Game Informer |
- Japan's Fighting Game Dev Roundtable Three Takes Place Monday
- Ranking Every Single Rockstar Game (Including Red Dead Redemption II)
- New Monsters And Locations Revealed For Monster Hunter Rise Sunbreak
- Ghostwire: Tokyo Boasts Six Graphical Modes For PlayStation 5
- GhostWire Tokyo Preview: Chapter 2 Impressions – New PS5 Gameplay
- Halo The Series: Paramount Releases New Trailer Ahead Of Next Week’s Premiere
- Weird West, Shredders Headline Xbox Game Pass For End Of March
- Ms. Marvel: First Trailer For Disney Plus Series Shows Kamala Khan Becoming A Hero
- Monster Hunter Rise Sunbreak Expansion Confirmed For June Release, New Amiibo Announced
- Babylon’s Fall: Square Enix Sends Survey To Players Asking How To Improve The Game
- Grand Theft Auto 5 New-Gen Load Times Are Going To Save You A Lot Of Time
- Rune Factory 5 Director Discusses New Features, Dungeons, And Inclusion of Same-Sex Marriage
- Forspoken Realm Revealed: A Tour Of Avoalet
- Stranger Of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin - Is It Worth Buying?
- Every Winner From The 2021 Video Game Accessibility Awards
- Sonic The Hedgehog 2: Movie ‘Pre-quill’ Comic In The Works, Spearheaded By Jim Carrey
- Why Austin Wintory Re-recorded Journey's Soundtrack 10 Years Later
- Warren Spector Says OtherSide Entertainment Hasn’t Worked On System Shock 3 In Three Years
- Hogwarts Legacy Gameplay Reveal Set For State Of Play This Week
- Masahiro Sakurai Is Back To Work, But He Might Not Be Working On A Game
- Sonic The Hedgehog 2: Final Trailer Reveals New Knuckles Footage And More
- Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands Will Feature Crossplay Across All Platforms At Launch
- Stranger Of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin Review
| Japan's Fighting Game Dev Roundtable Three Takes Place Monday Posted: 15 Mar 2022 04:43 PM PDT One of my favorite recently-created and thankfully recurring events is returning this month in the form of a third Japan Fighting Game Publishers Roundtable. Thanks to Fighters Generation, we know who's scheduled to show up to the panel. Traditionally, some of the companies involved bring some sort of news or update for their ongoing products or upcoming projects. Whether it be new character DLC plans being announced, the first look at a trailer, or plans for additional tournament support, these roundtables have provided something to get excited about in fighting games.
The confirmed guests for this roundtable include: Akira Nishitani – President/CEO of Arika Considering the guests involved and the timeframe for known project timelines, we're likely to get some character announcements for some games and even release dates for already announced fighters. The King of Fighters XV, which launched in February, is supposed to have its first team of DLC characters released in March. Team Garou featuring Garou Mark of Wolves characters Rock Howard, B. Jenet, and Gato may have an imminent release window soon after the developer summit. Guilty Gear Strive similarly has one character left on its roadmap for season one. Given Arc System Work's cadence of releases for this season, we're bound for a revelation of who this fifth and final character might be. As for the representatives from Arika, Capcom, Bandai Namco, and Sega, it's unknown whether there's anything to show. Their insight on development, especially in recent years, will be fascinating nonetheless. However, Sega is a new face to this gathering, and the release of Virtua Fighter 5: Ultimate Showdown last summer may have some follow-up news ripe for announcing. The Japan Fighting Game Publishers Roundtable will occur on March 21 at 1 p.m. JST, which is 1 a.m. Central here at Game Informer HQ. The event will be streamed on the Arc System Works Twitch channel and the Virtua Fighter Official YouTube channel. |
| Ranking Every Single Rockstar Game (Including Red Dead Redemption II) Posted: 15 Mar 2022 01:35 PM PDT  Platform: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC Over the past two decades, Rockstar Games has emerged as a force to be reckoned with in the games industry. Rising up from quirky Scotland-based developers with a taste for pulp and crime fiction, Rockstar evolved radically, shifting into innovators and provocateurs, creating some of the industry's most influential and blockbuster titles. In the lead up to the eagerly anticipated Red Dead Redemption 2, we came together as a staff to rank every single game that Rockstar developed (this means we excluded published titles like L.A. Noire and Smuggler's Run). From the humble top-down beginnings of Grand Theft Auto to the blood-soaked streets of Manhunt and the beautiful jaw-dropping vistas of Red Dead Redemption, you'll find every single title put in its proper place in terms of influence, importance of innovation, and just plain fun. With all that in mind, let's steal a ride and roar down this road to hell. Read more... |
| New Monsters And Locations Revealed For Monster Hunter Rise Sunbreak Posted: 15 Mar 2022 12:30 PM PDT Platform: Switch, PC Along with a June release date, Capcom revealed brand new locations and monsters coming to Monster Hunter Rise with the upcoming Sunbreak expansion. You can watch the entire digital event and read about the exciting new monsters, characters, and locals below. Click here to watch embedded media The CitadelThe new trailer, which you can watch above, shows off a new open area to explore and hunt called The Citadel. Featuring crumbling gothic structures, the climate in The Citadel varies wildly. One part of the map will be heavily forested, while another is covered in icy mountains. Monster Hunter producer Ryozo Tsujimoto said there will be "never-before-seen" endemic life such as the marionette spider and morphed wirebug, both of which are variations of helpful creatures found in the base content in Rise. Click here to view embedded media ElgadoHunters will travel find their new base of operations in the Elgado Outpost, an encampment built on the shore of a vast ocean. Resembling more of a medieval fort rather than Kimura Village's decidedly Japanese aesthetic, Elgado and its residents have a deeper western influence. There you'll find important new characters like the Royal Knight Fiorayne, who brings you to this far-off land, and her leader General Galleus. Elgado is also home to new quest-giver Chichae, and all of the blacksmiths and merchants a hunter needs to gear up properly for missions. Click here to view embedded media New Monster: GarangolmOut in the field, hunters will come across all kinds of threatening monsters, including a trio known as The Three Lords. Garangolm is the first we met today. It's a huge fanged beast that looks like an armored gorilla. While it may be docile at first, Garangolm can wreck hunters easily with its mastery of both water and fire. When it enrages, its left arm is covered in moss, while the right is enveloped in magma, providing a devastating one-two punch of the polar opposite elements.  New Monster: LunagaronLunagaron is a new fanged wyvern, and the first hunters will meet in Sunbreak. It shows up near Kimura Village and is the catalyst for Fiorayne to bring us to her base of operations in Elgado Outpost. Lunagaron is another member of The Three Lords with Garangom and the Elder Dragon Malzeno Uses. It covers its body in icy armor and reveals its true bipedal, claw-slashing form when it becomes enraged.  More Monsters New To SunbreakA new subspecies of Monster Hunter Rise's Bishaten makes its debut in Sunbreak. Known as Blood Orange Bishaten, this bat monkey throws exploding pinecones at hunters instead of the sticky fruit Bishaten usually chucks at enemies.  Astalos, an electrifying flying wyvern, will make its triumphant return in the upcoming expansion. It generates electricity in its wings, horn, and tail, making those areas dangerous targets for hunters to focus on. Astalos has only ever appeared in the Generations series, making this its main-line Monster Hunter debut. Monster Hunter Rise Sunbreak releases June 30 for Nintendo Switch and PC. You can learn more about the various editions available at launch and the new set of Monster Hunter Amiibos coming at the same time right here. |
| Ghostwire: Tokyo Boasts Six Graphical Modes For PlayStation 5 Posted: 15 Mar 2022 11:40 AM PDT Platform: PlayStation 5, PC Ghostwire: Tokyo launches in just over a week, and PlayStation 5 players will have a lot to consider in terms of getting the most out of the spooky experience. That's because the game sports not one, not two, but six graphical and performance options. We're reviewing Ghostwire: Tokyo and have listed each mode along with their in-game explanation. However, the game only lays out what the two primary modes do, which are: Quality Mode: A high-fidelity rendering mode with ray tracing enabled. 30 FPS limit Performance Mode: A high-framerate mode designed for the smoothest gameplay. 60 FPS limit. Additionally, a category labeled HFR (High Framerate) is described as having "an uncapped framerate and tweaks to graphic quality that allow for an even higher-framerate experience." It contains four options without descriptions, but Video Games Chronicle expounded on these which we've shared below:
Games with multiple graphical/performance options have become the norm in recent years, but Ghostwire: Tokyo may take the cake, and figuring out which one is "best" will depend on several factors (such as your monitor) as well as personal preference. Ghostwire: Tokyo launches March 25 on PlayStation 5 and PC. You can watch us tour its haunted streets in this episode of New Gameplay Today. [Source: Video Games Chronicle] |
