehicle you move at 150 miles an hour, so that creates a new paradigm to think of whenever you think about, you know, moving around. Those are all the things that we based building the open world on.”

So the world is big, and it’s also jam-packed with things to see, do, collect, destroy and just marvel at. In a landscape where open worlds in games mean so many different things, I was curious as to where the folks at Visual Concepts were positioning this one and what points of appeal they were trying to hit with the LEGO audience.

“We found there are four types of players that play our games, and we need to make sure that we have something for all of them,” Msika explains. “The younger they skew, the less they care about goals – they do their own thing, they explore and it’s fine. We’ve seen kids spend 30 minutes just exploring in the open world and you’re just like, just play that race! Right? But we don’t want to force them into it because they’re having fun just messing around.

“And then you have the people that are interested in progression. Those are the people that are going to be hitting all the beats and not do any side activities until they’re done. And then there’s the people that want to hone their skills and these people are going to be really going hardcore on the on-the-go events, trying to get gold, getting to all the levels to get the best stats. And finally, the fourth type of player is the people who just want to be in the garage, customising and building.”

Msika says that hitting these four categories of players was important to the team because LEGO is for everyone, and they wanted to be able to provide those experiences that cater to everyone without ever making them feel like they’re missing out on something or should be doing something else.

It made a lot of sense to me, as an adult gamer with a time-consuming job and plenty of boring life responsibilities, to make sure this is a game packed with content and things to experience without being overwhelming or asking for too much of my time and attention, a point-of-view that the team seems to be keenly aware of.

“You might get a game that has a single player campaign that’s really awesome. But it also comes with multiplayer, and so you never touch that single player campaign,” Dunsmoor adds. 

“We also cater to that crowd as well, which is a lot of people don’t have time that are older (gestures at self) that want to get a chance to play the game, and don’t want to go through all of that preamble to get to the gameplay and just want to jump in and be able to play. So we have that component as well – it’s juggling our own mindsets, getting into the mindsets of the players that we’re going to have for the type of content that we’re making.”

Despite the open-ended design, LEGO 2K Drive will still feature a traditional story path through its four biomes, from the starting area of Turbo Acres through to the desert sands of Big Butte, the lush Prospecto Valley and the spooky Hauntsborough. The team implies it’ll be a pretty brisk direct path through these without a terrible amount of gating and nothing to stop players from zipping back and forth between areas to complete anything they left behind.

The game’s approach to vehicle building, while an obvious choice given the modular nature of LEGO, is also borne of these same ideas of giving people the tools to have fun the way they want to while introducing as few barriers to their imagination as possible and still maintaining a good gameplay experience.

“You can build your car a certain way that’s going to have certain effects, but we don’t want it to sabotage the gameplay entirely,” says Dunsmoor. “We don’t want you to build something that’s just going to break, or build something that fails. So we do have to put in certain guardrails, but still allow the changes that you make and the way you build something to affect gameplay.”

Those safeguards are there purely just to ensure that what you’re creating is still capable of racing at a basic level, still viable with being able to do things like drift correctly. But players will still have the freedom to tailor and make inventive vehicles that have a tangible effect on how they play.

“If you want it to just be hilarious looking, but have no purpose, great, you’re still gonna be able to race, you’re still going to be competitive. You’re not going to be at a disadvantage for making something super silly, or making something that’s built for a purpose – you’ll most likely be able to serve that purpose by the way that you build it, but you’re never going to be able to build yourself into a corner where you just can’t have any fun and you’re just constantly getting snagged on stuff or getting flipped around or getting screwed over too badly.”

Msika jumps in with a couple of interesting examples of how members of the studio have found themselves designing vehicles intentionally to tackle in-game objectives in ways that played within the bounds of LEGO 2K Drive’s gameplay systems but weren’t intended or expected by design.

One example saw one of the team struggle to complete a golf-like activity in a “regular” car, and so they went back to the garage and designed a vehicle that actually resembled a golf club and beat the mission that way. Another similar instance happened with someone tasked to ferry a giant egg to a giant frying pan, who added an egg-shaped scoop to the front of their car to gently and accurately carry the payload to its destination.

I think that’s what excites me most about LEGO 2K Drive and its open world currently – the idea that not only is there freedom in what players choose to see and do within this new LEGO-fied world but also in how they engage with it. I’m especially keen to see what creative and ridiculous vehicles players manage to concoct following the game’s launch next month.

LEGO 2K Drive launches on May 19th for PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC. Amazon has the cheapest pre-order price at $79 (PS5/Xbox) and $74 (PS4/Switch) for the standard edition.

The post How LEGO 2K Drive’s Open World Driving Puts Fun At The Forefront appeared first on Press Start.

Explore iconic, gore-drenched Los Angeles, meet larger-than-life characters, slay countless foes in exquisitely bloody detail and evolve to become the ultimate Zombie Slayer in Dead Island 2, out now. Buy it here.

Dead Island 2 is nearly upon us after a long, excruciating wait, and if you’re planning on taking a holiday to HELL-A this April you’re going to want to plan your trip for maximum enjoyment – and maximum survival. Luckily, we’ve contacted our best travel agents and celebrity home tour guides to put together a handful of helpful hints to make it as easy as possible for you to play and slay your way in HELL-A!

Of course, giving you all the answers would ruin things – experimenting with death and destruction in Dead Island 2 is 99% of the fun, after all – but this should get you started on the right foot.

Find Your Slaystyle

Dead Island 2 features six playable Slayers to embody on your HELL-A vacation, and each comes with their own personality, history and importantly – their own unique stats and skills. Every Slayer comes with innate skills that suit their vibe, like Bruno’s Backstab that gives him a damage boost when attacking zombies from behind, Amy’s Relief Pitcher that regenerates stamina when she throws weapons, or Carla’s Mosh Pit which boost her damage in a crowd.

The great thing is, while the two innate skills are unique to each Slayer, there’s plenty of room to build on them and “Slay Your Way” with the game’s heavily customisable melee weapons and firearms, as well as the Skill Cards you’ll be able to collect and equip along the way.

Trust In The Heart Of The (Skill) Cards

Dead Island 2’s collectible cards are for more than flipping on eBay at exorbitant prices – they form a crucial part of Slayer progression and customisation. Using Skill Cards, you’ll be able to build your Slayer into the best zombie killing machine for your slaystyle.

Broken down into four categories that slowly open up with new slots as you level up your Slayer, equipping Skill Cards can grant new abilities, buffs and bonuses that can be mixed, matched and stacked to adapt to your strengths and weaknesses. Struggling with crowd control? Safe Space triggers a concussive area-of-effect explosion whenever you pop a med kit. Or if you’re a big fan of throwing Curveballs, Pain Magazine will recharge your active Curveball with a well-timed block or dodge.

There’s no limit to how often you swap Skill Cards in and out either, so learn what works for you but don’t be afraid to change things up when the situation calls.

Load Up On Guns…

On top of Skill Cards, Dead Island 2 also offers customisation in its weapons system, which allows players to upgrade and build on the huge number of unique weapons found out in HELL-A. Picking up as much scrap and cash from around the place as you can is vital, as you’ll gradually unlock new blueprints to craft more and more insane weapons. All manner of hammers, clubs, swords and more can have bits strapped on to make them stronger, faster, longer-lasting and even imbued with status effects like electricity, fire, bleeding and acid to add even more insult to injury.

And yes, there are guns. While they’re fewer in number than melee weapons and ammo is in equally short supply they can make all the difference against some of the game’s tougher enemies so make sure you keep at least a couple on hand, kitted out and stocked up for some of the gnarlier fights you’ll face.

Make sure you pick up any particularly powerful or unique weapons that you find too, even if you don’t think you’ll use them. You’ve got a little bit of universal storage to access in safe rooms that’s shared between any Slayer save files you create, and if nothing else you can sell them or break them down into crafting components.

…Bring Your Friends

Dead Island 2 also features full co-op play for up to three total Slayers, meaning you can team up to take some of the edge off of surviving and balance your strengths and weaknesses with two friends – or strangers, if you want. It’s totally drop-in, drop-out so you can set your game’s privacy how you prefer and others can jump in and join you while you play.

With the flexibility of the Skill Cards system and weapon customisation, putting together a crack team of Slayers can make even the most chaotic and intimidating showdowns with zombie hordes feel much more manageable, and while you’ll split any cash you find equally with your mates the rest of the loot is instanced to each player so you’ll all get to walk away with your own spoils for the trouble. Having someone along for the ride is also great for, uh, “testing” for any booby traps that might be hiding around every corner.

Work The FLESH

One of Dead Island 2’s biggest draws is its innovative “Fully Locational Evisceration System for Humanoids,” or FLESH.

FLESH goes beyond simple zombie dismemberment physics with a fully-modelled and procedural damage system that allows players to tear zombies apart in real-time, with blunt weapons breaking bones, razor-sharp blades slicing through muscle and organs, caustic acid dissolving skin in seconds and plenty more gross stuff. More than just an impressive and disgusting display of tech though, it’s a crucial factor in zombie slaying.

Dead Island 2’s unique zombie types can be formidable, but they’re still just bags of meat. The mighty, roided-out Crushers can’t do their trademark ground slam if they’re missing arms, for example, and what’s a Runner with two broken legs? Try out all of the unique weapon types and test the impact they have on zombie bodies – surviving against impossible odds and controlling hordes becomes easier when you think less “How can I do the most damage?” and more “How can I do the best damage?”

And if all else fails, empty a jerrycan full of Caustic-X in front of your shambling foes and watch them melt from the outside-in before they ever reach you.

Dead Island 2 launches on April 21st 2023 for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S. The cheapest copy is Amazon where it’s available for $74 including free shipping. 

The post Top Tips For Surviving Your Trip To HELL-A In Dead Island 2 appeared first on Press Start.

Redfall, the exciting vampire-hunter shooter out of the talented team at Arkane, is for all intents and purposes the beginning of the “new” Xbox first-party. The old Xbox first-party, ushered in during the Don Mattrick era, effectively set Microsoft back a generation. Although high-profile failures still exist like Halo Infinite’s much-maligned post-launch efforts, the acquisition of Zenimax and Bethesda was, if nothing else, a promise of a brighter future for those who align with the big, green machine.  

With honoured marketing deals like Ghostwire: Tokyo and Deathloop in the rearview, Redfall feels like the first opportunity for Microsoft and Xbox to affirm its intentions to bare its fangs and become more of a contender in the console space while PlayStation and Nintendo have things on their terms. 

It needs to hit because Xbox, as an entity, needs a win. 

Despite having monster hits like The Elder Scrolls and Fallout, it’s probably safe to say Bethesda and its studios have never experienced the level of scrutiny levelled at Xbox and its own. It’s a whole new ball game for Bethesda as the burden of soft-launching the new vision for Xbox, along with all of the strategies that go with that, is being shared and mostly shouldered by them. 

Of course, there have been critical victories and stepping stones along this journey, like Hi-Fi Rush and Pentiment. However, when it comes to the roll-out strategy of a big game every quarter, when one looks to the future, Redfall feels like the first cab off the rank.  

The unfortunate thing here is that Redfall, despite being a game I had fun previewing and am still excited for, has become something of a bad press headache for all involved. Whether it’s host-only progression that forces one to question whether it’s worth playing together, the drama surrounding the game’s need for a persistent connection, or the latest revelation that the game would launch without a performance mode on Xbox consoles—an unforgivable faux pas for the world’s most powerful console. Admirable as it appears, these repeated efforts at transparency are beginning to scupper any modicum of excitement that surrounds the game and, for the vocal and “hardcore” echo chamber online, is drumming up cries for delay. 

Whether this is the right call or not is debatable, though it’s certainly going to be damning should Redfall not put its right foot forward. 

It isn’t a live-service game, so it can’t win favour back long-term like Destiny has. First impressions are golden, and while it’s a game that previewed well, if players boot up in May and it isn’t the game we’ve been sold, it could conceivably miss its moment in time—another game with huge expectations reduced to a middling shambles from a stable of extremely talented and accomplished studios now under a banner that just can’t find the firing spark.

Of course, Redfall could strike a chord with the silent majority that don’t count frames or place stock in variable refresh rates. It might serve as the lightning rod Xbox wants for Game Pass, bring in another few million subscribers, and be checked off as a pass mark. Their strategy is so unorthodox and unlike that of PlayStation and Nintendo that the metrics for success aren’t black and white and focused solely on units moved. Whatever the benchmark is, there’s no denying that Redfall has had a bit of a mare on the public relations front and it’ll sow doubt, give mindshare to other mammoth games releasing either side of it, and derail Xbox’s first-party renaissance from its tracks—which would place incredible strain on Starfield, a game that’ll already be held to near-impossible expectations.

Is it a storm in a teacup? I wouldn’t go that far, as hitting 60fps should be the bare minimum for a next-gen release that’s meant to showcase the world’s most powerful console. 

That said, as someone who has spent time in Redfall, Massachusetts, I know how fun this game will be. Without losing any of what makes an Arkane game special, Redfall is an exciting direction for the team and it’s a shame that this omission, paired with the hopes pinned to the game by the suits at Xbox, might be the straw that cripples the camel.

Simply put, Redfall can’t afford to fail. It’s time to curb people’s enthusiasm, there’s too much at stake.     

The post There’s Too Much At Stake For Redfall To Fail appeared first on Press Start.

Play your way with PowerA video gaming accessories. Available now at JB HiFi stores and online at JBHiFi.com.au

With video game controllers seemingly getting more advanced, and far more varied in terms of options, there’s far more choice than ever before when it comes to buying an extra pad for your favourite gaming platform.

That’s especially true of the Nintendo Switch, which is stacked with different controller options both official and third-party, so choosing what to get can be difficult. We can help to make that choice a little easier though, at least when it comes to a traditional controller alternative with a reliable wired connection, with the PowerA Spectra Enhanced Wired Controller.

PowerA has established itself as one of the major sources of genuinely decent third-party video game accessories, with a huge catalogue of licensed gear for the Switch especially – including a heap of stuff themed on brands like Mario, Pokémon and The Legend of Zelda – but the Spectra Enhanced Wired Controller is easily one of its most attractive accessories. Importantly, it also offers incredible bang-for-buck with added features and a premium design that goes far beyond what you’d expect for its affordable $69 asking price at JB Hi-Fi stores.

One of the surprising additions given its price are the two mappable back buttons, which are something typically reserved for pricier pro-level controllers. These rest on the underside of the Spectra’s grips and can be quickly remapped mid-game without having to mess around in extra menus simply by using a dedicated Program button on the back of the controller. You’ll be smashing the competition in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate or giving yourself the best possible edge in Mario Kart 8 in no time.

On top of the mappable back buttons, the PowerA Spectra Enhanced Wired Controller’s premium finish, ergonomic design, precision-tuned analog thumb sticks with smooth anti-friction rings and 3-metre braided USB cable all add up to make this more than just an affordable controller – it’s a competitive one.

That thoughtful design combined with the reliability of a USB connection makes this a controller designed to give players more confidence in play than something like the Switch’s included Joy-Cons, and makes it a great controller to use at home. There’s also a 3.5mm audio jack included, something many Switch controllers are still missing – including Nintendo’s own Pro Controller.

Of course, it’s hard to talk about the Spectra without mentioning its biggest selling point and namesake, the gorgeous LED lighting that can be customised with eight different colours or set to play through them in a special Rainbow Phase mode. With the USB connection there’s no risk of the controller’s running out of juice either, so you can light up your play without worry.

All told, if you’re looking for an affordable extra controller for your Nintendo Switch that packs in added features without compromising comfortable and competitive play, the PowerA Spectra Enhanced Controller ticks all the right boxes.

The Spectra Enhanced Controller and many more PowerA video gaming accessories are available now at JB HiFi stores and online at JBHiFi.com.au

The post Illuminate Your Gameplay On Nintendo Switch With The PowerA Spectra Enhanced Wired Controller appeared first on Press Start.

While Ghostwire: Tokyo is coming to Xbox this week, it also brings a meaty free expansion in the form of The Spider’s Thread. It’s easy to say in hindsight, but this update brings a lot of improvements to the game that feels like what the original game should have been. So much has been tweaked, and so much has been added to an already dense experience to the point where I’ve engaged with and been addicted to the game in a much greater way than I was with the initial release. And that’s before I even start talking about the titular new mode that’s been included too.

For those who played the game before, a lot has been added to the world now. For one, the three new enemy types are all wildly different. One is invisible and throws objects at you. Another is a serpentine human who dives in and out of the pavement like water. Similar to Taylor Swift on her latest Eras tour. The highlight, for me, is the Sanguine Dancer. With a strange assortment of legs and arms hanging out of a twisted red piece of fabric, the deadly enemy floats gracefully through the air but throws all kinds of projectiles at Akito from afar before spinning into a deadly charge attack at close range. They’re all great additions to the game’s robust roster of enemies and only heighten the variety.

A few new locations are also added, and a few new mission types. Once again, they add more variety to the game’s open world without feeling like needless bloat. The star of the update is easily the new location that’s been woven into the game – an abandoned school. It brings more horror-tinged elements to Ghostwire: Tokyo, more in line with what you’d expect from The Evil Within. I enjoyed them, though they’re by no means game-changers. More amusingly, if you’re scared of this type of thing, you can enable an option to swap the scary elements with graffiti of puppies. Amazing and ingenious.

The combat has similarly been tweaked too. Akito can now dodge in any direction with the tap of a button. Perfectly blocking attacks now allows following up with a devastating shockwave attack. Akito can even do a hefty ground pound when jumping from Tokyo’s dense concrete jungle rooftops. These options give Akito a bit more options during combat, especially when swarmed by multiple enemy types.

The new additions to the combat also come in the form of new attacks called Elemental Rush. These alternate firing modes for Akito’s three spells can inflict elemental debuffs on enemies. The water power can now freeze enemies in a small radius, increasing the damage they receive after. The fire power can now inflict burning on enemies in a pseudo-flamethrower type of attack, inflicting constant damage, explosive damage and the potential to spread that fire damage to other enemies. They’re, once again, nicer additions that give more depth to the combat and give Akito more options in combat.

This dovetails rather beautifully with the titular mode that’s been included with the update. The Spider’s Thread is a 30-level gauntlet randomly generated from over a hundred designed levels. Each level of the thread will have a primary objective and optional objectives that reward you with extra experience. Objectives are varied – some are platforming-based, some are arena-based or a mix of both. The goal is to reach the end of the thirty levels, and dying sends you back to the beginning, but you can keep all unlocked skills and buffs you’ve purchased on your runs.

This is a simple rogue-lite mode that we’re used to seeing implemented in games, but it is addictive. The Spider’s Thread feels like the perfect addition to the game, especially in light of the overall combat improvements. I’ve put over six hours into it already, and there’s no sign of me slowing down – it is pretty tough, but my willingness to keep coming back makes me think The Spider’s Thread is an exceptional inclusion.

Some other improvements have less of an impact. For one, some expanded cutscenes shed more light on the characters and story. While I appreciate the effort here, the story is still aggressively fine – though that was never my favourite aspect of the game. A few new talismans are also included – one creates high jump points while another creates portable ammo pools. They’re nice additions, but I barely used them this time around since Akito had excellent mobility already.

The Spider’s Thread update won’t dramatically change your opinion of Ghostwire: Tokyo, but it sure makes the game worth revisiting. It’s still got all of those little niggles I didn’t like about the original game – but the added depth to the combat and the totally addictive Spider’s Thread rogue-like mode makes it well worth your time. The fact that it’s free, too, is just icing on the cake.

Ghostwire: Tokyo launches on April 12th 2023 for Xbox Series X|S. The Spider’s Thread Update also launches on the same day, for PlayStation 5 and PC.

The post The Ghostwire: Tokyo Spider’s Thread Update Is A Remarkable Improvement appeared first on Press Start.

Alongside having the opportunity to go hands-on with Minecraft Legends in Tokyo, we were also fortunate enough to be able to interview the game’s executive producer, Dennis Ries. It was a short and sweet interview that yielded plenty of insight on where the team got their inspirations from, and how they went about crafting a Minecraft-focused narrative.

With Minecraft being as well known as it is, you’d think it’d be daunting to come up with a new idea within the IP that’s so drastically different from anything before. From reveal to getting the game into players hands, there’s an inherent anticipation imbued in something related to Minecraft like Legends.

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Dennis touched on new experiences, “It is daunting to take on a new idea and put it out to players. Minecraft is on every platform, and the user-base is so massive because of this. When creating new Minecraft experiences, the team really wants to make them well-worth playing, not just for fans but also newcomers.”

It’s clear that Legends and Dungeons before it are trying to bring in new types of players that wouldn’t usually engage with Minecraft’s typical suite of offerings. It’s easy to see why many are drawing comparisons between the popular Dragon Quest Builders series, from the perspective and overworld to overall progression, there’s more than a few similarities. Dennis mentions that the comparison has been made before but the team didn’t pull much inspiration from other games.

“When we were concepting, we weren’t thinking about games other than Minecraft. A lot of our inspiration and the things we pulled from come from vanilla Minecraft, and it became more about how we translate that experience into an action strategy framework. It was little things from vanilla and Minecraft Dungeons that we pointed to as our core influences.”

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Bouncing off of this response, I asked Dennis what core tenets the team were leaning into when it came to designing Minecraft Legends, and how those tenets were adapted to fit an action-strategy framework. He specifically mentioned three core elements of vanilla Minecraft’s gameplay loop foresight, action, and knowledge, which are actually three of the key characters in Legends’s story mode.

“There were 3 core things so important to Minecraft that we made them into characters for Minecraft Legends; Foresight, Action, and Knowledge. When players play Minecraft they engage with these things all the time, so it was something the team wanted to translate over and make work in this new style of gameplay. The other thing we lean on quite heavily is vanilla mobs like Creepers, Skeletons, Zombies etc. We want them to be familiar so that players realise what kind of strategy they fit into, but if you don’t recognise them, that’s also okay.”

Constructing a whole narrative for a game like this is something of a fickle task for a few reasons. Minecraft canon/lore/mythology is important to so many people around the world. You have to be careful about the things you poke and play with in new stories like this. There also isn’t much to pull from in the way of characters for obvious reasons.

When asked about this, Dennis made a point that Minecraft’s story is more of a mythology, and players create their own narratives through play; “It was a challenge to build a narrative in a game like this but a fun one. To quote our narrative lead, there is no canon or lore in Minecraft, it’s all mythology. This is part of the reason we landed on the name Minecraft Legends, you’re forging a story in that mythos that may or may not be canon.”

“Minecraft’s story is made by the players themselves, but taking the mythology angle on Legends allowed for some creative liberties and freedoms we otherwise wouldn’t have had. The way we see is that this would be one of many stories told within the world, passed down between generations in the same way we do with fairy tales and the like.”

It’s an interesting and totally unique way of exploring the narrative space within the world of Minecraft. Each game serving as part of a collection of stories that may or may not be true. It runs parallel to the way players create and foster their own stories in vanilla Minecraft and share them with one-another.

If you want to learn more about Minecraft Legends, you can check out our hands-on preview with the game right here!

Minecraft Legends is coming April 18th, 2023 to Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PS5, PS4, Switch and PC. It will be available on Xbox Game Pass on day one.

Amazon has the Deluxe Edition starting from $64 with free shipping.

The post Minecraft Legends Interview – New Ideas, Inspirations, And Building A Minecraft Narrative appeared first on Press Start.

Star Wars fans love a dark middle chapter. There’s a reason some forty-odd years later you still hear about The Empire Strikes Back during discussions of the best of the series. The fresh-faced heroes are now hardened by years of war, the encroaching darkness is closer than ever, and nothing is quite what it seemed. With Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, Respawn Entertainment may have made its Empire Strikes Back.

In a recent hands-on session hosted in Los Angeles, we had a chance to play a solid three hours of the game’s opening act. In it, we saw a very different Cal Kestis, this time on a strange new quest that ripples through decades of Star Wars storytelling. It’s bigger, bolder and more ambitious than its predecessor and after some time with its finer details, I’m all but convinced this is the Star Wars game I’ve been waiting for.

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I was cooler on Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order than most. Despite rave reviews and massive commercial success, I always felt as if something was missing from Respawn’s first crack at a Jedi story. While it chased the highs of FromSoftware’s Souls combat and attempted the cinematic language of the galaxy far, far away, I couldn’t help but see emulation rather than proper fruition. Jedi: Survivor feels designed to address every point of contention players like me could have had with the first game, resulting in a new entry that builds on the solid foundations of the first while escalating the stakes, and quality, exponentially.

It’s been five years in-universe since we’ve linked up with Cal Kestis and that time has dramatically changed our lead Jedi. Years of struggle against the Empire have hardened Cal into a gruffer version of himself, no longer a boy on the run but a man at war. To keep pace, Jedi: Survivor has expanded its combat and exploration mechanics to match this new, more confident Cal. Our demo set us loose on Koboh, an arid planet that housed an expansive open-world environment with pockets of lush vegetation and some truly delightful mysteries. We also had access to three of the five combat stances in the game; whipping around a single Lightsaber, dual sabers and the sick double-edged blade that dominated my playstyle.

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Moment to moment combat is a fully realised Jedi power fantasy as Cal is equipped with countless animations that see him weaving between foes, the saber a fluid extension of his movements and in turn your inputs. Across the board the game feels more responsive than the first, faster to react to player choices but still committed to inputs, a balancing act between the precision of the game’s Souls inspirations and the free flowing fun of Star Wars’ more arcade-y games like The Force Unleashed. Enemy collision has been improved from the first game too, blows now landing with a more satisfying thud and eventually cleaving off limbs this time.

Each combat stance has been given its own bespoke skill tree for deeper player expression; something Respawn told me they were the most excited for players to experience. Skill points are still earned through combat and exploration but feel far more valuable this time around as your preferred stance can be radically beefed up with proper investment.

Over time I was able to use the Force, still a limited but rechargeable resource here, to twirl my saber into a colourful windmill, while other stances allowed for automatic parrying and the classic saber toss. While these low level skills were enjoyable enough, we were also shown footage of late-game play that incorporated the remaining two stances, a heavy hitting cross-guard saber and the absurdly cool blaster and saber combination.

In the hands-off demo we saw Cal handling dozens of troopers with ease, deploying an overwhelming amount of Force skills to crowd control while using the saber in escalating, creative ways. This footage included the use of the game’s new Perk system, slots that allow for passive and active combat enhancements like increased block duration.

The blaster will undoubtedly be the headline attraction here, calling to mind the interruptive parrying of Bloodborne’s off-hand pistol, but this time paired with a straight-up Dead Eye slow down ala Red Dead Redemption. It was an immaculate display of force, all but guaranteeing that while Jedi: Survivor is angling for a darker vibe, you’ll still be treated to some childlike wonder in the face of its many combat options.

A Jedi’s arsenal extends beyond their saber though and Jedi: Survivor has taken its expansive approach to skill trees and equally applied it to Cal’s Force abilities. For those concerned that the game would require you to re-learn skills from Jedi: Fallen Order, fear not. The game begins with no unmapped buttons, all your base abilities still present here including staples like Push, Pull and Slow.

These classics are revitalised through customisation, with new skill tiers allowing for more precise deployment for both offensive and defensive play. Often I would roll into a group fight, pinning one trooper against the ground while using the Force to yank another toward me, impaling him before twirling the saber in an exaggerated “come and get me” fashion – all in the span of a few seconds.

Maybe most intriguing of all though is Jedi: Survivor’s adapted approach to violence. Call me a softie but I always found the wanton animal killing in the first game to be a little distasteful, especially considering the Jedi’s creed. Seems like someone at Respawn agreed as now Cal can use the Force in creative ways to pacify not only animals but all sorts of foes. Holding down a bumper transforms the face buttons into higher level skills, like the impossibly useful Jedi mind trick that can turn foes into allies and even tame wild animal life.

