Octopath Traveler Guide: How To Be Well-Prepared For This JRPG Epic

This feature is still under development, as the game is just out.
Don’t act too shocked: the latest game from the Bravely Default devs is knee-deep with systems and complex bits that you’ll figure out after the first 5 to 10 hours. Fortunately, we’re here to help.
Who Should You Start With?

Just a heads up: once you pick your starting character, you cannot back out of it. Sure, you can recruit the remaining 7 heroes, but your starting character will be the main guy/girl in your story. As such, here’s our advice.
For JRPG beginners, pick Olberic, Tressa, and Therion. The first pick is a warrior, meaning that he solves all his problems with fighting, duels, and killing things until they’re dead with regular and SP attacks. If you want to be a bit rich, Tressa’s Haggle and Therion’s Steal can make you deal with resource management and money matters in the game with little hassle.
For those feeling a little confident, go start with H’aanit. She is a jack of all trades kinda Hunter, with her Beast skills (you can recruit beasts you fight by weakening them and capturing them) and her Arrow/SP skills.
If this isn’t your first rodeo, just go straight to the spellcasters like Alfyn and Cyrus. They have the tools to deal with any situation, and money for SP-replenishing potions are easy to come by if you don’t mind the JRPG grind, so go nuts with the spellcasting and levelling up.
You will eventually recruit every character if you feel like it, so we recommend you get all of them to mix up your jobs and skillset.
Combat Basics

Combat in Octopath Traveler is turn-based and random. When you walk around in dungeons and overworlds, you’ll get attacked. Whether you get surprised or you ambush enemies first is up to the RnG gods.
As soon as combat kicks off in Octopath Traveler, youâ€™ll be presented with a series of options. Firstly, you can see the order of the combat turns on the row at the top of the screen. This is going to tell you whoâ€™s going to attack, both from your own party and the enemy party and when. You will always have the opportunity to go first in this system unless your party gets jumped by an enemy group while youâ€™re standing still.
When itâ€™s one of your charactersâ€™ turn to attack, you will need to pick a weapon. Thereâ€™s the conventional choice of attacks, including bows, swords, spears, and daggers, and then thereâ€™s the â€˜character skillsâ€™ group of attacks.Â
Breaking Bad
Under each enemy on the screen, youâ€™ll see a number within a blue orb. This number indicates how many critical attacks this enemy can take before it “breaks” and is stunned out of a turn. Whenever itâ€™s your first time fighting an enemy, thereâ€™ll be a series of blank question marks just to the right of this number, which hides the type of weapons that this enemy is weak to.Â
Itâ€™s up to you to experiment with different types of weapons from all your different characters, in order to determine which enemies are weak to a particular type of weapon. If you successfully attack with the correct weapon, a â€˜Weakâ€™ sign will flash up next to the enemy, with the weapon type filling in one of the blank question marks, and the number in the blue orb ticking down by one.
Once the number within the blue is depleted, the enemy will be stunned, and wonâ€™t be able to attack for another turn. At this point, you want to lay into that enemy with all attacks possible, as all damage they receive is now boosted since they canâ€™t properly defend themselves. This is the basic loop of combat in Octopath Traveler, and itâ€™s one thatâ€™s not too hard to get to grips with.Â
As for the special character skill attacks, this is where you find a lot more variety. Thereâ€™s an SP meter for each of your characters in Octopath Traveler, and you spend points from this meter to execute special skill attacks. These special attacks are varied in their abilitiesâ€”they could deliver multiple hits to a single enemy, or deal out elemental damage all across the battlefield.
It is important to remember that these attacks can still damage the Break meter of an enemy, so keep this in mind when selecting which special skill attack to use on which enemies.

Booster Gold
If you want to power up a characterâ€™s attacks, then youâ€™ll need to active Boost mode. Next to the name of each character on the battle screen, youâ€™ll see a number of blank orbs, which turn gold when filled in. Each character always begins a battle with one orb filled in, and itâ€™s this currency that you use to Boost your attacks.
Whenever itâ€™s one of your characterâ€™s turns, and then have points from the Boost meter to spend, you can press R to Boost their attacks. You can spend a maximum of three Boost points in one turn for one character, and for each point you spend, they perform multiple attacks in one go. For example, if you boost Olberic by two points and then have him attack an enemy with his sword, heâ€™ll perform three sword attacks in one goâ€”one as standard, and two from being Boosted.
Not only can you Boost standard attacks, but you can also Boost special character skill attacks in Octopath Traveler. For example, you could spend two boost points for Hâ€™aanit and then let loose with her True Shot ability, to triple the total damage dealt. This can lead to some devastating attacks, and you should always remember Boost attacks for whenever you want to Break an enemy quickly or deal huge damage to a boss.
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Pre-order The Division 2; get a free Ubisoft game

Ubisoft is giving away a free game to players who pre-ordered the PC version of Tom Clancy’sÂ The Division 2 before 14 March.
The freebies are in the form of a PC digital standard edition from a small range of Ubisoft titles on UPlay. The titles that are available to choose from are Watch Dogs 2, Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands, and Far Cry Primal.
Players who have pre-ordered the game would have to wait for The Division 2 to appear in their Uplay Games Library, then they would have until the 31 March to pick their choice of games by followingÂ the instructions here.
The free game would be available to play beginning on the 15 March.

On another note, The Division 2 Open Beta would be available from 1 March to 4 March.
If you’re feeling unsure of the game, check out what the Kakuchopurei team thinks about The Division 2.


Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster Series Launches On PS4 & Switch Later This Month

Square Enix has announced that the Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster Series will launch digitally for Ps4 and Nintendo Switch on 20 April 2023 at 12am GMT+8.
In the Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster Series, players can expect some unique features for the PS4 and Nintendo Switch versions, including the option to switch between the rearranged and original-based soundtrack for the game. Additionally, PS4 and Nintendo Switch players can also expect additional boost features to expand gameplay options, including switching off random encounters and adjusting experience gained multipliers between zero and four.
Pre-orders are available now via Nintendo eShop. PlayStation Store sales will go live at a later date.
Here are the prices:

Final Fantasy I (Nintendo eShop) – US$11.99
Final Fantasy II (Nintendo eShop) – US$11.99
Final Fantasy III (Nintendo eShop) – US$17.99
Final Fantasy IV (Nintendo eShop) – US$17.99
Final Fantasy V (Nintendo eShop) – US$17.99
Final Fantasy VI (Nintendo eShop) – US$17.99
Final Fantasy I – VI Bundle (Nintendo eShop) – US$74.99

Check out the trailer below:


E3 2019: Ghostwire Tokyo Is A Spooky Action Game From Shinji Mikami’s Tango Gameworks

Want to bust ghosts and feel good doing so? Well, Bethesda’s Tango Gameworks is gonna do that with its upcoming action game Ghostwire Tokyo.
In Ghostwire Tokyo, you are given the task to uncover the source of disappearances happening in Tokyo and purge the city of a strange new evil. You have spectral abilities to help you out, not to mention weapons, to help you in your mystery quest. Unlike past Tango Gameworks titles, Ghostwire Tokyo is not going to be a survival horror game. It’ll have spooky elements, but it’ll be entirely different.
Props should also go to the creative director Ikumi Nakamura, who brought her own brand of energy to the stage show with her presence and delivery that will get geeks all hot and bothered. Because moe and stuff.

Check out the trailer below. The game has no release date yet.