| GhostWire Tokyo Preview: Chapter 2 Impressions – New PS5 Gameplay Posted: 15 Mar 2022 10:13 AM PDT Platform: PlayStation 5, PC GhostWire Tokyo, one of our most anticipated horror games of 2022, is incredibly stylish. Developer Tango Gameworks' open-world environments are as ambitious as they are unsettling, as twisting hallways and shifting rooms give way to dreadful encounters with Yōkai – wayward spirits inspired by Japanese folklore. In this episode of New Gameplay Today, I sit down with Blake Hester to share our preview impressions from the second chapter of GhostWire Tokyo. We're accompanied by footage from my hands-on gameplay session, which I captured via PS5 performance mode. If you enjoy the video, be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel: |
| Halo The Series: Paramount Releases New Trailer Ahead Of Next Week’s Premiere Posted: 15 Mar 2022 10:02 AM PDT Platform: Xbox One, PC Halo: The Series is set to premiere on Paramount+ next week, on March 24, and to prepare viewers for the journey ahead, a new two-minute trailer has been released. The trailer features voice-over by multiple characters we'll likely learn more about in the series, including what sounds like Dr. Halsey and others. It, of course, features plenty of the Covenant, including an Elite with a sword, and a handful of very-cool Master Chief moments. Click here to watch embedded media As you can see in the trailer above, the narration that plays over it is all about the costs of protecting what's sacred. As for what "sacred" is, it's likely different for everyone involved. For Master Chief? It's completing the mission, whatever it is. Like the trailers before this one, the series is looking great, and fortunately, we don't have to wait long to watch it because it begins streaming on Paramount+ next week. In the meantime, watch the first teaser released for Halo: The Series and then read about how it's already been renewed for a second season. You can also read about the decision to reveal Master Chief's face in the show. Are you excited about this Halo TV series? Let us know in the comments below! |
| Weird West, Shredders Headline Xbox Game Pass For End Of March Posted: 15 Mar 2022 09:30 AM PDT Platform: PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC The second batch of Xbox Game Pass games for March has been revealed. Weird West leads the pack as a very promising supernatural western twin-stick shooter from some of the minds behind the Dishonored series. Shedders is a radical snowboarding game you may remember from Xbox's E3 presentation last summer. Crusader Kings III is bringing its medieval simulator wackiness to consoles for the first time as well. You can read our reviews for applicable titles to help decide whether or not a game is for you.  What's Coming To Xbox Games Pass
What's Leaving Xbox Game Pass
You can view the list of Game Pass titles that hit during the first half of March here. What do you think of the new Game Pass titles? Which will you be playing? Let us know in the comments! |
| Ms. Marvel: First Trailer For Disney Plus Series Shows Kamala Khan Becoming A Hero Posted: 15 Mar 2022 08:33 AM PDT Platform: PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Stadia, PC Disney has released the first official trailer for its upcoming Disney Plus series, Ms. Marvel, and it features Kamala Khan attempting to navigate the blinding lights of the life of a superhero. Hitting Disney's subscription service on June 8, Ms. Marvel is, as the name implies, a series all about Ms. Marvel. However, before she becomes a hero, Kamala Khan, played by Iman Vellani, must work through all the responsibilities of her normal life while juggling what her world becomes thanks to some newfound superpowers. Click here to watch embedded media Marvel has also released a fantastic poster to accompany today's trailer, too:  For the uninitiated, Ms. Marvel is a superhero-loving teenager from Jersey City who has a particularly strong love for Captain Marvel (Ms. Marvel was Carol Danvers' original moniker in the comics). Unlike Carol Danvers, whose claim to fame is super strength, super speed, the ability to fly, and the ability to fire proton bursts out of her hands, Ms. Marvel traditionally has the Inhuman-bestowed ability to polymorph her body. She can "embiggen" herself to stretch her limbs, become massive or, for example, she can simply enlarge her fist right before it smash crashes into an enemy's head. It's quite a fun superpower that's been explored greatly since her comic series began in 2014 and in 2020's Marvel's Avengers game. However, the Disney+ series has Kamala display new abilities such as generating force fields, platforms, and other forms of cosmic energy projections using her bracelets. The trailer does show her creating a giant fist, but it's unclear if Kamala's power suite has been completely overhauled or if these new powers are just additions to her usual abilities. Given the upcoming Fantastic Four film, though, it's not hard to imagine Marvel Studios wanting to differentiate Ms. Marvel from its more famous stretchy hero, Mr. Fantastic, by giving her something new. If you're curious about Kamala Khan as a video game protagonist, check out Game Informer's Marvel's Avengers review. Are you excited for Ms. Marvel? Let us know in the comments below! |
| Monster Hunter Rise Sunbreak Expansion Confirmed For June Release, New Amiibo Announced Posted: 15 Mar 2022 07:45 AM PDT Platform: Switch, PC In a presentation this morning, Capcom revealed plenty of new details on the upcoming Monster Hunter Rise expansion Sunbreak, including the announcement of its release date. Sunbreak, an expansion Capcom has repeatedly described as being "massive," will release on June 30 for both Nintendo Switch and PC. The digital edition of the DLC will be available for preorder today, producer Ryozo Tsujimoto revealed. Along with the base edition of Sunbreak, existing Monster Hunter Rise players will have the option to purchase a deluxe edition, which comes with additional cosmetics like Layered Armod, hairstyles, poses, and gestures. Preordering will net hunters a pair of adorable Palamute and Palico Layered Armor that make the animal companions look closer to their real-world pet counterparts. Those who are new to Monster Hunter Rise, but want the whole experience when Sunbreak releases can purchase the Monster Hunter Rise + Sunbreak Set which bundles the full base game and the expansion together into one tidy package.  Announced to be released alongside Sunbreak is a new trio of Monster Hunter Amiibos. The set of three includes new Elder Dragon Malzeno and a Palamute and Palico each donning armor based on Malzeno. Using these Amiibos with the Switch version will grant players new Formal Dragon Layered Armor to use in-game. A patch will be coming for all Monster Hunter Rise players on June 30 regardless of Sunbreak ownership status. The update will require about 13GB of storage space and will accommodate for weapon balance changes and new content coming to the game with the release of Sunbreak. This patch will be required for online play moving forward. If you're interested in trying out Monster Hunter Rise with Sunbreak looming on the horizon, Nintendo is offering a free trial for Switch Online subscribers this week. |
| Babylon’s Fall: Square Enix Sends Survey To Players Asking How To Improve The Game Posted: 15 Mar 2022 06:55 AM PDT Platform: PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, PC Babylon's Fall, the latest from PlatinumGames and Square Enix, did not pan out well critically, with a 42% on Metacritic for PlayStation 5 versions and an even lower 37% on Metacritic for PC. It's one of PlatinumGames' worst-reviewed titles ever, but it seems Square Enix isn't ready to give up on the live-service title just yet. That's because the publisher has reportedly sent out surveys to players asking them how the game can be improved, as reported by Eurogamer. More specifically, the survey recently sent out is all about the graphics and visuals of Babylon's Fall, and finding a way to "bring everyone an even better game experience." Eurogamer reports that the survey asks players about their thoughts on the visuals of characters, equipment, NPCs, enemies, locales, battle effects, the UI, and the overall oil painting "brushwork" art style of Babylon's Fall. The survey concludes by asking survey-takers what specific element of Babylon's Fall's visuals would need to be changed before they'd consider recommending the game to someone else. However, as anyone who's played Babylon's Fall or has read reviews for it know, there are multiple problems beyond the visual elements that make it hard to recommend. Perhaps Square Enix will canvass players about all of the elements viewed more negatively in the game and then fix each one so that with all of the fixes together, people might be able to recommend the game to someone. That remains to be seen, of course. If you're curious about checking the game out yourself, you can do so thanks to a free PlayStation demo for Babylon's Fall that's available right now. For more info about the game, check out Game Informer's Babylon's Fall hub. [Source: Eurogamer] Have you played Babylon's Fall? Let us know what you think of it in the comments below! |
| Grand Theft Auto 5 New-Gen Load Times Are Going To Save You A Lot Of Time Posted: 15 Mar 2022 05:26 AM PDT Platform: PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC Grand Theft Auto V is out today, again, this time as a new-gen game for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, and perhaps unsurprisingly, its load times are great. They're so great, in fact, that playing on new-gen consoles is going to save you a lot of time in Los Santos. That's because load times are more than 150% faster in some cases and even at the new-gen versions' worst in terms of load times, it's still demonstrably faster than PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions. Here's a breakdown of what to expect: GTA V Xbox Series X vs. Xbox One Loading Times – Brand New Game:
GTA V PS5 vs. PS4 Loading Times – Brand New Game:
As you can see, the new-gen versions of GTA V feature significantly faster loading times and as a result, you'll be saving a lot of time in Los Santos. What's more is that these faster loading times translate to all types of loading in GTA V. While we highlighted the new game loading times, other load times on new-gen versions, such as starting the game from an autosave, showcase similarly fast loading times. For more about GTA V, read Game Informer's GTA V review and then check out the new-gen pricing and upgrade paths. Read about how GTA V has surpassed a massive 160 million units sold after that. Are you jumping into new-gen versions of GTA V today? Let us know in the comments below! |
| Rune Factory 5 Director Discusses New Features, Dungeons, And Inclusion of Same-Sex Marriage Posted: 14 Mar 2022 02:00 PM PDT Platform: Switch The Rune Factory series, a spin-off of Story of Seasons, combines action/RPG combat with its sibling's farming and social elements. Now, almost a decade after Rune Factory 4's debut on 3DS, a new Rune Factory game is just around the corner as a Switch exclusive on March 22. We chatted with director Shiro Maekawa to give you an idea of what you can expect, from the fun festivals to powering up Link Attacks with other town members. It's been a long road to Rune Factory 5. Many fans were worried about the series' future, especially with Neverland closing. Can you discuss the journey to get this long-awaited entry off the ground? Maekawa: After finishing Rune Factory 4, we drafted many plans for Rune Factory 5 that we couldn't bring to fruition, but various factors came together in a way that let us finally release this title. We were really motivated by just how many fans still wanted new Rune Factory games when we released Rune Factory 4 Special. What did the team learn from Rune Factory 4 Special that was applied to Rune Factory 5? I'd say the fans' love for its characters. We learned that shining a spotlight on all the town's charming residents is crucial. How did the team want to evolve upon the Rune Factory formula for this entry? Rune Factory Frontier and Rune Factory Oceans were in 3D, but this is our first game made completely in true 3D. Players can transition seamlessly between their lives in Rigbarth and their adventures in the lands around it. We wanted to let players feel like they're part of the in-game world more than ever before. What are some new features that you think fans are especially going to like? You can do so many different things with the townsfolk: cook, fish, smith, ride monsters around, perform Link Attacks in battle... These new features all let you spend more time with your favorite characters. What are certain elements that you consider essential to the series' identity, and how do you ensure those remain entertaining for fans while remaining familiar? The three elements we've included since the very first Rune Factory game are love, farming, and adventuring. At first glance, these elements may seem to exist independently of each other, but the crafting system ties them all together to create a whole new level of fun. What types of festivals can we expect to see in this entry? Any new ones? You can expect to see traditional ones like the harvest festivals and fishing contests, as well as the monster-fighting competition known as the Buddy Battle, but there are some new ones as well! Click here to view embedded media How do you keep the staple amnesiac element exciting and an interesting mystery to uncover each game? You'd think our fans would exclaim, "Amnesia again?!," but this important feature lets the player experience a brand-new world alongside the protagonist. As in previous titles, Rune Factory 5 explains what caused the protagonist's amnesia and how it's related to the game's major mysteries. How are you ensuring there's enough dungeon variety? Can you give some examples of the types of dungeons we'll see? In addition to the familiar fire and ice dungeons, you'll have a chance to visit many locations, including vast prairies, a bandit hideout, and an abandoned town swallowed by darkness. Can you discuss Link Attacks, and how they'll differ depending on the character? Rather than the characters themselves, a character's preferred weapon affects the Link Attacks. These attacks also gain more power depending on the strength of a character's relationship with the player. This is the first game in the franchise to include same-sex marriage. How important was it for the series to finally take this step and be more inclusive? In a certain sense (i.e., swapping the outward appearance of the protagonist), same-sex marriage was possible in Rune Factory 4, but not truly implemented. At the time, this choice was meant to give players the freedom to play the game as they wished. But Rune Factory 5 marks its official inclusion, and lets us welcome more fans to the series. I think we should continue to include this feature in future Rune Factory titles. Any tips or advice you have for fans to consider when they start their Rune Factory 5 journey? What you do in this game is up to you. You can fish from dawn to dusk, invite someone on an adventure or a date—play it any way you like. There's nothing you must do. So I hope you'll settle down in Rigbarth and live your ideal laidback life there! |
| Forspoken Realm Revealed: A Tour Of Avoalet Posted: 14 Mar 2022 12:00 PM PDT Platform: PlayStation 5, PC Forspoken, the upcoming title from Luminous Productions and this month's cover story, largely takes place in the magical world of Athia. Unfortunately, the realm has seen better days, as a creeping corruption has flooded the once-prosperous land. The Break, as the destructive fog is known in the game, has the power to corrupt anything it touches. Humans become hostile and mindless, animals morph into monsters, and even the land itself takes on a bizarre appearance. While there have been several trailers for Forspoken, much of them take place in a dry, desert-looking region. This land is just outside Cipal, the last dwelling in Athia for those unaffected by the Break. However, Athia's world is actually filled with a lot of variation, some of which we recently got to see. Just past the rocky fields and ominous fog lies a region the developers revealed in a hands-off demo exclusively for Game Informer: Avoalet.  Flowering In FogUnlike its neighboring realm, Avoalet boasts a thriving, verdant landscape. The first area we saw in this land is fittingly called The Water Garden. The name underscores Avoalet's fertile nature while also connecting to larger design themes. Creative producer Raio Mitsuno explains that each realm has a distinct identity. "Avoalet is very blue and lush, with green and flowers and bodies of water," says Mitsuno, "but the Break has done really messed up stuff to the landscape." That includes warping the area's native creatures into crazed beasts. Within moments of entering the realm, a pair of mutant bucks attack Frey. Their flesh looks like it was melted with molten gold, which leaves the animals gilded in an unnatural, web-like pattern. The metallic latticework weaves up past the creatures' black, lifeless eyes and wraps around viciously pointed antlers. It's these sharp weapons that we first see emerging out of the heavy fog as the deer ram into the game's heroine. After a hard-won fight full of dramatic magical combat, Frey continues moving into the murky new land. Eventually, the Break begins to lighten, revealing Avoalet's striking scenery. Tall trees shade vibrant patches of flowers from a sunny sky. The scene is peaceful and starkly contrasts with the savage fight Frey just left behind, but don't let the tranquility fool you. There are still dangers lurking around every corner. On a nearby cliff is an unopened chest. It's guarded by a flock of predatory birds, which swoop out of the brilliant blue sky to attack the unwary Frey as she attempts to collect the treasure. Quickly scooping up the crafting components inside the chest, Frey zips off using her magical parkour skills for an easy escape.  It's Quiet, Too QuietDespite the lovely surroundings, the game still takes time to remind the player that the Break affected Avoalet just as much as the rest of Athia. An empty cart, with crafting material still left in its bed, is stuck in the mud. Crates are strewn around the vehicle, and it seems clear that someone tried to flee the coming corruption, only to abandon their possessions in a desperate moment. "The conditions are harsh, the human drama and problems are just as real as in New York even if the circumstances are heightened," says story writer Todd Stashwick. "The stakes now for Frey are more than just her own problems. It's life or death for a lot of people." Just down the road, Frey finds a Refuge and Lutetia Guild location. These are places where she can discover more about the world's past, craft needed items, and add locations to her map. But it isn't long before she's off again.  Land Of JusticeAvoalet, like any other area in Athia, is ruled by a Tanta, a magic-wielding queen meant to embody one distinct ideal. Tanta Prav, the Tanta of Justice, rules this lush kingdom. However, Tanta Prav's judgment has been corrupted by the Break, transforming her into an alarming adjudicator with merciless minions. As Frey reaches the Merveil Bridge, which leads to Prav's court, she runs into a score of Unjust Enforcers. These Avoalet-specific enemies obey the Tanta's command but don't pose too much of a threat. Unfortunately for Frey, these foes have a Pitiless Arbiter on their side. The black-clad, blindfolded mini-boss holds a set of scales in one hand and a ferocious-looking ax in the other. Using one for magic attacks and the other for melee, the Pitiless Arbiter is ready to execute a swift death sentence. The fight on the bridge is intense – partly because of how far above the ground the fighters are – but it isn't the last battle Frey will face before reaching the land's ruler. The foe-riddled city of Gyuzel and an abandoned castle town buried in the Depths of Corruption test Frey's magical combat skills. After defeating everyone in the first location, Frey finds a blue cape with a description that suggests it once belonged to the Tanta of Justice, whose kingdom is deeply connected to the garment's royal hue. The cloak isn't just for show as it extends the duration of Frey's positive status effects, but it doesn't add much to her defense. And Frey will need a strong defense when she is brought before the now-crazed Tanta to face an unexpected trial of her alleged crimes. We got to see the beginning of the hearing unfold, and we'll cover those intriguing story details soon as this month of Forspoken coverage rolls on. However, if you want more information on the game now, check out Game Informer's Forspoken hub. |