In what can only be described as Star Wars’ answer to a Chocobo, Cal can tame wild Nekko, large creatures that you can ride to reach new locations and generally move much faster through the world on. Cal can use this newfound wildlife appreciation to tame flying mammals too, allowing for soaring, cinematic rides across vast stretches.

These creatures are an essential new component of Jedi: Survivor’s refreshed approach to world traversal and map design. Given the expanded nature of the game’s new worlds, of which we hear there are many and are far larger than we’re anticipating, Cal needed updated movement systems to match the scale. The best example being that the first game required you to hold the interact button to remain attached to climbable surfaces but Jedi: Survivor does away with this, meaning Cal can effortlessly move between spaces far faster. Throughout the world you’ll also find specific instances where Cal can use his new hook-shot to get through tightly timed puzzles and find hidden areas.

Exploration is consistently rewarded, both mechanically and in just outright Star Wars vibe-y goodness. Cal can find Health Essence in the world to boost his overall health (along with the Force meter, both of which also feature their own skill trees), as well as cosmetic items and, most importantly, settlement upgrades. Koboh looks to be something of a home for Cal in the game, with the Rambler’s Reach settlement housing a cantina he can upgrade over time into a hub of NPCs, shops, and personalised living quarters. Cal can find seedlings out in the world and plant them in a rooftop garden here too, allowing BD-1 and you the chance to craft your own little slice of paradise, another expansion on the first game’s Mantis planters.

There are about a dozen things in Rambler’s Reach, and Koboh at large, that I want to celebrate here. This place radiates cowboy Western energy from the moment you step foot in it, rescuing the locals from a rampaging raider in a very slick stand-off that only serves to further remind you how far Cal has come as both Jedi and general badass. Typical touches like easter eggs and fan-favourites are easy enough to spot but it’s the deeper cuts that make Jedi: Survivor’s world feel like a genuinely inhabited space.

On my way into town, I ran into a young girl named Mosey, a local farmer who raises Nekko and spoke with a warm, country twang in her voice. Nearby I found roaming raider gangs and quest giving characters in need of help. Cal’s Force Echo returns too, with one particularly killer moment showing me an echo of a local droid repairer working on a busted Separatist unit that quietly chirped at her about the Clone Wars – “Did we win?”

It’s difficult to talk about the story of Jedi: Survivor without straying into spoiler trouble but from what we’ve seen, Cal’s journey is set to catapult him into the farthest corners of Star Wars canon. The familiar touchstones of Empire and Sith Inquisitors in Jedi: Fallen Order were an enjoyable launching pad but it’s thrilling to see Cal navigate a whole new version of this galaxy. Lucasfilm has semi-recently launched its new canon timeline, The High Republic, and this largely book-focused venture will be playing a major role in the events of Jedi: Survivor.

Keen-eyed fans have already spotted the aesthetic signatures of this era in trailers for the game, a mere glimpse at the depth to which Respawn have incorporated these new ideas into its version of Star Wars.

I came away from my time with Jedi: Survivor a rambling mess of thoughts, half of which I haven’t even been able to address here. The game feels familiar but almost entirely unmoored from the trappings of the original, able to strike its own unique visual and mechanical vibe that honours the best of its predecessor but pushes its ideas and characters into far cooler new territory. It can be next to impossible to follow up on a beloved first entry but Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order looks set to stake its claim as the bold, dark and deeply interesting middle chapter of Respawn Entertainment’s own potential Star Wars trilogy.

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Survivor is coming to PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC on April 28th. The cheapest pre-order is $84 Standard Edition / $114 Deluxe Edition from Amazon with free delivery. 

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With March having come out swinging with some massive titles like Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty, Bayonetta Origins and the remake of Resident Evil 4, April looks set to continue a similar pace. Not absolutely stacked with releases as some recent months have been, but with plenty of big-hitters up its sleeve the likes of Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, Dead Island 2 and the Burning Shores expansion for Horizon Forbidden West.

As usual, we’ve put together a list of the stand-out launches for the coming month, from the triple-est of AAA to some white hot indies. It’s by no means an exhaustive list, but we reckon there’s going to be at least something here for everyone to get excited over in April, and if not – take a breather before an inevitable torrent of massive releases starts to hit for the rest of the year.

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Atari Mania

Platforms: PS5, PS4

Release Date: April 4th

Atari Mania sees players face off against the “dead pixels” in a retro-fueled mashup of classic Atari titles. Players must journey through mixed-up versions of classic titles, beating microgames and grueling boss battles to re-establish peace.

Over 150 microgames based on classic Atari titles, with plenty of plot twists and game mash-ups to keep you on your toes.

Meet Your Maker

Platforms: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC

Release Date: April 4th

The Cheapest Copy: Included with PlayStation Plus at launch.

Meet your Maker is a post-apocalyptic first-person building-and-raiding game where every level is designed by players. Play solo or with a friend as you mastermind devious maze-like Outposts full of traps and guards, then gear up for methodical fast-paced combat raiding other players’ creations.

Road 96: Mile 0

Platforms: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Switch, PC

Release Date: April 4th

Set on White Sands, Petria´s only luxurious community, the game takes place just before the road trip which started in the summer of 1996. Players will alternate between the roles of Zoe and Kaito, two teenagers with opposite backgrounds and beliefs.

Road 96: Mile 0 is a narrative adventure game with a musical component developed by DigixArt and published by Ravenscourt.

Everspace 2

Platforms: PC

Release Date: April 6th

EVERSPACE 2 is a fast-paced single-player spaceship shooter with worthwhile exploration in space and on planets, tons of loot, RPG elements, mining, and crafting. Experience a thoughtful sci-fi story, set in a vivid, handcrafted open world full of secrets, puzzles, and perils.

EA Sports PGA Tour

Platforms: PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC

Release Date: April 7th

The exclusive home of the Majors, EA SPORTS PGA TOUR features Pure Strike for superior golf gameplay, powered by ShotLink, and unrivaled access to the world’s most exclusive golf courses.

TRON: Identity

Platforms: Switch, PC

Release Date: April 11th

Enter a new Grid and forge alliances via visual novel gameplay, uncovering truths through Identity Disc puzzles. Make critical decisions and plot your own within a perilous new world.

Ghostwire Tokyo – Spider’s Thread

Platforms: PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC

Release Date: April 12th

Return to the supernatural streets of Tokyo with all-new content on April 12.

Something different is looming in Tokyo. New otherworldly threats, strange occurrences and ghostly sightings have been spotted in the city – are you ready to dive into the unknown and save the day?

AFL 23

Platforms: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One

Release Date: April 13th

The Cheapest Price: $79 at JB Hi-Fi

AFL 23 is the most authentic video game football experience to date.

Featuring the fully licensed 2023 AFL Premiership and AFL Women’s competitions and over 30 detailed stadiums, it’s time to play footy for real.

Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection

Platforms: PS4, Switch, PC

Release Date: April 14th

Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection brings ten Battle Network games to the PS4. Using a unique battle system that combines both action and card-game mechanics, join Lan and MegaMan.EXE as they work together to stop evil forces that threaten Net Society. Unleash powerful Battle Chips in combat and forge new bonds to take on special new traits, then unleash your power in combat to delete viruses.

Minecraft Legends

Platforms: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Switch, PC

Release Date: April 18th

The Cheapest Copy: $69 at Amazon with free shipping

The piglins’ Nether corruption is spreading across the Overworld, scorching everything it touches. Plan your strategy and face the piglins in epic battles – but be warned: they always fight back. Take on piglin bases by day and defend your allies after dusk. Explore lush biomes filled with treasures and perils, meet new friends, and reunite with familiar mobs. With the allays by your side, all that’s left to do is save the world.

The Mageseeker: A League of Legends Story

Platforms: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Switch, PC

Release Date: April 18th

From Digital Sun, creators of Moonlighter, comes The Mageseeker: A League of Legends Story. In this indie 2D pixel action RPG set in the League of Legends universe, play as Sylas, a spell-stealing mage now freed from his captivity at the hands of the oppressive Mageseekers. Wield the chains that once bound you and bring Demacia to its reckoning.

Puzzle Quest 3

Platforms: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One

Release Date: April 18th

Puzzle Quest 3, the most recent installment to the groundbreaking and highly successful puzzle-RPG franchise, is scheduled for worldwide release on April 18th for PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One on April 18th.

PQ3 returns to its origins, recalling the deep RPG mechanics and signature heroic storylines that made the original a standout hit within the Match-3 category. The sequel features unique head-to-head battles that push the boundaries of the genre once again, with an intense 1-versus-1 battle system realized in a 3D game world.

Disney Speedstorm

Platforms: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Switch, PC

Release Date: April 18th

Disney Speedstorm is the ultimate hero-based combat racing game, set on high-speed circuits inspired by Disney and Pixar worlds. It’s a thrilling arcade racing experience where players will need to master each character’s unique skills on the racetrack and claim victory.

Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores

Platforms: PS5

Release Date: April 19th

Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores sees Aloy pursue a sinister threat in the untamed wilds of Los Angeles, now a treacherous volcanic archipelago.

Tin Hearts

Platforms: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Switch, PC

Release Date: April 20th

Guide a troop of mischievous tin soldiers through a magical toy-filled world using a variety of whimsical and inventive contraptions to bounce, shoot and glide them to their goal, in the narrative puzzle adventure Tin Hearts.

March through 50+ levels of time-bending, soldier-routing riddles, forge new paths for your toys to follow, and solve increasingly elaborate puzzles to unravel the emotional, thought-provoking story, of Albert J. Butterworth, a genius inventor of Victorian times.

Coffee Talk Episode 2: Hibiscus & Butterfly

Platforms: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Switch, PC

Release Date: April 20th

Your favourite late-night coffee shop will be brewing again soon! Meet and serve coffee to Lucas, Riona, and all your favourite customers in Coffee Talk Ep. 2: Hibiscus & Butterfly, the sequel to Coffee Talk; a coffee brewing and heart-to-heart talking simulator about listening to fantasy-inspired modern peoples’ problems, and helping them by serving up a warm drink or two.

Dead Island 2

Platforms: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC

Release Date: April 21st

The Cheapest Copy: $70 at Amazon with free shipping

The much-loved zombie saga is back with a unique formula of horror, dark humor and over the top zombie-slaying, spanning an epic pulp adventure.

Dead Island 2 is a thrilling First-Person Action RPG that takes players across a brand-new playground. Stylish, vibrant and flooded with zombie infection, explore iconic, gore-drenched Los Angeles. Meet larger-than-life characters. Slay countless foes in exquisitely bloody detail. And evolve to become the ultimate Zombie Slayer.

Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp

Platforms: Switch

Release Date: April 21st

The Cheapest Copy: $68 at Amazon with free shipping

Command an army in strategic, turn-based combat as a tactical adviser for the Orange Star Army. Your expertise is needed as you move land, air, and naval units across the battlefield. Take down enemy squads and capture towns and bases to secure victory and keep the peace. Keep an eye on the game-changing terrain and weather as you lead a variety of units across multiple maps.

This remake features two campaigns that cover the events of the Advance Wars and Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising games!

Honkai: Star Rail

Platforms: PC, Mobile

Release Date: April 26th

Honkai: Star Rail is a new HoYoverse space fantasy RPG. Hop aboard the Astral Express and experience the galaxy’s infinite wonders on this journey filled with adventure and thrills.

Players will meet new companions across various worlds and even chance upon some familiar faces. Together, they will overcome the struggles caused by the Stellaron and unravel the hidden truths behind it.

Bramble: The Mountain King

Platforms: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Switch, PC

Release Date: April 27th

Bramble The Mountain King is a grim adventure set in a world inspired by dark, Nordic fables. Explore the beautiful yet dangerous and twisted land of Bramble in your endeavour to rescue your sister. Traverse a wondrous landscape and survive deadly encounters with Bramble’s many hideous creatures.

The Last Case of Benedict Fox

Platforms: Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC

Release Date: April 27th

Join Benedict Fox as he explores the memories of the deceased and battles countless demons in a labyrinthian adventure inspired by Lovecraft’s nightmares, noir pulp fiction, and early 20th-century jazz.

Mail Time

Platforms: PC

Release Date: April 27th

It’s Mail Time! As a newly trained Mail Scout, put on your pack, grab those letters, and deliver them across Grumblewood Grove! The forest animals eagerly await the sight of your mushroom hat in this cozy, cottagecore light-platformer adventure!

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor

Platforms: PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC

Release Date: April 28th

The Cheapest Copy: $84 at Amazon with free shipping

Picking up five years after the events of STAR WARS Jedi: Fallen Order, Jedi: Survivor is a third person, narrative-driven action-adventure game from Respawn Entertainment, developed in collaboration with Lucasfilm Games. STAR WARS Jedi: Survivor will be available on PS5, Xbox Series X|S and Windows PC.

Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak

Platforms: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One

Release Date: April 28th

The Kingdom calls for new Hunters! Sunbreak, the massive expansion to Monster Hunter Rise comes to new platforms on April 28. Step up to Master Rank and hunt your way through a mysterious new story. New monsters, locales, gear, and an expansive endgame await.

The post Games Coming Out In April That You Should Be Excited For appeared first on Press Start.

Although it was in development prior to the acquisition, Redfall checks a lot of the boxes for games handcrafted for the Game Pass era. It isn’t essential, but the game can be played as a collaborative four-player vampire hunt throughout a checklist open-world. A clear conceptual departure from their other works, including Dishonored and Prey, Redfall is still very much an Arkane game. Like Dunwall and Talos I before it, the titular town of Redfall is far and away the game’s most pivotal character with the developer’s penchant for delivering on a rich world remaining a strong focus.

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While the game is assumed to be designed around character synergy and running down vamps with your buds, our hands-on session had us take in the game’s single-player offering. Things picked up just a few missions into the main game, in a quest called House of Echoes, which tasked us with seeking out and ransacking the abandoned manor of Dr. Addison—whose link to the emergence of the town’s vampire infestation, which is interestingly born of in-world science, is of keen interest. Starting out from Redfall’s fire station, which is serving as a headquarters for the town’s remaining survivors, I feel Redfall showed its hand as far as its mission structure goes.

The ultimate goal in Redfall appears to be ridding the town of the vampire infestation, which has spiralled out of control after an experiment gone awry. A byproduct of said catastrophe are the vampire gods, who’ve hunkered down in the town’s four corners and act as the all-powerful vampires pulling the strings. The aforementioned Dr. Addison has also transformed himself into a vampiric, god known as The Hollow Man. I expect the story to follow an almost “monster of the week” formula, focusing on a god at a time, taking the time to explain their place in Redfall, their ambitions, as well as the human cost of achieving them. Either way, what’s evident from our ninety minutes with the game is that there is a story which, admittedly, I’d be concerned about given how much this departs from Arkane’s past work.

There’s so much personality to Redfall, a fictional, sea-locked island town in Massachusetts and likely a stone’s throw from Salem. The four hero characters have big personalities and interesting back stories given Layla’s ability to call upon her vampire ex-boyfriend for help, while Redfall feels like another achievement in world-building from one of the best to do it. Spots of interest are fairly scattered as solo-trawling of the map felt too evenly split between eventful and the uneventful. With a lot of empty space, lone wolf locomotion felt a bit like work—I expect when you’re shooting the shit with friends, it’s a different ball game.

Like any good open world, there’s plenty to do. The firehouse might serve as home base for the main quest, but the safe houses scattered throughout Redfall serve as avenues to the game’s side content. As time was limited, I didn’t get to explore many of the side distractions, but the side quests I did try were lean in terms of objective but went a long way to fleshing out the world and therefore felt worthwhile. The main one I recall involved a house call to a friend’s apartment to perform a welfare check only to discover a grisly scene, another involved triangulating a signal but I ran out of time to see that one through.

There are town monuments to mark on your map, spiritually charged gravelocks that can be collected to record the town’s notable history, and vampire nests to clear out like pouring boiling water into an ant colony. It’s in these nests, which are incredible, distorted iterations of the town’s landmarks such as the Overton Theatre and the United Church of Christ, that I noticed the greatest spikes in both numbers and difficulty. Fortunately, the game is forgiving in where it respawns you, as well as respecting the progress you’d made, after each death.

When you do attempt to vanquish your fanged foes, Redfall’s gunplay is rather tight. I’d say there’s parity with their previous games, as there’s a deliberate, almost sluggish heft to using these guns. Shotguns are predictably powerful and popping heads from half a klick will never disappoint, but getting your mitts on an ultraviolet beam is a must. With the power to swiftly petrify a vampire and pulverise their rock-hard bod, it feels like something Arkane might yet balance.

Playing as Layla, I found her powers to be functional without being entirely useful. Her projected hard light elevator lift is cool, but all rooftops of interest have other access points simply due to the fact not all heroes have her particular power. And the same kind of goes for her umbrella parry, meant for reflecting bullets, as I never quite felt threatened by any gun-toting zealots on the recommended difficulty, but I don’t doubt both of these abilities—in tandem with the other heroes—will be a lifesaver on the more extreme settings. I did love the ultimate power-up which sees Layla summon her vampire ex-boyfriend, Jason, to knock a few heads before sending him straight back to hell, to the point that I poured any skill point I unlocked right into it. 

I do regret not being able to experience the other players, but the reception to Jacob, Devinder and Remi on the day from those who took on the content as them seemed exceptionally positive.

One thing that’s evident from combing through the Hollow Man’s corner of Redfall is that the team has challenged themselves to ensure the day-walkers you fight have an array of abilities to strategise against. Of course, cultists serve as the human fodder and I expect each god to have their devotees, but there’s a host of special vampires that disrupt your flow in and out of combat.

Watchers perch themselves in gargoyle posture on eaves around town as a means of surveillance, but they’re especially weak and are perhaps the most disposable of the specials. Shrouds will blanket you in a veil of darkness, lowering visibility as the ads close in around you, and Bloodbags are sickly mines full of claret, extracted from the husks around town. Although it’s in your interest to use prejudice against these specials, their deaths draw the attention of the gods who’ll send the Rook after you—it’s a real “fuck around and find out” kind of deal, and I was too chicken shit to call on that kind of whooping during my session.

Redfall, as a setting, definitely commands your attention with its attentive world-building and familiar visual language that has constantly set Arkane’s games apart from their contemporaries. Again, I expect the sample we got is perhaps a quarter of the town’s map and I was still floored by some of the inspired design. It didn’t matter the direction I looked, I kept spotting things that beckoned me. I saw a dried quay resting at the foot of tidal waves that had been suspended in midair courtesy of vampiric magic, and I saw affluent, and now overrun, hillside manors. In an effort to encourage exploration, the  team deliberately scaled back the reach of the player’s radar so that objectives wouldn’t appear from range, which does seem like an inspired choice—I’m sure we all recall the lure of the undiscovered in games like The Elder Scrolls and Fallout that’d tug at our sleeve and pull us from the main path. 

Of course, as our session focused on proving that  single-player is certainly a worthwhile way to experience Redfall, several questions still remain. How will the game hold up and scale to challenge four players, will powers synergise as nicely as trailers suggest, and will progress make sense for all involved? I expect we’ll get these answers soon enough, but it’s a relief to know there’s a game here for those looking to escape solo into Redfall.

Redfall launches on May 2nd for Xbox Series X|S and PC, and will be launching into Xbox Game Pass on day one.

The post Redfall Hands-On Preview – Fangs For The Memories appeared first on Press Start.

The PlayStation VR2, Sony’s next-generation VR headset, is finally upon us.

If you’ve read our glowing, comprehensive review of the PS VR2 headset, you’ll know that it’s a fantastic bit of gear that serves as a shot in the arm to the PlayStation’s VR platform with cutting-edge PS5-powered visuals and increased immersion thanks to innovative features like haptic feedback and eye tracking.

We know many will be diving into the world of PS VR2 from a variety of previous experience, whether you had the original PlayStation VR, you’ve used other VR headsets like the Quest 2, or you’ve got a PS5 and this is your first foray into VR. With that in mind, and after having tested dozens of them ourselves, we wanted to call out what we feel are the essential launch titles for the PlayStation VR2 to help you build a great library early on and really get the most of out the experience.

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While we played and absolutely loved games like Horizon Call of the Mountain (you can read our full review of that here), there are actually still a handful of  titles that we haven’t been able to access just yet such as the free PS VR2-exclusive updates for Gran Turismo 7 and Resident Evil Village, so this list will gradually grow over time as we get to check those out – all the more reason to keep coming back!

The Best PlayStation VR2 Launch Titles

Horizon Call of the Mountain

The flagship title for the PlayStation VR2 and absolutely one that shouldn’t be missed. Call of the Mountain translates Horizon’s exploration, puzzles and fierce machine combat effortlessly into VR form with easily the most astonishing visuals I’ve seen inside a virtual reality headset and makes great use of the unique PS VR2 features like eye tracking and finger detection.

Along with a thrilling, eight-hour campaign there’s a neat bonus Machine Safari mode, optional challenges to tackle, collectibles to find and plenty of unique and often silly interactables strewn throughout to make this well worth playing again and again.

We gave the game an 8.5/10 in our review, saying “Horizon Call of the Mountain is exactly the killer app that the PlayStation VR2 needed to really sell the promise of its hardware and feature set, even with a couple of stumbles. Clever VR spins on the series’ staple gameplay systems, a compelling campaign, ridiculous production values, decent replay value and a genuine sense of wonder make it essential playing for absolutely anyone picking up Sony’s next-generation VR headset.”

Get it from the PlayStation Store here.

Moss/Moss Book II

Two action-platformer classics have been given a fresh facelift with Moss and Moss: Book II on the PlayStation VR2.

The already excellent duo of games are made even better on the new hardware, with hugely improved controls over the original PS VR version, adaptive trigger support, haptics that really make you feel like you’re in the world alongside the tiny mouse hero, gorgeous 4K visuals and more. I especially appreciate the eye tracking feature which highlights objects that you’re looking at if they happen to be important, and Quill will actively pay attention to where your gaze is so she can intuitively react and give you guidance if you’re stuck – it feels truly special to be staring at a puzzle and have your mouse companion genuinely take notice of where your attention is.

Get both from the PlayStation Store here.

Kayak VR: Mirage

This is a pleasant surprise among the launch library for the PlaySation VR2, an incredibly peaceful and drop-dead gorgeous kayaking sim that takes players through a number of stunning locations like Antarctica, Costa Rica and even Kings Canyon in Australia.

Leisurely paddling around these locales, through some of the most impressive water I’ve seen in any game let alone a console VR experience, is a wonderfully zen experience that can also be a very serious kayaking simulation complete with race times to set and compete with friends if you really want it to. Otherwise it’s a great first VR title to show friends and newcomers, giving them something fairly tranquil, comfortable and easy-going while also showing them just what the PlayStation VR2 is capable of from a visual perspective.

Get it from the PlayStation Store here.

Gran Turismo 7

I never thought I’d be counting the likes of Gran Turismo 7 among my favourite VR games, having barely touched a proper racing sim in my life and generally having no interest in them. From the moment I dove into one of the (admittedly already cool) Music Rallies and experienced screaming along the Tokyo Expressway in a Honda S800 ’66 I was hooked, though. Not only do all of the car interiors look absolutely incredible in the PS VR2 headset, but I’m convinced I actually drive significantly better in the simulated view than any other first or third-person camera on a standard telly.

Now, if we could just get a patch that allows me to play using the Sense Controllers, Mario Kart-style this could wind up being my go-to VR experience.

Resident Evil Village

I already knew I was poised to love playing through the latest mainline Resident Evil entry in VR after it was my very first PS VR2 experience at last year’s Tokyo Game Show. Being able to finally play through from the start, that sentiment hasn’t changed a bit. There are some oddities here and there when it comes to bits that don’t translate as well to VR – cutscenes being the main culprit – but overall it’s a transformative way to play the game and Capcom has gone to lengths to add new VR-centric wrinkles to gameplay. Whether you’ve already seen everything the game had to offer or you’re brand new and looking for a particularly atmospheric and spooky horror jaunt this is essential playing.

Oh, and House Beneviento is somehow even more traumatising than before.

No Man’s Sky

I didn’t much get around No Man’s Sky on the original PS VR, mostly owing to how compromised the experience felt in comparison to the standard game. Fast forward a few years and numerous, game-changing updates and pair it with far more capable hardware however and it’s a different story. Interacting with the weird and wonderful worlds in this vast universe through the PS VR2 and Sense Controllers is an absolute delight and feels like its own iteration of the game rather than a watered-down version, with some great haptic feedback features and plenty of VR-enabled interactions.

Pistol Whip

This game, much like every tune in its stacked and eclectic soundtrack, is a banger.

There’s a reason this game has been super popular on other VR platforms, including the original PlayStation VR. It’s basically John Wick in VR but with a hit of psychedelics and set to thumping EDM tracks that give the action a rhythmic twist. The beauty of Pistol Whip, aside from its actual beauty, is the enormous skill ceiling and customisability that means first-timers can jump in and have a good time while sticking with it and “getting good” can yield very satisfying results.

If you enjoyed Pistol Whip on the original PS VR, you’re going to fall in love with it all over again here thanks to the massively-superior Sense Controllers, immersive haptic feedback and wicked 3D audio that all come together to put you in the best mood for capping virtual baddies. It’s a bloody thrill.

Get it from the PlayStation Store here.

Thumper

What can I possibly say about Thumper (other than they need to update their PlayStation VR trailer)? This game makes me uncomfortable in all the best ways, lending absolute credence to its tagline of “rhythm hell.”

For the uninitiated, Thumper casts you as a kind of chrome beetle racing along preset paths through twisted spaces, hitting simple button prompts along with cues on the track which in turn create a rhythmic soundscape that’s less the typical rhythm game boppy fare and more downright unsettling and oppressive. It’s quite basic on the surface but the nuances in gameplay and presentation really elevate it into something special.

On the PlayStation VR2, not only does the game look stylish as all hell with the 4K OLED displays bringing it to razor-sharp life in a whole new way, but the sensations brought on by haptic feedback in both the Sense controllers and the headset itself go a long way to really sucking you into this unnerving experience. The thundering vibrations through my skull whenever I hit a particular beat never got old, nor did the overall sensation of whooshing through the game’s otherworldly environments at screaming speeds.

Cosmonious High

From the studio behind Job Simulator and Vacation Simulator, Cosmonious High is a colourful and hilarious adventure game that continues those games’ penchant for physicality and unique VR interactivity to great effect.

Casting you as a lightly-customisable… being of some kind… on their first day at an interstellar high school. On arriving, the school’s AI system goes on the fritz and it falls on you and your newfound friends to remedy things. You’ll attend “classes” and complete various puzzle-like objectives to see the story through to the end, but ultimately it’s all about playing with the game’s physics and systems and causing utter chaos along the way, mixing unique powers and all kinds of interactable objects with a ton of freedom to experiment.

Despite the addition of haptics in the headset and the improved presentation, if you’ve checked this one out on something like the Quest in the past you probably don’t need to rush to play it again, but if you’re new to the game and/or loved Job Simulator and Vacation Simulator this is another winner.

Get it from the PlayStation Store here.

Drums Rock

This one really surprised me. On the surface it looks like a fairly basic Guitar Hero-esque drumming game in VR – which is a great if obvious concept – with nothing overly special to make it stand out. In practice, that does mostly ring true as well, with a tame tracklist of covers and fairly basic selection of modes, but once you’re actually on the virtual drummers’ stool and banging away in an effort to destroy rows of incoming demons it proves to be a ton of fun.