[Updated] MPL Malaysia Season 11 – Teams, Schedule & Results

MPL Malaysia is back for its 11th season starting on 10 March and will go on until 30 April with the regular season ending on 16 April. There are a couple of new teams in the league, some with just a name change and others we’ve never seen or heard of before. So I’m going to give you a rundown of everything you’ll need to know about the regular season.
NOTE: All Times & Dates will be in (UTC+8)

Details

Date: 10 March – 30 April (UTC+8)
Prize Pool: US$100,000
Venue: Stadium Juara, Bukit Kiara, 60000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Format

Regular Season: 10 March – 16 April

Single Round Robin
All Match are Best of 3

Point Matrix

Earned 3 points for winning 2-0 games
Earned 2 points for winning 2-1 games
Earned 1 point for losing 1-2 games
Earned 0 points for losing 0-2 games

All Matches are Best of 3

Playoffs: 27–30 April

Hybrid Elimination
All Matches are Best of 3

1st and 2nd teams begin in the Upper Bracket Semifinals.
3rd and 4th teams begin in the Upper Bracket Quarter Finals.
The Rest 4 teams begin in Play-in.

Finals for Lower and Upper Brackets are Best of 5
Grand Final is played in a Best of 7

Final Results

Place
Prize
Qualifies To
Participant

1
TBD
MSC 2023
TODAK

2
TBD
–

Team SMG

3
TBD
–
HomeBois

4
TBD
–
Team Lunatix

5-6

TBD

–

RED Esports MY

Red Giants Esports

7-8

TBD

–

RSG Slate MY

Madness Esports

9
TBD
–
Team HAQ

10
TBD
–
Team Secret

Teams

TODAK
Team Secret – Team Secret acquired the slot of Orange Esports after they disbanded
Team HAQ
Team Lunatix

RED Esports MY

Team SMG
HomeBois
RSG Slate MY – RSG Malaysia partnered with Slate Esports, rebranded as RSG Slate MY
Red Giants Esports – Qualifier
Madness Esports – Qualifier

GROUP STAGE RESULTS

Standings

1
Team SMG
9-0
18-1
+17
26p

2
TODAK
8-1
17-5
+12
22p

3
HomeBois
6-3
13-8
+5
17p

4
Red Giants Esports
5-5
12-11
+1
14p

5
RED Esports MY
4-6
11-12
-1
14p

6
Team Lunatix
5-4
12-12
0
13p

7
RSG Slate MY
5-4
10-11
-1
12p

8
Madness Esports
2-7
8-14
-6
10p

9
Team HAQ
2-7
6-15
-9
7p

10
Team Secret
0-9
0-18
-18
0p

Matches
Regular Season – Week 1
10 March

3:00 PM (UTC+8) – Team HAQ [0] vs [2] HomeBois
5:30 PM (UTC+8) – Team Secret [0] vs [2] RSG Slate MY
11 March

12:30 PM (UTC+8) – Team Lunatix [2] vs [1] Madness Esports
3:00 PM (UTC+8) – TODAK [1] vs [2] Team SMG
5:30 PM (UTC+8) – Red Giants Esports [2] vs [0] RED Esports MY
12 March

12:30 PM (UTC+8) – HomeBois [2] vs [0] Team Secret
3:00 PM (UTC+8) – RSG Slate MY [2] vs [1] Team HAQ
5:30 PM (UTC+8) – Madness Esports [0] vs [2] Team SMG
Regular Season – Week 2
17 March

3:00 PM (UTC+8) – Madness Esports [1] vs [2] Red Giants Esports
5:30 PM (UTC+8) – RED Esports MY [1] vs [2] TODAK
18 March

12:30 PM (UTC+8) – Team HAQ [2] vs [0] Team Secret
3:00 PM (UTC+8) – Team SMG [2] vs [0] RSG Slate MY
5:30 PM (UTC+8) – Red Giants Esports [0] vs [2] HomeBois
19 March

12:30 PM (UTC+8) – RED Esports MY [2] vs [0] Madness Esports
3:00 PM (UTC+8) – TODAK [2] vs [0] Team HAQ
5:30 PM (UTC+8) – Team Lunatix [2] vs [0] Team Secret
Regular Season – Week 3
24 March

4:00 PM (UTC+8) – Team Secret [0] vs [2] RED Esports MY
8:00 PM (UTC+8) – TODAK [2] vs [0] Team Lunatix
25 March

11:00 AM (UTC+8) – Team Secret [0] vs [2] Team SMG
1:30 PM (UTC+8) – HomeBois [2] vs [0] RSG Slate MY
4:00 PM (UTC+8) – Madness Esports [2] vs [0] Team HAQ
26 March

11:00 PM (UTC+8) – TODAK [2] vs [1] Red Giants Esports
1:30 PM (UTC+8) – Team Lunatix [2] vs [1] HomeBois
4:00 PM (UTC+8) – Team SMG [2] vs [0] RED Esports MY
Regular Season – Week 4
31 March

4:00 PM (UTC+8) – RED Esports MY [2] vs [0] RSG Slate MY
8:00 PM (UTC+8) – Team Lunatix [2] vs [0] Team HAQ
1 April

11:00 AM (UTC+8) – TODAK [2] vs [1] Madness Esports
1:30 PM (UTC+8) – Team SMG [2] vs [0] HomeBois
4:00 PM (UTC+8) – RSG Slate MY [2] vs [1] Red Giants Esports
2 April

11:00 AM (UTC+8) – RED Esports MY [1] vs [2] HomeBois
1:30 PM (UTC+8) – Team Secret [0] vs [2] TODAK
4:00 PM (UTC+8) – Red Giants Esports [1] vs [2] Team Lunatix
Regular Season – Week 5
7 April

4:00 PM (UTC+8) – Red Giants Esports [0] vs [2] Team SMG
8:00 PM (UTC+8) – RSG Slate MY [2] vs [0] Madness Esports
8 April

11:00 AM (UTC+8) – Team Lunatix [1] vs [2] RED Esports MY
1:30 PM (UTC+8) – HomeBois [0] vs [2] TODAK
4:00 PM (UTC+8) – Team Secret [0] vs [2] Red Giants Esports
9 April

11:00 AM (UTC+8) – Madness Esports [1] vs [2] HomeBois
1:30 PM (UTC+8) – Team HAQ [0] vs [2] Team SMG
4:00 PM (UTC+8) – RSG Slate MY [2] vs [1] Team Lunatix
Regular Season – Week 6
15 April

11:00 AM (UTC+8) – Team SMG [2] vs [0] Team Lunatix
1:30 PM (UTC+8) – RSG Slate MY [0] vs [2] TODAK
4:00 PM (UTC+8) – HomeBois [2] vs [1] RED Esports MY
16 April

11:00 AM (UTC+8) – Madness Esports [2] vs [0] Team Secret
1:30 PM (UTC+8) – Team HAQ [0] vs [2] Red Giants Esports
4:00 PM (UTC+8) – RED Esports MY [0] vs [1] Red Giants Esports (Tiebreaker)
Playoffs
27 April

12:00 PM (UTC+8) – RED Esports MY [2] vs [1] RSG Slate MY (Play-in)
3:00 PM (UTC+8) – Team Lunatix [2] vs [1] Madness Esports (Play-in)
6:00 PM (UTC+8) – HomeBois [2] vs [1] RED Esports MY (Upper Bracket Quarterfinal)
28 April