| Stranger Of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin - Is It Worth Buying? Posted: 14 Mar 2022 11:55 AM PDT Platform: PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC There's plenty to be excited about if you're a Final Fantasy fan. The future looks bright with Final Fantasy XVI and VII Remake 2 on the horizon, but what can satiate gamers now? That's where Jack and company come in. Join Reiner and Stadnik as they give you their review impressions of Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin and let you know whether or not it's worth it to go on this chaotic adventure. Click here to watch embedded media In today's video, we're going over the critical pillars of Square Enix's latest entry in the expansive series. First up, we talk about the game's ludicrous story. The central premise follows the events of the original Final Fantasy, but with a heaping helping of grit, cursing, and modernization that separates this game from its inspiration. When the title reimagines some of the iconic monsters from the series' past work, it shines and becomes electric. But unfortunately, some of the other character work and dialogue just can't live up to those standards. Final Fantasy Origin's combat does live up (for the most part) to the hype. The game features a fluid battle system that allows you to swap character jobs on the fly. Whether you wield the magic of a mage or prefer a more personal form of combat in the swordsman, there's a ton of variety in your enemy encounters that encourages experimentation with the different classes. Finally, we wrapped our chat today by talking about what Reiner gave the game and any parting thoughts we had on the graphics, presentation, and so much more. If you want to learn more about Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin, you check out Reiner's review where he says: When swords are drawn, and giant beasts enter frenzied states, this edgy experiment shines as the battlefield lights up with a flurry of combos and magics against awesome monsters that pose a real threat. When the swords are holstered and the characters need to converse or explore, Stranger of Paradise hits lows rarely seen in Final Fantasy's storied 35-year history. |
| Every Winner From The 2021 Video Game Accessibility Awards Posted: 14 Mar 2022 10:50 AM PDT Platform: Xbox One, PC The second annual Video Game Accessibility Awards happened last night, on March 13, and it saw many studios take home awards for their accessibility efforts in gaming in 2021. Hosted by AbleGamers' Steven Spohn and Sony Santa Monica studio writer Alanah Pearce, this awards show highlighted what studios were doing to make games more accessible to everyone through nine categories, as reported by IGN. Here's a roundup of all the studios that won, and their winning title, in each category:
For more about accessibility in gaming, read Game Informer's feature on Julian "Jibb" Smart, a developer that helped bring gyro aiming to Fortnite. Check out this interview feature about how Xbox is exploring accessibility efforts after that and then read about this accessible games database that helps locate accessible games to play. [Source: IGN] |
| Sonic The Hedgehog 2: Movie ‘Pre-quill’ Comic In The Works, Spearheaded By Jim Carrey Posted: 14 Mar 2022 10:10 AM PDT If you can't get enough of everyone's favorite blue blur, or Tails and Knuckles, as they're depicted in Paramount Pictures' movies, then we have some good news for you: there's a "pre-quill" comic book for Sonic the Hedgehog 2 coming out later this month. As reported by Sonic Stadium, this prequel comic will lead into Sonic the Hedgehog 2 before it hits theaters on April 8 and part of it will be helmed by the movie's own Dr. Robotnik, Jim Carrey. That's because the comic book isn't one big story but rather, five stories about different characters from the movie spread across 40 pages. One of these five stories will be centered on Dr. Robotnik and according to Sonic Stadium, Carrey is "spearheading" it. However, it's important to note that Carrey does not have a writer's credit in the comic solicitation so it's likely that he simply helped out with the narrative, or shared ideas with the comic's writer, Keil Phegley. "Catch up with Sonic and friends, if you can, in this exclusive prequel to 2022's most anticipated family film," the comic book's solicitation reads, according to Sonic Stadium. "Life is good in Green Hills for Sonic the Hedgehog…maybe too good. He's starting to get bored, and when Sonic gets bored, things become a lot less boring for everyone else – fast. Quicker than you can say, 'Chili Dog,' the Fastest Thing Alive is saving the day and causing all sorts of chaos along the way. Plus, new and returning characters starring in the Sonic the Hedgehog 2 film take the lead in stories of their own." For more about Sonic, check out this awesome poster for the movie, and then watch the final trailer for Sonic the Hedgehog 2 released today. Read about Sonic Frontiers, which drops the blue blur into his first open-world game, after that. [Source: Sonic Stadium] Are you going to pick up this prequel comic? Let us know in the comments below! |
| Why Austin Wintory Re-recorded Journey's Soundtrack 10 Years Later Posted: 14 Mar 2022 09:20 AM PDT On March 13, 2012, 10 years ago to the date, thatgamecompany released Journey, quickly called one of the greatest games of all time. Its quiet, meditative approach to gameplay and emphasis on multiplayer that promotes connection rather than competition was, for the time, especially novel. The game accrued a massive fan base, countless awards, and recognition from not only the game industry but the art world at large. More personally, it completely changed composer Austin Wintory's life. Nowadays, he's one of the more recognizable names in video game soundtracks. Though it wasn't his first job, or even his first time working with Thatgamecompany (he composed the soundtrack to the studio's first commercial game, Flow), it was the project that put him on the map. Since then, he's composed for the Assassin's Creed series, The Order: 1886, dozens of films, and many, many more. And according to Wintory himself, he owes it all to Journey. In celebration of the game's 10th anniversary, today, Wintory released a re-recorded, re-imagined version of Journey's soundtrack recorded with the London Symphony Orchestra, the London Voice choir, and cellist Tina Guo – who played on the original soundtrack. To learn about revisiting one of his most recognizable works a decade later, we spent time speaking with Wintory, getting an in-depth view into the creative process behind this project. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. Game Informer: How did you start brainstorming, like, "I want to re-record Journey's original soundtrack?" Austin Wintory: I don't mean to say it this way, but it's like I can't escape it. But I don't want that to sound like that's a problem. I feel so lucky that I have had one thing in my career that is just seemingly nonstop of interest to people. You know, a lot of composers could go their whole career – even very successfully – and never have something that quite strikes a nerve with people in that way. And I give all credit to the game for that. The music, I think, is one of those where I just tried to stick to what the game offered, and then was lucky enough that people liked the music on its own. But I think the game is the reason why I get that attention. So, all of that said, because Journey is always around in some way or another and involved in conversations, I found myself thinking maybe seven months ago [...] "The tenth anniversary of the game is coming, and I ought to do something about that." If nothing else, I want to signal to the world my gratitude [for] the fact that the world seems to care about this album and this score and this game. So, what can I do that would offer something interesting or fun? I found myself trying to think of what I might do. And then a few things sort of converged. Click here to watch embedded media [The London Symphony Orchestra] actually reached out to me a number of years ago and said, "If you ever have something, here's how to reach us. We're interested in finding a chance to work together." I record in London all the time, but I usually don't record traditional orchestra. You look at a game like Assassin's Creed Syndicate, we did all that at Abbey Road, but it was with a small chamber group very purposefully chosen of, like, three violins, three violas. You know, a tiny group that's very kind of visceral and close. Or Abzû we recorded there. We recorded choir. I did a room of all harps. These are not traditional orchestra, though. So, I was like, "I don't really do traditional orchestra very often." I did that growing up, and I loved it and it feels so old-fashioned. Even though I love that kind of music, I don't tend to find myself writing that so much. Or if I do, it's modified somehow. And so, I really wanted to work with them, and they seemed open to working with me, but I