The PlayStation VR2 also makes fantastic use of the unique eye tracking feature with a genius twist. If you’re feeling particularly confident in your ability to drum along to a track, you can activate an extra score multiplier just by playing with your eyes closed. I’ll admit I’ve tried and failed to pull it off more times than I’d like, but it’s a brilliantly goofy feature that makes a great case for playing this game on this hardware.

Get it from the PlayStation Store here.

Tetris Effect: Connected

I’ll be honest, although I adore Tetris Effect and had a blast with it both in regular “flat” gameplay and on the original PS VR, I wasn’t expecting anything overly exciting from its PS VR2 port.

Turns out, not only was I wrong about there being nothing new to get excited about, it wouldn’t have mattered anyway – Tetris Effect is still awesome. Getting zen as hell playing Tetris against gorgeous backdrops that envelop you with trippy visuals and a symphony of 3D sound never gets old, and it’s even better with the feedback of each landing Tetrimino or the whoosh and rumble as you transition scenes. And, much like the above feature in Drums Rock, closing and opening your eyes also adds a little spice to the mix.

Get it from the PlayStation Store here.

Rez Infinite

Much like Tetris Effect, Rez Infinite on the PS VR2 is more or less the same as it was on the previous PS VR, but it’s still an absolute classic that serves as a must-play if you’re somehow yet to experience it.

I absolutely love that this Dreamcast/PS2 oddity has managed to endure via the VR space, which really feels like the home it always should have had. The gorgeous visuals in the PS VR2’s 4K HDR displays add an incredible amount to the strangely-inviting and hypnotic retro cyberscape presentation and the physical feeling of each pulsing beat and chained hit is just immaculate.

If you’re jumping into the PlayStation VR2 with the aim to feel like you’ve taken something potent and gone on the most wonderful trip imaginable, this is the game to do that.

Get it from the PlayStation Store here.

After The Fall

My first and only experience with After the Fall prior to the PlayStation VR2 was via a very quick Quest 2 demo in a packed Gamescom show floor, so although I enjoyed what I played I was very keen to get properly stuck into it at home and potentially get together with friends for some online zombie-slaying action.

While I haven’t been able to dabble in multiplayer just yet, I can definitely say that the PS VR2 experience is far superior to the Quest version, with a wider field-of-view making environmental awareness a lot easier and the headset’s excellent ability to block out light combined with HDR displays making everything look moody as hell. Plus, all the requisite haptic feedback in both the Sense controllers and headset itself, as well as the 3D audio, really adding to the feeling of being set upon by zombies while you blindly fire away and feel every shot through the adaptive triggers.

Well, I blindly fire. You’re probably meant to make an effort to aim most of the time, I think.

Song in the Smoke: Rekindled

When Song in the Smoke first launched on older VR platforms, it was a dense and engaging take on the typical “survival sim” with some great VR-centric design and a great sense of atmosphere. It wasn’t the most attractive game on headsets like the Quest or the original PS VR though, a fact that the PlayStation VR2’s “Rekindled” iteration fixes through a laundry list of upgrades and improvements.

There’s a massive bump up in visual quality for starters, with far more detailed geometry, texture detail and effects. It all runs incredibly smooth too, using eye tracking and foveated rendering to give you a sharp view of whatever you’re looking at without wasting resources on areas out of your focus. Added haptic feedback, adaptive triggers and all of the other great PS VR2 features are here as well, and the studio at 17-bit is giving existing PS VR players all of this as a free update despite all of the extra work done.

Synth Riders

I somehow missed Synth Riders on other VR headsets but I’m stoked that I’ve managed to get around it on the PS VR2. It’d be easy to write this off as another Beat Saber-like VR rhythm game but there’s something special about this one. For starters, it’s a feast for the senses and makes Saber look clinical by comparison, especially when it comes to tracks that have unique experiences to go along with them. It plays incredibly well on the PS5/VR2 as well with rock-solid performance and fantastic tracking meaning my wild flailing never felt inaccurately-received, just inaccurately-performed.

It also comes alongside the launch of the new Gorillaz Music Pack which contains some banger songs to get your groove on to if you decide to pick it up.

Unplugged: Air Guitar

I’d previously dabbled in Unplugged on the Meta Quest 2, where full hand tracking was its primary gimmick for a long while before controller inputs eventually became supported. The PlayStation VR2 version unfortunately doesn’t contain any hand tracking functionality, but it plays just as well with the Sense Controllers and benefits from being a bit more tactile and accurate than the spotty finger detection of the Quest 2 version.

With the fun of Guitar Hero long absent in the world of “regular” gaming, it’s great to see it alive and well in VR, and rocking a virtual guitar is a surprisingly tactile and immersive bit of fun thanks to the haptic tech inside the Sense Controllers.

Ragnarock

It might seem like VR platforms are saturated with rhythm games, even the still-new PlayStation VR2, but there’s a good reason for that – they feel great to play. Among the crowded library of rhythm experiences on the PS VR2 though, Ragnarock definitely stands out as a winner. It’s rather simple, tasking players to bang four drums with two giant hammers along to a bunch of Viking Rock-adjacent tracks (including no less than four Alestorm songs), sending their ship further forward with every correct note, but that simplicity keeps it intoxicating for hours on end.

For everything else you need to know about the PlayStation VR2, head here.

PLAYSTATION VR2 PRE-ORDER LINKS:

• PlayStation VR2 Standard Kit – $878 with free shipping
• PlayStation VR2 Horizon Call of the Mountain Bundle – $958 with free shipping
• PlayStation VR2 Charging Station – $79 with free shipping

The post The Best PlayStation VR2 Launch Games appeared first on Press Start.

I’m always stoked when a game quietly sneaks up on us. You know the type, usually something from the AA industry that had a cool cinematic trailer some time ago but has since faded from our collective minds, only jolted back when someone mentions it got a release date. Atlas Fallen is one of those games. Serving as both game developers and publishers under Focus Entertainment, Deck13 Interactive has been quietly churning out bangers for the last five years. Makers of the criminally underrated The Surge series, which took Soulslike combat and planted it into a sci-fi dystopia, Deck13 are no strangers to rock-solid action experiences.

With Atlas Fallen, the Frankfurt-based studio is riffing on a whole other flavour of action title, the heady-hack’n’slash. I’m not sure if that’s an official designation for anybody else but for me it calls to mind the original God of War trilogy and buried Xbox 360 era gems like Darksiders – games that deliver fast-paced, button-slamming combat but also reward deliberate, methodical mashing for those willing to engage at a deeper level. With a shiny new May 16th release date locked in, this third-person action RPG is starting to show the pedigree we’ve come to expect from this team. After spending a few hours in a preview build of the game, I’m left weary of its setting but absolutely enamoured by its systems.

But first the broad strokes, and in the case of Atlas Fallen they are definitely rather wide. The preview was light on details, dropping me into the game’s modest open-world without much fanfare around the plot and settings but from what I gleaned, we’re in for a trope-y fantasy tale. You’ll be playing as a customisable character who is thrust into an age-old war that has torn apart the world of Atlas as a ruling class of magic wielders do the bidding of an almighty god. There’s a litany of proper nouns thrown at you in quick succession by a talking gauntlet (the third of the year, if you’re counting) and while none of it really stuck with me, the looming stone god in the sky is certainly a striking image. 

With the fantasy exposition dutifully doled out for now, I was let loose into the game’s open world with the task of gathering up fragments of my almighty glove so that it may allow me to effectively fly. Atlas Fallen’s entire ecosystem revolves around this device, using its magic for traversal, combat and narrative structure. The latter has potential, hinting that the being trapped in the glove, Nyall, has more of a role to play in the war than first imagined (shocker), but the raw gameplay is undeniably a blast. Moving through the world is fast and loose; I’m hesitant to call it floaty because of the connotations but it truly is to the benefit of the player. Your character can propel themselves across any sandy surface, gliding along the fine particles regardless of incline, turning even basic exploration into a satisfying, quasi-skiing experience. Better yet you can transition from this glide into a substantial double jump that has some very generous gap correction, magnetising you to surfaces you should (by all rights) have missed. Unless it wants to gate you from an area, at which point this little boost will turn off in mildly frustrating ways. 

These great movement options seamlessly fold into Atlas Fallen’s combat, an easy to grasp but layered system that shows great potential. Fights are frenetic balancing acts that require a shifting combination of dodging, parrying and aggressive play to be successful. Alongside your gauntlet you’ve also got an Idol that is charged up by continuous, successful blows against foes. It allows for three healing charges, infinitely refillable provided you can stay on the offensive, as well as three additional super attacks that can be crafted and equipped in the game’s extensive Essence Stone system. These special skills are tiered, with progressively stronger moves gated behind a Momentum meter that, like the healing flask, fills up with repeated attacks. I started the game with a sick hammer throw, not too unlike Kratos’ axe as it magically flew into enemies, but eventually crafted a summonable tornado that would unleash a solid DPS blow to whatever I was targeting.

THE CHEAPEST PRE-ORDER: $79 AT AMAZON WITH FREE SHIPPING

All of those traversal tricks still apply during enemy encounters too, with stages often designed to utilise free flowing movement and a variety of engagement methods. Weapons have two base attacks as your standard light and heavy moves can be altered by holding down the face button instead of tapping. For instance, my whip-blade-thingo could quickly swipe from afar but if I allowed time for a long hold, it would lodge into an enemy for extra damage and crowd control. Likewise the basic axe weapon could be turned into a hefty, downward hammer slam that would have environmental impact as well as raw damage. Momentum, in addition to unlocking skills, also allows your weapons to Ascend, unlocking beast mode versions of them that deal far more damage through flashier animations but likewise make you more prone to damage in turn. Atlas Fallen is smart enough to not lock you into this state though, as Momentum can be spent by holding down both triggers to unleash a massive blow.

Atlas Fallen’s menagerie of corrupted creatures, called Wraiths, are likewise worthy foes for your arsenal of tricks and tools. I have some minor reservations around repeated enemy designs; the short trailer at the end of the preview build showing off mostly the same rotation of Wraiths I had already grown a little tired of, but this is mostly concerning the smaller foes. Atlas Fallen’s bigger, nastier Wraiths are a delight; towering creatures with targetable body parts and naturally forming armour, these fights pushed the game’s systems to new limits. Scattered throughout the world, and typically found defending quest points, these Wraiths call Monster Hunter to mind but with the pacing of a God of War encounter. One instance saw me doing battle with a sand serpent whose head was its only vulnerable point and would frequently hide underground while summoning adds, forcing me to ground slam to trick it back onto the surface.

While most of my time with the game was centred around these fantastic, interlocking combat tools, there seems to be a whole RPG ecosystem ticking away in the background. Caladrias, the area I was able to partially explore, had this beautiful (if a little dry) aesthetic of a collapsed kingdom, taken back by the sand. The world is littered with NPCs who will happily give you quests big and small, often rewarding you with crafting materials and the game’s experience currency, Essence Dust. Which, while we’re on the topic, isn’t lost upon death, the game explicitly telling you that it won’t punish you for messing up as it wants players to experiment with different systems to find their preferred method of play.

It speaks to the overall tone I took away from Atlas Fallen, a borderline nostalgic action romp that presents a simple, good time while inviting deeper player exploration so that the experience might ascend like its signature weapons before it. I’m still not completely sold on its fantasy world but a stellar combat system, effortlessly cool exploration and decent array of foes make this a tale worth keeping earmarked for May.

Atlas Fallen is coming to PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC on May 16th. Amazon has the cheapest pre-order price at $79 with free shipping.

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After a protracted development period and being handed between no less than three different teams, Dead Island 2 is finally seeing the light of day. In that time, the original series creators spun off to create their own series in Dying Light, which did many things better than the game that came before it. The question can be asked whether a game plagued by such fervent development hell can rise above its circumstances. The answer isn’t quite so clear. But make no mistakes; Dead Island 2 has no reservations about what it is. It’s more Dead Island, for better or for worse.

Dead Island 2 takes place a few months after the events of the original, but so far, not much carries on from it – making it perfect for new players to jump in. This time, instead of taking place in the fictional world of Banoi, Dead Island 2 moves the action to the United States. Specifically, California. You take the role of one of six survivors as their plane crashes while trying to escape the quarantine zone. You’re eventually bitten, discover you’re immune and begin your quest to escape the aptly named HELL-A.

The most striking thing about Dead Island 2 is that it’s clearly going for a different, tongue-in-cheek tone from the original game. Where there was some humour and levity in the original game’s side quests, Dead Island 2 is instead drenched in humour. It’s comedy that’ll be hit-and-miss with people, but the new setting affords them many opportunities to poke fun at aspects like celebrity culture.

THE CHEAPEST COPY: $70 WITH FREE SHIPPING FROM AMAZON

As the plane crashes, I’m given the opportunity to pick which character I’ll control in HELL-A. Each of the characters has their own unique sets of stats – some are speedier, while some are more resilient in battle. But each has unique skills that are a little less realistic but differentiate them even further. Things like creating a shockwave after blocking a move, as an example. Each character will serve your individual playstyle with their stats, so it’s more about picking the better fit for you and augmenting them with the right skill cards.

Skill cards are the other character-centric aspect of the game’s progression. They’re doled out through the completion of story quests but also act as rewards for optional challenges. Emblazoned with artwork I can only describe as gnarly, the cards work as a substitution for the skill tree in other games. You can equip certain cards from your deck onto your character to unlock all kinds of abilities – from things as simple as an evade, a block or a dropkick to things as complex as improved damage after a perfect block. The cards system does feel a little bit gimmicky, but being able to swap out abilities on the fly to complement your character and personal playstyle is a nice touch.

From that point, I was thrown into L.A. to fend for myself, having to find a group of people holed up in an expensive property overlooking the suburb before heading out to improve our numbers. It’s at this point that Dead Island 2 make its intentions totally clear – it’s not trying to be anything but Dead Island. There’s no parkour, no deep and depressing story about man’s survival. It’s just you, lots of zombies and implements to hit them with. It’s a simple premise that will appeal to some but not everyone.

Similarly, that sentiment carries on in the quest design. Dead Island 2’s quests feel like they did in the original Dead Island over a decade ago. Head to an area, find a battery to power something up, power it up and then mow down any zombies left standing. Go to an area, examine areas to increase a meter by a certain percentage, and then move on after finishing your “investigation”. Dead Island 2’s quest design has, thus far in my preview, proven to be rather simplistic and feels like it did in the original game. Once again, not likely a deal breaker for everyone, but something that bears mentioning.

A similar design philosophy also carries across to Dead Island 2’s combat. Similar to the original game, there’s a whole wealth of melee options that you can pilfer from just about anywhere. From knives to swords to planks and golf clubs, there’s bound to be something you’d appreciate mowing down countless zombies with. Unfortunately, weapons are degradeable, but keeping them in your inventory allows you to repair them at your bench, amongst other things.

The bench is also where you’ll craft – adding elemental affinities to your weapons and other perks. It’s, once again, very similar to games like Dead Island or Dying Light, but offers up a fun way to engage with the game’s combat. Some enemies are weak to certain elements, so trying to load your inventory with various weapons for different purposes is the way to go. If you’re not one to engage with mechanics like these in games, you can still get by with pure skill, but elemental damage will always make things a touch easier.

While the combat is simplistic, the standout is easily the F.L.E.S.H. system. Standing for Fully Locational Evisceration System for Humanoids, the system is basically a damage system that procedurally generates how you rip zombies apart. The result is something that feels truly unique. Every zombie you attack in Dead Island 2 will react differently, or realistically to whatever weapon you’re using on it and wherever you’re using it on them.

In my time with the game, I was amazed to see how this system works in real-time. I’d run out of weapons early on, so I’d resorted to using my first on a lone zombie. It was almost shocking to see that a different area of the zombie’s face would be affected with every punch. Eventually, I’d punched past skin, and their eyes were hanging out of their head, and their jaw was broken and dangling. Intrigued, I turned my attention to all the dead zombies to see how far I could take things. You can slash away at a leg, through skin and muscle and even break off the limb of a zombie. It’s a macabre system but one that separates Dead Island 2 from other zombie games.

From a presentation standpoint, though this is a preview, Dead Island 2 looks and runs great. There’s something special about running around locations like Bel Air as the sun sets while mowing down huge amounts of zombies. It’s similarly encouraging to find that despite a few bugs supposedly being present in this build, I didn’t encounter any of them. On the soundtrack front, Dead Island 2 is leaning into its tongue-in-cheek approach by selecting licensed songs that fit the mood. My highlight from this preview was fighting an angry bride zombie while Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell’s “Bad Wedding” played in the background. It’s on the nose, but so much of Dead Island 2 is.

I leave this preview amazed that Dead Island 2 is so close and almost finished. I played it a long time ago, maybe even two development teams ago, and it’s encouraging to discover what it’s evolved into today. While I’ve some reservations about how much it will do to keep me interested across its story, when so much feels so similar to the original game, but Dead Island 2 is bound to appeal to fans of the original when it releases next month.

Dead Island 2 launches on April 21st 2023 for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S. The cheapest copy is Amazon where it’s available for $70 including free shipping. 

The post Dead Island 2 Hands-On Preview – Right Down To The Bone appeared first on Press Start.

I don’t know about you, but I’m still very much catching up on games from last year and January, let alone the positively stacked month that was February 2023. Time waits for no one though, and March is fast approaching with even more titles to come, including some poster releases like Capcom’s gorgeous remake of Resident Evil 4 and the surprise Castlevania-themed expansion for 2018’s Dead Cells.

As usual, we’ve put together a list of the stand-out launches for the coming month, from the triple-est of AAA to some white hot indies. It’s by no means an exhaustive list, but we reckon there’s going to be at least something here for everyone to get excited over in March:

Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty

Platforms: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC

Release Date: March 3rd

The Cheapest Copy: $79.99 at Amazon with free shipping

A new dark fantasy Three Kingdoms masocore game from Team NINJA, the developers of Nioh. Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty is a dramatic, action-packed story of a nameless militia soldier fighting for survival in a dark fantasy version of the Later Han Dynasty where demons plague the Three Kingdoms. Players fight off deadly creatures and enemy soldiers using swordplay based on the Chinese martial arts, attempting to overcome the odds by awakening the true power from within. This is the story of officers, who will later become heroes, during their ‘unknown’ period, and also the story of a protagonist’s rise from being a ‘nobody’. From the depths of darkness, a dragon soars.

Read our review here.

Dead Cells: Return to Castlevania

Platforms: PS4, Xbox One, Switch, PC

Release Date: March 6th

The inspiration behind it all returns to its 2D action roots! Castlevania’s unforgettable characters & gothic setting meet the fast-paced combat of the award-winning roguelite Dead Cells in this unprecedented collaboration.

A gateway to a striking castle has suddenly appeared, and an imposing warrior called Richter asks you to help him vanquish the great evil within.
Enticed by the promise of new loot rather than a sense of moral duty, you strike out through the grounds and corridors of the gothic castle to find and kill this mysterious Dracula…

The Outer Worlds: Spacer’s Choice Edition

Platforms: PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC

Release Date: March 7th

It’s The Outer Worlds you love, but even better: 2019’s hit RPG has been remastered with better graphics, improved performance, additional animations, higher-res environments, and more.

Oni: Road to be the Mightiest Oni

Platforms: PS5, PS4, Switch, PC

Release Date: March 9th

Join Kuuta and Kazemaru on their adventure on Kesejima Island! Developed by KENEI DESIGN, the 3D action game ONI: Road to be the Mightiest Oni is coming on March 9, 2023.

In order to build his strength, Kuuta, the lone survivor of the battle of Onigashima, challenges the departed spirits of demon warriors to trials. All in order to defeat Momotaro, who is both human and monster…

Figment 2: Creed Valley

Platforms: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Switch, PC

Release Date: March 9th

Figment 2: Creed Valley is an action adventure game set in the human mind. Nightmares are spreading chaos and have overrun once-peaceful lands. Join Dusty, The Mind’s courage, as you make your way through puzzles, musical boss fights, and unique environments. Face your fears head-on.

Nightmares have shattered the Moral Compass, making The Mind unable to function properly. Dusty and his ever-optimistic sidekick, Piper, must travel to Creed Valley, where The Mind’s ideals are formed to restore peace. A journey filled with musical showdowns and mind-bending puzzles awaits.

Clash: Artifacts of Chaos

Platforms: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC

Release Date: March 9th

Explore the wild untamed lands of Zenozoik in this indie adventure. When Pseudo crosses paths with the Boy, it sparks a journey that will see them square off against Gemini, Mistress of the Artifacts on an adventure that will take you across the full breadth of this weird world.

DC’s Justice League: Cosmic Chaos

Platforms: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Switch, PC

Release Date: March 10th

The Cheapest Copy: $64.99 at Amazon with free shipping

Unite against chaos, in an all-new adventure where the Justice League go head-to-head with Mr. Mxyzptlk, a powerful prankster from the 5th Dimension. Have the freedom to play your way in action-packed missions, gruelling fights and daring challenges. Suit up as Batman, Wonder Woman and Superman and team up with other Super Heroes to take on some of the most powerful Super-Villains in the DC universe.

Mato Anomalies

Platforms: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Switch, PC

Release Date: March 10th

Mato Anomalies is a turn-based RPG that takes players on a journey across Mato, a fantasized neo-futuristic version of the Old Shanghai. Take control of the Dual Protagonists Doe and Gram to investigate strange anomalies around the city, or venture into rifts to battle demonic abominations determined to bring about the city’s downfall.

Valheim (Xbox Launch)

Platforms: Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One

Release Date: March 14th

Valheim is an exploration and survival game for 1-10 players set in a procedurally-generated world inspired by Norse mythology. Valheim is coming to Xbox on March 14, 2023 with full crossplay support between players using Xbox and Steam.

WWE 2K23

Platforms: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC

Release Date: March 17th

The Cheapest Copy: $84.99 at Amazon with free shipping

WWE 2K23 is even stronger with expanded features, gorgeous graphics and a deep roster of WWE superstars and legends. 2K showcase returns as an interactive sports documentary focusing on the 20-year career of John Cena and WarGames is finally here!

Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon

Platforms: Switch

Release Date: March 17th

The Cheapest Copy: $69 at Amazon with free shipping

Long before this trainee of the dark arts would come to be called Bayonetta, she took a fateful journey into the forbidden Avalon Forest. Alongside her was Cheshire, her very first demon, possessing Cereza’s stuffed toy. Play as both Cereza and Cheshire and search through the treacherous forest to look for the power to save Cereza’s mother.

The Settlers: New Allies (Console Launch)

Platforms: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Switch

Release Date: March 23rd

True to its almost 30 years legacy, this new entry in the series combines in-depth build-up experience with real-time strategic battles. Choose among 3 unique factions and explore this whole-new world powered by state-of-the-art graphics. Your settlement has never looked so lively.

Storyteller

Platforms: Switch, PC

Release Date: March 23rd

Experience some of history’s greatest stories like never before. Storyteller is an award-winning reactive puzzle game that lets you build the story. Storyteller’s charming animations and comic-panel design allows for a unique puzzle mechanic. Use your wits to retell iconic tales — or experiment and find something new.

Atelier Ryza 3: Alchemist of the End & the Secret Key

Platforms: PS5, PS4, Switch, PC

Release Date: March 24th

Atelier Ryza 3: Alchemist of the End & the Secret Key follows fan-favourite alchemist, Reisalin Stout, and her mischievous friends on their third summer adventure as they set off to investigate a group of mysterious islands that have suddenly appeared, adversely affecting the stability of their hometown, Kurken Island. While working to solve the mysteries of the new islands, Ryza reunites with some nostalgic old friends.

Resident Evil 4

Platforms: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, PC

Release Date: March 24th

The Cheapest Copy: $84.99 at Amazon with free shipping

Resident Evil 4 joins Leon S. Kennedy six years after his hellish experiences in the biological disaster of Raccoon City. His unmatched resolve caused him to be recruited as an agent reporting directly to the president of the United States. With the experience of multiple missions on his back, Leon is dispatched to rescue the president’s recently kidnapped daughter. Leon tracks her to a secluded European village, however, after making first contact he discovers a fervour beyond reason grips the local populace. Now, this reimagined tale of survival in the face of overwhelming terror returns to deliver a visually stunning modern gaming experience that is true to the promise of the original release.

EA Sports PGA Tour

Platforms: PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC

Release Date: March 24th

Powered by official PGA TOUR ShotLink® and TrackMan data, Pure Strike gives golf fans all the tools they need to realistically attack every hole on every course the same way the pros do. It incorporates the three parts of every golf shot—fluid swing mechanics that are highly accurate to a player’s backswing length and speed of follow through, innovative ball behavior allowing every bounce and roll to behave more accurately across a variety of terrain and course conditions, and lifelike course dynamics that play true to their real-life course counterparts.

Crime Boss: Rockay City

Platforms: PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC

Release Date: March 28th

Introducing Crime Boss: Rockay City, a first-person shooter heist game, playable solo or with friends from the team at InGame Studios and 505 Games.

Set in Rockay City, a thriving, flamboyant metropolis full of towering skyscrapers and sandy beaches, you take on the role of Travis Baker – a man with his sights set on becoming the new King of Rockay City, one crime at a time.

MLB The Show 23

Platforms: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Switch

Release Date: March 28th

MLB The Show 23 gets you closer than ever to living your Baseball dreams on the diamond. Shock The Game and Own The Show with your favourite players, your favourite rivalries, and all your favourite MLB moments.

The Last of Us Part I (PC)

Platforms: PC

Release Date: March 28th

Coming to PC for the first time, experience the emotional storytelling and unforgettable characters in The Last of Us, winner of over 200 Game of the Year awards.

In a ravaged civilization, where infected and hardened survivors run rampant, Joel, a weary protagonist, is hired to smuggle 14-year-old Ellie out of a military quarantine zone. However, what starts as a small job soon transforms into a brutal cross-country journey.

Dredge

Platforms: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Switch, PC

Release Date: March 30th

Dredge is a single-player fishing adventure with a sinister undercurrent. Sell your catch, upgrade your boat, and dredge the depths for long-buried secrets. Explore a mysterious archipelago and discover why some things are best left forgotten.

System Shock

Platforms: PS4, Xbox One, PC

Release Date: March TBC

System Shock is a complete remake of the genre defining classic from 1994, rebuilt from the ground up with the Unity Engine. System Shock was one of the first 3D games that took a methodical approach to exploration while revealing a story driven narrative through audio logs and messages scattered throughout the game world. Players were trapped aboard Citadel Station as they fought to survive against the cyborgs and mutated crew members corrupted by a maniacal A.I. known as SHODAN, one of the most treacherous antagonists ever conceived.

Fitness Boxing: Fist of the North Star

Platforms: Switch

Release Date: March TBC

For resolving lack of daily exercise and strengthening your physical strength – familiar characters such as Kenshiro become your instructors!
In addition, a new battle mode against rivals has been introduced, allowing you to enjoy the exercise with enhanced action gameplay.

Punch your way through the many enemies that stand in your way, and aim for victory in the boss battle!

Way To The Woods

Platforms: Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC

Release Date: March TBC

Two deer in a strange, abandoned world without humans must find their way home. Find food, shelter, safety, and answers on your way to the woods. Way To The Woods is a third person adventure game from solo developer Anthony Tan.

The post Games Coming Out In March That You Should Be Excited For appeared first on Press Start.

As the gap between independent games made by tiny, passionate teams and multimillion-dollar behemoths cranked out by the AAA machine and its literal armies of developers continues to widen, I can’t help but feel that we’re witnessing the slow death of an important sector of the video game market – the weekend game.