10:30 AM (UTC+8) – Red Giants Esports [1] vs [2] Team Lunatix (Upper Bracket Quarterfinal)
3:00 PM (UTC+8) – Team SMG [1] vs [2] HomeBois (Upper Bracket Semifinal)
6:00 PM (UTC+8) – TODAK [2] vs [1] Team Lunatix (Upper Bracket Semifinal)
29 April

12:00 PM (UTC+8) – Team SMG [2] vs [1] Team Lunatix (Lower Bracket Semifinal)
3:00 PM (UTC+8) – HomeBois [2] vs [3] TODAK (Upper Bracket Final)

7:00 PM (UTC+8) – HomeBois [2] vs [3] Team SMG (Lower Bracket Final)
30 April

3:00 PM (UTC+8) – TODAK [4] vs [0] Team SMG (Grand Final)
Where to Watch?
YouTube / Facebook / TikTok

MPL Philippines Season 11 – Teams, Schedule & Results
MPL Indonesia Season 11 – Teams, Schedule & Results
MPL Singapore Season 5 – Teams, Schedule & Results
Malaysia’s 5 Highest Earning MLBB Players So Far


Upcoming Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 DLC Adds Two Playable Villains

It’s been almost four years since the release of Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4. An expanded version titled Road to Boruto was released in 2017 and Bandai Namco have announced that more content is coming to the game.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kxmlf-s8Nc&w=560&h=315]
Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 will be getting a Next Generations update pack on 23 April 2020. It will add Momoshiki Otsutsuki and Kinshiki Otsutsuki as playable characters plus new costumes for 11 characters including Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji. The new costumes will be their outfits in the Boruto manga and anime.
Unfortunately, this has only been announced for release in Japan. It will coincide on the same day as the launch of the Nintendo Switch port of the game which will also include the update pack. The Switch version will be priced at Â¥6,680 (~RM250) and the update alone is priced at Â¥700 (~RM27).

Thanks, Gematsu.


The Super Mario Bros. Movie Is An Isekai; Out Next April

Nintendo of America has unveiled the first look at the upcoming Mario Bros. movie. And it looks about as faithful as it can get as a Nintendo film using the plumber’s visage and world.
The trailer features Bowser (Jack Black) in the gruffest voice possible torching down an ice kingdom ruled by penguins.

It then cuts to Mario (Chris Pratt) getting teleported from (presumably) his home into the Mushroom Kingdom, and then welcomed by Toad (Keegan Michael-Key).

We also get a sneak peek of Luigi (Charlie Day) being chased by Dry Bones in presumably World 8 in SMB3.

Our guess? This is an isekai movie where Mario and Luigi get teleported to the Mushroom Kingdom and solve outerworldly problems beyond plumbing. Full trailer below. The film will be out on 7th April.

As a bonus, here’s a comparison video.


Sports Story Will Be Out This December

The sequel to the Nintendo Switch RPG Golf Story, which was pretty charming and addictive, will finally be out next month.
Sports Story from Sidebar Games will be out this December. No date has been set yet, but the indie title is a Nintendo Switch exclusive like the last title they made. The game not only features 2D golf, but also 2D tennis and 2D football, along with cricket and minigolf. You also explore dungeons JRPG style and even gain new skills for traversal like extreme bike riding. And just like the last game, it’ll feature quirky locations like a mansion filled with goats and even a pirate ship full of swashbucklers and rogues.
Sports Story was announced 2 years ago but no word has surfaced about its development until now.


The Witcher Netflix Series’ Second Season Arrives This December

During WitcherCon 2021, Netflix has announced the release date of The Witcher second season.
The show will air on Netflix this 17th December. The show stars Henry Cavill (Geralt of Rivia), Freya Allan (Ciri), Anya Chalotra (Yennefer of Vengerberg), and Joey Batey (Jaskier). This season, we’ll be seeing Geralt and Ciri heading to Kaer Morhen, with things escalating from there on out.

We also know that in Season 2, Geralt will fight the Leshy and Jaskier being in a more “rock and roll” kinda bard gear.

Here’s the full trailer for Season 2, featuring Ciri, destiny, snow, and a lotta fighting.

Check out the stream archive below.


CoD Black Ops Cold War & Warzone Season Four Reloaded Launches This Week

The Season Four Reloaded update will be available for Black Ops Cold War on 12pm GMT+8 on 14 July 2021 and will be available for Warzone at 12pm GMT+8 on 15 July 2021.

For this update, there will be a download sizeÂ of approximately 11.4-21.3 GB for those who own the full version ofÂ Black Ops Cold War,Â and 8.9-10.4 GB for those who own the free-to-playÂ WarzoneÂ and are current on the latest updates on either or both games.
Black Ops Cold WarÂ Update Sizes
PS5:Â 17.9 GB
PS4:Â 14.5 GB
Xbox Series X / Xbox Series S:Â 21.3Â GB
Xbox One:Â 11.4 GB
PC:Â 13.0 GB (without HD Pack) / 21.2GB (with HD Pack)
Note: PC users will also need 63.2-111.5 GB of additional space on their hard drive for the copying process; this is only temporary space that is reclaimed upon completion of the patch installation and is not an additional download.
WarzoneÂ Update Sizes
PS5:Â 8.9 GB
PS4:Â 8.9 GB
Xbox Series X / Xbox Series S:Â 9.2 GB
Xbox One:Â 9.2 GB
PC:Â 9.2 GB (WarzoneÂ Only) / 10.4 GB (WarzoneÂ andÂ Modern Warfare)
Note: PC users will also need 12.4-12.9 GB of additional space on their hard drive for the patch copying process; this is only temporary space that is reclaimed upon completion of the patch installation and is not an additional download.

Welcome to â€œMauer Der Toten,â€ the next chapter in the Dark Aether story: an epic battle against the undead in a divided city, arriving with Season Four Reloaded in Black Ops Cold War. As well as a new Zombies experience, expect WarzoneÂ to receive its newest objective mode, a classic map and modes to arrive inÂ Black Ops Cold War Multiplayer, and more Zombies content to launch alongside â€œMauer Der Toten.â€

Here’s the story so far:

As satellites are downed around the world due to Perseusâ€™ actions, another war is just beginning in the Zombies Dark Aether story.
Following her release from Omega Groupâ€™s clutches in â€œFirebase Z,â€ Samantha Maxis aided Requiem in investigating the worldâ€™s largest Outbreak Zone to date across the Ural Mountains. After thwarting Omegaâ€™s plans for â€œOperatsiya Inversiya,â€ Requiemâ€™s elite strike team was set to extract the groupâ€™s defecting scientists in Operation Excisionâ€¦ until a familiar foe uncovered their plan and installed a mole among them.
It all culminated around midnight in a previously unexplored area beyond the Phase Wall in the Ural Mountains, where the strike team arrived only to find most of the scientists brutalized with the words â€œNO ONE WALKS AWAY FROM OMEGAâ€ scrawled in blood above their corpses.
This elaborate operation seemed to all be a set-up orchestrated by Omega â€“ in the ensuing emergency exfiltration, a rocket downed Raptor-1â€™s helicopter, with the man personally responsible for this trap walking through the wreckage to capture the agents with his own cold-blooded hands.
His name? Colonel Lev Kravchenko, leader of the Omega Group. And in war-torn Berlin, he has one final job for Requiemâ€™s â€œfinestâ€ before he ends his rivals once and for all.