couldn't think of the right thing. With that in the back of my head, about six months ago, it dawned on me [Journey's 10th anniversary was coming up]. "What if I kind of merged these two threads and were to do a London Symphony re-imagining of the score?" And then, right as I was trying to search for the words for what I was trying to achieve [...] somebody tagged me on Twitter and gave me the most perfect succinct description of what I was doing. They knew better than I did what I was trying to achieve. So, I have to credit this Twitter [user]. I don't even remember their Twitter handle. They tagged me in a tweet. They were responding to somebody else, but they effectively said, Journey is their number one pick for if they could go back in time and experience something for the first time again. The idea that, If I could erase my memory and Men In Black de-neuralize – or neuralize, I guess – and have the feeling of this thing that meant so much to [me], and yet it's new again. So, this project gave me the chance to, of course, not do that. But to do something that's as close as, I think, we can get to that. That's my goal. I don't know if I achieved that. But the aspiration is, for people who really care about this music – and if there's even one person in the world, consider me grateful – hopefully, this gives them a chance to have that feeling of, "This is familiar, and yet I haven't heard this. I don't know this version of it." That became the guiding light. "How do I offer up a thing that doesn't just rehash it. It takes the opportunity to offer up something new." GI: When we jumped on the call, we were talking about how there are a lot more electronic elements in the original soundtrack. How did you transpose that into something that now utilizes a full orchestra? A: I mean, I don't know if I have a good sort of, "I just did X and Y and that took care of it." It was a lot of exploring and experimenting and being very frustrated [laughs]. Because the original kind of borders on new age music until the very end. It's very meditative. The electronics are very smooth. Other than a few little key sections, like the [sand] surfing section that we call "Road of Trials" and whatnot, it's pretty inward-looking and deliberately low-key, right?  Austin Wintory So, I thought, "Okay, if that's a new age album, how do I do something that's almost more like a Joe Hisaishi [Castle in the Sky, Spirited Away] album?" Where it uses the orchestra in a very expressive and colorful way. And what was before a single note being held by a synthesizer might now be a note that swims around in flutes and french horns and violas. It's the same note, but I'm passing it around so that it feels like the original is almost grayscale, and now it's bursting with color. Hopefully. We'll see if it feels like that to anybody else. But that was the goal. As you might imagine, it became really easy to overdo it, and suddenly it stopped feeling like Journey. I would get all excited and I would work on something, and I'd be like, "Oh! I can do this!" And it would become this thing where the orchestra – especially the size orchestra we had, which was gigantic – it's really easy to kind of unleash the fireworks. It's very tempting because it's so fun. It's so satisfying, you know? When you listen to just absolutely off-the-hook rambunctious orchestral forces marshaling together, there's no thrill quite like that for me. But that's not really what Journey is. So, then it became, "Okay, how quiet can I keep this?" Because this is over a hundred musicians, and if I can make them all play together generally on the quiet side, that's its own thrill. GI: Any creative at all, like, even your magnum opus will have one or two things in it that you're like, "Ah, I would do that differently." Was there anything from Journey that sat with you for 10 years, and this was the opportunity to be like, "I'm changing that thing right there?" A: The funny thing is, I had to resist the temptation, because once you start doing that kind of thing constantly, all these little changes that might be imperceptible start to really aggregate, and it really starts to feel very different. That could be a problem. So, I had to kind of reel myself in and say, "You know, I was 24 when I started writing Journey. I'm 37 now." I'm a pretty different composer than I was then – hopefully a better one. I see things, though, more clearly than I did then. There's a certain innocence of my confusion that I think is part of what makes Journey what it is. So, I didn't wanna sacrifice that. I didn't wanna make it something that it wasn't. Which meant I had to kind of pick those moments where I sneak in slightly more, dare I say, sophisticated things. But then there's also things that are more obvious. For example, the really big one, on the final song, "I Was Born For this," in the original, I worked with this absolutely spectacularly amazing singer named Lisbeth Scott. She is a legend. One of my favorite bragging points about her is that John Williams wrote a solo for her personally for the Spielberg movie Munich that is one of the most haunting things I've ever heard in a movie. Around that same time, she also was the singing princess in Shrek when the bird and the princess are singing higher and higher and higher and the bird explodes. The voice of the princess in that moment is Lisbeth. She's in a million soundtrack recordings, and she writes her own scores. I had worked with her. I worshiped her. And I hired her to sing "I Was Born For This." Well, "I Was Born For This" is written in five languages. It's in Latin, French – and technically not modern French, because it's Joan of Arc, so it's more like Middle French, but it's effectively French – Middle English, which is not the same thing as modern English at all, it's a fully different language [...] Japanese and Greek. Ancient Greek. Click here to watch embedded media I've always thought, "How cool would it be to have each language represented by somebody for whom that language is native?" That was always one of [the things in the] back of my head. "If I ever redo this piece, it would be fun to do that." Now, three of the five languages are not modern languages, so it's really just the Japanese and the French that I can do the pure version of this. But I was able to get a Russian singer for the Latin section, and I was able to get a fabulous French singer, a Greek Singer, a Japanese singer, and then [...] I have a friend who's from Mexico who I've worked with a million times and I just always look for more excuses to collaborate with. I told her, "You get to do the Beowulf Middle English because there's nobody that speaks that anyway." She's just a superb singer, anyway. When the final verse comes in and we get this kind of big powerful statement of the main theme set to the words [of] Joan of Arc, her final words before she died, "Do not grieve for me, for I was born for this," I just reached out to a bunch of people that I've either worked with for years and love working with or I've always wanted to work with. So, all told, there's 11 singers that all pile on top of each other for the finale of "I Was Born For This." It's as much a reflection of the road I've taken. I've met all these people over the last 10 years precisely because of what Journey enabled about my career. I crossed paths with all these amazing talents just because of where my career has taken me in those 10 years. It seemed like a fun way to bring it all back home, and say, "I would never have met you if I hadn't worked on this. So, now let's work on this together." That's a big change. GI: Are Sony and thatgamecompany involved with this? A: Jenova [Chen, co-founder of thatgamecompany] and I talk fairly regularly. I told him I was going to do this, and he seemed to be excited about it. As you can imagine, I don't know how closely you follow their current game, Sky, but it's massive. So, he's just 24/7 busy with Sky. So, it was kinda like, "Oh, that sounds really cool! Let me know how it goes." I invited him to London. I said, "If you wanna come and hang out while we rerecord the orchestra, it would be genuinely an honor to have you there." He was, like, 10 days away from his wife giving birth to their second kid, so he said, "I suspect I will not be able to come to London." And so, he knows about it and was excited about it. And Sony, similarly, they were not involved in any creative or pragmatic ways. But of course, I let them know that I was doing it. They've always been very supportive of all my shenanigans. I've conducted the music live, and I've made alternate versions of some of the tracks that work better for live performances, and they've always been supportive of that. GI: So, does that mean – were you self-funding this whole thing? A: I did [laughs]. Yeah. I and a friend [Ready At Dawn co-founder Andrea Pessino]. Originally, I was dreaming of a more scaled-down version. As I let my imagination run wild with it, I found myself thinking, "This is starting to get to a place financially that is a bit far of a reach." [Andrea] basically said, "How can I be involved?" So, we came out to London. I solicited his feedback throughout the whole process. He's the co-founder of Ready At Dawn and also their chief technology officer. The engine that The Order [1886] runs in, he basically built himself. So, he's this engineer and programming savant. I mean, he's just this genius. But he's also this deeply intuitive and talented musician. [He was a] conservatory student growing up in Italy as a kid – essentially a child prodigy pianist. He could have easily had a career in music but chose something very different. [...] So, he always wanted to be more involved in music, and basically, the idea was, "Well, what if we produce this album together?" So, that meant we shared the costs, but also he was a creative confidant for me, and a sounding board, and attended the recording sessions, and helped every step of the way. I'm eternally grateful for it. It would've been something different if he hadn't been part of it. GI: How many musicians played on the original soundtrack? A: Maybe 22, 23 players max? Basically, it caps out around or just shy of probably 30 musicians on the original score. GI: So, the jump up to the new soundtrack is adding 70 people, basically? A: About 100. I think it's, all told, over 130 total musicians. Because we had a 91-piece orchestra and a 32-voice choir. And then something like 11 singers? [In the song "I Was Born For This," there is] a big moment where the orchestra builds, and then you hear just two violins alone going right before the big climax and the Japanese section begins. That's actually a separate musician. A violinist who lives in the Detroit area named Taylor Davis, who's a big YouTuber who I've worked with many times over the years. She was, like, the featured star soloist of the Banner Saga trilogy that I worked on, and just one of my favorite people. We've done live shows together, and I just adore her.  