Whether you want to call them “budget” or “AA” or “bargain bin” titles, it’s those games that occupy the space between indie and blockbuster, usually made by mid-sized studios and attached to a broad, global publishing label. They’re the kinds of games that you won’t see splashed on billboards or going viral on Steam, but you might have a friend who’s played it and says its an underrated gem or glanced at it on the shelf at your local video game retailer, some creative cover art giving it a distinct presence amongst the dozens of buzzcut bros with guns or sword-wielding warriors staring into the middle distance.

Scars Above is one of those games – unique, budget-priced and succinct as it is. While it’s evident from playing that the ambition of the team at Mad Head Games outweighed its humble production, there’s no denying that Scars Above is the perfect weekend game.

LEARN MORE ABOUT SCARS ABOVE HERE.

Having nabbed a copy of the game on launch, I’ve spent the last couple of nights plugging through its brisk, 6-8 hour campaign (and picking up plenty of easy Trophies along the way) and genuinely had a pretty good time. It’s got flaws – some shockingly bad animations, awkward writing and half-baked mechanics don’t do it any favours – but it asks so little of players other than to experiment with its inventive elemental combat and surmount its challenging alien encounters that the result is a mostly-mindless and satisfying romp that you can comfortably knock over in a couple of play sessions.

It’s also not going to break the bank, at $50-55 as a new release title it barely broaches the price of entry of some indie releases and undercuts many of the console megahits that it shares shelf space with by more than half. To me, that’s a very fair asking price for a lazy couple of days’ entertainment.

We had Steven cover the game for us here at Press Start, and if his 7/10 review is any indication he had about the same experience as me, saying “Scars Above’s exploration gameplay is rewarding, if a little trite and it’s characters mostly forgettable – but some inventive combat saves it from mediocrity. A decently fun, if not overly groundbreaking, sci-fi action adventure.”

Even is Scars Above doesn’t set the world on fire, it’s exactly the kind of B-grade romp that the video game market desperately needs more of to diversify the range, scope and scale of the experiences on offer. If you’ve got time to kill and an inkling for tough, weird cosmic horror adventures then this might just be the perfect little title to smash out this weekend.

Scars Above is out now on PlayStation, Xbox and PC. You can learn more and buy the game here, or check out our guide on surviving against its harsh world and alien enemies.

The post Scars Above Isn’t Perfect, But It’s The Perfect Weekend Game appeared first on Press Start.

You would not think that Capcom could pull it off. You might even feel that Resident Evil 4 didn’t need a remake – that it’s too soon to even bother. But Capcom felt otherwise. And I’m kind of glad they did. Because, after seeing even more of the game, a few things are clear. For one, the atmosphere cultivated in the Resident Evil 4 remake is unparalleled. But even better, it’s evident that Capcom has respected the original game. There’s still some action and some cheesy goofy energy to it, but the added commitment to offering up a more horror-tinged atmosphere makes it even better.

This preview opens in the lake. It’s both familiar and fresh. Keen fans of the original will remember what transpires here – and I won’t ruin it for anyone who doesn’t – but this takes place in the game’s fourth chapter. It’s just hit nighttime, and Leon is still looking for a key to a church where he suspects the president’s daughter, Ashley, is being held captive. In the opening moments, we see one of the first significant changes. In the original game, Hunnigan, Leon’s field support agent, would call Leon to explain things in video call scenes. Now, in the remake, she’ll call him and appear in a Dead Space-esque hovering panel, allowing Leon to continue exploring during their conversations. It’s a small change, but a welcome one

Leon eventually makes his way through a newer area – tunnels that connect the lake and the other areas of the village – before coming across a blue note written by the Merchant himself. This looks to be how the game will offer side quests. Where the original game had a singular optional quest surrounding some blue coins, it seems the remake’s Merchant will have a lot of optional content to offer Leon. Leon picks up the note, jumps on a boat and heads into the infamous lake. Our preview coyishly fades into another section of gameplay, keeping what transpires here a secret for newer players.

Here, it becomes a bit more evident that the developers are working hard to break open the original game, which was previously quite linear. Similar to areas like the Village in the last game or the Wetlands in Resident Evil 5, it looks as if Leon can travel around the lake area to explore for different currency and treasures. It’s an elementary change that will hopefully happen throughout the game. I’m a massive sucker for exploration in games, but when it’s done in a modern Resident Evil, it feels like a throwback to the classic games, which I’m always going to be here for.

In the original game, this was the first area where parasites burst from the enemies to bolster their abilities; in the remake, this is truly a sight to behold. I jokingly mention to my friends that you can measure the quality of a horror game by how wet the viscera presents – and Resident Evil 4 delivers in droves. These parasites that burst from the broken necks of villagers are wet and slimy, posing as much of a threat to Leon as they did in the original. Of course, bullets can take them down, but a flash grenade will always instantly kill them safely and efficiently. During one of these encounters, we also see Leon performing a crouch dodge, keeping him out of trouble during some of the more intense moments.

We move on, and Leon encounters the infamous Merchant character in the flesh. He’s almost as you remember, but there is a brand new option to TRADE. It’s different from his usual services – Buying, Selling and Tuning Up your weapons are still here – but we don’t know how it will work. The treasures system has also been overhauled, giving Leon generic gemstones that he can fit into certain pieces of treasure and offering bonuses if he decorates each piece with different coloured gems. Lady Gaga would be so proud.

This section ends, and we’re transported to the entrance of the second major area of the game – the castle. Leon has rescued Ashley, and the enemies are now the more ominous-looking monks. Here, we get a better idea of how Ashley will work in the remake. In the original, she could die instantly if hit by a hard enough take. In this game, she is balanced much more in favour of the player.

THE CHEAPEST PRICE: $84.99 WITH FREE SHIPPING FROM AMAZON

Enemies can still pick up and take Ashley out of the level, instigating an instant game over. But now, if she takes damage, she’ll be incapacitated. A chunk of it is still an escort mission at heart, but she’s less prone to instantly ending your game in the remake. She also behaves more realistically – in a battle inside the castle, she gets out of the way when things get heated. You’ll still have to worry about her, but she’s less annoying than in previous Resident Evil games with partner AI.

As I eluded to earlier, the pair make their way into the castle and meet Ramón Salazar. This was one of the aspects of the original that I wasn’t convinced would translate to the more realistic look of the recent remakes. Gone is the goofy pirate-looking hat, replaced by a powdered wig that better suits Salazar’s noble aristocratic origins. The dialogue between Salazar and Leon is still dripping with cheese, but it still feels within the game’s tone. Salazar’s new look is similarly fantastic – he’s clearly infected with something and holding onto the last shreds of his humanity – an aspect of his character that wasn’t communicated in the original.

We then skip ahead to what I assume will be the first battle with the Garrador, an experiment left in the castle. He’s violent and aggressive, outfitted with razor-sharp claws. The catch? He’s blind. In the original game, you’d have to sneak past him by walking to ensure he didn’t hone in on your location. You’ll encounter him in areas strewn with hanging chains in the remake. Walking into them accidentally will alert him, so moving slowly and methodically is important to get past him. You can, of course, take him on for rewards too. It’s, once again, an example of a slight change in how you encounter these enemies that makes it feel all the more modern.

But this concept dovetails beautifully with the first encounter with Jack Krauser. He’s somebody Leon has a history with, but while it’s the shortest segment of this preview, it’s the most important. This was a tense battle in the original game – you’d have to clear five or so QTEs in an epic knife battle to survive. Now, in the remake, it’s a proper boss battle. Parrying was a feature introduced when we saw the game at Tokyo Game Show, and it’s nice to see it being utilised in this battle to its full effect. It’s still tense, and the same feeling of tension is communicated, but you’re an active participant rather than just watching and pressing a singular button at any given point.

Walking away from this preview, I’m still intrigued by how Resident Evil 4 will turn out. Capcom has demonstrated a tremendous sense of self-awareness with every subsequent Resident Evil release, so they won’t explicitly cut anything out of the game, given the backlash Resident Evil 3 received. But there’s so much we haven’t seen that I’m excited but nervous to see. Some characters play a large part in the original game, but we’ve seen less than five seconds of them in trailers. Some enemy types, who don’t fit with this new style of Resident Evil, might also have been cut. It’s hard to believe that everything in Resident Evil 4 will carry over to the remake, but perhaps Capcom needs to be more cautious with what they show.

After all, this game harkens from an era where we only got our news from magazines and leaks weren’t so prevalent, so it’s a blessing in disguise that Capcom might still have some surprises in store when the game releases later this month.

Resident Evil 4 launches on March 24th 2023 for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. A demo is due later this month.

The post Resident Evil 4 Preview – Fresh, Familiar And Wet appeared first on Press Start.

Scars Above is out now on PlayStation, Xbox and PC. It’s a challenging sci-fi action adventure set on a mysterious alien world, with rewarding combat and a compelling story. Learn more here.

Scars Above, the new sci-fi adventure from Mad Head Games and Prime Matter, can look a bit intimidating. Its alien world is full of hazards and its creatures often want to beat, crush or slice you to parts and pieces. But fear not, traveller! With the power of science and these tips on your side, you’ll have a good chance of conquering the challenge ahead of you.

The post Our Top Tips For Surviving Scars Above’s Harsh Alien World appeared first on Press Start.

Despite the release date fast approaching, the many, thrilling trailers released so far and even my own prior talks with its Producer, the revered Naoki Yoshida, I still wasn’t entirely sure what to expect when sitting down to be among the first in the world to play Final Fantasy XVI.

With how far removed the next numbered, mainline sequel in this storied franchise is from its predecessors, the fresh talent on board and keeping in mind the divisive nature of some of the most recent titles, I picked up the PS5 controller in front of me hoping to be blown away but just as ready to remain optimistically uncertain. I’d only landed in Tokyo three hours beforehand, but after a very intimate opening presentation from Yoshida-san, more than two hours of hands-on time and a lengthy chat with some of the rockstars at Creative Business Unit III, my stiff muscles and sleep-deprived brain had been restored as if by a timely High Potion – this is the next big Final Fantasy I’ve been waiting for.

I won’t spend too much time on the basics of Final Fantasy XVI’s world or narrative setup, there’s plenty of literature out there to catch you up to speed, suffice it to say that our preview session drops us roughly five hours into the game, where main protagonist Clive is in adulthood. The full game is set to feature multiple time periods with Clive in both his 20s and 30s, alongside flashback sequences to his teen years.

The first portion of our preview took us on a jaunt through a dimly-lit stronghold of sorts with Clive accompanied by Cidolfus, the Dominant of Ramuh hailing from the nation of Waloed, and Clive’s wolf-like companion, Torgal. This section is a mostly-linear crawl through a series of areas populated by enemies to fight and loot to collect on our way to tussle with Benedikta, another of Final Fantasy XVI’s primary characters and the Dominant of the Eikon, Garuda. While hopefully not indicative of the game’s entire experience, it gives us a good idea of the moment-to-moment traversal and exploration on offer (Clive is pleasantly deft at stepping over small obstacles or hopping up and down ledges and drops), but mostly serves as a backdrop for what I’m sure the team at CBU III is most eager to demonstrate – combat.

It’s when Clive and his companions are required to take up arms that Final Fantasy XVI feels furthest from the other mainline Final Fantasy games, forgoing any manner of turn-based or hybrid battle system of old for an entirely real-time action combat system. It took playing it for myself to really understand how and why FF16 is a true action game, something closer to a mix of Devil May Cry, The Witcher III and NieR Automata than Final Fantasy XV or Final Fantasy VII Remake’s halfway approaches. There’s a seamlessness to it, with no distinction between exploration and being battle-ready and no transitions in or out.

It’s fast, too. Clive is an agile swordsman and his foes don’t wait around for him to scroll through abilities or pore through menus. Everything is immediate, with your basic attack, magic, jump and abilities mapped to the face buttons and items slotted to the d-pad, while R1 dodges. Timing, positioning, crowd management and smart use of abilities are all crucial to success here and make for much more exhilarating fights than anything I’ve experienced in the numbered Final Fantasies before this. It’s definitely not quite the technical affair that Combat Director Ryota Suzuki’s last major project, Devil May Cry 5, featured but it feels like just the right mix of approachable and exciting.

I’ll be interested to see how the basics of battle evolve throughout the game – in our preview we had a bunch of mechanics like precision dodge counters, magic charging and more acrobatic attacks unlocked ahead of time which all kept things nice and dynamic. The idea of Staggering enemies returns as well, with more powerful foes possessing a “Will” gauge that Clive and his companions can deplete through repeated regular attacks as well as good use of more unique abilities. Once this happens, the enemy is downed for a short period at which point it’s good practice to just absolutely wail on them with reckless abandon.

The big twist in FF16’s combat is Clive’s ability to tap into the powers of the various Eikon powers he encounters as the game progresses. In the demo, we had access to three Eikon ‘palettes’ based on Phoenix, Garuda and Titan, using the elements of Fire, Wind and Stone respectively. Players switch between equipped palettes by pressing L2 which changes up which magic, special move and Eikonic Abilities are available in the moment. Eikonic Abilities are powerful but work on cooldowns, taking up two secondary command slots accessible by holding the R2 button. So with three Eikons unlocked in my demo I essentially had six powerful abilities, three elemental magics and three special moves at my disposal.

Clive and the other Dominants can also “Semi-Prime” as a sort of half-measure to actually transforming into their Eikons, which makes for the game’s take on Limit Breaks, accessible after charging special gauges and essentially giving them a few seconds of greatly-increased power alongside a healthy glow.

If that all seems like a lot to manage at breakneck speeds, the good news is that the team at CBU III has made an effort to consider fans who maybe aren’t as acclimated to action games by including a series of optional assists. Five special accessories are made available to players on both the Story Focused and Action Focused difficulty modes that alter certain aspects of combat. One example is the Ring of Timely Focus which briefly slows down time whenever Clive is about to be hit with an avoidable attack and prompts the player with the dodge button, or the Ring of Timely Strikes which executes complex attack and ability combos with repeated presses of just the attack button.

These go a long way to sanding down the edges of battle for anyone struggling with the game’s combat, whether it’s a specific mechanic or a more broad aversion, without strictly automating anything or making it feel less exciting. After playing for a little while with a couple of assists on and then removing the training wheels once I was comfortable, I felt like I could easily play the game either way without the experience being compromised. The different Eikonic abilities also contribute to managing differing player skill levels, with Yoshida explaining that some have higher skill ceilings than others. That certainly rang true with the Titan Eikon palette that I was able to use, which offers players the chance to power up its abilities with a timed charge-up as well as giving them a shield counter that’s risky to pull off but devastatingly effective when done right.

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Even in the time-limited and controlled capacity of our preview session, there’s one thing I’m already sure about and that’s that Torgal is a very good boy. Torgal not only makes for great company but acts as a handy guide, able to show players the path to the next objective at the touch of a button, and also helps out in combat. One of the assist accessories will automate this for you, but otherwise he’ll act through simple commands to attack enemies or even grant Clive some very small HP boosts. And yes, Yoshida assured us you can pet him.

I also had a chance to have a bit of a dig through Final Fantasy XVI’s in-game menu screens to try and glean a little more on its RPG and progression elements. While there’s obviously going to be more on offer in the full game, I was glad to see a mix of very traditional elements like character levels, weapons and armour to collect and equip and skill trees for both Clive and the different Eikon palettes he acquires throughout. From what I can see the menus are nicely laid-out, visually appealing and easy to use, and the little pixel art party member icons tucked away at the bottom are a nice touch.

The second portion of our hands-on preview of FF16 seemingly jumps us forward slightly with Clive, Cid and Torgal becoming abruptly separated after chasing Bendikta (as the enormous Garuda) through some hilly ruins, a visually sumptuous spectacle of thrashing winds stirring up debris and whipping foliage about. After reaching Garuda, it’s time for a suitably epic boss fight with incredibly unfair odds as the human-sized protagonist squares off one-on-one against the giant Eikon.

This fight was easily some of the most fun I had across my entire demo with Garuda’s fearsome design and stature echoing the thrill of the nightmarish foes in a FromSoft title. It felt like a proper action RPG boss encounter, requiring me to use all the tools at my disposal to wear it down while avoiding telegraphed attacks and occasionally engaging in another of Final Fantasy XVI’s very flashy mechanics, “Cinematic” Evasions, Strikes and Clashes. While they’re probably best described as glorified QTEs, these mid-battle sequences showcase the game’s seamless nature with its ability to flow from combat to cutscene and back again, playing out differently depending on your success in matching the prompts.

The Garuda battle also introduced us to another riff on a Final Fantasy mechanic: Toppling. After depleting Garuda’s Will gauge halfway, I was able to use the Deadly Embrace Eikonic Ability to bring the beast down and temporarily immobilise it, much like a full Stagger. With only a brief window of opportunity to take advantage of that half-staggered state and only one ability in my arsenal at the time that could make it happen, it felt ridiculously satisfying to pull off and looked cool as hell in action.

After fighting Garuda for some time and finding myself in mortal danger, a sequence of events leads to Clive transforming into the Eikon, Ifrit, and going toe-to-toe with Garuda in a clash of kaiju-sized proportions. After Yoshida-san explained to us in the pre-demo briefing that each one of the game’s Eikon vs Eikon fights utilises a completely different gameplay mechanic I was initially dismayed to see that Ifrit’s controls in this battle were essentially a mirror of Clive’s. That feeling quickly went away as soon as things kicked off though, with the heft of these hulking monsters making the building-sized brawl much more deliberate in nature. We’d trade blows like two impossible-huge pro wrestlers, creating and seizing opportunities to launch an all-out assault.

As the skirmish began to turn in my favour, a series of set piece clashes with Cinematic prompts began to unfold, highlighting a newfound level of brutality that I’m absolutely not used to from the series. Seeing the Eikons absolutely tear each other apart, ripping off limbs and regrowing them only to continue pummelling was certainly a sight to behold and helps to paint a picture of how much darker and more “mature” this entry might be. There was at least one instance of a character dropping a “fuck” in the mix as well, something I’d expect frequently from Stranger of Paradise’s Jack but certainly took me by surprise in this mainline title. 

Our demo ends with Ifrit emerging victorious after using his classic Hellfire ability as a devastating finishing move, solidifying something that’s been apparent throughout my time with the game – that it’s bloody gorgeous. Everything you’d expect from a massive Final Fantasy production is here with astonishingly detailed characters and environments, superb animation, flashy and over-the-top visual effects and fantastic designs.

Of particular note is the top-notch facial motion capture and lip syncing, matched with some stellar writing and voiceover work. Localisation Director, Koji Fox, explains to us that not only was the English capture work done first, but there was a consistent back-and-forth between the Japanese and English script work within the CBU III team that resulted in a kind of equilibrium where neither language could be considered the “primary” one in a lot of cases.

I was also very much enjoying all of the well-placed music used throughout the two sections, but there was an especially giddy glee in hear some classic Final Fantasy motifs woven into different moments. The series’ staple victory fanfare being chanted by a Gregorian choir might just be the best thing ever.

The game will also reportedly give players a choice between two visual modes geared either towards fidelity or performance, though the supposed 4K visual-first mode we were playing in at the time seemed to be targeting 60fps and performed quite well for an early build so I’m not entirely sure what the benefit of the other option is going to be in the final product.

A relatively lengthy hands-on session with Final Fantasy XVI under my belt, I’m left with plenty of questions still to be answered. Like, just how much room will there be in this world for players to explore? What’s the optional content like? When will we see another trading card sub-game? One thing we found out through our talks with Yoshida-san and his team before and after our hands-on is that the game will contain a sort of “hub” area from which players will be able to converse with a growing number of side characters, likely upgrade and craft, learn more about the world and travel to its various locales from a dedicated map, which is something I’m super keen to know more about.

Something else I didn’t get the chance to see for myself but learned of after talking with the team is that, on top of having Historian and Scholar characters taking up a residence at your in-game hub to help keep track of lore, the game will apparently contain an Amazon Prime Video X-Ray type feature where players can pause the game at any time – even during cutscenes – and have access to almost-encyclopaedic information about whatever is going on in-game at the time.

Regardless of the session having a more narrowed focus on combat and Eikonic battles, the two-and-a-bit hours I spent immersing myself in Final Fantasy XVI has painted a reassuringly positive picture. It’s been in good enough hands this whole time that I’ve always felt rather confident in the game to really bring the single-player Final Fantasy experience back into good stead, but knowing what I now know and playing what I played I’m almost certain that this will be the Final Fantasy to truly wow the world once again.

Final Fantasy XVI launches for PS5 on June 22nd, 2023. Amazon has the cheapest pre-order price at $85 with free shipping.

The author travelled to Japan as a guest of Square Enix for the purposes of playing this preview build.

The post Final Fantasy XVI Hands-On Preview – Has The Potential To Be Eikonic appeared first on Press Start.

A new year, a new Pokemon experience, a new Pokemon day. The Pokemon Company did a very modest batch of announcements to celebrate Pokemon Day overnight, so let’s get to it!

A BRAND NEW, TWO-PART EXPANSION FOR POKEMON SCARLET AND VIOLET WAS ANNOUNCED

It’s called The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero, and is split into two parts. The first part is called The Teal Mask and the second part is called The Indigo Disc. Both will introduce both new pokemon and Pokemon not previously discoverable in Paldea. Both expansions will be out by the end of August, if all goes to plan.

SOME DETAILS ABOUT THE 2023 POKEMON WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS WERE SHARED

The World Championships will take place in Japan for the first time, considering the previous event was in London. The Championships will be held in August and will cover the usual games including Scarlet/Violet and Pokemon Unite.

POKEMON TRADING CARD GAME CLASSIC IS A NEW PREMIUM SET

Not much was shown beyond a very dramatic video showing two people duelling it out on a fancy-looking play mat. The cards were all from the original base set.

A BRAND NEW ANIMATED SERIES WAS ANNOUNCED FOR NETFLIX

The series is a collaboration between Netflix and Pokemon, looking to adapt an entirely new storyline with stop-motion animation. It’s set at a Pokemon Resort, and it’s called Pokemon Concierge.

ZACIAN IS COMING TO POKEMON UNITE

It’s surpassed 100 million players and is in it’s second year already. Zacian will be joining the roster as a playable hero. It even has a suit. Wow. A boss rush event was also announced.

THE PALDEA STARTERS ARE COMING TO POKEMON CAFE REMIX

Sprigatito, Fuecoco and Quaxly are here. You can choose one of them if you participate in the current event. You’ll even get a great chef outfit for Greninja. Wow!

MORE TRAINERS ARE COMING TO POKEMON MASTERS EX

Cynthia, Lance, Alder, Iris, Diantha, Steven are all making their way to the game. Hop, Bede and Marnie also will be playable with the Galarian birds. Leon even will be there with a Charizard too. It’s all so overwhelming honestly.

WE FINALLY GOT A PROPER LOOK AT POKEMON SLEEP AND ITS ACCESSORY

Any game that gets a Slowpoke to jump into bed with me or a Bulbasaur to play with my ears in bed is a win. The idea of the game is to make you look forward to waking up in the morning, which is ironic, because the presentation so far has made me not want to wake up in the morning. It’s out before the end of August and you’ll be able to use a Pokemon Go + Plus to track your sleep and it can even sing lullabies to you.

FURTHER UPDATES FOR POKEMON SCARLET AND VIOLET WERE ANNOUNCED

Walking Wake is in Scarlet, and is a Water/Dragon type. Iron Leaves is in Violet, and is a Grass/Psychic type. They’re both catchable in their own unique tera raid battle event. You can even connect Scarlet/Violet to Pokemon Go! now too. The kind of support you get from selling 20 million copies, amazing!

Not the meatiest of presentations, but still some great stuff if you like Pokemon Scarlet and Violet!

The post Everything Announced At The February 2023 Pokemon Day Direct appeared first on Press Start.

Sony wasted no time in getting down to business this morning in the first State of Play for 2023. And neither did I. Here’s everything we saw at today’s State of Play.

ALL OF THE FEBRUARY 2023 PLAYSTATION STATE OF PLAY ANNOUNCEMENTS

Yet Another Meaty Resident Evil 4 Trailer Was Shown

The trailer showed more of the Castle and Island areas of the game and confirmed that both The Mercenaries will return and that a demo will be available at some point in the future.

We Got A Look At Three More Characters For Street Fighter 6

Zangief and Cammy were shown in all their returning glory, while newcomer Lily was debuted for the first time. It’s all looking really good even if Shannon insists that nobody cares. I can’t fucking wait. It’s still on track to release in June.

Rocksteady Gave Us An Even Deeper Dive Into Suicide Squad And It’s Post Launch Support

Detailing the characters and the world you’ll be exploring in the game, the longer look at the game helped clarify some things.

The First Co-Op Gameplay For Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League Was Revealed

The soundtrack is popping, and if you like high jumping and shooting things while high jumping then this is the game for you, apparently. It’s still on track for May 26th 2023.

The Foglands Is A Brand New Western Coming To PlayStation VR2

It’s kind of giving Evil West but with a stylised Sea Of Thieves look. It’s a roguelike too and it’s releasing in 2023.

Green Hell Is Getting A PlayStation VR2 Release

The trailer we saw had us doing all kinds of survival-y stuff. It’s a port of the 2019 survival game previously released on PC and last gen consoles. If you want to manage your hunger and thirst in a video game, then this is for you.

Synapse Is Like If Control And Something Else Had A Synthy Baby

It’s an experience from the team who brought us FarCry VR. It’s exclusive to PlayStation VR2 and is basically an action shooter where you wield telekinetic powers too.

Journey To Foundation Is A VR Experience Based On Isaac Asimov’s Famous Novel

It’s a little bit generic looking for a science fiction game but I still think it has potential. Maybe. Who knows. It’s out in 2023.

Before Your Eyes Uses Eye Tracking To Its Fullest Potential

In the game, you’ll blink to move through time and the afterlife. It’s a cute and stylised vibe that hits in the early weeks of March. You blink to move on. I was blinking a lot during this presentation.

Destiny 2: Lightfall Got A Final Schmick Launch Trailer

Now I can stop hearing about how it’s meant to be good from Harry, so it might be my favourite announcement of the morning.

New Caledonian Adventure Game Tchia Has A Release Date

The game has you transforming into animals and objects to achieve your objective. The game is also launching on the upper two tiers of PlayStation Plus at launch.

Humanity Is A Brand New Game From The Team Who Brought Us Tetris Effect And Rez

You control a dog of light (???) and herd people from area to area. It’s got a really synthy soundtrack and building elements. It’s a strange vibe, but given how great both Rez and Tetris Effect were, I’m on board. It’s releasing in May 2023 and features VR2 and VR1 functionality on PS5 and PS4 respectively.

Kooky Goodbye Volcano High Got A Release Date And A Trailer

It’s described as a a hybrid cinematic narrative/rhythm game/coming of age/interactive movie experience. What more can you want, honestly? It’s releasing on June 15th 2023.

Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm Connections Is A New Game That Brings Together The Old Ones

The game features new playable characters on top of the previously available ones from other Naruto games. It connects moments from the original four Ninja Storm games into a single game. It’s out in 2023.

Baldur’s Gate 3 Is Coming To PlayStation 5

It’s made by the creators of Divinity: Original Sin 2 and is coming on August 31st 2023.

A Gameplay Reveal For Wayfinder Was Shown Off

This really isn’t my vibe but I hope somebody reading this can appreciate it.

The post Everything Announced At The February 2023 PlayStation State Of Play appeared first on Press Start.

The PlayStation VR2, Sony’s next-generation VR headset, is finally upon us.