Key updates include:

The Return of Mule Kick.
New Crafting Item and Wonder Weapon.
New Zombies Challenges and Intel.
New Onslaught Content (PlayStation).

Free: Two New Weapons

Close-quarters Operators will have two new armaments in their arsenal during Season Four Reloaded.

OTs 9: SMG (Launch)Â Full-auto submachine gun. Impressive firepower at close range with good visibility when firing. Reliable recoil control with smaller magazine size.
Mace: Melee (In-Season)Â Rounding out this seasonâ€™s weapon offerings is the Mace, the latest melee tool to join over a dozen options inÂ Warzone, and over a half dozen blades and blunt instruments inÂ Black Ops Cold War.

New Operator: Weaver Arrives from Requiem HQÂ (In-Season)

Weaver: NATO
Requiem needs every last agent to rescue Raptor-1 from Kravchenko, even if it means calling in strike team leader Grigori Weaver to get the job done.
Weaver will venture beyond Requiemâ€™s classified HQ and become a playable NATO Operator acrossÂ Black Ops Cold WarÂ andÂ WarzoneÂ as part of theÂ Tracer Pack: Weaver Operator Bundle, available in the Store at the start of Season Four Reloaded.
Warzoneâ€™s First-Ever Objective-Based Game Mode: Payload
Now, as part of Season Four Reloaded, the massive free-to-play experience introduces its newest objective-based mode: Payload.
Inspired by previous traditionalÂ Call of DutyÂ game modes likeÂ Call of Duty: WWIIâ€™s War Mode, Payload pits two teams of 20 players against each other in a race against time for crucial intel, as these vehicles carry satellite parts that could help shift the balance of the war between Perseus and NATO.
BLACK OPS COLD WARÂ FREE MULTIPLAYER CONTENT:
Veterans of the franchise and newcomers alike will feel right at home with a returning classic map and intense new game modes.

New Map: Rush Returns from Black Ops II
New Modes: Capture the Flag and Paintball Moshpit
New Playlists: Rush 24/7 and Cranked Moshpit


Nintendo Wins Lawsuit Against Go-Karting Company MariCar

After a long battle since 2017, big video game company Nintendo has won a lawsuit against Japanese street go-karting company MariCar for using Super Mario costumes and their name. We’re guessing it’s the Mario Kart brand that Nintendo owns (via SoraNews24).
MariCar paid 50 million yen in damages (US$476,000) after the court has rejected MariCar’s appeal from a 2018 injunction that favoured Nintendo. Furthermore, Nintendo are seeking invalidation trials over MariCar’s name infringing on Mario Kart.
Before the 2017 lawsuit, folks who wanted to get their go-karting jollies using Mario characters can do so with MariCar’s service; they dress up as a Super Mario character (similar ones, anyway) and then drive around the go-kart race track. Because MariCar’s fun ride is known to have several accidents, that means bad PR for Nintendo since Super Mario costumes are pretty popular on this service. Hence, lawsuit.
At this time of writing, MariCar has rebranded themselves as Street Kart. The site now comes with the disclaimer:
“Street Kart is in no way a reflection of Nintendo, the game â€˜Mario Kartâ€™.(We do not provide rental of costumes of Mario Series.)â€Â
While MariCar is in the wrong for not asking for permission a long while back, this also cements Nintendo as being a company that’s still overprotective over its IP. Remember Super Smash Bros. and Mario game emulations? Yeah, they’re pretty touchy about those subjects too.


First-Person Horror Game Insomnis Launches Its Long Night Edition

Sony Interactive Entertainment EspaÃ±a (SIE EspaÃ±a) and Path Games have announced that Insomnis Long Night Edition is now available on PS4, PS5 and PC.
Set in a mysterious mansion where strange things will haunt you, Insomnis has been developed as a part of the PlayStation Talents project. In Insomnis, players will have to solve riddles and puzzles to uncover the hidden past of its main character, Joe Castevet. The game pays tribute to some of the great horror classics through environmental and narrative cues that will take players on an oneiric journey.

Things looked good when Joe Castevet inherited an old mansion. What he didn’t imagine was that the gift was actually a curse. The haunted Castevet mansion hides a dark secret and Joe will have to explore it to uncover his dark past using all kinds of items to solve puzzles and escape alive.
Besides the digital copy of the game, the Long Night Edition of the game also features the game’s soundtrack as well as four exclusive avatars. The game was originally launched on 29 October 2021.

In the meantime, check out the trailer below:


Illegear’s Raven Line Gets 2018 Update

Malaysian-based custom gaming machine makers, ILLEGEAR is back with the updated versions of their Raven line with the introduction of 2018 models which runs onÂ 8th generation Intel Core i5 and i7 6-core processors. In addition to that, the premium model RAVEN Elite which comes with extra bells and whitsles is also available.Â
Â [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ym_pxS2F_yw&w=560&h=315]
Marketed as the mid-range amongst their ever-growing product range, the new RAVEN is available in either Intel i5-8300H or i7-8750H 6-core processors. These 2018 models come with Sound Blaster Cinema 5, new Intel 9560 Wireless-AC and Bluetooth 5.0 card and an improved mechanical keyboard v2 by GENESWITCH.
Retail price start from RM4,199 for the i5-8300H, GTX1050 4GB orÂ RM4,498 for itsÂ  GTX1050Ti 4GB variant. Need more juice? Then the new Raven powered by the i7-8750H withÂ GTX1050 4GB retails for RM4,598 orÂ RM4,897 for its GTX1050Ti 4GB variant.
All models from the 2018 Raven range come with withÂ GENESWITCH Mechanical Keyboard, 8GB DDR4, 120GB M.2 SSD, 1TB 7200, Intel 9560, Windows 10.
Those with extra cash in hand and are searching for something that packs more punch might want to consider the premium version, theÂ RAVEN Elite which comes with Intel i7-8750H 6-core processor, GTX1060 6GB, anodized aluminium chassis, Sound Blaster Cinema 5, Intel 9560 Wireless-AC and a GENESWITCH mechanical keyboard. The Elite comes in two price points, each with different display options -Â RM6,399 for 4K UHD sRGB 100% Display andÂ RM6,598 for 144Hz Full HD sRGB 100% IPS Display.Â

Storage for both models, RAVEN and RAVEN Elite are expandable up to 4TB with 2x M.2 PCIe SSD slots and 1x 2.5â€ SATA slot and are able to accommodate a maximum RAM capacity of 32GB at 2400MHz/2666MHz.Â
While there are tons of gaming laptop brands out there, ILLEGEAR machines stands out for being customisable to tailor your needs – both gaming and the wallet. Customisation starts with a base model and you are able to pick and choose from a range of configurations on their website. If you are going to pay a small fortune for your gaming laptop, might as well go for something you had a hand in building, right? For more info, you can head over to their official website here.Â Â or visit their walk-in showroom in Petaling Jaya.


