Game Informer |
- Magic Arena's Abrupt Shifts This Year Have Been Frustrating
- The Game Awards 2021 Watch Along With Game Informer
- Assassin's Creed Valhalla Gets File Size Trimming Next Week, Requires Full Re-Download
- You Can Listen To Halo Infinite's Digital Soundtracks Today
- The Top 10 Games On Switch
- Blizzard Employee Publicly Says She Was Demoted After Filing HR Complaint About Sexual Harassment
- Halo Infinite Campaign Released, Fixes And Known Issues Detailed In Day One Notes
- God Of War PC Specs Revealed Ahead Of January Release
- What To Expect At The Game Awards
| Magic Arena's Abrupt Shifts This Year Have Been Frustrating Posted: 08 Dec 2021 04:00 PM PST With Magic: The Gathering Arena being my primary way to play my favorite trading card game, especially over the pandemic, I'm of two minds about Wizards of the Coast diverging the card pools of the paper and digital games. Moreover, I'm disappointed how the transparency for the future of Arena has all but disappeared this year. Last week, Wizards announced more changes on the horizon, bringing a bigger focus to exclusive digital cards, mechanics, and formats to Arena. On the bright side, it's neat to see what design spaces Wizards has wanted to explore that wouldn't pan out well with physical cards. Also, I thought many of the cards from Jumpstart: Historic Horizons would cause a bigger stir, but the new additions didn't burn the game to the ground as my darkest fears predicted. The digital mechanics, while radical sounding at first glance, have luckily been rather tame, and the spells that did pose a problem were quickly changed to save Historic from consistent, broken combos. On the other hand, I like playing with cards and decks I know I can buy, sleeve up, and take to my local game store for Friday Night Magic. Arena is centered around the Standard format, which is one hundred percent playable in paper. Sadly, that's not the case with my preferred non-rotating format, Historic, anymore, nor will it be possible with Arena's new Standard-plus format called Alchemy. Both feature and rely on those cards and mechanics mentioned above.  I'm a relatively new Magic player, having started just before Arena hit beta, when I craved a client more modern than what Wizards offered in the aging (and still very active to this day) Magic: The Gathering Online. From the outset, Arena was never perfect, but thanks to clear communication at the launch of each new set of cards, I at least knew which big features I had to look forward to when a clear roadmap was presented. Unfortunately, that helpful glimpse into the future hasn't been present in the State of the Game updates since January. Once Arena hit mobile platforms, all updates with each new expansion would speak on the stuff coming with that release, no longer looking at the outstretching checklist of cool things on the horizon. A lot of the changes made to Arena have come somewhat fast this year, and typically Magic isn't the kind of game to exactly turn on a dime. It's a big slow boat, hauling countless cards and mechanics. Making adjustments usually take a while to implement. Expansions and products are developed years ahead of time, and a lot of thought is put into introducing mechanics that may rub folks the wrong way. It also provides a significant lag time where Wizards can drip feed what changes are coming or even outright announce something long before it takes place, which prepares the audience somewhat. When it comes to Arenas' big shift to separate the digital and physical landscapes, from what I can tell, very little to no heads up was given to the Magic community; a community that's been outspoken about wanting other, older Magic formats to hit the client. Earlier this year, the Arena team quietly shelved its efforts to bring the Pioneer format to the client in favor of the growing popularity of Historic. Mind you, this happened pre-digital exclusive cards. With the near exceeding flow of new content and cards – separate from the non-stop paper lineup this year –, Wizard's digital team is giving the perception it has the bandwidth to make older formats possible. Instead, it chooses to break new ground instead of filling the cracks in Arena's non-rotating format foundations. Despite all of that, I'm willing to give the new digital format Alchemy a chance like I have every Arena decision I've found displeasing at first glance. Usually, it works out fine; other times, it doesn't. At the very least, Wizards has still been known to listen to feedback and course-correct, like its changes to its IP-sharing Universes Beyond products. Magic will always be changing. That's what's kept it alive for close to 30 years. At the very least, I hope the Arena team will return to delivering transparent updates of what's to come instead of dropping these literal game-changing announcements with almost immediate launches out of nowhere. Otherwise, another sudden shift could send even more players unnecessarily overboard from the ship for good.