If you’ve read our glowing, comprehensive review of the PS VR2 headset, you’ll know that it’s a fantastic bit of gear that serves as a shot in the arm to the PlayStation’s VR platform with cutting-edge PS5-powered visuals and increased immersion thanks to innovative features like haptic feedback and eye tracking.

With the VR2 launching this week, we’ve put together a quick guide to the essentials of getting your hands on one as well as making sure you’ve got everything you need to have the best experience.

WHEN AND WHERE TO BUY THE PLAYSTATION VR2 IN AUSTRALIA?

The PlayStation VR2 launches on February 22nd and is available at a number of Aussie retailers and looks to still have decent availability in both SKUs as well as the optional (but incredibly handy) dual charger. Amazon is technically the cheapest at a couple of dollars less than the RRP and with free shipping available.

AMAZON

• PlayStation VR2 Standard Kit – $878 with free shipping
• PlayStation VR2 Horizon Call of the Mountain Bundle – $958 with free shipping
• PlayStation VR2 Charging Station – $79.95 with free shipping

EB GAMES

• PlayStation VR2 Standard Kit – $879.95
• PlayStation VR2 Horizon Call of the Mountain Bundle – $959.95
• PlayStation VR2 Charging Station – $79.95

JB HI-FI

• PlayStation VR2 Standard Kit – $879
• PlayStation VR2 Horizon Call of the Mountain Bundle – $959
• PlayStation VR2 Charging Station – $79

BIG W

• PlayStation VR2 Standard Kit – $879
• PlayStation VR2 Horizon Call of the Mountain Bundle – $959

SONY STORE

• PlayStation VR2 Standard Kit – $879.95
• PlayStation VR2 Horizon Call of the Mountain Bundle – $959.95
• PlayStation VR2 Charging Station – $79.95

IS IT ANY GOOD?

The short answer? Absolutely. The long answers comes in the form of our massive review, which you can read here.

In it we said, “The PlayStation VR2 is an astonishingly impressive bit of gear, combining exciting and innovative features with supreme comfort and usability and leveraging the power of the PlayStation 5 to provide an all-around fantastic VR experience. It’s a breeze to wear and use, the controllers are a home run, and games can look downright astonishing. Titles like Horizon Call of the Mountain prove there’s a ton of potential here, and there are plenty of other great experiences in the launch library, but whether or not you drop close to a grand on a PS VR2 right now is going to depend on how much faith you have in that potential in the long term.”

WHAT DOES THE PLAYSTATION VR2 COME WITH AND IS IT HARD TO SET UP?

In the box for the standard PlayStation VR2 kit you’ll get the PS VR2 headset itself, two Sense controllers, the included in-ear headphones and a single USB-C charging cable. Or alternatively, if you opt for the Horizon Call of the Mountain bundle you’ll get all of the same plus a download voucher for the game.

If you want to know more about the unboxing experience, you can read all about that here. It’s as straightforward an unboxing and set up as they come, with just one cable straight from the headset to the PS5 console and then a guided calibration within the VR realm itself.

WHAT ELSE DO I NEED TO USE THE PLAYSTATION VR2?

The most important thing you’ll need is a PlayStation 5 console! Without that, you’ve got nothing to plug the PS VR2 into or to run any of the games. I’m going to assume you knew that, but it pays to make sure.

The next thing you’ve got to make sure you have is space. While the PlayStation VR2 can be comfortably used in a seated position for most games, a lot of experiences will benefit from you having the space to move around, and some (like What The Bat) will even refuse to boot unless you’ve the 2m x 2m area required for a “roomscale” experience. Don’t worry, the user interface will run you through setting up your play space when you first use it and will determine for you what configurations are available.

Following that, everything else you need is already in the box! The only downside is it’s a single charging cable with two controllers to charge, so we reckon the separate, $80 Sense Controller Dual Charger is almost an essential purchase.

The PlayStation VR2 Sense Controller Charging Station Is An Almost Essential Purchase

WHICH GAMES ARE AVAILABLE AT LAUNCH?

There are nearly 40 titles headed to the PlayStation VR2 at launch or shortly after, including the flagship title Horizon Call of the Mountain (our review of that is here), plus free PS VR2-exclusive updates to Gran Turismo 7 and Resident Evil Village. The rest of the launch line-up includes quite a few top-tier VR games that have been immensely popular on other VR hardware and come to the PS VR2 with a number of new features like support for the headset’s haptic feedback and eye tracking. Here’s what we know is coming on day one or within the release window:

• After the Fall
• Altair Breaker
• Before Your Eyes (launch window)
• Cities VR
• Cosmonious High
• Creed: Rise to Glory – Championship Edition (launch window)
• Demeo (Resolution Games)
• Drums Rock
• Dyschronia: Chronos Alternate
• Fantavision 202X
• Garden of the Sea
• Gran Turismo 7
• Horizon Call of the Mountain
• Job Simulator
• Jurassic World Aftermath
• Kayak VR: Mirage
• Kizuna AI – Touch the Beat!
• The Last Clockwinder
• The Light Brigade
• Moss 1 & 2 Remaster
• NFL Pro Era
• No Man’s Sky
• Pavlov VR
• Pistol Whip
• Puzzling Places
• Resident Evil Village
• Rez Infinite
• Song in the Smoke
• Star Wars: Tales from the Galaxy’s Edge – Enhanced Edition
• Synth Riders
• The Tale of Onogoro
• Tentacular
• Tetris Effect: Connected
• Thumper
• Townsmen VR
• Vacation Simulator
• What the Bat
• Zenith: The Last City

Horizon Call Of The Mountain Review – A Thrilling AAA VR Experience

WHERE CAN I FIND OUT MORE?

If you’ve looked through all of the above and still have more questions, you’re in luck. PlayStation recently published a giant FAQ on absolutely everything PlayStation VR2 from specs to features and more. You can read all about that here.

The post The PlayStation VR2 Is Out This Week And Here’s Everything You Need To Know appeared first on Press Start.

When Hi-Fi Rush stealth dropped during the Xbox & Bethesda Developer Direct almost a month ago, it quickly got the gaming community talking with its uber-stylish visuals and innovative approach to rhythm-action gameplay – not to mention the fact that this raucous, cartoony rock-and-roll banger was coming to us from the faces behind The Evil Within and GhostWire Tokyo.

With that delightful shadow release still fresh on the mind and the downright excellent game very much occupying the better parts of my brain since, I was fortunate enough to get to chat with its Director, John Johanas, about what inspired the game, how it came to be and what it took to get it from concept to release. Have a read of that conversation below:

Press Start: Hi-Fi Rush is obviously very different to what gamers are used to seeing from Tango Gameworks, where did the concept come from and how has the experience been working on something that’s not spooky.

John Johanas: The concept for Hi-Fi Rush had been kicking in the back my head for a long time since joining the game industry, but I never felt like I knew exactly how to pull it off. The idea of fighting to the music seemed so natural, but it was only after my experience directing multiple projects could I put into a realistic vision how it could be achieved…or at least attempted to be achieved!

To be honest, working on something that isn’t horror, does feel like a breath of fresh air in a sense. Not that I don’t like horror (I’m still a big fan), but for a game that focuses on atmosphere and events at its forefront is not quite that game you jump in with ideas that are wacky and “fun.” You have to think within the context of the experience. But with Hi-Fi Rush we knew we were working on something over-the-top from the very beginning so that allowed us to really just have a good time thinking of crazy ideas that can be in the game without the pressure of keeping everything grounded.

PS: It seems like Game Pass has become a great tool or platform for games that most would consider a little riskier or more bold, creatively. What sort of impact would you say it’s had on what you’ve done with Hi-Fi Rush?

JJ: From what we can see, Game Pass has definitely been a main driver of the conversation around the game. Obviously when you have a new type of game, you have to convince people to invest their time and/or money in it. But with Game Pass it’s essentially like a demo that you can keep playing.

For us, we were extremely confident in the game we had made and internally the hype behind it literally spread virally around the company as more people played and got their hands on it. So in that case, it was a great fit for gamers to try something new and just keep playing and getting the most out of the game.

For those games who knew of us for our horror experiences, there could have been some trepidation about jumping into an experience. I wouldn’t expect a knee jerk response to be a universally positive opinion about a rhythm action game made from the makers of the Evil Within. But with the extremely low barrier to entry, we could get the game in players hands and put any questions of its quality to rest.

PS: How did you go initially pitching this game? It’s almost completely unlike anything we’ve seen from the Bethesda label – I’d love to know how that conversation went.

JJ: Well the original pitch was internally in the studio and I pitched it to my boss Mikami-san and our Producer from Bethesda that was visiting. The first thing out of my mouth was “This is probably not going to get past here since it’s the most un-Bethesda title I can imagine.”

However, the concept itself was intriguing from a game design perspective, but as you can imagine is a tough sell on paper. So we decided to have a small team (literally myself and our lead programmer) work on the core concept for the fight game loop and how everything would sync up to the music.

The prototype was a big success and a lot of fun on its own (and very close to what it is like in the final game). So when we finally went to pitch it, we not only had what was an interesting concept, but essentially proof of that concept. Still, I don’t doubt there was a big “will this really work?” floating in the room when we pitched it at Bethesda, but there was already positive word of mouth to convince people it was an idea worth pursuing.

Surprisingly, internally there was a lot of support for us making a game that was so different than our image was!

PS: Are there unique challenges in developing a game as different as this? Were there any benchmarks or comparisons you and the team used to know you were on the right track?

JJ: Overall this project had difficulties completely unique to its concept. Even members of the team who had worked on action games or music themed games saw that they needed to change their thinking of how to approach making it to reach our goal.

We tried not to compare it to other games too much since we wanted it to feel different, but I suppose the benchmark we kept coming back was always to see if it felt like the action and the music were matching. Internally we knew things were always technically matching, but the experience needed to feel like you were performing a song as you fought, dodged and parried enemies. If we had someone play it and they didn’t get that impression we knew we needed to adjust something.

Animation, sound design, controls, and enemy AI always needed to be tweaked to reach that goal, and we never wanted to fall back on it just being “another action game” with some music playing in the background.

PS: The game’s obviously had a great reception from both critics and the public – how did the team feel in the lead-up to this dropping and how do you feel now that it’s out there?

JJ: Going into launch without anyone knowing anything is both equally nerve racking and somehow cathartic. Launching any project you are afraid of what people will think or if they will get it. But internally we knew we had something so special. The team was constantly playing and polishing things to the end, trying to put charm into every aspect of the game, and when every piece of the puzzle clicked at the end with the music, cutscenes, transitions, battle system it was just a blast to experience for a team that had been working on it for years.

So for that reason we were confident, that even if some people didn’t click with it, we knew we had something great and worth experiencing for those who played it.

The one benefit of it being a secret until it dropped was that there were no distractions that could come from revealing early. Some fans have knee jerk reactions to projects which can affect the development or change a project from its intended vision, but without that we just pushed dead ahead to our clear goal and didn’t have to worry about misconceptions or opinions that may have questioned us.

PS: One of the game’s big selling points is its rhythm-based combat, but it also does a great job of accommodating players who maybe aren’t as comfortable with precise rhythm – what steps did the team take to make sure as many people as possible would be able to play and enjoy Hi-Fi Rush?

JJ: Accessibility was at the top of the list when making the game. The early concept revolved around creating a system internally that syncs up your actions to the rhythm for you. The tricky thing was finding the balance rewarding and assisting players who needed the extra help.

Right from the beginning I did not want the player to be unable to do an action because of their lack of rhythm, but to have a positive result happen because they went with the rhythm. I think it’s easy to just have a success and failure state in the game, where the character wouldn’t do an action or trip, or something like that, but for us there was essentially “success” and “greater success.”

It was hard to convince some team members at first, but eventually they got on board. And luckily we are seeing that in player’s reactions when we see people who usually have difficulties with rhythm games, being able to enjoy the game and feel like they are playing well even if they might be playing without precise rhythm.

PS: There’s obviously a lot going on in Hi-Fi Rush both visually and sonically – what would you say are some of the biggest artistic influences on the overall style of the game?

JJ: The whole game is a weird love letter to the time period around the late 1990s/Early 2000s. From the silliness of it, to the look, we wanted it to feel like a throwback to a time when games were more focused on fun and were in an era of trying new interesting game ideas and visual styles, but before the productions got so large and games got to gigantic in scope.

So in that way we looked at games we remembered from that time period that experimented in a visual style. The games that we came up with were ones that players probably associate as well, Jet Set Radio, Viewtiful Joe, Okami… but also looking at character action games like Devil May Cry or Bayonetta, in which they were simple level based designs that focused on what they were good at rather than throwing everything gameplay idea.

But then we wanted to bring things up to spec with what gamers imagine now, so we put a lot of effort into pushing the visuals to a new version of stylization. We put an emphasis on fleshing out the characters with charm and personality, polishing up gameplay responsiveness, and giving the overall presentation a quick and modern feel which was very much inspired by the kinetic comedy action of filmmaker Edgar Wright.

PS: One of my favourite things about the game is the soundtrack – the handful of licensed songs is a stand-out bunch of tracks. How did it come to be that you were able to slot the likes of Nine Inch Nails, The Black Keys and The Prodigy into this wild idea for a game?

JJ: The setlist itself was a personal taste of mine that I felt captured the time period we were trying to emulate. I wrote up this long list of artists and songs that I would like to have in the game, and eventually when the mechanics were decided we figured out from a song structure or BPM, what would actually work. Then when we thought we had what we wanted we had to proceed with licensing.

Honestly (pun intended), I had no idea the process and just assumed it would be a lot of No’s left and right, but surprisingly almost all the artists we wanted we were able to get. Some, because of just straight cost got ruled out, or some maybe didn’t get what we were making but I was blown away that we were able to get the artist we did. Granted it did take a while and there was a lot of elbow nudging but the team helping out with licensing made what we thought the impossible happen.

The songs work within the game well, so I hope for players who don’t know the artists for generational reasons, it exposes them to something new, but also I hope that at some point the artists can see what we did with the songs and integrated them into the game to see how they can be interpreted and used in a new way!

Fans Reckon An Evil Within 3 Announcement Is Being Teased In Hi-Fi Rush

PS: Single-player, narrative driven games like this feel more rare every year, what keeps Tango putting its energy and effort into them?

JJ: The short answer: We don’t have any online programmers. Hah!

The long answer: I think the experiences we’ve been trying to make up until now just sort of naturally lend themselves to single player experiences. It’s something we have experience and feel capable of doing and never want to unnecessarily add in a feature that we don’t feel matches the experience. I would never rule it out though, if the experience we are trying to create would benefit from a multiplayer experience.

Hi-Fi Rush is available to buy now on Xbox and PC, and is included with Xbox Game Pass/PC Game Pass subscriptions.

The post Hi-Fi Rush Interview – Striking A New Rhythm appeared first on Press Start.

The PlayStation VR2 is finally being unleashed upon the world, with the launch on February 22nd. Sony’s next generation VR headset packs in a lot of cutting edge tech and unique innovations to really push the envelope for VR on PlayStation and you can read our review of the final product right here.

While we were busy testing it all out and forming our impressions, we also reached out on social media to see what burning questions our readers had, and you all had quite a lot to ask! We’ve done our best to pick the ones we thought warranted discussing and hopefully given you the answers you were looking for before taking the plunge on a PS VR2, so have a read below:

How is the setup process? – Tim, Twitter

This is definitely one of my favourite things about the PlayStation VR2. Thanks to the cameras mounted into the headset itself and the eye tracking tech, it takes just a few moments for the system to map out your play space as well as measure your eyes for the optimal lens distance and then you’re off and running! A lot of the guess work and fiddliness of the original PS VR’s setup process is completely eliminated – not to mention the ease of popping in a single USB-C cable to the console instead of the IKEA puzzle that was the old passthrough box.

How much better is the Cinematic Mode compared to the first PSVR? – Jett, Facebook

Cinematic Mode on the PS VR2 definitely benefits from the increased fidelity and HDR colours of the displays, and if you’re anything like me and had issues with the cinematic view shifting over time on the original headset that’s completely gone now that there’s no external camera tracking the headset. That said, it’s still not quite at the level that I’d opt to watch movies/play games in the headset over my TV, but if a TV isn’t an option or you’re trying not to disturb others it’s definitely very playable/watchable.

READ OUR FULL REVIEW OF THE PLAYSTATION VR2 HERE

I’d like to know about fundamental things like how it handles god rays, screen door effect, blurriness/sweet spot. And I know it uses OLED displays, but how good are the black levels and HDR? – Patterson, Twitter

Some of the usual VR issues like the screen door effect, god rays and things are still here in incredibly small degrees, but so little that it’s barely noticeable. As far as the quality of the displays go this is easily the best I’ve seen so far (although I haven’t tried the highest of high end PC VR headsets to make a comparison there). The OLED displays look great in terms of colours and black levels, a great example is the Kayak VR: Mirage game which has a lot of moonlit night scenes that maintain a really nice level of detail and visibility in the headset.

Please try the unit in a well lit room and a dark room to see how much of a difference it makes to tracking. I don’t particularly want to play with the light on at night when the family is sleeping. – Keith, Facebook

Yeah, it very much doesn’t work with the lights out. To properly track the Sense controllers the headset needs to be able to see them. It’s not too bad in low light, but if it gets too dark the headset will ask you to fix that before it’ll let you play.

How’s the pressure on the back of the skull? The strap on the Quest always pressed against the back of my skull and hurt after a short amount of time. – Clive, Facebook

The pressure and weight distribution are pretty similar to the original PlayStation VR, which is to say they’re quite good. The adjustment dial at the back lets you tighten it all as much or as little as you like and the cushioning is quite nice (it also seems a lot less prone to flaking or deteriorating like the last PS VR). It’s definitely the most comfortable VR headset I’ve used by a long shot.

Any idea when the updates for GT7, No Man’s Sky, etc go live? – Jason, Facebook

February 22nd is the date for all of the updates to games like Gran Turismo 7, No Man’s Sky, Resident Evil Village and others. As far as exact times go, it’s probably going to vary by title and we haven’t had much in the way of confirmation but I’d fully expect things to start going live in the hours leading up to launch day.

What’s the battery life on the Sense controllers? – Omeyn, Twitter

It’s about 4-5 hours in my experience, which is generally more than long enough for a single VR session. You’ll definitely want to remember to put them on charge between uses though, and given their form factor and the fact you only get one USB-C cable in the box I’d highly recommend just picking up the dual charger that Sony will be selling at launch to make storing and charging them easier.

Is the PSVR2 glasses friendly? – Niel, Facebook

Absolutely, I wear quite big frames and I haven’t had a single issue with things being comfortable and looking right. Because the headset is so adjustable and the eye tracking is so good at helping you calibrate everything to be in focus I found I could create a fair bit of distance from my glasses to the PS VR2’s lenses so nothing was at risk of scratching, as well.

My biggest question is if it’s better for motion sickness with games that require you to move around, I’m fine with Beat Saber and stuff like that but if I’ve gotta walk, nope. – Michael, Facebook

Look, this one is still going to vary between different users, but I’ve struggled a touch with motion sickness in the past on the original PS VR and the Quest 2 and this was the most comfortable experience I’ve had so far. I even felt brave enough to play Horizon Call of the Mountain with all of the comfort assists turned off and had absolutely no problems whatsoever. The great thing is you can quickly switch to a view of your real-world surroundings just by pressing a button on the headset so if you need to regain your bearings in a hurry you can.

Can the cable be disconnected from the headset? – Jacob, Facebook

The short answer? Yes. The long answer is that to do so you will need to unscrew some stuff to access the part of the headset the other end of the USB-C cable is plugged into. I’d hang out for some videos and tutorials to come out once more people get their hands on the headset to see if that’s something you’re comfortable with doing, but the good news is that should something happen to your cable it looks relatively painless to change over.

THE CHEAPEST PRICE: $878 AT AMAZON WITH FREE SHIPPING.

I’m wondering how well it fits with different styles/shapes of head phones? I’m currently using the SteelSeries Artis 7 & would prefer to continue with them over the ear buds. – Chris, Facebook

I’ve tried the INZONE H9 headset with my PlayStation VR2 and it was definitely easy and comfortable enough to wear. I think the bigger the band/cups the better, in that instance. That said, the included in-ear buds are surprisingly good from an audio standpoint, fit neatly into the unit and come with multiple sized tips so I’d urge you to at least give those a go before you settle on your usual gaming headset.

Any killer apps yet? – Felinius, Twitter

Yep – Horizon Call of the Mountain is easily what I’d consider a killer app for the PS VR2. You can read my review and this breakdown of the very neat Machine Safari mode to find out a bit more in depth but the short version is it’s a gorgeous-looking, properly AAA VR game that makes great use of all of the innovative features of the PlayStation VR2. It’s a real treat.

Can we use TV speakers instead of headset? – Ag, Facebook

Definitely. It’s a lot more immersive with headphones but if that’s uncomfortable you can take advantage of the “social screen” aspect of the PS VR2, which lets others view your gameplay on the TV, to play the audio externally.

How does it smell? – Buddy, Twitter

Out of the box? Like a fresh, new next-gen headset. After a few hours of Pistol Whip? Not as good.

Can I borrow it? – Mark, Twitter

No.

The PlayStation VR2 releases on February 22nd, 2023.

PLAYSTATION VR2 PRE-ORDER LINKS:

• PlayStation VR2 Standard Kit – $878 with free shipping
• PlayStation VR2 Horizon Call of the Mountain Bundle – $958 with free shipping
• PlayStation VR2 Charging Station – $79 with free shipping

The post Your Burning PlayStation VR2 Questions Answered appeared first on Press Start.

Sony’s next-generation virtual reality headset is very soon to be unleashed upon the world, and we’ve been lucky enough to finally have our hands on the PlayStation VR2. While you’ll have to wait a little longer for our full, detailed review, we’re able to start talking about the hardware itself and how it looks and feels – especially in comparison to its predecessor.

Unboxing The PlayStation VR2

The very first thing I took notice of when I received my delivery of the PS VR2 was how ridiculously light it felt. I was visibly surprised when the courier handed it over to me and I mentioned they must have forgotten to put it in the box. They laughed, but I wasn’t joking. The headset itself is around 50g lighter than the first PS VR, but it’s also unburdened by the mess of cables and breakout boxes that made the previous iteration feel far bulkier than it actually was.

This time around, there’s no extra box or HDMI passthrough or any of that junk. It’s just a single USB-C cable for the front of your PS5. A very, very long 4.5m USB-C cable that’s also surprisingly light and definitely will have enough give for most people to unknowingly wrap themselves in it a few times during play without any disaster striking. The whole unboxing is a stark contrast to the PS VR1’s IKEA puzzle of bits. You get the headset with cable attached, the two Sense controllers (more on those in a sec), a single controller charging cable, the detachable earphones and that’s it. Nice and simple.

The PlayStation VR2 Headset Design

Putting the headset on is a breeze, as well. Not a whole lot has changed from the last one, which is absolutely a good thing when that design was already fantastic. The headset is incredibly adjustable so once you slip it over your head by holding the button at the back and stretching it to accommodate your noggin, you simply spin a dial to tighten it up and then manoeuvre the front visor until it’s sitting comfortably in front of your face.

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One new wrinkle is a small dial at the front that adjusts the distance between the lenses to suit your eyes, which is a fantastic feature and will surely come as a massive relief to anyone who had to mess around with the PS VR1’s software-based eye distance solution. It’s far more granular than the Meta Quest 2’s three preset distance options as well. The PS VR2 is actually about 60g heavier than the Quest 2, but due to the design with the back piece its weight is spread far more evenly, so it feels significantly lighter to wear.

Many will also be happy to know that the cushioning inside of the visor is made of different stuff to the previous PlayStation VR and seems far less likely to start flaking off over time. The blinders around the lenses are also not as rigid so there’s a lot of room to move inside the headset, which is great news for people like me who wear glasses. While I haven’t tried every VR headset out on the market this is definitely the first one where my glasses haven’t been jammed against my face and pressed up against the lenses (and my current frames are quite large).

The set of in-ear headphones that come in the box come in an interesting design, with a bar that fits snugly into the design of the headband and plugs into a discrete 3.5.mm port. The left and right buds then hang directly to where your ear holes should be, with minimum cabling so you’re not going to feel a rogue length of wire brush the back of your lobes when you’re skulking through House Beneviento. Not everyone can do in-ear buds so you’re absolutely able to just plug any other headset into the same port, but Sony has included different-sized tips in there as well.

PlayStation VR2 Pre-Orders Are Now Live In Australia

The Sense Controllers

Another significant point of difference in unboxing the PlayStation VR2 in comparison to the previous generation is that this one comes packed with a pair of controllers, dubbed the “Sense” controllers. Because they’re like two halves of a “DualSense” maybe? Let’s go with that. If you’ve used a Quest 2 or anything similar you’ll have a pretty good idea of what to expect, here. The controllers are ergonomically designed for each hand to ensure every button is within reach and easy to read without the benefit of being able to see them, with your fingers naturally positioning around the analogue sticks, L1/R1 bumpers and L2/R2 triggers. It’s kind of like wearing a pair of sci-fi gloves with their stark black and white, orb-like design and I’m here for it.

They’re slightly heavier than the Quest controllers but they have built-in rechargeable batteries to account for the difference, the only annoyance being that the box comes with a single USB-C cable to charge both so you’ll want to root around in your desk drawer for another or you’ll be waiting double the time to get them juiced up – or buy the optional dual charger that Sony will be selling at launch. And of course, each has an adjustable wrist strap so that you’re not going to inadvertently fling them into your telly.

Unboxing the PlayStation VR2 hardware shows a headset design that takes what worked the first time around and adds thoughtful new wrinkles. Coupled with the packed-in and more modern Sense controllers plus a near-total lack of extra junk to clutter your living room with and it bodes well for the final experience – you’ll have to wait a little longer to hear about that, though.

The PlayStation VR2 releases on February 22nd, 2023.

PLAYSTATION VR2 PRE-ORDER LINKS:

• PlayStation VR2 Standard Kit – $878 with free shipping (no deposit needed to pre-order)
• PlayStation VR2 Horizon Call of the Mountain Bundle – $958 with free shipping (no deposit needed to pre-order)

@shannongrixti

PlayStation VR2 unboxing #PlayStation #PlayStationVR2 #PSVR #PSVR2 #PS5 #PlayStation5 #VR #VirtualReality #techtok #tech #gaming

? original sound – Shannon Grixti | Gaming & Tech

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Hogwarts Legacy is an immersive, open-world, action role-playing, single player game set in the 1800s wizarding world. Live the Unwritten! Buy it now.

With an abundance of books, films, video games and tie-in memorabilia, the Wizarding World has been capturing the hearts and minds of audiences for over 20 years. From the story of ‘The Boy Who Lived’, following Harry Potter and his friends, to spin-offs and prequels such as the ‘Fantastic Beasts’ series, there has been no shortage of adventure and wonder when it comes to the world of witchcraft and wizardry. But now with the release of Hogwarts Legacy, witches and wizards alike have the chance to forge their own journey in a new, untold story.

LIVING THE HOGWARTS LIFE

Short of donning a set of wizard’s robes and finding yourself a large castle to reside and study in, there hasn’t truly been a Wizarding World experience that has captured the experience of being a Hogwarts student that wasn’t just you playing as Harry Potter. With Hogwarts Legacy, players get the opportunity to enrol at the famous school as a fifth-year student, being granted admittance through extraordinary circumstances. Being a whole-new adventure crafted around the Hogwarts we know and love, there is a familiarity about the game as players finally get the chance to explore the eponymous castle and its surrounds in ways they have only previously imagined or borne witness in the films.