FF Creator Confirms 2019 to be the Year of FF7 Remake

Square Enix has long been notorious for extremely long development for many of its games. It took them more than a decade to release Final Fantasy 15 and the upcoming Kingdom Hearts 3.
The Final Fantasy 7 Remake seems to be no different, as we have heard little about the project since it was initially announced in 2015. However, Final Fantasy creator and legend Tetsuya NomuraÂ recently confirmed that will all change very soon.
In the latest issue of Japanese magazine Famitsu (as translated by Nova Crystallis), FF7 Remake director Tetsuya Nomura and producer Yoshinori Kitase both gave their own keywords about what to expect from them in 2019.
Nomura simply replied with the number, “7,” adding that â€œvarious plans will be announced.â€ Meanwhile, Kitase replied with “long-awaited,” explaining that he wants to fulfill the expectations of fans.
Those two keywords obviously point to the Final Fantasy 7 Remake. What else could it be? “7” and “long-awaited” aptly describes the FF7 Remake, which means that more details and information will possibly be revealed in 2019.
Keep in mind that Square Enix only has two confirmed major releases in 2019 for now, including Kingdom Hearts 3 and Left Alive. While the former will certainly be a highlight in early 2019, the developer/publisher will probably need something to keep the hype and momentum going until the end of the year.
Revealing a trailer or even gameplay footage would be enough to sate fans’ appetites for now. E3 2019 or even PlayStation’s rumored E3 replacement could be the best and most likely time for a massive announcement.
In the meantime, rewatch the initial Final Fantasy VII Remake trailer from three years ago below.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3sBZ5Nr4hc&w=560&h=315]


Razer To Hold Special Edition Of RazerStore Live To Celebrate SEA HQ Opening

As part of the celebrations for the new Razer SEA HQ opening, Razer has announced that they will be holding a special edition of RazerStore Live.
Check out the timing and links for where to watch below:

Date:
17 November 2021, Wednesday

Time:
12pm GMT+8

Location:
Â

YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOsLfEqAwim8MFOhPddwwFw
Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/razer
Twitch
https://www.twitch.tv/razer

Standing tall as one of the most distinctive architectural landmarks in one-north, Razerâ€™s new headquarters features an iconic black faÃ§ade with acid green lines streaking across the building â€“ a tribute to the brandâ€™s instantly recognizable aesthetic. The interior was designed to inspire creativity and innovation while facilitating the free flow of information amongst Razer staff. Razerâ€™s offices in the United States, Germany and Singapore are already Great Place to Work-certified and with the new Southeast Asia Headquarters, Razer is poised to extend its propositions to be a place to do great work.
The Razer SEA HQ recently opened in Singapore late last month.


Capcom Fighting Collection Features A Lot Of 2D Fighting; Out This June

Apart from the sixth Street Fighter, Capcom also announced a jam-packed collection of its 90s fighting games.
It’s dubbed the Capcom Fighting Collection and it’s slated for a 24th June release date. The collection features the following games:

Darkstalkers
Night Warriors: Darkstalker’s Revenge
Vampire Hunter 2: Darkstalker’s Revenge
Vampire Savior
Vampire Savior 2
Hyper Street Fighter 2: The Anniversary Edition
Red Earth
Super Gem Fighter Mini Mix
Cyberbots: Fullmetal Madness
Super Puzzle Fighter 2 Turbo

This is quite a moment for 90s retro arcade game fans since this is the first time Red Earth is being ported outside of its arcade origin. The collection also features 500+ gallery items and original artwork (like the Bengus artwork on this story’s feature image), over 400 tracks of game music, EX settings, training mode for all titles, and rollback netcode for online play (ranked, casual, and lobby). The last one may give programs like Fightcade a run for their money.

Capcom Fighting Collection will be out on 24th June for PS4, Xbox One, PC, and Nintendo Switch. Check out the features in action below.


PUBG Mobile Teams TABAH NSEA & Geek Fam To Represent Malaysia At Hanoi SEA Games 2022

After a fierce battle over the weekend, PUBG Mobile teams TABAH NSEA and GEEK FAM emerged as the top two teams who will be representing Malaysia at the Hanoi SEA Games in May.Â
TABAH NSEA consists of NSEAFranky (Mohamad Amizul Hafiz Bin Mohd Fadzli), NSEAMagix (Muhammad Irfan Jafni Bin Mohamad), NSEAFlax0P (Muhammad Farish Husaini Bin Zailani), NSEAXRushNN1 (Muhammad Faiz Aiman Baharuddin Bin Abdullah) and NSEAAduka (Muhammad Aduka Ikmal Bin Nor Azmi) were the final victors of the qualifiers.
Meanwhile, runners-up GEEK FAM consists of members GEEKDamRUDE (Mohd Irzam Aman Bin Mohd Zaini), GEEKQb (Ahmad Syafiq Imran Bin Mohamad), GEEKSnipesMVP (Mohamad Nabil Bin Nazaruddin), BTRXuHighboyOP (Muhammad Dhiya Ulhaq) and GEEKSONiX7Days (Nadzrul Bin Abdul Sagal) scored two Winner Winner Chicken Dinners with their outstanding teamwork.

Oliver Ye, Director, PUBG Mobile, said:
â€œCongratulations to both TABAH NSEA and GEEK FAM on their extraordinary feat during the Malaysian Esports Selection 2022. They have shown superb gameplay and teamwork, and are deserving of the title â€˜national athletesâ€™. With the impressive skills they displayed last weekend, we are confident that both teams will make Malaysia proud at the Hanoi SEA Games 2021.
 I would also like to thank the other 14 teams for participating in the qualifiers. All teams have done remarkably well, which really shows that Malaysian PUBG Mobile teams are top class.”
Both TABAH NSEA and GEEK FAM will be heading over to Hanoi to stand among the best teams in the Southeast Asian region during the 31st SEA Games 2021 from 13th to 22nd May 2022. This also marks Malaysiaâ€™s second consecutive participation in esports at the SEA Games.Â
Kelvin Pang, National Esports Team Manager, said:
â€œCongratulations to both TABAH NSEA and GEEK FAM and we wish them the best of luck at the Hanoi SEA Games. I would also like to applaud the other 14 teams that demonstrated spectacular skills and teamwork during the qualifiers last weekend with 13 different teams getting Winner Winner Chicken Dinners across all 15 matches in three days.
We are looking forward to watching the teams play again during the PUBG Mobile Pro League MY/SG/PH.”
The impressive performance of TABAH NSEA and GEEK FAM further boosts MESFâ€™s confidence in winning a gold medal in the PUBG Mobile event at the Hanoi SEA Games.Â
For more information, visit PUBG Mobileâ€™s official social pages:Â

Facebook: PUBG MOBILE MalaysiaÂ
Facebook: PUBG MOBILE Esports Malaysia
YouTube: PUBG MOBILE Malaysia
Instagram: @pubgmobilemyofficial


We’ll Be Getting Our First Look At The King of Fighter XV Next Year

Fans of SNK’s 3v3 fighting game series The King of Fighters will not need to wait too long for the fifteenth(?) game.
The King of Fighters XV will have its first official reveal on 7th January 2021 (via IGN). The first three characters who are confirmed for the series are:

Kyo Kusanagi
Benimaru in a new Chinese getup without sleeves
Shun’ei

Shun’ei, who made his headphone-geared appearance in KOF XIV, will now be the game’s main protagonist. In addition, SNK will also announce the third season pass and characters for its other fighting game Samurai Shodown. And one of them is a character from old SNK title The Last Blade. I hope it’s Moriya and not another shoto like Kaede.
In the meantime, here’s the official character announcement news from KOF producer Yasuyuki Oda and director Eisuke Ogura. Honestly, the fact that it’s using the Maximum Impact font means that we might have some MI characters coming back.