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| The Game Awards 2021 Watch Along With Game Informer Posted: 08 Dec 2021 03:19 PM PST It's all been building to this. The Game Awards 2021 promises to be a night to remember, featuring a massive slate of announcements, the crowning of a new Game of the Year winner, and even a musical performance by Sting (what the gamers are really here for). To celebrate the evening's festivities, we're going live and covering it all over on Twitch starting at 6:15 p.m. CT! Click here to watch embedded mediaWe know you'll be there watching along with us, but what else will happen during the biggest award show of the year? For starters, we already know who has a chance at the big prizes such as Best Performance, Best Game Direction, and the highly sought-after Game of the Year award. Deathloop, Metroid Dread, Psychonauts 2, Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart, and Resident Evil Village have a shot at the big prize, and without a clear-cut favorite like The Last of Us Part II in 2020, it could be anyone's award this year. On top of the array of award winners, The Game Awards 2021 is set to have a metric ton of announcements and reveals featuring some of the biggest titles in the industry. We already know Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League, Tiny Tina's Wonderworld, and whatever the next Sonic game is will make an appearance, but what else does host Geoff Keighley and company have up their sleeves? Will Elden Ring be making another appearance? Will we hear from early-2022 juggernauts such as Pokémon Legends: Arceus or Horizon Forbidden West? Only time will tell. On the Game Informer side, your hosts for the evening will be none other than Alex Stadnik and Prima Games editor Jesse Vitelli. The official show kicks off at 7 p.m. CT, but we'll be starting things early at 6:15 p.m. CT to cover some predictions we have and watch the preshow along with you! If you want to learn more about The Game Awards, be sure to check out our write-up on everything you need to know ahead of the big event!
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| Assassin's Creed Valhalla Gets File Size Trimming Next Week, Requires Full Re-Download Posted: 08 Dec 2021 03:00 PM PST Assassin's Creed Valhalla is getting quite a bit smaller with a new update next week. Not content-wise, that's all staying put, but rather the file size of the game will shrink on all platforms thanks to a data restructure. Not only will your hard drive or SSD have some spare room after the 1.4.1., Valhalla will feature "faster loading screen times, improved world data streaming, and overall runtime performance" compared to previous versions. If you notice that the download sizes are huge, they are! This update requires the full base game to be redownloaded, so plan accordingly to not unexpectedly fly over your data cap. Your DLC, luckily, will not factor into the updating process. Here's the data straight from Ubisoft's forum post: Download size from 1.4.0 to 1.4.1:
Disc space used after installing 1.4.1:
Disc space saved after rebase:
It's a little strange to see a complete data restructure pushed to a game that's been available for a year, but it's also a welcome sight with the ballooning sizes of games. Potentially shrinking a game by a third of its size is a commendable feat, and one I hope is considered much earlier in the development process for future games. Will you be redownloading AC Valhalla to check out this new update next week? I guess you may not have a choice if you want to play the game with any online connectivity. But let us know in the comments anyway!
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| You Can Listen To Halo Infinite's Digital Soundtracks Today Posted: 08 Dec 2021 02:02 PM PST Halo Infinite's campaign launched today, meaning that the game is more or less out in its entirety. If you've enjoyed the orchestral music while playing either the story or in multiplayer, you can listen to those tunes anywhere with the release of the game's soundtrack. The original score for Halo Infinite's campaign and its multiplayer is now available to listen to on major streaming services. These are two separate albums, courtesy of Skill Tree Records, a host of composers including Gareth Coker and Curtis Schweizer, all organized by 343's music supervisor, Joel Yarger. You can also purchase and download each album digitally for $9.99 from Skill Tree directly at the following links. Halo Infinite Multiplayer: A New Generation OST For more on Halo Infinite, check out our review in which reviewer Matt Miller scored the game a 9.25 out of 10, writing: "Whether you want a big, mysterious sci-fi adventure or a chance to engage with some intense PvP, Halo Infinite nails the shots where it counts and heralds a new era for one of gaming's most recognizable mainstays."You can also prep for the journey by watching this handy video primer for the campaign.