From the common rooms of the house that you choose, to the Potions lab or the Defense Against the Dark Arts classrooms, the only limit to your exploration is your curiosity. I’m sure that while watching the films or reading the books you would have imagined yourself being in the same place as Harry; wandering the halls of Hogwarts to your next class, getting lost or interrupted by the shifting staircases, or even having Peeves play a prank on you as you make your way back to the common room for your house. As in the films and the books, Hogwarts Legacy makes the castle feel alive; not just a setting, but a character itself in your journey.

EXPLORING THE WIZARDING WORLD

The important thing to remember is that this adventure takes place well before the events of Harry Potter, and even before Fantastic Beasts – so while this journey will feel familiar and exciting, there is also a sense of mystery surrounding it as well. Beyond the castle walls you’ll find familiar places such as the Gamekeeper’s Hut (which will belong to Hagrid one day) as well as the Quidditch pitch. Quidditch itself is not a playable component of the game, but broom flight is – giving you the ability to explore the world by the sky as well as on foot. If you’re not a natural, you can pick up flying lessons and compete in broom races to increase your skills.

With the Forbidden Forest and the Black Lake making appearances as well, you’ll get to experience the mysterious side of Hogwarts too; with some missions taking you deep into the unknown. These locations are teeming with magical and mythical beasts the likes of which we’ve only read about or seen brief glimpses of in the films – will they be friendly, or will you have to put up a fight while you continue your journey? We’ll even get to see the famous Hogsmeade Village, where Hogwarts students from third year and above get to spend their recreational time. With these locations offering extra depth to the world, you’ll get to experience everything that Harry and his friends would; and feel like a true Hogwarts student in the process.

DOING THE UNFORGIVEABLE

Of course, a major part of uncovering the dark secrets in your journey includes duelling with other witches and wizards, and becoming a skilled duellist will involve a lot of learning. The Unforgiveable Curses can be learned in Hogwarts Legacy, and it will come down to your individual morality as to whether you wish to use them. What lengths would you go to when trying to win a duel? Would you use Avada Kedavra on an unexpecting enemy? Or are you a stealth fighter, who chooses to enter battles undercover and stun your enemies without leaving a trace? A big part of the game revolves around your wizard bloodlines, and so just like Harry himself, your future is in your hands; how you choose to let things play out is definitely up to you.

Of course you’re not just limited to learning spells and curses either; Hogwarts Legacy allows you to put extra effort into taking your favourite classes and subjects, putting you in control of how you want your character to develop. Are you a fan of Herbology, like Neville Longbottom? Or are you more interested in taking the Transfiguration classes, taught by a professor with a very familiar name of Matilda Weasley? Maybe you’re a champion of the Defense Against the Dark Arts classes, or a future chemist who is excited about Potions classes. Knowledge is at your disposal when it comes to taking lessons at Hogwarts, so it is up to you as to how you want to shape your wizarding future.

BEING YOUR OWN HOGWARTS HERO

The experience that Hogwarts Legacy has created is shaping up to be something like we’ve never seen before. With the familiarity of the world and its history weaved into a new narrative that fans haven’t yet experienced, it not only manages to make players feel like they’re a Harry Potter-esque student hero going through their own adventure, but gives them a greater understanding of the Wizarding World as a whole. We know and love the castle that is Hogwarts, and the Ghosts and spirits that inhabit it. There’s even get the opportunity to see characters we’ve only glimpsed actually come to life, such as Headmaster Phineas Nigellus Black (the great-great-grandfather of Sirius Black).

Rather than feed fans into the same narrative they’re used to, and make them play as Harry or his compatriots, in Hogwarts Legacy you’ll get to create your own character and use them to explore this world in greater detail – something that we haven’t been able to do before.

Hogwarts Legacy is out February 7th for Deluxe Edition owners and February 10th for standard owners. The cheapest copy is currently $79 from Amazon with free shipping.

The post How Hogwarts Legacy Captures The Wizarding World Experience appeared first on Press Start.

As someone who lives inner-city and doesn’t drive, car culture has always eluded me. I say that with zero malice towards people who enjoy all things on four wheels, it’s just never been for me. For a brief moment though, during a hands-off preview of Pacific Drive with the team at Ironwood Studios, I think I understood it.

As your sole, silent companion and key to survival, Pacific Drive’s initially-junky station wagon immediately stood out to me as something I should care about. If I’m to last any length of time out in the Olympic Exclusion zone, beyond the safety of the Wall, I’m going to need to know this car inside and out. I’m going to need to learn how to fuel it, maintain it, craft and apply upgrades and understand its quirks. Most of all, I’m going to have to learn to drive.

Billed as a “run-based survival game,” Pacific Drive tasks players with venturing out into the dangerous wilderness of a twisted version of the Pacific Northwest, fraught with unnatural weather, mysterious anomalies and all sorts of other dangers that are incredibly weird and sci-fi in nature. As Ironwood demoed the game, taking us on a (sometimes literal) whirlwind tour of the game’s sizeable map as well as the garage serving as players’ base of operations, I got to see a much clearer vision of just what this game is and the kinds of things players will spend their time doing when it launches later this year.

For starters, this is indeed an open-ended survival game that the studio wants players to be able to enjoy almost indefinitely, but it does have a clear beginning and conclusion. Finding themselves stranded in this deadly Zone, the player quickly discovers a station wagon that seemingly has more to offer than a regular car, and through their efforts to figure out what’s going on and escape they’ll also eventually discover what this car’s deal is along the way – at least that’s what I’m told. So the idea is to head out on the road and gather as many resources as you can before finding a powerful artifact to enable a return to your garage, all while staying alive lest you get sent back a little more unceremoniously and lose a portion of your spoils. Rinse and repeat, pushing further and further as you upgrade your car and garage for increased survival.

So far, so rogue-lite, but the twist here of course is your safehouse on wheels. You’re going to want to stay in your station wagon as much as possible, sheltered from all the anomalous nasties and radioactive storms and such that make the Zone the veritable wasteland that it is. The Ironwood folks assure us that other characters do exist in this world, but you’ll meet them strictly through comms and not in-person. You car has everything you need in that regard – radio, maps, environmental read-outs, everything you need to know within the confines of it two-tone panels. Leaving it will be necessary to scavenge and thwart threats, but outside you’re naked and ignorant. I often feel like that.

We also got a look at what things are like within the safety of your garage, where you’ll be able to fuel up and tinker with your car, adding upgrades and replacing damaged parts using resources you find and process after reach run. There’s some upgrading and customisation to be done of your garage facilities as well, which should make the whole gameplay loop fairly compelling as you see your surroundings take shape alongside your odds of survival. The team says it wants to give players “a little bit of a respite” after the intensity of each driving run which, after witnessing how utterly hectic things can get out there, definitely seems vital. I love the idea of making it safely home to then leisurely unpack your car boot, sift through all the junk you amassed, spruce the place up and get a nice, clean mental slate before throwing yourself out there again.

I really like what I’ve seen of Pacific Drive so far. Ironwood Studios is onto something with this blend of driving and surviving, making the station wagon a character of its own that players will need to look after just as much as it looks after them. The runs look full-on, but there seems to be plenty of calm and beauty built in that make it feel less daunting. I’ve never cared about cars before, but I want to care about this one.

Pacific Drive is coming to PS5 and PC in 2023. You can wishlist it on the PlayStation Store, Epic Games Store and Steam

The post Pacific Drive Preview – Road-Like Survival In A Station Wagon appeared first on Press Start.

There’s palpable excitement in the Destiny community as we inch closer towards the release of Destiny 2’s fifth major expansion, Lightfall. While the narrative prospects of this penultimate piece to the Light versus Darkness saga are tantalising, there’s just as much anticipation for the brand-new Darkness subclass; Strand. We were lucky enough to see the new Strand trailer early, alongside being invited to a roundtable interview with a handful of other outlets. Here’s what design lead Kevin Yanes, and feature lead Eric Smith had to say on Strand’s inspirations, power fantasy, and what players can expect from it when Lightfall launches later this month.

What does Strand do better than Solar, Arc, Void, and Stasis? Why am I going to run Strand over those subclasses in endgame content?

Eric Smith: I think Strand does a number of things better than any other subclass. The grapple abilities specifically provide players with more movement freedom than they’ve ever had before. The core gameplay of loop of Strand is very dynamic. When using a Strand subclass, any Strand debuffed enemy that you defeat is going to turn into a Tangle when you kill them.

A Tangle is this kind of swirling bundle of strands, I can pick that Tangle up and throw them at enemies as a bomb, or I can shoot the Tangle where it lies or floats in the air to create an explosion. Additionally, when I grapple to a Tangle, it doesn’t cost me my grenade energy. So I can grapple to a Tangle, snatch it out of the air, throw it at an enemy, and still have a grapple ready to go. I think that sort of thing lends itself to the high actions per minute gameplay that you’re going to see with Strand.

There are a lot of Aspects and exotic armor that alter your Tangles in various ways. So for me, it doesn’t play like any of the other subclasses. It has its own unique identity.

There seems to be an underlying theme of control and manipulation with the darkness subclasses. Was that an intentional decision to separate them from the light subclasses and lean into a different kind of power fantasy?

Kevin Yanes: I would say that it isn’t necessarily an explicit goal for all Darkness subclasses to have manipulation of control over the battlefield, but we knew we wanted them to feel different. When we designed Stasis, we didn’t want it to just be melting things with your eyeballs, so we went down a crowd control route.

When we looked at Strand we also felt the same. We didn’t want to make just another flavor of instakill, so we looked at the suite of things we had done and we knew that the space of crowd control was relatively unexplored in our game. We had this fantasy of dark telekinesis from the beginning, telekinetic suspension, lifting things with your mind – that became a core driving fantasy. That led us down the path of featuring more crowd control in the game.

The Darkness subclasses also have a physicality to them in Stasis crystals and now Tangles, are these created with other gameplay purposes in mind?

KY: One way we think about Darkness subclasses and Darkness-like mechanical languages, is having physicality to them. All the Light subclasses are ethereal, magical, and energy based. With the Darkness subclasses you see a lot of physicality and manifestations in our world. Tangles, the Woven Form, Threadlings, Stasis Crystals and Bleak Watchers all reinforce that identity.

How is Destiny 2’s Level Design Affected by the Introduction of a Grappling Hook in the Strand Subclasses?

ES: Lightfall’s campaign specifically, was affected by the grapple and Grapple Tangles scattered throughout Neomuna. Grapple Tangles are like normal Tangles, but they’re more ethereal, so you can pick up and throw them for an explosion but you can still grapple to them for free. Those are scattered around Neomuna allowing you to chain grapples. Additionally, there are sections of Lightfall where we’re grappling to moving objects and vehicles to pull ourselves around the environment.

That said, the grapple can be used in any environment in the game. One thing we did with the grapple was, when you press the button, we always want to honor the players intent by pulling them in that direction, because that’s why they pressed the button. Even if the grapple doesn’t have the range to reach a surface and latch on to it, it’s going to anchor itself in midair, and pull us in that direction. So I can use this in existing raids and strikes to great effect in that, if I see a platform, and I want to swing up to it, I just look in the air, I press the button, and it’s going to pull me up there.

This is something we knew was a big deal when it came to existing environments, because it allows players to do things in those environments that we’ve never allowed them to do before. That part of it can be a little bit scary – when you put something out into the world that touches so much existing content, but we’re really excited to see what players do with it.

What does unlocking Strand look like? How grindy will it be in comparison to something like Stasis?

ES: We definitely learned from the Stasis unlock grind that it was hard to dedicate that much time per character to do all that. We’ve streamlined it this time. Instead of it being locked behind time-gated quests, it’ll be much more open in that I’m earning currency to unlock these things when I want to unlock them, essentially.

KY: When you end the campaign, you’ll have a pretty competent subclass, right? You will have a few Aspects, and I think we do a better job of onboarding the player here. Whereas In Beyond Light you had just a skeleton, you had to go out and fulfill the rest of that yourself. We definitely heard the feedback from Beyond Light, we know there are a lot of people who want to come in and try the new powers but the barrier to getting there was too high.

I know internally, we have a bunch of folks who wish they had it on their alternate characters but can’t summit the hill of going through that quest line again. That is absolutely something we wanted to fix this time around. So if you beat Lightfall, you’re going to be able to play with the new toys relatively quickly. If you want to expand that arsenal, it’s going to have a really clear and easy path for you to do so.

Strand is a fundamentally different subclass in the way that it adds traversal options in the form of a grapple. Have you been wanting to take subclasses in a new direction like this for some time?

KY: Yes, we had wanted to take subclasses in a different direction for a long time. We saw a little bit of this with Stasis where we focused on crowd control over just raw damage. When we started designing Strand, we actually wanted to take it much further, we had a large ideation phase, larger than our other damage types. We talked about a whole bunch of stuff that I’m not going to spoil because one day we might use it, but it was pretty out there. As we refined it and found what was necessary to the experience we pulled some stuff out and we indexed more subtly on things that we felt like were going to change the experience.

For instance, one of the things you’ll find when you use Strand is that it’s more rewarding the higher your actions per minute are. There are combinations you can have like debuffing a target with a melee, turning them into a Tangle, throwing that Tangle, grappling onto that Tangle which detonates as you follow up with a grapple punch, which, depending on your class might spawn Threadlings, or might unravel them to create new projectiles that then feed into your loop.

I remember the first couple of PvP play tests and I was giggling because I’m like, oh my god, the interaction matrix is massive here. When you string all of these commands together, you feel this rush of dopamine that I don’t think any of our other subclasses have without considerable mastery. The neat thing about Strand is we really have ended up with something that we believe is pretty easy to get into, but has a considerable amount of depth for you to master let alone the build crafting game that surrounds it.

Where did the inspiration for Strand come from?

KY: As for how we arrived at this power, we tried to find something that was cohesive with the 80s action hero theme of Lightfall. We dabbled in a number of interesting concepts from nanomachines to visualized audio, we always tried to relate everything back to the initial Darkness language of resonance. You can see that in Stasis where you have these Cymatics-like patterns on everything, the way the crystals fester and move, all of that is to reinforce that this is from the same power suite. Strand is no different, right? So we went into this world of telekinesis. Telekinesis was big thing in the 80s and 80s entertainment, we landed on this idea of dark telekinesis and we started thinking about how that was going to manifest in-game.

The concept of the Weave came out of the idea that it’s this dimensional construct that is interconnecting all living things. The power of Strand is the manipulation of that interconnected web of things. So you’ll see things like the World Strands, which are just like you, a powerful entity, or the way constructs of Strand that are bleeding into our world will start to illuminate some of that dimensional weave behind it. That all started from the point of how do we do 80s action hero sci fi? What are the tropes there? We built off of that for months and months.

Eric Mentioned that Hunters can place Tangles Via an Aspect. Does this mean you can create your own sort of jungle gym within an encounter space?

ES: Absolutely. You can create your own jungle gym, the Tangle lasts an (undisclosed) amount of time but once you grapple onto it, it actually resets that timer. So the answer is yes, you could create that jungle gym indefinitely as long as you keep grappling to those Tangles.

KY: Those Tangles are for friendlies too, right? A common practice is to dive a zone with a Hunter leading the charge, creating Tangles to grapple off of that don’t consume your grenade cooldown. You can then follow up with grapple punches, you can do cheeky and funny things you otherwise wouldn’t be able to.

What does Strand offer from a mastery perspective and how long do you feel players will need to play with the subclass to really feel good with it?

ES: It’s going to vary depending on subclass, obviously, but I think we wanted to add some depth to Strand. Using the Hunter as an example, we’ve talked about Tangles, and how when we notice there is a Tangle, we can shoot it to make it explode, we can grab it and throw it, we can grapple to it. The Hunter has a melee attack called threaded spike that goes out and bounces between enemies, and once there are no more enemies, it comes back to the Hunter. When it comes back to the Hunter, it’s going to provide melee energy based on how many enemies that hits, but you can actually press the melee button again, at the moment that the spike comes back to you and catch it out of the air to increase how much melee energy you get. If you can excel in that timing mini game, you can increase your overall output.

Additionally, the Hunter super, you weave this rope dart that has a light attack as well as a heavy attack. The light attack, if you hit enemies with the tip of the dart, will deal bonus damage. If you defeat an enemy like that they’re going to explode and damage enemies around them. So you can run in all willy-nilly and just swipe at everything, but if you can actually master the spacing required to like get that critical hit every single time, we’re rewarding that mastery with additional damage.

The Game Awards and Neomuna Destination Trailers have both shown off a new Hunter Ability akin to Shatterdive and Quickfall. Can you shed some light on this ability and its applications?

ES: Yeah, so this ability is called Ensnaring Slam. It’s one of the Hunter Aspects. It’s similar to other Hunter air slams but it has a unique timing and weight where you do this gainer backflip and slam to the ground suspending all nearby enemies. It has great synergy when paired with the grapple. For example, you can grapple above a group of enemies and slam down and it just feels really good to do so.

Can we expect more Fragments and Aspects for Strand as future seasons are rolled out after Lightfall’s release?

ES: We will be releasing new parts of the subclass, new Aspects, as the seasons succeeding Lightfall come out.

What are your favorite Strand exotic gear combos?

ES: I think for me one of the new exotics we just showed in our weapons and armor video that came out earlier this week was the Warlock Swarmers boots. When you destroy a Tangle, it creates Threadlings from that Tangle. That’s one of my favorite combos, you know, the Warlock is all about Threadlings, so any exotic that allows me to generate more Threadlings is gonna help that play style a lot.

The Warlock has a special kinship with Threadlings, which are these explosive creatures woven from Strand matter that crawl towards enemies, and then jump on them and explode. This is going to happen, regardless of what class you are, but if you’re a Warlock, Threadlings that can’t find any more targets are actually going to come back to you and hop on to you, which is an action we call perching. When a Threadling perches on you, it condenses down into the smaller form and orbits around you. So I can run around with my minions, and as I attack enemies, they’re also going to pop off me and rush toward those enemies.

KY: I don’t want to try to pronounce the name of this helmet (Cyrtarachne’s Façade). The new exotic Hunter helmet that applies Woven Mail on grapple. I’m personally a big fan of that because I feel like not only does it provide a great advantage through Woven Mail, giving you damage resistance on your entire body including PvP, but it also creates this entire new avenue of Fragment build-crafting that was not available to you before. Woven Mail isn’t something that’s readily available to the Hunter, and now it being applied through a grapple, it starts to synergize with one of your other aspects that gives you the double grapple charge.

Then I can start to itemize and use the fragments that reward me for having Woven Mail on or do different effects based on things permitted while using Woven Mail. Personally to me, that’s the most interesting part because that’s the stuff you get to nerd out about and theory craft. Hopefully somebody does the work there and talks about it on YouTube or on Reddit and they’re like I created this super busted thing.

To me that’s like a successful exotic ability pairing when a new avenue of gameplay opens up that’s completely emergent, just from the systems talking to each other. We call them little engines that are self running. Then you start to add another part to it and now they’re talking to each other and these engines are almost perpetuating each other. That’s the kind of the fantasy we have when we’re thinking about build crafting in the game.

We have five subclasses right now and many are expecting a sixth in The Final Shape to make for three Light and three Dark. After designing Strand, how do you feel about the remaining design space for abilities in Destiny 2, and is there another big fantasy you still want to try?

KY: I feel good about the design space we have,  I hope we proved that with Subclass 3.0, we can take a defined subclass like Arc, Solar, Void, and bring newness to them. Thruster, Thunderclap, Gathering Storm, Child of the Old Gods, Lightning Surge, all new abilities that are nowhere near available to you in the old subclasses. Maybe it’s nice naivete, but the abilities team doesn’t like to like give up or feel like we’re at the end of the systemic road we’re on.

I think we believe pretty heavily that there’s a considerable amount of design space available for us to consume and discover more of. In terms of what design space would be around for a new fantasy of subclass? That’s a hard question to answer. Because if you’d asked me this after Stasis, I wouldn’t have even been remotely putting myself in the mindset of what Strand could be. I think, should we sit down and think about a space of a new power, I have all the all the confidence in the world that the team we’ve assembled on combat gameplay can pull it off.

ES: I agree. There’s still plenty of ability design space in Destiny 2. Like I said earlier, for every ability idea we execute on we leave a ton of others on the cutting room floor. There are new emotional fantasies, new mechanics that aren’t necessarily causing and preventing damage. There’s all sorts of things that we we’d love to explore in the future.

I think grappling hooks are awesome, and people love using them. We didn’t ever want to like shoehorn it into Destiny 2, but because of the kind of emotional fantasy we created with Strand revolving around rope and string, it was the perfect time to make it happen. I think there’s a lot of other stuff lurking out there, waiting for the perfect time to be implemented into the game.

We’re only a few short weeks away until Lightfall officially launches on February 28th, in the meantime, keep an eye out for the conclusion event for Season of the Seraph as we move towards the beginning of the end, and check out the official Strand trailer below!

The post Destiny 2: Lightfall Interview – Weaving A New Way to Play With Strand appeared first on Press Start.

There have been many, many attempts made to replicate the experience of playing a PC RTS on a home console, to retrofit a very keyboard-and-mouse-centric genre to work with a controller and on a big screen. I have fond memories of playing games like Warcraft II on the PS1 or even the more recent Halo Wars 2, but the holy grail for me has always been the opportunity to kick back on the couch and shout “wololo!” with some classic Age of Empires II. Now, with Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition, that dream has finally come true.

This port of AOE2 marks what I’d say is one of the most considered and all-encompassing translations of an existing PC RTS to console, finally crossing a bridge that seemed impossible without drastically watering down the experience any (let’s please erase the game’s PS2 port from memory) and even keeping Xbox players legitimately competitive. It’s all a product of a clearly huge amount of care, iteration and innovation and it’s quickly become my favourite way to play the game.

The basics of the controller inputs for AOE2 are pretty much what you’d expect, with the analog sticks controlling the camera and an on-screen cursor, and the bumpers and face buttons acting as inputs and access to contextual menus. It’s the kind of stuff that’s been done plenty in the past with RTS games on controller, but so far this feels like the most intuitive and customisable take yet, as well as acting as a fantastic gateway for newcomers thanks to some of the mechanical concessions made. A brand-new tutorial for controller-based play also goes a long way to making either the transition or first point of entry as smooth as possible.

It’s the word “thoughtful” that comes to mind when trying to describe any number of the updates made to this Definitive Edition of AOE2 to fit the console experience, starting with great little touches like the way your in-game cursor will not only change to reflect what pressing the action button does based on where it’s located but also whether you have unit/s selected to perform it, and which ones they are. Or the easy three-stage unit selection process, where a single press picks a unit, a double-press picks all units of that type and press-and-hold starts sending out a radius to group up anyone nearby. It’s the way the most basic and oft-used actions have been looked at from every angle to make the very core of play feel just right on a pad.

Branching out from there though, things are just as carefully curated and contextualised to work in front of the telly. The team at World’s Edge hasn’t been afraid to rethink how the game plays at every level to make it work on Xbox, including implementing a new game AI that can help manage villagers with things like automatically divvying up tasks like farming and mining based on preset strategies. It’s the kind of thing that won’t drastically change the overall game flow but still massively streamlines things for players, not just those moving to console from PC but those altogether new to the game as well.

With help from the AI, an abundance of new shortcut commands and intelligent UI that automatically places the most appropriate units or commands within the reach of a button dependant on what you’re doing in any given moment, I genuinely found my building and management in Age of Empires II to be even more efficient with a controller than on PC. Granted, a large reason for that will be my overall aptitude for console gaming versus my very occasional PC gaming, but it bodes incredibly well for anyone else with a nostalgia for the game that has since moved onto more couch-bound endeavours.

If you have been out of the game for a while, the other great thing is all of the improvements from the PC release of the Definitive Edition are here too, like automatic farm reseeding, build sequencing, better unit queuing, auto-scouting and so on, all carefully implemented within the framework of the new control scheme and console-specific systems.

All of this is before even scratching the surface of the other great work done in bringing Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition to Xbox consoles – namely the positively enormous menu of options with which to tweak nearly everything about the gameplay, control and visual experience. There’s nothing watered down or gated off about what players can chop and change within AOE2’s settings menus on Xbox, with an almost-overwhelming amount of customisation available that feels completely on par with the PC release.

Initially I was impressed by the graphical settings menu alone, which not only gives you access to the same sorts of presets you’d find in the PC game with low, medium, high and even ‘ultra’ options but also opens up individual toggles for players to mess with at their leisure, like anti-aliasing, water rendering, particle effects and more. While I wasn’t able to play the game on Xbox One or Series S to really get a feel for how these options affect the performance in-game, I can at least say that switching everything to its highest setting on the Series X resulted in rock solid and great-looking output.

Further to that though, you can also dive deep into just about every other aspect of the game from the UI layout and behaviour to control layouts and game systems with a ridiculous amount of freedom. Everything’s set up from the get-go to be as comfortable and playable as possible on a TV with controller in hand, but purists and hardcore players are absolutely welcome to change things up to suit their needs – including simply plugging in a keyboard and mouse and playing that way.

That’s the crux of it, really. Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition on Xbox consoles is not just a great example of making the core gameplay work with a controller, but it’s the full-fat PC experience brought tactfully to console with all of its content, modes, options and overall spirit present. I can’t wait to see how World’s Edge brings the Definitive Edition of Age of Empires III to Xbox next, based on how good a job it’s done here.

Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition comes to Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One on January 31st, 2023. It’ll be available on day one to Xbox Game Pass subscribers.

The post Age Of Empires II: Definitive Edition On Xbox Is The Impossible Port Made Possible appeared first on Press Start.

It’s hard to believe that January 2023 is all but behind us already. It’s equally hard to fathom just how many games the month ahead is bringing, with February being absolutely stacked with big titles. It’s honestly too many, if you ask me. Whether you’re in for action, adventure, horror or anything in-between there’s definitely going to be something for everyone this month – including a little ol’ hardware launch for none other than the PlayStation VR2.

To get you primed and prepped for what is sure to be a chaotic four weeks, we’ve done our usual diligence and put together a (quite long) shortlist of what we think should be on everyone’s radar for the month:

Deliver Us Mars

Platforms: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC

Release Date: February 2nd

Uncover the truth behind the ‘Outward’ organization, and learn the fate of Kathy’s father in an action-packed adventure with epic stakes and deep personal drama in Deliver Us Mars.

The Pathless

Platforms: Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Switch

Release Date: February 2nd

The Pathless is launching for Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S!

Go on an open-world adventure that challenges players to forge a connection with the spirits of a mystical island, explore forests full of secrets and dispel a dark curse that grips the world. With a charming eagle companion, lore to uncover, and massive multi-stage boss fights, The Pathless takes players on an unforgettable journey of perseverance and forging their own path.

HOGWARTS LEGACY

Platforms: PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC

Release Date: February 10th

The Cheapest Copy: $79.99 at Amazon with free shipping

Become the student you’ve always wanted to be as you experience life at Hogwarts and embark on a journey through the wizarding world. Discover magical beasts, craft potions, and master spell casting as you uncover the mystery of Ancient Magic.

Blanc

THEATRHYTHM: FINAL BAR LINE

Platforms: PS4, Switch

Release Date: February 16th

The Cheapest Copy: $74.99 at Amazon with free shipping

The music of Final Fantasy comes together here – Includes popular tracks from a total of 46 different games, featuring the latest music from FFI through to FFXV in the main series, as well as remakes, spin-offs and various different soundtrack CDs.

Relive the thrilling battles and soaring emotions alongside beautiful music and video. Throw yourself into the rhythm – push the buttons in time with the music to match triggers moving across the screen on 3 different types of stage. With easy to learn controls and four different difficulty settings, anyone can jump in and have fun straight away.