Filipino PvP Shooter Project Xandata Is Out In Open Beta Right Now

Filipino-made online shooter Project Xandata is out in open beta.
The game is a skill-based team-focused 3v3 shooter by veteran developer Secret 6. You can customize your character and choose between a number of base classes: Agent, Marksman, and Juggernaut. You also get 9 weapons with various perks to match your playstyle.
In addition, the game also has a new 3v3 mode called Annihilation: it’s basically a last team standing mode where you kill opponents and only have 3 revives on you.
The full patch notes are below; the game is available on Steam right now.
ADDED:

Annihilation is now included in the game mode rotation when match start is 3v3

Player names and game mode text appear in Match Intro scene

GENERAL CHANGES:

Fixed incorrect Rare Weapon Skin names in Prestige Pass

Improved Overcharge announcer voice lines

Reduced default volume settings from 10 to 5

Title screen volume can now be controlled with main menu volume

CLASS CHANGES:

Agent – Suimuran Ice

Suimuran Edge slash now costs 2.05 instead of 1.5

WEAPON CHANGES:

Favorhouse Sniper Rifle

Perk Changes

Illuminating Mind

Blind duration reduced from 1.3 to 0.4

Only procs AOE Blind on headshot kills

FIXES:

Fixed Guillotine Shotgunâ€™s animation to match rate of fire

Fixed issue with Ironbarkâ€™s Perk â€œZen Contemplatorâ€ description indicatingÂ  Range instead of Accuracy

Fixed â€œAcquired fromâ€ descriptions of First Wave and Schooled Nameplates

Fixed collision issue in Site Agalon where the player drops through the roof of trucks when eliminated on top of it

Removed collider for small walkway behind High Suludlan waterfall to prevent players entering the restricted area


Here’s What New In The Latest Apex Legends Patch

Despite all the great milestones Apex Legends has achieved, it’s worth remembering that the game is only nine months old. In late October, it was revealed that the game had already hit 70 million players and EA has made it one of their primary games of 2020.
Fans will be happy to know that a new patch has just dropped and it introduces a host of improvements plus some really cool new features that a lot of people have been asking for. The major additions in Patch 3.1 are the Firing Range, rerolling Daily Challenges with Legend Tokens, and a change in how the penalty for abandoning ranked matches work.
Welcome To The Firing Range

Apex Legends has a tutorial but that’s it. It teaches some of the basic mechanics but doesn’t really give the player the freedom to understand other important aspects of the game such as getting to know all the weapons and items. Thankfully, we now have the Firing Range to mitigate that.
Aside from letting you experiment with ALL the Legends (only ones you’ve unlocked), weapons, armors, attachments, and other items, the Firing Range can also be entered with your squad. It would’ve been great to just get a solo Firing Range but this is even better especially for new players who can have a friend guide them in the Firing Range.
Just like in the tutorial, there will target dummies in the Firing Range for you to practice on. Respawn makes it clear that they wish to keep improving the Firing Range so go ahead and test it out to see what you would want to be added into the new training mode.
Keep Rollin’, Rollin’, Rollin’

Ever felt like today’s Daily Challenges just aren’t all that fun or interesting? Even worse, some of the challenges need you to use a hero you haven’t unlocked yet or have no interest in unlocking. Well, the new reroll mechanic that will let you change your Daily Challenges using Legend Tokens is now available for you to use.
Here’s how it works:

First reroll: 200 Legend Tokens
Second reroll: 500 Legend Tokens
Third or more reroll: 1000 Legend Tokens for each reroll.
Cost increases with each purchase before capping out at 1000 Legend Tokens.
Cost resets every day.

How Dare You Leave Ranked

Prior to this, leaving a ranked match after you died but your banner was picked up by surviving teammates would get you penalised. The new patch now fixes this by lettting players leave ranked matches after 2 minutes and 30 seconds have passed since their banner was picked up.
To help make things clear, players will even be reminded with a pop up that lets them know whether or not they will be penalised for leaving the ranked match at a given time.
And Everything Else
Now that we’ve got the big parts out of the way, here’s everything else that’s fixed, nerfed, buffed, and tinkered with in patch 3.1:
WEAPONS
Wingman

Reduced the headshot multiplier: 2.15 -> 2.1

Changes to Projectile Collision: Weâ€™ve increased the projectile width on the some weapons so they are easier to hit with. We made this change to the TripleTake in Season 2 and the following will be updated for this patch:

Shotguns: All shotguns will have projectiles with a small amount of width.
L-STAR
Snipers: The Longbow DMR, Kraber, and G7 Scout.

QUALITY OF LIFE

In an effort to surface easier challenges to players more often and offer a balanced set of challenges each day, Daily Challenge distribution has been adjusted so players are guaranteed to receive 1 easy, 1 medium, and 1 hard challenge.
You can now adjust the game cursor velocity in Settings -> Controller. This will apply to cursor velocity in all menus including the Lobby, Pause/Inventory menus, and Death Box inventories.
We now show you what Music Pack you have selected while dropping into the map. If you only have the â€œdefaultâ€ Pack selected you wonâ€™t see anything.
Improved flow from Lobby to Match that fixes some minor bugs and will hopefully get players into matches a bit faster.

Disabling pregame spawning of players before character selection. This will address cases where players might hear someone voice comms or other sounds before the Legend selection starts.
The â€œWaiting for Players…â€ transition now shows the game world instead of a black screen.
Removed the 5 second countdown that would start at the beginning of Legend selection.

Player will now be able to view the ammo types of their squadmates equipped weapons when in the inventory menu.
[Controller] you can now open the quip wheel by holding down on the dpad (you can still do it the old way – open ping menu and press Y).
[PC] Quick Chat binding should now auto bind to F1 if it isnâ€™t bound to anything (assuming nothing is already bound to F1).

BUG FIXES

Fixed a bug where players would stay in place while the train keeps moving when reviving another player.
Updated the layout of the minimap that was previously showing a route that doesnâ€™t exist.
Fixed cases where players could drop into Out of Bounds areas without getting the timer.
Fixed cases of some areas where players could take lava damage near the Volcano when there isnâ€™t any lava.
Fixed display issue with post game where it would show you earning 2 battle pass levels for levelling up via Stars.

LEGENDS
Crypto

EMP now will damage armor that players have dropped.
Fixed a bug where Lifelineâ€™s drone couldnâ€™t heal Crypto while he was in the drone.
Fix for friendly Caustic gas kicking Crypto out of his drone.

Bangalore

Fixed bug where sometimes the missiles from Bangaloreâ€™s Ultimate would disappear after landing on the train.

Read the official patch notes here.


Disney & Tencent Team Up To Make An Avatar MMO

Ubisoft isn’t the only company handling the James Cameron’s Avatar franchise in the game-making world.
Disney and Tencent recently revealed Avatar: Reckoning, an upcoming MMORPG slated for iOS and Android. The game’s developer is Archosaur Games.
Here’s a brief description of the game from the press release:
“Avatar: Reckoning will transport players to never-before-seen parts of Pandora where they will meet new Naâ€™vi clans fighting to defend their home, battle powerful RDA troops seeking to exploit the resources of the moon, and encounter spectacular alien creatures.”
Players in the MMORPG can take on these challenges either solo, co-op, or in dynamic multiplayer matches. They can also level up and equip their Na’vi with high-tech/primitive weapons.
Avatar: Reckoning will be out in 2022.