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| Posted: 08 Dec 2021 01:00 PM PST The Nintendo Switch has an incredibly strong library of games, with many worth recommending. For our 10 absolute favorite games, however, you can check out the list below. It's a list we will be updating as often as games worthy of inclusion release. We will kick games off and add new ones as the Switch's library grows. Please note that while the list below contains 10 entries, we aren't actually ranking them – if a game has made it this far (and managed to stay here), it's a must-play, period. As such, we'll be listing entries in reverse chronological order. Also, you'll find a rundown of previous entries at the bottom of the list. While those titles have gotten bumped for bigger and better experiences, they are still all great games in their own right and worth exploring if you're already caught up on the latest hits. Here are Game Informer's picks for the top 10 games on the Switch.  Metroid DreadRelease: October 8, 2021Metroid fans have been begging Nintendo for a brand new 2D Metroid adventure for nearly two decades. Thankfully, when Nintendo finally delivered, it didn't disappoint. As the name implies, Dread is a tense experience, full of challenging boss fights and deadly robots who doggedly chase Samus across the various biomes of Planet ZDR. Metroid's classic exploration-based platforming remains intact, and we eagerly hunted down new upgrades like the Phantom Cloak and the Spider Magnet. The race to 100 percent was over all too quickly, but we can't wait to see what Dread's big story reveals mean for the series' future. | Our Review  Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's FuryRelease: February 12, 2021Rereleases rarely capture our full attention these days, but the Wii U's 4-player Mario title was so joyful and fun that we couldn't resist jumping back in for the Switch port. As if that wasn't enough, Nintendo also included a brand new single player campaign titled Bowser's Fury. In this standalone experience, Mario travels across Lake Lapcat, completing various platforming challenges to collect Cat Shines. The larger, open-world design of Bowser's Fury feels incredibly refreshing for a Mario experience, and we loved how each act ends in a Kaiju-sized boss battle. | Our Review  Animal Crossing: New HorizonsRelease: March 20, 2020The tranquil, low-stress Animal Crossing: New Horizons hit at the exact right time in the world. With the news cycle becoming more tumultuous as 2020 continues, Animal Crossing: New Horizons offers refuge in the form of a virtual tropical island. Building and customizing your house and island the way you see fit is immensely rewarding as New Horizons delivers a fun and addictive daily loop full of goals and rewards. | Our Review  Pokémon Sword & ShieldRelease: November 15, 2019For two decades, Pokémon fans have been waiting for the series' mainline RPGs to come to home consoles. While 2018 delivered remakes of the first-gen games in Let's Go Pikachu & Eevee, 2019's Sword & Shield represent the dream's realization. Players get an exciting story based in an all-new region with a new generation of Pokémon, and with the titles receiving post-launch story expansions for the first time in series' history, fans have more reasons than ever to revisit the games after becoming champion. | Our Review  Fire Emblem: Three HousesRelease: July 26, 2019The Fire Emblem series has built a cult following through handheld platforms in recent years, but with Three Houses, the turn-based strategy series explodes back onto TVs in the best way possible. Featuring outstanding strategic gameplay, a fun story to interact with and influence, and multiple paths to take through the narrative, Fire Emblem: Three Houses is one of the best strategy games available today. | Our Review  Super Smash Bros. UltimateRelease: December 7, 2018A crossover event two decades in the making, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate represents the series in its most realized form. Containing superb fighting mechanics, a terrific suite of modes to play, and a roster of fighters that features every character in series history and then some, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is all but an essential title for the Switch. | Our Review  Super Mario OdysseyRelease: October 27, 2017Every Nintendo console has to have at least one fantastic Mario platformer, and the Switch is no exception. Mario Odyssey released a few months after the launch of the console and it hits all the Mario checkboxes necessary to be considered a classic, plus a few surprising new ones. It's whimsical, has perfect controls, tons to discover, and features a city level where all the humans have normal proportions while Mario runs around as his short, cartoony self. It's a strange adventure, and a must-have for Switch owners. | Our Review  Stardew ValleyRelease: October 5, 2017The future of Harvest Moon is unclear and its recent past is underwhelming. Thankfully, Stardew Valley exists and improves on nearly every mechanic that series popularized. Managing a farm may sound like a chore, but in Stardew Valley it's a joy. Watching your crops grow over time and selling them for profit while getting to know the townspeople creates an experience that is difficult to put down. Adding the portability of the Switch only makes the experience better. | Our Review of the PC version  Mario Kart 8 DeluxeRelease: April 28, 2017Far more than a simple port of the excellent Mario Kart 8 for Wii U, Deluxe includes all the game's DLC (extra tracks, racers, and cars), and Battle Mode, which was curiously absent from the original release. Playing split-screen Mario Kart is always a hit, and having a version of the game with two controllers you can take anywhere makes it the perfect showcase for the Switch. | Our Review  The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the WildRelease: March 3, 2017We're not exaggerating when we say The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is one of the best games ever made. We gave it the rare 10/10 in our review and gave it our 2017 Game of the Year award as it sets a new high standard for open-world video games. Being able to go anywhere you can see on the map has never been more true than it is in Breath of the Wild and it is also filled with the kind of excellent puzzle-design you expect from a Zelda experience. It's a journey you won't soon forget and the optional DLC packs add additional challenge and new items worth pursuing to the overworld. | Our Review The games considered for this list that didn't make the cut, or have been cut since we originally published this article: Hollow Knight, Fortnite, Celeste, Golf Story, Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle, Splatoon 2, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, Doom, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus, Sonic Mania, Luigi's Mansion 3, Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age - Definitive Edition, and recent classics that have been ported, Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove, Inside, and Axiom Verge. They're all still great games, so give them a try, too! To read comparable lists for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, follow the links!