Journey The reason we met is she did one of the most amazing Journey covers that anyone has ever done. There's this great video on YouTube where she's playing in the sand dunes, and then in the snow, in a full Journey costume, playing her violin. [She] does this absolutely amazing thing. When that came out, it was the first time I had seen somebody go to that length – with a full music video and everything – of my work. And so, I reached out to her and said, "I can't believe you did this," and we've been friends ever since. She did an amazing music video when Assassin's Creed Syndicate came out with another musician. So, I said, "I have to find somewhere for Taylor to be involved in this. So, there's a little bit in "I Was Born For This," as well. So yeah, all told, I haven't actually done the count, but whatever that is. It's somewhere in that neighborhood. GI: It's a huge jump regardless. A: It's a completely different animal, yeah. 135 or so. GI: On the tracks, is that all of them playing together? Like, live tracking 135 people? Or did you do it in chunks? A: Almost. The orchestra is always playing together. But the choir was done on a separate day. And there's a lot of reasons for that, but honestly, the main one was Covid [laughs]. It was daunting enough to record 91 musicians right as [the Omicron variant] was starting to appear in London. We had to do daily testing. Everyone in the orchestra, obviously, not only had to test, but if anybody had somebody show up at home that tested positive, even if their test was negative, they would switch out the musician for a backup on the day. That kind of thing. The recording studio that we were in, which is the recording studio that the London symphony owns, it's a converted 18th-century church in the middle of central London that they bought and retrofitted as their primary recording studio and rehearsal space for when they give concerts [...] when they go on tour, we recorded there. It's sort of their home territory. The room, you could fit the choir in there if you really wanted to jam it in. But we would've been really tempting fate in a way that would've essentially been unethical to jam that many together. Also, when you're recording, the more instruments you get into the room, the more you lose control of your ability to mix it afterward. Because now it's just like, "Whatever happens in the room is whatever you get." You can imagine, like, if the mix is placing the listener's ear somewhere, you can kind of move the ears around a little bit when you've got a huge number together. But you can't do things, like, "Oh, the french horn is too loud, let's bring them down," because they're going to be filtering into every microphone in the room a little bit. So, the only way to bring them down is to bring the whole thing down. And so, this is partly why a lot of times on video games and on films, you'll often record things in smaller portions, so that you have maximum control, and you don't have to just have a master volume ride up and down. But for this kind of thing, I thought, "It would be just so heavenly to do it the old-fashioned way." GI: You're recording this for the 10th anniversary of Journey. What do you think will be the stories and anecdotes from this process that are going to stand out to you 10 years from today? A: Oh man, that's a great question. I also just realized that, of all the people to leave off that initial list, this is the most horrifying and embarrassing, but Tina Guo, of course, comes back and plays the cello solos again. We recorded her at Capitol Records here in Los Angeles, so she was also separate from the orchestra. It's blasphemy to not mention her because she's the heart and soul of it. Although, I did change the cello's relationship to the music. In any case, the reason that triggered is because that was the first thing I thought of, is going into the studio with her. You know, she and I have known each other now [for] about 15 years. We started working on Journey together 13 years ago. It came out 10 years ago. It was a big launching pad for both of us. You know, she's now one of the busiest musicians, probably, on the planet. Not just because of Journey. In fact, Journey probably least so at this point. I mean, my God, she's a featured soloist on Dune and a million other things that signal boost her quite effectively. But there's something very nostalgic about it and she and I. When I'm recording, obviously, I do this as a profession, so I tend to go into a little bit of a battle mode. Now, I'm very cavalier, and I joke around. I tell jokes all the time. The first day with the London Symphony, I tell all my jokes, and they're being very typically stoic British people and having a very stiff upper lip with me about my jokes. But by the second day, they warmed up to me, and we were enjoying each other. We were being more jokey, as I tend to be, and very irreverent. Just having fun! Because I say, "Look, we're making music! How crazy is this? Our job today is to walk away with something that hopefully just sounds beautiful. Some people have dangerous jobs, or very grueling jobs, or very boring jobs. And this today is our job, so f-----g hell, let's enjoy it. Let's make sure it's fun, and it doesn't feel overly serious." But, that said, if you're not serious enough, you're gonna fall behind schedule, and then you're going to have an incomplete project. Because it's not like you can just record as much as you want and run the clock 'til midnight. This stuff gets pretty pricey [laughs]. Click here to watch embedded media So, I tend to be very, very particular, and I plan things very anally and all that. Nonetheless, I knew we would probably have a little extra time, which means we could probably take our time, and I wanted to end with "Apotheosis." I just thought that piece, that seven minutes and change, completely and totally changed my life. It just feels so fitting to bring this almost spiritual experience of a recording session to a close with that one. And as focused and warrior mode as I can get while I'm working – despite the joking – when we first recorded it, we do what's called a sight-read. Which is like a rehearsal. Sight-read means they have not practiced this. They are reading the music by sight for the first time, the first playthrough. There wasn't a rehearsal the day before or something like that. You go into the studio, they look at the music, they give it a quick glance, and they [go], "Okay. Ready." And they can play it almost perfectly the first time. It is sorcery. It shouldn't be possible. Especially because as minimalistic as a lot of Journey can be, it's actually not the easiest music to play. Particularly "Apotheosis." [...] They're not playing random notes; it's a very specific thing they have to play. If they play a wrong note, everyone can hear it. And so, it's not hard, but it's not easy. Of course, the goal is not just to get it right. The goal is to make it sing. The goal is to make it feel expressive and beautiful as if they've been working on it and practicing it their whole life. So, it's my job as a conductor to really set them up for that. Part of what we do is say, "Let's just read it down, top to bottom." It's like a table read for actors on a TV show. "Let's just read around the table. You don't have to worry about being in character yet. You don't have to worry about, like, what's your body language gonna be. We just wanna know what the words taste like, and then we'll start to piece it together." We do a thing very similar in a recording session. So, I said, "Let's just run through it and read it." Because "Apotheosis" ends with this long, high cello solo of Tina's, where she's playing as the character's walking into the light. Spoiler alert. GI: I've played it, don't worry. A: Yeah, I suspected you did. So, I ask the principal cellist of the London Symphony, "For now, that part will be recorded in Los Angeles when I come back home. But, so that the rest of the orchestra will know what we'll be missing, will you play it? Just for now, for our first time through." So, he has to sight-read this really high and delicate [part]. You know, cello is a low instrument, and [this is a] really high-end part. Tina, that's one of her specialties; she can play up where the violins play because she's just a monster. But cellists, that's not a normal skill in cello. But of course, these are the world-class cellists, so they can all handle it, too. So, we just read it down. All seven and a half minutes of all this music, they played it very nearly perfectly from start to finish, including Tina's solos as a placeholder. I absolutely felt my eyes well up while I was conducting. It's not that I broke down in tears, but it was overwhelming. It's not that I react to the piece the way someone else might, and get moved by it because I'm too aware of what it took to make it. But the piece's become – it's like this old friend. It's like if you see a friend from college that you used to spend all day every day with and you stay in touch, but you haven't seen each other in a long time. So, all that came together at once, of this old friend visiting for the first time in years, and just knowing how much I've missed this experience. It was overwhelming. I'll never forget it. [...] I'm conducting the London f------g Symphony Orchestra on this piece that changed my life, and we're making music together, and this is incredible, and I'm in one of my favorite cities in the world. I just can't fathom that any of this is real, and this is somehow my life. It really got me in that moment. All that stacking on top. I became very emotional. I'll never forget that. |