Genshin Impact 3.8 Summer Update Launches Early July

It’s summertime over at Teyvat, and you’re invited!
Genshin Impact’s 3.8 update, the Secret Summer Paradise, will launch this 5th July according to a HoYoverse announcement. The new update adds new outfits for Kaeya and Klee, as well as a new limited-time area full of new open-world gameplay, summer attractions, and bountiful rewards. Here’s a breakdown & event description:

A new limited-time map with summer attractions
Two open-world gameplay modes and four event games with rewards including Kaeya’s outfit and Layla whom you can recruit
New outfits for Klee and Kaeya, and Hangout Event for Kaeya
New TCG PvE mode and 3 new Character Cards

Consisting of high hills, forested valleys, dark caves, and a myriad of amusement facilities, a brand-new area called the Veluriyam Mirage awaits visitors this summer in Teyvat. Players may fully explore the Mirage with two open-world game modes: the Choo-Choo Cart that ferries passengers throughout the area with exciting roller-coastering experiences, or the Preprint mode that teleports people into a two-dimensional world to unlock hidden puzzles and treasures. As players explore this area, they can collect Joyeux Vouchers to redeem various rewards, including Kaeya’s new outfit.
Four summer special events and attractions can also be found across the Veluriyam Mirage. These amusements offer more bonuses, which include the chance to recruit Layla for free. “Spino Blaster” features a water cannon shooting game, and “Dance of Flashing Thought” provides more combat challenges with different features. Participants can control a little Barking Fox and take part in an aerial speed race in the “Sojourns of the Barking Fox” event, or try their hand at a revamped shuffle-board game in the “Bing-Bang Finchball” event.
In addition, there will be a HoYo FEST happening this year, with online events and offline gatherings slated for Southeast Asia. Check out the official Genshin Impact Facebook page for more info.
The 3.8 update video below also teases new footage of the new continent of Genshin Impact: Fontaine, the Nation of Justice.


What Comes After’s Approach To Death & Post-Mortem Thoughts Is Charming & Insightful

Platform: PC
Genre: Adventure gameÂ
What Comes After, the indie game from fahmitsu and Rolling Glory Jam about mortality & the afterlife, reminds me of that Midnight Meat Train movie and short story from Clive Barker. Except less grisly and more thought-provoking. And more cute than horrifying. And a lot more hopeful at the end of the proverbial train tunnel.
The story is about Vivi, a girl who overslept on a train when she wakes up aboard a different kind of public transportation. The kind that ferries the dead to their intended location. While she waits until morning to get back to the land of the living, she ends up talking to the passengers onboard and hearing their plights and last thoughts. I’ll have to stop here because everything else beyond here is spoiler territory and it’s a pretty short game.

However, the stories and philosophical bits What Comes After brings up concerning death and how to cope with it as one of the not-living is well-written and structured in a cohesive manner. This is from the same creator of Coffee Talk, so there’s a lot of insightful narratives thrown in here as you discover each spirit’s bone to pick, or their contentment with their final fates. Some are bitter about it, while others are just powering through with no regrets. You’ll even get some surprises that are even non-human.
And it’s only S$4.20 (RM10), so it’s really cheap. With cute and charming aesthetics as well as a topic that hasn’t been touched upon with this much grace, What Comes After is a steal that will resonate with you beyond its hour-or-so experience. Granted, the game is just you walking left to right talking and interacting for the majority of the time, but you’re missing the forest from the trees if you go into this indie with that mindset.
Hop onto this soul train, and perhaps you’ll feel introspective about cherishing what you have in the present, and mortality in general. Perhaps even your own.


Xbox Game Pass Late June/Early July Offerings Feature Gang Beasts, New Worms, & Need For Speed

Microsoft has announced a slew of new titles for Xbox Game Pass for console and PC for the next few weeks leading up to July. Here they are:
23 June

Worms RumbleÂ (Cloud, Console, and PC)Â ID@XboxÂ â€“Â Worms RumbleÂ isÂ WormsÂ like youâ€™ve never played it before, with intense, real-time, arena-based 32 player cross-platform combat. Get ready for multiple game modes where youâ€™re only ever a Holy Hand Grenade away from death!

24 June

Iron HarvestÂ (PC) â€“Â Iron HarvestÂ is a real-time strategy game set in the alternate reality of 1920+, just after the end of the Great War. The game lets you control giant dieselpunk mechs, combining epic single-player and co-op campaigns as well as skirmishes with intense action on the battlefield for multiplayer fans.
Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit RemasteredÂ (Console and PC) EA Play â€“ Feel the thrill of the chase and the rush of escape inÂ Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit Remastered, coming June 24 with Xbox Game Pass for PC and Ultimate via EA Play. Itâ€™s time to reignite the pursuit.
ProdeusÂ (Game Preview) (PC)Â ID@XboxÂ â€“ Get ready to paint the walls red. Featuring a hand-crafted campaign from industry first-person shooter veterans, over-the-top gory visuals, and a built-in community map browser for instantaneous action with nearly limitless levels to play.Â ProdeusÂ is the retro shooter youâ€™ve been waiting for.

1st July

Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & BoltsÂ (Cloud) â€“ The heroic bear and bird return at last to defend Spiral Mountain from their nemesis Gruntilda. Groundbreaking vehicular platforming awaits in wild new worlds packed with features and faces old and new. Build awe-inspiring vehicles and tackle the Jiggy challenges in any way you see fit!
Bug Fables: The Everlasting SaplingÂ (Cloud, Console, and PC)Â ID@XboxÂ â€“ Small heroes, big adventure! Follow Vi, Kabbu, and Leif in their epic journey to find the Everlasting Sapling! Explore and combine your teamâ€™s abilities to solve puzzles, defeat powerful enemies and find ancient treasures!
Gang BeastsÂ (Cloud, Console, and PC)Â ID@XboxÂ â€“Â Gang BeastsÂ is a silly multiplayer party game with surly gelatinous characters, brutal slapstick fight sequences, and absurd hazardous environments set in the mean streets of Beef City. Customize your character and fight enemies in the melee game mode or fight with friends against the gangs of Beef City in the gang game mode.
Immortal Realms: Vampire WarsÂ (Cloud, Console, and PC) â€“Â Immortal Realms: Vampire WarsÂ is an engaging strategy game set in a dark vampire world in turmoil, combining empire management and turn-based combat with unique card-game elements. Descend into a mythical world filled with horrors and legendsâ€”and hurl yourself into a compelling gothic epos paired with a challenging game experience.
LimboÂ (Cloud, Console, and PC)Â ID@XboxÂ â€“Â LimboÂ is an award-winning indie adventure, critically acclaimed for its captivating puzzle design and immersive sound and visuals. Its dark, misty spaces and haunting narrative will stay with you forever.

The Xbox Game Pass will also offer these games on its cloud system with the Xbox Touch Controls feature:

DIRT 5
Double Kick Heroes
Eastshade
Empire of Sin
Haven
Octopath Traveler
Torchlight III
Yakuza: Like a Dragon

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate owners will get the new Space Jam: A New Legacy game early, as well as get the following bonuses:

Phantasy Star Online 2: New GenesisÂ â€“ June Member Monthly Bonus (available now) â€“ Jump into the all-newÂ Phantasy Star Online 2: New GenesisÂ with some items to give you a hand! N-Half Scape Dolls (x5) to help revive you during intense battles, and Photon Chunks (x50) to strengthen weapons and units.
Disney+ â€“ Enjoy Endless series, movies, and OriginalsÂ (available now) â€“ Get your 30-day trial to Disney+ and start streaming today. Valid for new Disney+ subscribers only. 18+ only. Terms Apply.