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| Blizzard Employee Publicly Says She Was Demoted After Filing HR Complaint About Sexual Harassment Posted: 08 Dec 2021 12:39 PM PST A current employee of Activision Blizzard spoke publicly during a press conference today about the alleged "frat boy culture detrimental to women" she's experienced at the company, as well as sexual harassment, retaliation that included demotion, and more. First reported by Polygon, the employee in question, named Christine, spoke publicly during a press conference held outside of Blizzard Irvine's headquarters. Christine was represented by famed lawyer Lisa Bloom, who has represented women in sexual harassment and sexual assault cases against defendants such as Bill O'Reilly and Bill Cosby. As noted by Polygon, though, Bloom also served as an advisor to Harvey Weinstein during his sexual assault case. Christine has been at Blizzard for four years and while there, she said she's experienced unwanted sexual advances, inappropriate touching, and more. During the conference, which was livestreamed on Instagram, Christine read from a prepared statement. Here's what she said, in full: "My name is Christine. I have worked at Blizzard Entertainment, a division of Activision for over four years. I still work here. I didn't want to have to be up here doing this, but we need to make major changes at Activision Blizzard. Working at Blizzard was my dream job. When I first heard about all the talented people working at Blizzard, I knew that was somewhere I wanted to work and somewhere I could excel at my career. I was so excited to be a part of a community that seemed to care so much about their employees. Unfortunately, that didn't happen for me. Since I've been employed at Blizzard, I've been subjected to rude comments about my body, unwanted sexual advances, inappropriately touched, subjected to alcohol-infused team events and cube crawls, invited to have casual sex with my supervisors, and surrounded by a frat boy culture that's detrimental to women. When I complained to my supervisors, I was told they were just joking and that I should get over it. I began to remove myself from work events to avoid all the sexual comments and groping. I was told not to go to HR. I was told that the harassing men were just trying to be friends with me. I was told they did nothing wrong by law. After I complained of the sexual harassment, I was demoted. I was then further harassed and retaliated against. I've been denied my full profit sharing, denied shares at the company, and have had minimal raises in the four years I've been employed at Blizzard. Fighting to keep my job in this toxic workplace culture has taken a severe toll on my mental health. I'm up here today because I want to fight for a safe work environment for employees. Blizzard has some amazing people that work for them, but we need to feel safe and supported by people in leadership roles, and hold people accountable for their actions. Thank you to everyone here today and to everyone fighting for a better Blizzard."Bloom outlined demands that she and Christine want Blizzard to meet during the press conference as well. They are listed below, in full:
Activision Blizzard gave Polygon the following statement when asked about today's press conference: We appreciate the courage of our current and former employees in coming forward with reports of misconduct, and we are truly sorry for any victims of people whose conduct did not live up to our values. As we have continued to reaffirm in our recent communications, such conduct is not consistent with our standards, our expectations, and what the vast majority of our employees meet on a daily basis. There is no place in our company or industry, or any industry, for sexual misconduct, harassment or retaliation of any kind. We will not tolerate any behavior that is not aligned to our values and will hold employees accountable who fail to live up to them. The company is committed to creating an environment we can all be proud of. We are in the process of implementing significant changes and improvements to the scope, structure and efficiency of our compliance and human resources teams, reporting systems, and transparency into our investigation process. The safety and support of our employees, especially those who have suffered, remains our top priority.Christine's press conference comes after months of turmoil at Activision Blizzard that includes multiple lawsuits and more. Catch up on all of Game Informer's reporting of this ongoing Activision Blizzard story here. [Source: Polygon]