| Warren Spector Says OtherSide Entertainment Hasn’t Worked On System Shock 3 In Three Years Posted: 14 Mar 2022 08:51 AM PDT Platform: PC System Shock 3 has quite the troubled development history, chronicled in Part 3 of Game Informer's Games Stuck In Development Hell feature, and it seems the game has been pushed even deeper into development hell. In a new interview with VentureBeat, Deux Ex creator Warren Spector gave what sounds like will be his final comments in regards to System Shock 3, especially now that his studio, OtherSide Entertainment, is working on a new IP. When asked if OtherSide Entertainment's work on the threequel had come to an end, Spector said there's not much more clarification he can give at this point. "We released a statement last year," Spector told VentureBeat. "There's not much more to say at this point. Tencent is taking the franchise forward. It'll be up to them to say what they want to say. There's not much clarification I can give you." Spector continued, stating that OtherSide Entertainment worked on System Shock 3 in 2018 and 2019 but that it hasn't worked on the threequel since then. The studio maxed out at 17 people working on System Shock 3 in 2019, but it had to downsize after that. This is the latest update in regards to System Shock 3, which was first spun up again in 2015 when Nightdive Studios, which is working on a remake of the first System Shock, bought the rights to the franchise from Star Insurance in 2015. Then, later in 2015, OtherSide Entertainment announced that it was developing System Shock 3 after getting permission from Nightdive Studios to do so. Two years passed with nigh a word, and then, in March of 2017, Starbreeze Studios announced that it had signed a publishing deal with OtherSide Entertainment to bring System Shock 3 to PC and other platforms. Two more years passed after that, and then in 2019, we got a teaser featuring the evil AI, SHODAN. Since then, System Shock 3's website has been transferred to gaming giant Tencent Holdings, as reported by Video Games Chronicle. As for the future of System Shock 3, who knows when we'll hear about it again. For now, it seems squarely stuck in development hell. For more about that, read Game Informer's three-part feature about games stuck in development hell: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3. [Source: VentureBeat] Do you think a System Shock 3 is needed? Let us know in the comments below! |
| Hogwarts Legacy Gameplay Reveal Set For State Of Play This Week Posted: 14 Mar 2022 07:39 AM PDT Platform: PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC Hogwarts Legacy, the mysterious and long-awaited RPG set in the Harry Potter universe, will finally get its first gameplay showing in a new State of Play airing this week. PlayStation tweeted the news this morning stating that the presentation airs Thursday, March 17 at 2 p.m. Pacific/5 p.m. Eastern. There's no word on how long it will be, but the tweet refers to it as an "extended look," so that hopefully means we're in for a deep dive on everything Hogwarts Legacy entails.
Hogwarts Legacy was first announced during the PlayStation 5 showcase in 2020. The open-world action RPG casts you in the role of a Hogwarts student and is being developed by Avalanche Software. Author J.K. Rowling has not been directly involved in the game's development, which had been a concern to some fans in the wake of her controversial statements regarding the transgender community in recent years. Hogwarts Legacy was initially scheduled to launch in 2021, but in January of that year, it was delayed to 2022. Although Hogwarts Legacy has mainly been shown on PlayStation stages and is coming to PS5 and PS4, it's also launching on Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, and PC. |
| Masahiro Sakurai Is Back To Work, But He Might Not Be Working On A Game Posted: 14 Mar 2022 07:02 AM PDT Platform: Switch Masahiro Sakurai, the famed director behind Nintendo's mega-hit Super Smash Bros. franchise, is back from a long break after completing development on Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, it seems. And while he's back to work, a new statement from the director teases that what he's working on might not be a video game. News of Sakurai's return to work comes from Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu, as translated by GoNintendo, which reports that Sakurai has revealed that he is, in fact, working on something. As for what, we might find out in the near future but Sakurai hints that it might not be related to gaming in any way. "I have been away for a while now, but I am working on something," Sakurai told Famitsu, as translated by GoNintendo. "My eyes may be a little tired. You may see me in the near future in a place that has nothing to do with game production. You may or may not be able to see me. I hope to see you again in the future. Thank you very much for your time." As you can see in the statement above, Sakurai seems to be dropping hints to his fans that they shouldn't be expecting a new game from him anytime soon. Perhaps he's working on something that's very behind-the-scenes, or maybe he's jumped industries and is now working in movie production or something like that. Only time will tell. For now, read about Sakurai's journey to get Sora from Kingdom Hearts, the final fighter in Ultimate, in the game, and then check out this story about how Sakurai isn't thinking about a sequel to Ultimate but won't rule one out despite that. Read about how Sakurai thinks the next game in the Smash Bros. series would need a smaller roster and less dependence on his own vision after that. [Source: Famitsu via GoNintendo] Are you excited to see what Sakurai is working on? Let us know what you think it is in the comments below! |
| Sonic The Hedgehog 2: Final Trailer Reveals New Knuckles Footage And More Posted: 14 Mar 2022 06:28 AM PDT Platform: PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, PC Sonic the Hedgehog 2 hits theaters in just a few weeks, on April 8, and today, Paramount Pictures has released the final trailer for the sequel. If you've been watching the trailers for Sonic the Hedgehog 2 as of late, then you know Paramount and Sega are unsurprisingly pushing the return of Robotnik and the introduction of Tails and Knuckles to the fray. Also, unsurprisingly, Robotnik, Tails, Knuckles, and of course, Sonic look great in this final trailer. Click here to watch embedded media As you can see above, this trailer features the most footage of warrior echidna Knuckles yet, including the blue blur dodging all but one of his punches. Unfortunately for Sonic, one punch is all Knuckles needs to land to do some serious damage. Elsewhere in the trailer, we see more of Tails, with some scenes revealing that Sonic and Tails have taken to each other quite nicely, becoming the friendly duo fans of the Sonic series have known them to be for decades. We're excited to see how Knuckles joins their duo to turn it into a trio, but for now, everyone's favorite echidna remains an ally and pawn to Jim Carrey's Dr. Robotnik. Paramount also released a new movie poster to accompany today's trailer and if you're a fan of Sonic, you'll recognize how well of an homage to the Sonic the Hedgehog 2 game poster this movie poster is – it's brilliant: Click here to view embedded media Plus, if you see the movie at AMC, you might get an exclusive collector print, which looks like this:
For more of the blue blur, check out this awesome poster for the movie, and then watch the first trailer for Sonic the Hedgehog 2. Read about Sonic Frontiers, which drops the blue blur into his first open world game, after that. Are you excited for Sonic the Hedgehog 2? Let us know in the comments below! |
| Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands Will Feature Crossplay Across All Platforms At Launch Posted: 14 Mar 2022 05:52 AM PDT Platform: PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC Tiny Tina's Wonderlands is right around the corner, hitting PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC on March 25, and we now know it will launch with full crossplay support across each of these platforms. Gearbox Software's own Randy Pitchford revealed the news with a tweet thanking the engineers behind Tiny Tina's Wonderlands for making crossplay happen. He draws specific attention to Sony and PlayStation, which isn't necessarily surprising given that between it, Xbox, and PC, it's usually PlayStation that is void of crossplay with other platforms (although Pitchford isn't necessarily drawing attention to them for that reason). Developers revealed the struggles of crossplay on PlayStation back in 2019, if you're curious about that. Nonetheless, crossplay will launch with Tiny Tina's Wonderlands later this month. "Tiny Tina's Wonderlands will ship on March 25 with full crossplay for all platforms at launch, including PlayStation. Incredible work from the engineers at Gearbox Software with thanks to our partners at 2K games, and 1st parties, including Sony, for working together on this."