WILD HEARTS

Platforms: PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC

Release Date: February 17th

The Cheapest Copy: $84.99 at Amazon with free shipping

Master ancient tech to hunt down giant beasts. WILD HEARTS is a unique twist on the hunting genre where technology gives you a fighting chance against fearsome beasts infused with the ferocious power of nature itself. Take on these creatures alone or hunt with friends in seamless co-op.

Developed by Omega Force, the Japanese studio behind the DYNASTY WARRIORS franchise, WILD HEARTS takes you on an epic adventure set in a fantasy world inspired by feudal Japan.

Rooftop Renegade

Platforms: PS4, Xbox One, Switch, PC

Release Date: February 17th

Power up your hoverblades in this speedrunning platformer! Weave through futuristic cities making split second pathing decisions. Boost through constant bombardment and dangerous hazards. Go it alone or bring up to 3 friends for local multiplayer mayhem.

The Settlers: New Allies

Platforms: PC

Release Date: February 17th

True to its almost 30 years legacy, this new entry in the series combines in-depth build-up experience with real-time strategic battles. Choose among 3 unique factions and explore this whole-new world powered by state-of-the-art graphics. Your settlement has never looked so lively.

Tales of Symphonia Remastered

Platforms: PS4, Xbox One, Switch

Release Date: February 17th

The Cheapest Copy: $74.99 at Amazon with free shipping

Follow Lloyd and friends on their journey through the world of Sylvarant in HD! Tales of Symphonia Remastered will officially release February 17th, 2023 with improved graphics and gameplay on PS4, Xbox One and Switch.

ATOMIC HEART

Platforms: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC

Release Date: February 21st

The Cheapest Copy: $84.99 at Amazon with free shipping

The unstoppable course of technology along with secret experiments have brought rise to mutant creatures, terrifying machines and superpowered robots—all suddenly rebelling against their creators. Only you can stop them and find out what lies behind the idealized world.

Using the combat abilities granted by your experimental power glove, your arsenal of blades and cutting-edge weaponry, fight for your life in explosive and frenetic encounters. Adapt your fighting style to each unique opponent. Combine your skills and resources, use the environment and upgrade your equipment to overcome challenges and fight for good.

LIKE A DRAGON: ISHIN!

Platforms: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC

Release Date: February 21st

The Cheapest Copy: $79 at Amazon with free shipping

1860s Kyo is plagued by widespread inequality, and one samurai will change the course of history in his search for justice. Take up the sword of Sakamoto Ryoma and venture to Kyoto to find your father’s killer, clear yourself of a framed murder, and restore your honour. In doing so, you will bring an end to the samurai era and forever change the future of Japan.

Draw your blade, load your revolver, and join the revolution in this heated historical adventure that only the creators of Yakuza: Like a Dragon could produce.

Blood Bowl 3

Platforms: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Switch, PC

Release Date: February 23rd

Welcome to the bloodiest sport in the Old World. Murder, mutilation, cheating, corruption, sorcery and divine intervention mark the pitches of Blood Bowl as teams take to the field.

Create your team, recruit your players, customize their appearance, armour, and start your career in Blood Bowl 3, bringing the new Blood Bowl ruleset to a video game for the first time with various game modes to wrack up the body count in.

Sons of the Forest

Platforms: PC

Release Date: TBA February

Sent to find a missing billionaire on a remote island, you find yourself in a cannibal-infested hellscape. Craft, build, and struggle to survive, alone or with friends, in this terrifying new open-world survival horror simulator.

Company of Heroes 3

Platforms: PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC

Release Date: February 23rd

The Cheapest Copy: $74.99 at Amazon with free shipping

Bigger and better than ever, Company of Heroes 3 combines heart-pounding combat with deeper strategic choices in a stunning Mediterranean theatre of war. In Company of Heroes 3, every battle tells a story…what’s yours?

HORIZON CALL OF THE MOUNTAIN

Platforms: PS5 (PS VR2)

Release Date: February 22nd

Conquer colossal peaks, overcome fearsome machines and uncover a hidden danger to the world of Horizon – as you answer the call of the mountain in an immersive new adventure for PlayStation VR2.

Enter a living, breathing world of dangerous machines, tribal lore, exciting quests and new and returning characters. Explore a diverse landscape – embark on a journey with multiple paths to take where you’ll have to look all around you to uncover the secrets of the mountains.

PlayStation VR2 Launch Titles

Just to add to the chaos of February’s release slate, the PlayStation VR2 is launching alongside 36 titles to come either on February 22nd or within the “launch window.”

• After the Fall (Vertigo Games)
• Altair Breaker (Thirdverse)
• Before Your Eyes (Skybound Interactive, launch window)
• Cities VR (Fast Travel Games)
• Cosmonious High (Owlchemy)
• Creed: Rise to Glory – Championship Edition (Survios, launch window)
• The Dark Pictures: Switchback (Supermassive, launch window)
• Demeo (Resolution Games)
• Dyschronia: Chronos Alternate (MyDearest Inc., Perp Games)
• Fantavision 202X (Cosmo Machia, Inc.)
• Gran Turismo 7 (via free update to PS5 version of GT7)
• Horizon Call of the Mountain (Firesprite, Guerrilla)
• Job Simulator (Owlchemy)
• Jurassic World Aftermath (Coatsink)
• Kayak VR: Mirage (Better Than Life)
• Kizuna AI – Touch the Beat! (Gemdrops, Inc.)
• The Last Clockwinder (Pontoco/Cyan Worlds)
• The Light Brigade (Funktronic Labs, purchase includes PS VR and PS VR2 versions)
• Moss 1 & 2 Remaster (Polyarc)
• NFL Pro Era (StatusPro, Inc., free PS VR2 upgrade)
• No Man’s Sky (Hello Games, launch window)
• Pavlov VR (Vankrupt)
• Pistol Whip (Cloudhead, free upgrade)
• Puzzling Places (Realities.io, free upgrade)
• Resident Evil Village (Capcom, via free update to PS5 version of RE Village)
• Rez Infinite (Enhance)
• Song in the Smoke (17 Bit)
• Star Wars: Tales from the Galaxy’s Edge – Enhanced Edition (ILMxLAB)
• Synth Riders (Kluge Interactive, free upgrade)
• The Tale of Onogoro (Amata K.K)
• Tentacular (Devolver)
• Tetris Effect: Connected (Enhance)
• Thumper (Drool LLC)
• Vacation Simulator (Owlchemy)
• What the Bat (Triband)
• Zenith: The Last City (Ramen VR, free upgrade)

PLAYSTATION VR2 PRE-ORDER LINKS:

• PlayStation VR2 Standard Kit – $879.95 with free shipping (no deposit needed to pre-order)
• PlayStation VR2 Horizon Call of the Mountain Bundle – $959.95 with free shipping (no deposit needed to pre-order)

OCTOPATH TRAVELLER II

Platforms: PS5, PS4, Switch, PC

Release Date: February 24th

The Cheapest Copy: $74.99 at Amazon with free shipping

A brand-new entry in the Octopath Traveller series, the first instalment of which was initially released in 2018 and sold over 3 million copies worldwide.

It takes the series’ HD-2D graphics, a fusion of retro pixel art and 3DCG, to even greater heights. In the world of Solistia, eight new travelers venture forth into an exciting new era. Where will you go? What will you do? Whose tale will you bring to life? Every path is yours to take.

Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe

Platforms: Switch

Release Date: February 24th

The Cheapest Copy: $69 at Amazon with free shipping

The tough puff Kirby is back for a 4-player platforming adventure. Copy enemies’ abilities and use their power to attack with a sword, wield a whip, and float with a parasol. You can also laser blast with the new Mecha Copy Ability that makes a series debut! The extra muscle will be handy in finding missing pieces for Magolor’s ship, which crash landed on Planet Popstar.

Scars Above

Platforms: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC

Release Date: February 28th

The Cheapest Copy: $59 at Amazon with free shipping

Scars Above is a challenging sci-fi third-person action adventure shooter combining the rewarding feel of overcoming difficulty with a compelling and intricate story, set in a mysterious alien world to explore.

DESTINY 2: LIGHTFALL

Platforms: PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC

Release Date: February 28th

Travel to a destination unlike any you’ve explored in Destiny 2. Cross paths with bone-chilling Tormentors and valiant Cloud Striders, join the fight against the Shadow Legion, and prevent devastation in the technologically advanced secret city of Neomuna.

The post Games Coming Out In February That You Should Be Excited For appeared first on Press Start.

Microsoft held its first Xbox + Bethesda Developer Direct this morning highlighting five games that are coming to Xbox and PC consoles this year. It was a decent mix of release dates, longer gameplay segments and a stealth drop.

REDFALL GOT A RELEASE DATE

We finally know that Redfall is releasing on May 2nd for Xbox Series X|S and PC.

We got to see some gameplay of a mission to recover a lighthouse lamp from cultists, where Arkane explained some of the game’s fearsome vampiric enemies. It looks suitably intense, especially when things get dark and claustrophobic indoors. Procedural encounters and dungeons, surprise attacks from super-strong enemies and more all look to add to the danger and excitement of the Redfall experience.

HI-FI RUSH IS TANGO GAMEWORKS NEW GAME AND IT’S OUT TODAY

Who doesn’t love a good stealth drop. It’s a new game called Hi-Fi Rush from Tango Gameworks and its out today.

HI-FI RUSH is pegged as a “rhythm action game”, where your moves all sync with the music to create an awesome soundscape as you fight, not unlike the excellent No Straight Roads from 2020. Performing more on beat will net you better success in battle, and all of the music and pulsating environments will come together to look superb in the moment.

WE GOT ANOTHER LOOK AT FORZA MOTORSPORT

Whilst we didn’t get a release date, we did get an extended look at Forza Motorsport.

The studio says the game contains over 500 cars with more than 800 unique upgrades, driving physics more advanced than the last three games combined, more realistic paint model than ever, per-car damage and dirt accumulation and a whole bunch of other super impressive technical achievements.

All 20 environments in the game have been built from the ground-up for the new generation of consoles as well, with up to 10 times more detail than previous generations, including fully dynamic time of day and weather.

MINECRAFT LEGENDS GOT A RELEASE DATE 

We now know that the next Minecraft games is launching on April 18th for Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PS5, PS4, Switch and PC.

The team showed off a big chunk of gameplay of Minecraft Legends’ 4v4 PVP battles, talking about the importance of strategy and how skirmishes can turn around in an instant as players get creative with the game’s systems. Of course, there’ll also be a story-driven campaign that sees players reclaim the Overworld from a Piglin invasion.

THE ELDER SCROLLS ONLINE NECROM GOT A RELEASE DATE

ZeniMax Online Studios revealed that The Elder Scrolls Online: Necrom will be releasing in June and take players back to the land of Morrowind.

It was also announced that starting today and for a limited time, you can get ESO Plus which includes all chapters and past DLC for any player playing on Xbox Game Pass.

The post Everything Announced In The Xbox + Bethesda Developer Direct appeared first on Press Start.

Let’s face it – you were pretty disappointed when, at the age of eleven, you didn’t receive a letter to go to Hogwarts to start your education as a witch or wizard. But then again, you don’t live in Great Britain, so unless there’s a witchcraft and wizardry school in Australia we don’t know about, you probably wouldn’t have gotten one anyway.

Never to fear though, because if you’re diving into Hogwarts Legacy, you’re about to forge your own adventure within the Wizarding World. Forget Harry, Ron and Hermione, this adventure is all yours – one that’s set to enchant and excite, as you venture into a new and original tale set in the 1800s at Hogwarts and its various surrounds.

We recently got hands-on with a couple hours of the game, giving us the opportunity to create our own Hogwarts student, explore the school grounds, get in some wizard duelling and go on some adventures. Here’s what we thought about each of those exciting elements in Avalanche’s upcoming epic.

You can also watch our video discussion of the hands-on preview below:

CHARACTER CREATION

Usually one of the most intensive parts of the game, the character creator allows your imagination to run free and create your witch or your wizard in the most creative way possible. You want freckles, glasses or scars? You’ve got them. A man with a man bun? Consider it done.

Initially I was going to make myself into the game, and got as far as even calling the character “Matt”, but I didn’t feel that I was wizardy enough and so I ended up creating “Xavier Diggleby”, with long flowing purple locks and Harry Potter-esque glasses. There’s a lot of creative options to explore here, so take your time with it and really have fun making a witch or a wizard that you want to see out your adventure with.

EXPLORING HOGWARTS

Set long before the adventures of Harry and friends, you get the chance to freely explore Hogwarts Castle and its surrounds, either by foot or by broom as you undertake your magical scholarship. It is obvious that a lot of attention to detail has gone into this game; with so much to find within the castle walls that you can spend endless hours exploring. Wandering through the halls and seeing it teeming with the lives of students and teachers really makes you feel like you are there, and there are collectibles and side quests to fulfil as you go along.

One of the places we got to visit in the preview was the greenhouses for Herbology, which was fun to wander through and see in its glory. The only downside was that I couldn’t set the plants on fire using the Incendio spell – and it is quite clear in wandering around that not everything can be interacted with. With such an open environment and so much to see and explore, it is a little bit of a dampener that there aren’t small quirks like that.

Flying around outside on the broomstick is a lot of fun too – initially you might take a moment to learn to control your flight, but once you get the hang of things it becomes a lot more fun. You can see the Quidditch field and fly around it, but at this point in time Quidditch is not playable, and no plans to include it have been announced, which is a bit of a frustration. We also got an opportunity to play Summoner’s Court in the grounds of Hogwarts, a tactical game where you ‘Accio’ balls on a large playing table to score points. It wasn’t until the very end of the game that I understood how to play, but still managed a draw.

If you get lost on your way to a location while exploring Hogwarts, there’s a handy guide that looks very much like a Golden Snitch that leads the way. As I ventured to the duelling club to practice my skills, I came across a student being tormented by the poltergeist Peeves, whom fans would know from the books as a troublemaker. It is great to see so much of what we already know about Hogwarts come to life, beyond the books and the films.

WIZARD DUELS

At the Crossed Wands duelling club, you get the opportunity to practice and increase your skill in duelling other witches and wizards. Duelling itself is one of those ‘easy to learn, difficult to master’ aspects of the gameplay, and the first duel I was in I lost spectacularly. In locking on to a witch or a wizard, you must use your tactical nous to understand how to best defeat your opponent – shields are colour-coded to certain spells, so once you know what to look for you can break open your enemies’ defences and take them down. You also have the ability to parry spells, and throw objects during the duel as well, which can make for some killer combos.

If you get held up by an enchantment, there is usually a quick-time event button to press to release yourself, otherwise you’ll take the full brunt of the attack. There are also cooldowns on spells, so you can’t keep spamming them over and over to hope to win. As you get into the game further, you’re definitely going to need to refine your duelling style, otherwise you’re going to be seeing a lot of ended journey screens during climactic battles.

MISSION: FIRE AND VICE

This is where it gets serious – one of the missions that we were able to play involved a smuggling ring and a dragon. Tagging along with a character named Poppy Sweeting (a fitting foil for Xavier Diggleby), your mission is to uncover what poachers are up to just outside of Hogwarts. Our spell repertoire was increased in this mission compared to earlier in the duelling club, so we can expect to see the ability to unlock and uncover new and dangerous spells as the game progresses. The game gives you the ability to play how you want – I first used stealth when coming up against enemies, but I gave myself away too quickly and ended up in an all-out battle. If it weren’t for the quick heal potions, I definitely would have lost.

As you progress through the mission you do also have the ability to use Petrificus Totalus on enemies, knocking them out cold so that you can sneak past them. Diving further into Horntail Hall, we uncovered a dragon fighting ring – and some seriously powerful dark wizards guarding it as well. There’s definitely suspicious things afoot! Sneaking through the ring to save the dragon, we get to see some of the puzzle elements as well, including lock-picking, which will obviously be a common event.

In the battle against the poachers I also realised that not all of the spells I had learned were ‘common’ spells, but Unforgiveable Curses. What impact this has on my gameplay remains to be seen, as this was obviously just a preview and not my own characters’ personal journey, but it will definitely be interesting to explore the potential of using Unforgiveable Curses on witches and wizards alike, and how that affects your development as a powerful magic user. I managed to make a goblin… explode. Maybe I teleported him somewhere, I couldn’t tell you.

After vanquishing the poachers and taking the dragon egg as my reward, we’re treated to a nice little cutscene between our wizard and Poppy, before the scene ends. Credit where credit is due, the game’s characters look great, and the narrative really manages to draw you in as you uncover exactly what is going on at Hogwarts, and in the greater Wizarding World. Remember, this is the 1800s, so well before the adventures of the characters we know and love today.

OVERALL IMPRESSIONS

From the brief time I was able to spend with Hogwarts Legacy, I was definitely entranced by its sense of adventure and grandeur. Avalanche Studios have put a lot of effort into expanding the Wizarding World and allowing players to explore and become their own magical being. Aside from a few minor teething issues such as limited environmental interaction, and some user error issues in not understanding the controls, Hogwarts Legacy is set to be a very fresh and entertaining instalment in a rich world we’re already quite familiar with.

We also got to speak to Technical Director, Stephen Dona, which you can read about here.

Hogwarts Legacy is out February 7th for Deluxe Edition owners and February 10th for standard owners. The cheapest copy is currently $79 from Amazon with free shipping.

The post Hogwarts Legacy Hands-On Preview – Forging An Adventure In The Wizarding World appeared first on Press Start.

After getting to go hands-on with Hogwarts Legacy recently, entering Hogwarts for the first time as our purple-haired student of wizardry, “Xavier Diggleby”, we also had the opportunity to sit down with Avalanche Studios’ own Stephen Dona.

A fellow Aussie, born and raised in western Sydney, Stephen studied at the University of Utah and then went into the industry around seven years ago before being picked up by Avalanche Studios, now serving as the Technical Game Designer for Hogwarts Legacy. Stephen gave us some great insights into the development process of the game, as well as the challenges that came with it.

First things first – if you had to pick a house, which house would you put yourself into?

Stephen Dona: We actually have quite a good culture at Avalanche where, when you start, you basically have to do a test. It seems like I have a bit of a cheeky side because I ended up in Slytherin.

How are you and the studio feeling this close to launch?

SD: A perfect mixture of really, really excited and really, really terrified. Genuinely excited to get it out into peoples’ hands and get some thoughts about the game.

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How challenging was it to develop for a wide range of consoles?

SD: Basically, making any game of this scope and size is going to have its challenges, and that was particularly quite challenging because to some degree we had to make two games. There is definitely a level of quality that we want to hit at Avalanche and WB, and we went and made the decision that we needed a little extra time, because we really wanted to get [those older consoles] to a point where it felt like those users weren’t being cheated just because they didn’t have the most current console.

The game is also releasing later on the Nintendo Switch, which of course is a little bit older. How is the quality there?

SD: Exactly the same thing as before, we just needed a little bit more time there, and like you said the Switch is a whole different beast in itself, and we didn’t want anyone who picked it up on Switch to get a second-hand experience.

Pictured: Stephen Dona – Favourite Shapes flavour, Pizza.

The lore of the Wizarding World runs very deep, what challenges did you face in creating such an expansive video game version of this world?

SD: I think in general, we were trying to show the world in a size and scope that has never been done before. We obviously have a lot of books and movies that are set in the Wizarding World, but we have a mantra at Avalanche that if you can see it, you can go to it – and that’s really why we wanted to make the whole castle, and endeavouring that was quite a task.

We had to start to think about “Well, hey, we’ve never been to this part of the castle but we know there are windows there, so we know there must be something there,” and we had to work out and make sense of what that would be. And it was a great, great challenge, but it was a lot to take on; not only just the castle but the grounds surrounding as well. Then to go further with Hogsmeade, and the Black Lake, and to really flesh them out and make sure they always felt like a real place. I think in some of the other media we’ve seen in this world they’ve only been set dressing, like the background, and now we need to say “No, we’re going there – what does that look like, what does that feel like as an actual place now?” so it was quite an undertaking. But we think we’ve nailed it pretty well.

So we get to see the Quidditch field in the game, but Quidditch itself isn’t featured. Was that a technical decision, and could we see it in the future?

SD: So we really wanted to nail the open world part, “If you can see it you can go to it”. That was predominantly our focus in development. I don’t want to spoil anything for the future!

Of course a big part of that is also traversal across the game, through walking and via broomstick; was that a difficult thing to get right as well?

SD: We wanted that to feel organic and – specifically for broom flight – we wanted that to feel real and genuine and fulfilling. We have little things like broom flight races, but we wanted to add a verticality to it – as you drop and move up and down, you build up speed – and that was really important to us to actually make it feel like broom flight wasn’t just walking through the air, it was its own beast that you got to explore and get good at. There’s definitely skill to it, and when you see people master it, it’s quite entertaining to watch.

What were some of the largest technical challenges when developing a game of this scope?

SD: I feel like the game is one of the prettiest games I’ve played and we really went into making sure we can maintain that level of detail and fidelity. But we also didn’t want the experience to be sitting in loading screens constantly, and that was something we were always fighting back and forth with. We wanted to make it feel like if you saw something you could go to it, and that you weren’t clicking through loading screens to get there. We had to do quite a good job of streaming things in, doing a little bit of magic behind the scenes, and to get these things loading in while you’re not looking at it – and that was quite a challenge early on, but I think we worked out ways and tricks because we absolutely didn’t want to lose any of that fidelity and that beauty.

How hard was it to scale the progression as you become a stronger wizard/witch?

SD: One of the hardest things about my job was that we really wanted to nail this idea to be your own witch or wizard, and so when we started, we mapped out the ways we thought people would want to play this game, and we really wanted to do them all justice. I think it’s really easy for you and me to visualise how Harry Potter would go about combat, and how Hermione might go about learning new spells, but we really wanted to do every sort of playstyle some justice, and try and balance them against each other; so the player who just wants to focus on Herbology, we want them to feel just as powerful or as an enjoyable sense to play as someone who wants to be a real jerk and “Dark Arts” it up.

How was it balancing the combat of your character against the formidable foes?

SD: Particularly in combat, that was one of the hardest parts of my job – we really wanted to validate every single person’s playstyle. The whole idea is to be your own wizard or witch and to follow your own combat progression, where you get to indulge in certain skills. And because of that, in thirty, forty or fifty hours into the game, we can have two players that play very differently, and have drastically different power levels in different ways. And to then be able to say “Hey, now we’re going to ask them to confront a Troll or a big monster” and want that to be a fair experience to both of them, that was one of the bigger challenges of the entire game – and my role personally.

From linear progression, to open-world and sandbox and being thrown into the wild – what is the Hogwarts Legacy experience closer to?

SD: We wanted the world to feel real, and lived in, and we wanted it to feel dangerous. We didn’t just want the player to pick up the controller in the first hour and not have these spaces have some gravitas to them. So we’ve obviously tried to build that progression into the world, and there will be moments where you might run into certain things and think “Oh wait, maybe I have to think about this” and go back to build up your character. At the core of the game it’s an RPG, and a big part of the game is building your character and building your level up, going back and saying “Okay, how can I do this better?” by approaching the same area at a higher level, or with a different set of strategies. That was really at the core of what we were trying to design into this game.

You can also watch our video discussion of our hands-on preview below:

A burning question for a lot of people – there is no multiplayer within the game for now. Is there scope to see it added in the future?

SD: Unfortunately I can’t really say too much, I don’t want to give away too much about future plans and stuff like that. Right now it’s a single-player game, and that’s definitely what we’re trying to deliver.

We really appreciated the opportunity to have a chat with Stephen, and to sit down with the game and get that experience as well. As someone who has grown up with the Wizarding World, you can definitely see there’s a lot of depth in the gameplay, and a lot of effort into creating these worlds that we’ve only seen through movies and books. Being able to pet the cats in the game made it a day-one purchase from me, so I guess the experience can only go up from here.

You can read our hands-on preview of the game in full here.

Hogwarts Legacy is out February 7th for Deluxe Edition owners and February 10th for standard owners. The cheapest copy is currently $79 from Amazon with free shipping.

The post Hogwarts Legacy Interview – Crafting The Most Fully Realised Hogwarts To Date appeared first on Press Start.

It’s been exactly one year since Final Fantasy XIV fans in Australia and New Zealand were given the biggest recognition they could want as a dedicated community of players – a localised data centre for the Oceania region dubbed ‘Materia’.

In the 12 months since its debut, the Materia DC has provided ANZ players with not only a refreshingly stable connection to the game itself through our otherwise-shocking excuse for internet, but a sense of camaraderie and community with fellow local players and all of the colloquialisms that come with it. With player names like Maccas Run, Waltzing Materia, Astra Zeneca and plenty of jabs at local pollies, it’s only fitting that servers designed to be populated by Aussies and New Zealanders would feel very much like a population of Aussies and New Zealanders.

With a full year of Materia behind us and in anticipation of many more to come, we were lucky enough to be able to chat to revered Director and Producer, Naoki Yoshida, about Final Fantasy XIV and how the Oceania data centre has helped to nurture and grow the global FFXIV community – much like its players can grow crops on their Island Sanctuaries.

“Having been widely spread across the Japanese, North American and European data centres, players in Oceania had long awaited the launch of a local data centre. It took some time but I am very pleased that we were able to accomplish this goal, and that we were able to alleviate the latency issue for players in the region,” Yoshida-san said of the launch of Materia in January 2022.

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It’s certainly something that local players have been more than appreciative of, both from a technical point of view as their access to and experience of the game has been smoothed over immensely by the improved infrastructure, as well as from the increased sense of community. The Final Fantasy XIV team brought a handful of quotes from ANZ players to our attention ahead of publishing this interview, like Janet who said, “The first night on Materia was so special, waving and saying hello to everyone. There was also a lot of stopping to laugh and congratulate people on their choice of some great Aussie and Kiwi names!”

New Zealand player John Benedict T. Gabitan with Yshtola-flavoured ride.

I brought up the idea of the emotional impact of a local data centre launch on the game’s players with Yoshida-san, curious as to how that impact is felt on the other side of the coin within the Final Fantasy XIV team at Square Enix’ Creative Business Unit III.

“Emotionally speaking it’s extremely complicated. For FFXIV we’ve built on-site data centres as opposed to cloud-based servers. This is because we place importance on the speed and stability of the data writing, as well as the stability of our content. We have tried and studied cloud-based solutions many times in the past, and we have ongoing collaborations with major cloud server manufacturers to continue our research,” he explained.

“An advantage of physical data centres is that they’re less expensive than cloud solutions and very stable. The “stability” is especially important to deliver quality gameplay to our players. We continue to create more and more stories and content based on this stable foundation, but on the flip side a lack of infrastructure unfortunately ends up causing inconvenience to new players when we experience explosive player growth, which occurs following the acclaim we receive for the aforementioned “stability” aspect of our service. It always pains us to see this happen to new players. So, even if it involves skyrocketing initial costs, we look at how things will be several years into the future and are working to enhance our infrastructure now. Well, the only thing skyrocketing is the pressure on me!” (Naoki Yoshida smiles bitterly at this point).

That growth is evidently incredibly important to Yoshida and the greater team, and the ability and agility to continue to grow the game is without a doubt a critical component in its success. I asked Yoshida-san what he thinks the core of that growth is and how Final Fantasy XIV, amongst the multitude of other MMORPGs on the market both successful and less so, has been able to enjoy the dedicated fanbase that it has and continue to grow it year after year.

“The engaging story, the depth and multitude of game experiences, as well as the incredible sound design in the game, all of which have constantly been maintained and delivered to our players. Above all, FFXIV has been supported by many friendly and dedicated communities. I think these are the reasons why the game has been able to grow so much,” he explains, before launching into heartfelt thanks.