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| Halo Infinite Campaign Released, Fixes And Known Issues Detailed In Day One Notes Posted: 08 Dec 2021 12:07 PM PST Halo Infinite's campaign is finally out, as are the day one release notes. These notes detail install sizes, which don't exceed 49 GB and could be much smaller if you already have multiplayer installed, and how to purchase and download the campaign if you haven't yet already. It also lists out resolved issues, too, including the following:
On the "known campaign issues" front, 343 Industries has listed out what it is currently aware of and working to fix:
Head to the Halo Waypoint blog post for even more details about today's day one release notes. While waiting for Halo Infinite's campaign to download, check out our thoughts on in Game Informer's Halo Infinite review and then check out this breakdown of everything available for purchase in the Halo infinite shop this week. Watch this teaser for the upcoming Halo TV series after that. Are you jumping into the Halo Infinite campaign today? Let us know in the comments below!
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| God Of War PC Specs Revealed Ahead Of January Release Posted: 08 Dec 2021 10:45 AM PST Boy – you're going to need a really powerful PC to run God of War at 4K/60FPS. Sony Santa Monica has released the specifications and requirements needed to play its 2018 hit title, God of War, on PC, and as expected, you'll need quite a beefy machine. To even hit 4K/60FPS on PC, SMS recommends an Nvidia RTX 3080, which is the highly sought-after GPU that's basically impossible to purchase at the moment. However, the recommended PC specs for God of War are a lot less taxing, needing only an Nvidia GTX 1060 GPU and an Intel i5-6600K, amongst the usual requirements such as Windows 10. Here's a full look at what you'll need in your machine to play God of War at various visual fidelities, including minimum, recommended, high, performance, and ultra.  The studio also released a new trailer showcasing some of what players can expect in the PC version of God of War, too. Click here to watch embedded mediaSome PC-specific features include Nvidia DLSS AI Performance Boost, Nvidia Reflex, AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution, enhanced graphics, and more. "Higher-resolution shadows, improved screen space reflections, enhanced Ground Truth Ambient Occlusion (GTAO) and Screen Space Directional Occlusion (SSDO), alongside highly detailed assets and rendering solutions means God of War on PC will be a beautiful, crisp visual experience," SMS' blog post reads. The PC version of God of War was announced in October, just over half a year after the PlayStation 5 update for God of War was revealed. That update brought 60 FPS, 4K Checkerboard Resolution, and 2160p resolutions to the game, and if you aren't able to play it there, you can get similar performances soon when it hits PC on January 14 next year. For more, read about how God of War Ragnarok was delayed to 2022 earlier this year and then check out Game Informer's God of War review after that. Are you excited to play through God of War on PC? Let us know in the comments below!
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| What To Expect At The Game Awards Posted: 08 Dec 2021 09:53 AM PST Teases for trailers and game reveals are flying fast and furious today, mere hours from The Game Awards airing this Thursday. While the complete forms of these teases will be on display during the award show, we're gathering a list of what we're aware of so you, dear reader, know what to expect. Of course, many deserving developers will be receiving awards for their hard work and amazing games released throughout the year, celebrating the talent and creativity this industry is built on. But host Geoff Keighley is also keen to dish out world premiere trailers like he's the human embodiment of an E3 press conference. We'll continue to update this list, so keep checking back up until The Game Awards to stay informed. Here's what we know about so far:
The Game Awards airs on December 9 at 7 p.m. Central, with a pre-show packing ten world premieres starting 30 minutes earlier. You physically cannot escape the broadcast which airs on Twitch, YouTube, Twitter, Tik Tok Live, Steam, Facebook Live, and Oculus Venues. Better yet, join Alex Stadnik for a watch-along on our Twitch channel and take in all of the hype, wonder, and spectacle with the Game Informer community.
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