News of crossplay support in Tiny Tina's Wonderlands is especially great given that the game features four-player co-op. Plus, thanks to two-player split-screen on PS4 and Xbox One, and four-player split-screen on PS5 and Xbox Series X, playing with your friends and family will be a breeze. Click here to watch embedded media For more about the game, read Game Informer's exclusive Tiny Tina's Wonderlands preview and then check out the latest info about its endgame, the Chaos Chamber. Read about Tiny Tina's Wonderlands' season pass, which includes four content drops, after that. Are you excited for crossplay in Tiny Tina's Wonderlands? Let us know in the comments below! |
| Stranger Of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin Review Posted: 14 Mar 2022 04:40 AM PDT Reviewed on: PlayStation 5 Even if you love Final Fantasy games, expect to feel like a stranger in a strange land when playing Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin. This violent retelling of the original Final Fantasy game from 1987 largely sidesteps the series' adventurous spirit and heartfelt mysticism to focus on muscle, attitude, and everything extreme. Square Enix labels this remake as a "hardcore action/RPG," an apt description for a game that rarely relents in its aggression. When swords are drawn and giant beasts enter frenzied states, this edgy experiment shines, as the battlefield lights up with a flurry of combos and magics against awesome monsters that pose a real threat. When the swords are holstered and the characters need to converse or explore, Stranger of Paradise hits lows rarely seen in Final Fantasy's storied 35-year history. Don't be surprised if you let out your first audible groan within minutes of meeting protagonist Jack. Showing the emotional range of a brick, Jack is a blank slate of a lead, offering little in terms of backstory or personality, yet he amuses for all the wrong reasons given how frequently he talks about wanting to kill a dark being named Chaos. He growls this dark ambition to almost anyone who will listen, sometimes dropping f-bombs along the way because he's that angry. The story clings for dear life to the silly Chaos thread, which offers a couple of interesting twists near the conclusion, but mostly falls flat and does little to build up the characters or world around them.  Jack eventually befriends a handful of like-minded individuals to journey with, but they are just as lifeless as he is, and the reasons they are together are flimsy at best. At one point, Jack meets Jed and Ash on a road, and after conversing about Chaos and crystals for just a few seconds, they agree to journey together and cement the occasion with a fist bump. The fist bump is as awful as it sounds, and is oddly notable, as you'll see this gesture many times, each one as unintentionally comedic as the last. I didn't care for most of the story, but did enjoy where it ends. No, the final moments don't make the journey worthwhile, but at least it ends with a bang. The hunt for Chaos unfolds within the land of Cornelia, a place lush with most of the fantasy tropes this series is known for. Developer Team Ninja does an excellent job of changing up the locales frequently within its level-based progression – throwing the party into lava caverns, icy mountains, and glowing forests filled with wild beasts. Most of these places are confusing in design, sending Jack and company down mazelike paths, some featuring puzzle qualities that require backtracking to solve. Without a map, expect to get lost periodically. In an odd twist, the party can dart through swarms of enemies uncontested, meaning you can cover ground quickly and find your bearings again. You can also run from the start of a level to the concluding boss without confronting a single foe – a design flaw I exploited to speed up exploration in some of the more confusing levels. Click here to watch embedded media It's not that I didn't want to engage in combat. As messy as Stranger of Paradise is in its story and world, it fully embraces the rage of a warrior to deliver an exceptional combat experience. The nicely implemented melee combat and long-range magic sizzle with excitement, and Jack can switch between them on the fly. Enemy movements and unblockable attacks are easy to read, making all fights feel fair and a true test of skill. Even the two A.I. companions who join you are competent and rack up kill counts of their own, even against bosses if you need to keep your distance. Some bosses are incredibly challenging, and your allies may not be enough of a help, but you can always lower the difficulty for this one fight at any save point – another nice touch. The combat mechanics are robust, allowing for Jack to bombard the enemy with abilities at a liberal pace. The evasive move works well, as does the soul shield counter that allows Jack to bank magic and send long-range attacks hurling back at his attacker – the latter is quite ingenious, yet is sometimes difficult to use given how frenzied battles can be. When foes are giving you fits, saving up magic to activate devastating Lightbringer attacks can turn the tide. Best of all, when an adversary's break gauge depletes, you can execute them immediately with a stylish finishing move that even delivers splash damage to any other enemy nearby.  Jack lives up to his name as a jack of all trades on the battlefield. Rather than focusing on just one job, Stranger of Paradise encourages the player to use over a dozen of them, switching to whichever style best fits the situation at hand. Each class is fully featured and fun to use. I enjoyed being able to morph in the blink of an eye from a samurai with precise sword strikes to a black mage that carelessly rains down death from afar. Figuring out which jobs work best with each other is part of the fun and reason to experiment often. Applying points to skill trees allows each job to grow more potent in the way the player wants. Specific armor pairings also deliver worthwhile statistical bumps. Each class can reach a master rank at level 30 and offer a variety of nice customizations, like determining which special attacks trigger at specific points on combo chains. Again, the combat absolutely sizzles in Stranger of Paradise and gives you a true sense of ownership over it.  Almost every defeated enemy drops a weapon or armor, and you quickly learn that you must pace how often you dive into the menus to tinker with each character's loadout, as you could spend just as much time in menus as combat. The weapons offer almost every kind of attribute bump you would expect, and armors deliver cosmetic changes galore. The "cool" factor of the gear is tied to their levels, meaning at level five, you are wearing leather, and at level 105, you glisten in an awesome dragon-scale suit. Having so many different options at your fingertips – from the gear to jobs – is where Stranger of Paradise shines the brightest and delivers excitement. These thrills extend to two friends in online cooperative play, but only if they keep pace with your combat level. If you aren't in the same level range, you must play at the lowest player's level, which can be a bust if they are just starting and you are in the mid- or endgame. Click here to watch embedded media Stranger of Paradise is the strangest Final Fantasy game yet, bounding wildly between awful and fantastic. If you can tolerate Jack (and that's a big ask), the excellently crafted combat is worth a look. You may be coming to this game for the story and Final Fantasy experience, but it's all about combat and little else. Score: 7 |
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