“To all our Warriors of Light, the Development and Operations teams, and to the media outlets who have always looked over our game in a fair manner, thank you so much!”

Yoshida-san also clarifies that he’d love for players to not think of Final Fantasy XIV as an MMORPG, but instead the true “14th instalment in the Final Fantasy series,” a fact that’s highlighted by the option for players to now team up with NPCs to clear all of the main scenario dungeons that are part of its Free Trial content. Coming from someone who typically avoids MMOs for the exact reason that linking up with other people and scheduling playtime can be a nightmare, it’s exactly the kind of feature that would tempt me over were my Final Fantasy fandom not reason enough already.

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New additions in recent updates have also continued to expand the Final Fantasy XIV experience beyond what’s expected of a traditional MMO to tempt new players into its world or give existing ones exciting new gameplay to enjoy. One of those is the Island Sanctuary, released as part of the Endwalker expansion and having received plenty of updates since. Players get the ability to build their own personal paradise away from everything else, cultivating the land and growing crops, finding resources, building and more. It’s a novel addition and one that has a lot of potential as a game-within-a-game, and given that I had Yoshida-san on hand to chat to I wanted to make sure I quizzed him on the inspiration behind it all.

“The impetus came from a TV show broadcast in Japan that for years has featured a segment in which a group of entertainers take on the challenge of developing facilities on a deserted island. I’m a long-time fan of that show and this was the source of my inspiration,” Yoshida explained before promising that more is most certainly to come.

“The two biggest pieces of feedback have been from players wanting to express a greater degree of individuality on their island sanctuaries and requests to enhance the usability of the UI. Both will be addressed in future patches!”

At the end of the day, a game with the scope and breadth Final Fantasy XIV really is designed to not only send players off on grand adventures and foster communities, but give them the opportunity to make new memories in a fantastic world, either on their own or with friends. I was curious to know what memories Naoki Yoshida himself held dear as both a creator and a player of Final Fantasy XIV.

“I myself play FFXIV quite a lot in my private life, so I have many fond memories together with other Warriors of Light. But if I were to divulge any details, it might give away my private character. As such, let me keep that a secret,” he laughs.

“On the other hand, I can mention the North American Fan Festival in Las Vegas that we held back in 2014. This was our first ever fan festival for FFXIV, and the raucous cheers from the many Warriors of Light who gathered there hold a special place in my heart. I’ll probably never forget it. In fact, even now it brings me close to tears when I look back at that incredible reception!”

It’s always a pleasure to talk to Yoshida-san, the face largely behind the continued success of Final Fantasy XIV Online as well as the one now trusted with the fate of the mainline single-player portion of the series as we inch closer to the release of Final Fantasy XVI this year.

If you’ve yet to jump on the Final Fantasy XIV train, allow me to do the classic pitch – Have you tried the expanded Free Trial of the critically acclaimed MMORPG #FFXIV? You can play through the entirety of A Realm Reborn and the award-winning Heavensward expansion up to level 60 for FREE with no restrictions on playtime!

The post We Spoke To Naoki Yoshida About The One Year Anniversary Of Final Fantasy XIV’s Oceania Data Centre appeared first on Press Start.

In our review for Fire Emblem Engage, we discussed that while it’s important to know how and when to Engage when undertaking many of Fire Emblem Engage’s difficult skirmishes, it’s just as crucial to have Emblem’s paired with units that compliment the skill sets of units they’re tied to. With a total of 12 Emblem Rings, and over 30 units to pick and choose from, there’s a number of effective combinations that can turn the tides of battle when things aren’t in your favor. Here’s a few of the best Emblem Ring Pairings we used in our playthrough of Engage.

Alear and Lucina

While you might be quick to assume it’s best to keep Marth and Alear paired where possible, Lucina allows for more support options coupled with some of the offensive capabilities of Marth. Her Engage Skill, Bonded Shield, gives a high chance of preventing attacks against adjacent allies, making her an ideal option for frontline units. Alear’s Dragon type bonus gives this another 10% chance of activating, meaning you’ll be seeing fellow units make it through enemy turns relatively unscathed.

This, coupled with a slew of passive skills that benefit adjacent units make Lucina an ideal pairing for Alear who’ll spend most their time on the frontlines of battle anyway. It’s all tied together by Lucina’s Engage Attack, All for One, where all allies within 2 spaces will participate in a chain attack. Lucina also compliments Alear’s core kit, by giving them a ranged option in the form of the Parthia bow Engage Weapon, and two swords that are effective against a variety of units.

Timerra and Ike

It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that Emblem Rings should be equipped on units other than the ones they inherently come with, but that isn’t always true. Timerra and Ike is one such example of a powerhouse pairing that can do a lot of heavy lifting all the way through to the credits. Great Aether, Ike’s Engage Attack, trades bonus defense and resistance for the ability to counter for a single turn. This pays out in spades when an attack is unleashed the next turn, dealing damage in a 2-space area that heals for 30% of the total damage dealt.

This synergizes well with Timerra’s relatively high defense and physical attack stats, which means that she’ll often recover all lost health when unleashing Great Aether, even when put right in the middle of a large group of adversaries. The icing on the cake is that Ike’s Engage Weapons give Timerra options that she otherwise lacks in a sword, an axe, and a hammer that can Smash opponents.

Timerra’s passive skills also do some heavy lifting in regards to the damage she can output. Sandstorm, for example, provides a chance to calculate damage dealt with a physical attack by using 150% of her defense as opposed to strength. This also works with Great Aether, meaning you can one-shot almost every unit in the game if Sandstorm triggers when the attack portion of Great Aether goes off. This makes Timerra and offensive and defensive powerhouse that’s incredibly versatile and effective in a myriad of ways.

Ivy and Lyn

Every Fire Emblem has that one unit that makes mincemeat of enemy forces regardless of the difficulty you’re playing on. Ivy is that unit for Fire Emblem Engage, and keeping her paired with Lyn allows her to really excel in outputting damage, and clearing a path for frontline units. The reason they work so well together is because of Lyn’s passive skills, Alacrity, and Speedtaker. Alacrity allows your unit to follow-up before a foe can counterattack when you initiate an engagement with a speed advantage of five or more, and Speedtaker grants a stacking speed buff each time a unit initiates combat and defeats a foe, up to a total of +10.

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This means that after a few dispatched enemies, Ivy can far surpass any opponent in terms of speed thanks to her high base stats. Throw a high-power magic spell like Bolganone on her for good measure, and she’ll be clearing out waves of enemies all by herself. If and when you get yourself into a sticky situation, Lyn’s Engage Skill comes in handy, allowing a unit to create illusory doubles that can participate in chain attacks.

The icing on the cake is that all of these passive skills can be inherited from Lyn, meaning Ivy can be paired with an entirely different Emblem Ring to become even more powerful. If you opt to stick with the paring, though, Lyn affords Ivy some more options in combat with her Engage Weapons and an Engage Attack that can pick off potentially dangerous foes at a distance with a volley of arrows. It’s obvious that Lyn is suitable for any hard-hitting unit, but all of these aspects turn Ivy into a force to be reckoned with.

Framme and Micaiah

Framme makes for a great combat medic who can exploit particular weaknesses while supporting allied units through healing and positioning abilities. These strengths are only bolstered when paired with Emblem Micaiah, who’s passives increase healing capabilities while also keeping the healer relatively healthy. Because Framme’s advanced class is Martial Master, she can inflict Break on units outside of the traditional Weapon Triangle. This can often put her in unfavorable positions, though, meaning she’s quite susceptible to damage, especially with a low defense stat.

Micaiah’s Healing Light passive comes in handy here, where healing an ally also heals the caster for 50% of the total health recovered. This means you can keep Framme in the fight for longer, while also keeping your other units topped up. Her Qi Adept type bonus increases this healing by 20% when using a stave, meaning she gets even more health back for every heal. Micaiah’s Engage Attack, Great Sacrifice, trades all but one point of the users health to fully heal all allies, and also cures status effectives with the Qi Adept type bonus.

This makes Framme a frontline healing machine, and great for getting out of tight spots if a few mistakes have lead to some of your units running low. Micaiah’s Engage Weapons also afford Framme some much needed range in the form of magic, including Nosferatu which offers some very handy life steal, and Shine which can illuminate dark areas. It turns Framme into a jack of all trades who can really output some healing when needed, as well as keeping her alive in the close quarters encounters she excels at.

Fogado and Celica

When it comes to Emblem Ring pairings, it’s easy to default to setups that bolster prior strengths instead of supporting a unit’s weaknesses. Celica might seem like a weird choice for Fogado’s skillset, but there’s a lot more to this pairing than meets the eye. The biggest draw is Celica’s Engage Attack, Warp Ragnarok, which allows the user to warp upto 10 spaces and unleash a powerful magic attack. Because Fogado is a cavalry unit, the warp distance is increased by two spaces, allowing him to use it offensively or defensively depending on the situation.

Fogado’s Advanced Class, Cupido, also has sword proficiency, meaning the bump in magic stats he gets from being paired with Celica makes the Levin Sword a great equipment choice for Fogado, not only giving him access to the conventional Weapon Triangle, but also a method to get past armored foes. Celica’s Engage Weapons also help greatly by providing Fogado with a way to heal, and deal some extra damage types that help him dispatch corrupted enemies. It makes Fogado a sort of magic archer with incredible mobility and survivability, allowing him to pick off foes at a distance while also being adaptable to unique situations.

These are just a scant few of Emblem Ring pairings that can turn units from capable warriors to absolute powerhouses when they’re needed most. Even on the Normal difficulty, later chapters and optional Paralogues can turn up the heat quite a bit, so mix and match based on your best units and see what works for you!

Fire Emblem Engage is out now for Nintendo Switch, you can check out our bargain guide for the cheapest copies right here.

The post The Best Emblem Ring Pairings in Fire Emblem Engage appeared first on Press Start.

Persona 5 was a huge success for the series. Heaps of people jumped into the series for the first time and loved what they found in Atlus’ stylish and somewhat dark JRPG/visual novel hybrid. Until now, you needed a PC or an older PlayStation console if you wanted to go back and play the earlier titles in the series, but no longer! Versions of Persona 3 and Persona 4 are hitting current platforms and in doing so bringing these games to a whole new audience.

If you liked Persona 5, I think you should absolutely give Persona 3 Portable and Persona 4 Golden a chance. I’ve spent a decent chunk of time with both games on PS5 and they’re each great for a lot of the same reasons Persona 5 was so good.

Balancing high school life with dungeon crawling

The core gameplay loop of balancing school life, social life and supernatural dungeon crawling is here in each of these earlier games. Building your relationships in the regular world to explore interesting character stories and have bonuses on the dungeon side of things is as enjoyable as ever. Persona 3 Portable is particularly noteworthy as you can choose between the original male protagonist and a female protagonist who was added in this revision. A whole set of different social options will open up if you do so, giving the game a big boost to replayability.

High-stakes turn-based battles

The battles in Persona 5 were exciting thanks to the battle system that let you really apply pressure to enemies when exploiting their weaknesses, while trying to avoid the same happening to your party. It’s not ultra deep, but straightforward enough to pick up quickly and exciting enough to keep from getting boring. The same system exists in both P3 and P4 and keeps things exciting. It’s an exciting cycle to knock down enemies with weaknesses or critical hits, then finish them off with a Co-op or All-out Attack.

Supernatural teenage drama

The same Persona formula is here for the story too. If you enjoyed the idea of a bunch of high school kids gaining supernatural powers and having to balance regular teenage life with the fate of the world, you’ll be happy to know you’ll get much more of that in the earlier games too. Persona 3 involves a so-called ‘Dark Hour’, an hour that occurs at exactly midnight but is only consciously experienced by a select few, and a mysterious dungeon called Tartarus that holds shadows to fight and secrets to uncover.

P3 is particularly dark in tone, heavily involving trauma and with character animations that simulate suicide on a regular basis – so please take this as a warning if this is a concern for you. Persona 4 is a bit lighter in tone than 3 or 5 with the cast exploring a world behind a TV screen – but still has it’s moments of darkness and drama. Both 3 and 4’s stories are enjoyable in their own ways, and both offer 70-ish hours of twists, turns and dungeons to delve through.

Effortless style

From music to menu animations Persona 5 exudes style. It turns out this was the case with both 3 and 4 from years ago. Each game has it’s own core colour that defines it’s personality. That personality is expressed musically as well. Persona 3 brings with it a pop/hip-hop style while Persona 4 is more a rock infused pop vibe. Each soundtrack is primarily composed by Shoji Meguro who was also responsible for the amazing acid jazz soundtrack of Persona 5.

Some things to keep in mind, though…

While they share many similarities with Persona 5, it’s impossible to ignore the fact these games were originally designed for the PSP and PS Vita. Character models in battle definitely look simple, clearly designed for far weaker hardware than you’ll play these versions on. Persona 3 Portable also lacks the ability to freely walk around outside of dungeons – instead opting for more of a point-and-click interface. Honestly I find it quite efficient and enjoyable to use, but it’s definitely an adjustment from the usual roaming around areas you might be used to from Persona 5.

Since the games have been ported from lower-resolution originals some elements hold up better than others on a larger screen. Character art is wonderfully sharp even on a large TV, as are text elements – but background artwork hasn’t fared as well. Artwork in Persona 3 Portable especially looks pretty blurry when upscaled to TV size. Understandable given they were designed for a 480 x 272 resolution screen, but noticeable nonetheless. It’s absolutely not a deal breaker, but might give the Switch version a bit of an advantage since the upscale will be less noticeable on its handheld 720p screen.

All up though despite these minor shortcomings, as long as you can deal with graphics that were originally made for a PSP or Vita then I think it’s so very much worth going back to these earlier games if you jumped on the Persona train with the latest entry. Each offers a similarly engaging story, characters and gameplay while going in different directions with tone and style, and each is very much worth your time if you were at all a fan of Persona 5.

The post Persona 3 Portable And Person 4 Golden Are Absolutely Worth Revisiting On Modern Platforms appeared first on Press Start.

You could refer to several instances where a game’s marketing is no more than a misdirect, a red herring to distract from a troubled development. BioShock Infinite is one I so often think of, even Bright Memory Infinite fell short of its ambitions to be a veritable multitool of a game. Every vertical slice we’ve seen of Atomic Heart seems to be a promise of everything that a small team shouldn’t be capable of and so, of course, heading into our preview session, I felt an unnerving sense that I was about to be duped. 

Astonishingly, Atomic Heart mostly fulfils the promise of its marketing while delivering an even more diverse game than I’d originally thought. Each bombastic ad so far has sold the game as a pacey arena-shooter not unlike the more recent Doom outings, however it isn’t the case. Although our fragmented session was simply a tasting of the whole offering, Atomic Heart’s first hour and a half is a carefully curated and guided tour of the world, its major players, and the shady ethics that ultimately causes an A.I labour force to uproot and overthrow its creators, days out from its “2.0” rollout.

Watch us discuss our hands-on alongside new gameplay footage.

The world’s decor—which is deeply entrenched in that post-war, decadent capitalistic aesthetic—is just one way that Atomic Heart seeks to emulate BioShock’s stunning world-building. Though it isn’t exactly housed within a bathysphere, beating hopefully against the deep sea current, Atomic Heart’s introductory crawl is reminiscent of when we first laid eyes on Rapture or Columbia. The game quickly locks its pieces in place: there’s a brilliant, bold scientist responsible for developing an incredible power source that fuels both technological progress and the unmatched robotic labour force that saw the Soviets take home the chocolates in this alternate history’s World War II.

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Our tour takes us to a stunning view where towering statues of the world’s visionaries are built into the mountainside. Just as it’s explained that these monuments to man were only made possible due to the toil of a machine army, things take a turn for the worse as the robots revolt and we’re driven underground for refuge.

From here, we’re slowly introduced to the game’s mechanics as we trawl corridors, dispatching resilient droid after resilient droid. While some might feel the first hour is rather plodding, I think it serves to establish a few things. These droids do mean business, and resourcefulness is an attribute that’ll be forced on you given how frugal the game is in dealing out the more useful loot—it’s fortunate that Atomic Heart has the coolest looting mechanic I’ve ever seen, as your glove hoovers everything up in sight with a single prompt.

It’s actually surprisingly similar to something like Dying Light in its opening hour, with a focus on spry movement and melee combat. Of course, you’d find the odd gun however ammunition was rather sparse meaning you’d often rely on bashing heads in—which is a frightful endeavour given the game’s atmospheric corridor-trawling which can see moustachioed droids lunge at you from all angles.

After I spent an hour and a half moving through a narrow, labyrinthian facility, I was dropped into a much more vast, open space, presumably many hours into Atomic Heart’s apparent twenty-five hour campaign. Like the underrated Generation Zero before it, the space had some resemblance to the dilapidated worlds gifted to us by Simon Stålenberg. It was at this point that I realised the game bears a structural resemblance to Halo Infinite, with a big hub space serving as an entry point to dungeon-like quests.

It’s here that the world’s security systems can alert the steel horde, so to speak, as the alarm level climbs slowly much like a Grand Theft Auto wanted level. Once it’s maxed, you’ll definitely be set upon. Fortunately, I was heavily armed so I got to bare my teeth a bit against these robots. The guns work beautifully in tandem with the player’s powers—delivered via their polymer-powered A.I glove Charles—and it’s a genuine blast skying a mob of bots, stinging them with an electrified Shok, all before riddling them with rounds from a Kalash. 

This open area led me to my first boss encounter in Atomic Heart, the legged, ground pounding orb that’s been rather prevalent in all of the pre-release footage so far. It’s a frantic fight full of patterns to learn and cool platforming elements, and it’s backed by Mick Gordon crushing riffs as though he’s got something to prove. If the game can continue to strike a balance between these linear missions, the wide spaces, and these boss arenas—like Halo Infinite did, which was structural dynamite—then I think Atomic Heart is going to go a long way toward impressing a lot of people. 

Any aforementioned concerns over downgrades or shortcuts taken during development certainly aren’t evident from the portions of Atomic Heart we got to play. 

The game is beyond gorgeous. It’s clear from the opening salvo that the art team at Mundfish had an absolute field day crafting not only each crevice of this world, but even the automatons that upend its utopian ideals. It’s a keen imagination that gets tapped to put moustaches on androids and have gravity-defiant water anomalies veining from the earth.

If what we played on PC is comparable to the current generation of home consoles, Atomic Heart will be as good a looking game as we’ve seen this console cycle, although there are a few kinks I’m hoping the team iron out between now and launch—texture bugs, pop in issues and a couple of instances of sequence breaking which left objectives impossible to complete. The only minor gripe I’ve got toward the game in terms of presentation is its script and somewhat lesser grade acting—which while not terrible does mar an otherwise tremendously designed game as far as audio goes. 

I’ll be damned if the lead actor doesn’t sound like Tim Allen doing a grim dark Buzz Lightyear. Tell me I’m wrong. 

I came into the preview session believing Atomic Heart would be a short and sharp technical showcase, almost a fleeting demonstration of the developer’s ability to ship a lavish, expensive looking title if someone bet on them to do something bigger. Mundfish bet on themselves long ago and Atomic Heart, as it exists, is testament to that. There’s so much more to Atomic Heart than meets the eye and I am all too excited to comb this high-tech wasteland when the game launches next month. 

Although it’s very much its own beast, Atomic Heart really is the BioShock game—or spiritual successor to diamond in the rough Singularity, if you don’t mind—that I’ve been waiting for.

Atomic Heart is coming to PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One and PC on February 21st, 2023.

Amazon currently has the best physical pre-order price at $84.99 with free shipping.

The post Atomic Heart Hands-On Preview – A Shok To The System appeared first on Press Start.

I’ve always been a Mac user since my early high-school years, and whilst I have zero regrets in this when it comes to productivity or the creative career path that I chose, gaming has often been a sore spot, particularly in the PS3/360 era of gaming, where a lot of the cult indie games still weren’t finding their way to consoles, instead relying on a PC audience.

Whilst Apple has made progress in the gaming space, both in the way of mobiles games on iPhone/iPad and through the recent introduction on Apple Arcade, which has some genuinely fantastic games and is a great introduction for younger games and more casual audiences alike, Resident Evil Village dropping on Apple Silicons devices recently had my very intrigued.

A bit of backstory for those that haven’t been following the Mac scene closely. At the end of 2020, Apple began transitioning away from Intel chips to its own Apple Silicon chips, which has just been a game-changer in terms of performance and battery life across the entire Mac range, and that’s obviously that transfers to the gaming space as well.

If you don’t have a mouse and keyboard handy, any PlayStation, Xbox or Nintendo Switch controller can easily be paired with a Mac (or iPhone/iPad for that matter) to quickly get started gaming.

Booting up Resident Evil Village on an M2 MacBook Air was a pretty surreal experience if I’m being honest. It’s important to remember that whilst Village isn’t the most visually taxing game, this is a computer that is barely thicker than an iPhone and has no fans, relying on passive cooling to regulate its temperature.

Running the game at 1080p, I was able to get roughly 30FPS upon booting, but that was without MetalFX upscaling, which is Apple’s own answer to DLSS (see my RTX 4080 review for how much of a fan of that I am). This instantly took the performance to 60FPS in quality mode at the balanced graphics setting, and made playing Resident Evil Village an incredibly smooth experience.

This sometimes dropped down to the 45-55 mark when coming across enemies, but for the most part, it just felt really impressive to be playing a recently released AAA game that was primarily designed for next-gen consoles on a MacBook Air.

There was definitely a little bit of a drop in visual fidelity, and a few odd quirks in the distance with MetalFX upscaling turned on, but nothing that impacted the gameplay experience at all, and if a MacBook Air was the only computing device that you owned, and you wanted to play this game, it’s a great experience.

One of the main reasons I’ve always wanted gaming on Apple products to be a more common occurrence is because the displays in Apple products and level of calibration are second to none. This feels more important than ever when every game has HDR, and honestly, I can never seem to be happy with how that’s setup when it comes to gaming on gaming monitors (or even TVs for that matter).

Booting the game on a MacBook Pro 14-inch for a brief amount of time, I was able to crank the game up to a 1440p resolution and push the frame rate up well above 100 to the 120 mark. This was perfect with the 14-inch MacBook Pro’s ProMotion 120Hz display which can also hit 1600 nits of peak brightness in HDR.

Aside from No Man’s Sky coming to Apple Silicon Macs in the near future, the future of AAA gaming does still feel a little bit hopeless in terms of it being your primary device. But with Apple clearly investing in this space in the way of Metal3 and MetalFX upscaling, and a more closed off ecosystem in the entire line of Macs having Apple Silicon, it does feel like the time is now for more AAA games to come to Macs.

I’m more than convinced that these devices are capable of handling it, but it’ll be up to developers and publishers whether they deem it to be a viable place for their games to live.

The post Resident Evil Village Proves That Modern AAA Gaming On Apple Silicon Macs Is More Than Possible appeared first on Press Start.

Nintendo’s staggeringly-popular Switch console is now nearing six years of life, the hardware having seen out the previous generation of PlayStation and Xbox consoles and somehow still holding its own in the sales race amongst the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. It’s little wonder then that some massive exclusive titles are still to come for the Switch.

We recently ran a list of what we think are some of the biggest games on the calendar for 2023, but we also wanted to break it down and highlight the future Nintendo console-exclusive games (at least the ones we know about) that are set to keep the momentum going for Nintendo’s little handheld-hybrid that could. The slate is definitely looking a little thinner and more mysterious following some heavy hitters like The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, so the future of the Switch itself is a bit of a wonder, but whether or not the era of the Switch is nearing an end there’s no doubt it’s still an exciting time to own one.

THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: TEARS OF THE KINGDOM

Release Date: May 12th

The Cheapest Copy: $74.99 at Amazon with free shipping

In addition to the vast lands of Hyrule, the latest entry in the storied Legend of Zelda series will take you up into the skies! Look forward to Link’s massive adventure starting again when The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, the sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, drops for Nintendo Switch on May 12th.

FIRE EMBLEM ENGAGE

Release Date: January 20th

The Cheapest Copy: $69 at Amazon with free shipping

Use hero-summoning strategies to defeat an ancient threat in a brand-new Fire Emblem game. Summon valiant heroes like Marth & Celica alongside a new cast of characters and engage in turn-based, tactical combat against a great evil in this new Fire Emblem story.

Read our recent hands-on preview here.

PIKMIN 4

Release Date: TBA 2023

Although we know very little about Pikmin 4 save for a 30-second teaser, we do know it’s supposed to be out in 2023 – that information is good from as recently as September last year so it should be a pretty safe bet, too.

BAYONETTA ORIGINS: CEREZA AND THE LOST DEMON

Release Date: March 17th

The Cheapest Copy: $69 at Amazon with free shipping

In Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon, players take on the role of Cereza, a young apprentice witch, and start a fateful journey into a forbidden forest to gain the power to save her mother.

In addition to sporting a striking and distinct storybook-inspired art style of its own, this new title also features gameplay never before seen in the Bayonetta series. Controlling both Cereza and her infernal demon partner, Cheshire, players will focus on exploration, combat and puzzle solving to help Cereza go deeper into the forest.

Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe

Release Date: February 24th

The Cheapest Copy: $69 at Amazon with free shipping

The tough puff Kirby is back for a re-release of the Wii’s classic 4-player platforming adventure. Copy enemies’ abilities and use their power to attack with a sword, wield a whip, and float with a parasol. You can also laser blast with the new Mecha Copy Ability that makes a series debut! The extra muscle will be handy in finding missing pieces for Magolor’s ship, which crash landed on Planet Popstar.

Fitness Boxing: Fist of the North Star

Release Date: TBA March 2023

Get boxing with characters from Fist of the North Star! Defeat enemies in Battle Mode, take on rivals in Boss Battles or punch your way through boxing drills in Exercise Mode. This is honestly one of the best brand collaborations I could’ve thought of for a Switch-exclusive game and I’m absolutely here for it. Watch me get ripped in 2023, Kenshiro-style.

Rune Factory 3 Special

Release Date: TBA 2023

Settle down in an idyllic fantasy town as a young adventurer with a monstrous secret in Rune Factory 3, remastered for a new generation on Nintendo Switch.

Features brand new to Rune Factory 3 Special include Newlywed Mode, standalone adventures unlocked after marriage to each of the game’s 11 eligible bachelorettes; Another Episode, fully-voiced picture stories narrated by those same characters; and a “Hell” difficulty level to challenge even veteran players!

Detective Pikachu 2

Release Date: TBA

Announcement 1?

Can’t wait to keep sleuthing with #DetectivePikachu? Plans are under way to bring this crime-solving Pikachu to Nintendo Switch!

The details of this game are still a mystery…so keep checking back here for more clues. ??? pic.twitter.com/286PFCGYaR

— Pokémon (@Pokemon) May 29, 2019

This one’s still shrouded in mystery, with The Pokémon Company having announced the Switch-exclusive sequel in mid-2019 and going dark about it since, but surely 2023 is the year to get this out.

Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp

Release Date: TBA

This was meant to launch in 2021 before being delayed into last year, and then again indefinitely due to the war in Ukraine. Time will tell if it sees the light of day in 2023 but we can only hope so.

FRONT MISSION 2 Remake/FRONT MISSION 3 Remake

Release Date: TBA 2023

FRONT MISSION 2: Remake preserves the mature story, strategic turn-based combat, and Wanzer customization options of the original. The classic game will feature updated visuals and new features and enhancements including new languages, a free camera, new cosmetics and a refreshed soundtrack.

A remake of FRONT MISSION 3 is also set to arrive soon after.

Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Story Expansion

Release Date: TBA 2023