Sports Story Secret Room Reveals Sinister Reason Behind The Game’s Development Troubles

Sports Story originally launched for the Nintendo Switch on 23 December 2022, but players have been complaining about major issues and bugs in the game. Developer Sidebar Games already stated that they will patch these out but players have discovered a secret hidden room that implies something more sinister.
Twitter user @tendog has been documenting all the easter eggs and hidden secrets in Sports Story (via ResetEra), which is how they accidentally discovered the secret room that only seems to be accessible by clipping out of bounds.
Inside the secret room, players will encounter a team of developers called Cold Cartridge working on a game called GALF. What the NPCs in the room say is disturbing, including saying that the game is going through a “troubled development” while another NPC in the room claims that someone “kept requesting new features” and that the “original vision no longer exists”. Other NPCs in the room also complain about broken menus and being forced to work on additional features.
What all of this suggests is that Sports Story was hampered by a phenomenon called feature creep, which is when developers cram in excessive additions of new features throughout development while not focusing as much time or resources on polishing the game. This will often result in a buggy game, which is what Sports Story turned out to be. It’s currently unclear if any of this is true, or if the secret room is just a joke.
Check it out below:

reminds me of another game #NintendoSwitch pic.twitter.com/u1GwU5sGY2
— tendog (@tend0g) December 29, 2022


Spider-Man 3’s Official Title Is Spider-Man No Way Home

After yesterday’s trolling (and reveals of official movie stills) by the movie’s cast members, we’ve finally received the official title for Spider-Man 3.
It’s not Phone Home, Home-Wrecker, or Home Slice.
Marvel Studios have announced that the official Spider-Man 3 title is Spider-Man No Way Home. You can check out the movie photos shared by Tom Holland, Jacob Batalon, and Zendaya yesterday below.
Tom Holland’s.

Recently, Tom HollandÂ squashed the rumoursÂ of previous Spider-Men Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield appearing in the upcoming movie.
Directed by Jon Watts (who also directed 2017â€™sÂ Spider-Man HomecomingÂ and 2019â€™sÂ Spider-Man Far From Home), Spider-Man No Way HomeÂ is still filming and in production, but it is slated to premiere on 17 December 2021 later this year.


Apollo Justice Ace Attorney Trilogy Launches In Early 2024

During Capcom Showcase 2024, Capcom announced the Apollo Justice Ace Attorney Trilogy, which will launch for the PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC via Steam sometime in early 2024.
The collection features three games, including Apollo Justice Ace Attorney, Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney Dual Destinies and Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney Spirit Of Justice. Players will join Apollo Justice on his journey to bring order to the courts and bring an end to the dark age of the law.
Check out the trailer below:


Malaysia’s Kaigan Games Announces Simulacra 3

Malaysia-based developer Kaigan Games and publisher Neon Doctrine have officially announced Simulacra 3. Kaigan Games previously released horror titles for PC and mobile like 2017’s Sara Is Missing and Simulacra, 2019’s Simulacra 2 and 2021’s Doctor Who And The Lonely Assassins (check out our review here).
The synopsis for Simulacra 3 reads:
The once charming town of Stonecreek has seen better days. People are vanishing into thin air, leaving nothing behind but strange symbols where they were last seen. With the police baffled and the populace terrified, rumors swirl that it is the doing of the Beldam, the ghost of a witch that once haunted the streets of Stonecreek.
You are the intern at the local paper, tasked with assisting the town’s star journalist, Ruby Myers, on her investigation into the disappearances. Your only lead is the phone of the missing Paul Castillo, a software developer, an amateur historian of the town, and one of Ruby’s sources. While Ruby does the legwork, your job is to hack into Paul’s phone for any clues left behind. New apps, exciting features, and fresh terror await those who delve into the darkest corners of the digital realms as you investigate the Beldam of Stonecreek.
In Simulacra 3, you’ll see your actions play out in real time, as well as react to video calls in real time. You will also be able to hack into security systems to aid Ruby as she evades danger in your investigation. Last but not least, learn about the once-charming rural town of Stonecreek, now corrupted by gentrification and evil’s shadow.
Simulacra 3 is coming to PC via Steam and mobile via Android and iOS. However, there is no release date yet. In the meantime, check out the trailer below:


Borderlands 3 Guardian Breach Takedown Delayed; Cartel Still Active

It’s pretty hectic over at the US of A due to the Black Lives Matter protests, so much so that digital events are being postponed.
The latest delay is from Gearbox’s side: they are postponing the launch of Borderlands 3’s Takedown at the Guardian Breach and muting their social channels out of respect “for what’s going on in the world”. Furthermore, the company will be increasing funding for its 2K Foundations program by an additional US$1 million.

pic.twitter.com/WBAxx870ul
— Borderlands (@Borderlands) June 4, 2020

There is currently no new date for the launch at this point in time. While that is disappointing news, here’s the silver lining: the Revenge of the Cartel event will still be ongoing and live until the next patch. Which means that all you Borderlands 3 players will get a few extra days to keep farming for those OPQs and Yellowcake rocket launchers, essentially the few of the best weapons from the mini-event.
For more on how to farm for these, head on over to our Cartel loot guide.


The Next Biomutant Patch Will Double The Level Cap

The animal-filled and environmental-savvy shooter brawler RPG Biomutant just received a major patch.
The patch has doubled the level cap of the game from 50 to 100. In addition, PC gamers will also receive display settings to switch between horizontal or vertical field of view adjustments for aspect ratio-adjusting purposes.
The level cap increase is meant for players who want to tackle New Game+, meaning that the loot will be more variable for players as they progress to a higher level. There will also be several new items with higher stats than their lower rarity counterparts, meaning that there will be better versions of the same lower-level items you love keeping around. Speaking of loot, you can now scrap items from the loot screen with the new update.
The full patch notes are here. For more Biomutant, check out our review and guide.


RIP The Man Behind The Konami Code

The name Kazuhisa Hashimoto may be lost to some folks, but a majority of old-school gamers may know of his landmark contribution: the Konami Code. The person behind the world’s most famous cheat code has passed away recently. He was 79.
This announcement was made by his friend Yuji Takenouchi, a veteran sound designer for games.

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— TECHNOuchi a.k.a. missingsoul/Mr.YT ? (@TECHNOuchi) February 26, 2020

The Konami Code, which is “Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A, Start” has been used by gamers to unlock Easter eggs and cheat codes to stand a fighting chance against certain titles like the NES version of Contra. The code was created in 1986 during Hashimoto’s time working on the NES port of Gradius. Pulling off the code basically gave you every power-up for your ship. Throughout the course of history, the code has been used to unlock fun secrets and tidbits in Konami titles, as well as making a huge dent in pop culture.
You will be missed, Kazuhisa Hashimoto. Thank you for giving us something to get by these difficult moments in game life.


Early Avengers: Endgame Reactions Are Positive, To The Surprise Of Absolutely No One

The Twitter reviews for Marvel Studios’ Avengers: Endgame are out, and they are indeed positive. This means that your early pre-orders and the overwhelming of a cinema ticket servers of a nationwide scale are entirely justified.
Here are the best ones so far (via Entertainment Weekly). No spoilers here, so go nuts with the scrolling!
https://twitter.com/ldbahr/status/1120566293126701062

Avengers Endgame had me like… pic.twitter.com/rgptlGQASz
— Kimario McFadden™ (@K_mar7) April 23, 2019

The scope of Avengers: Endgame is impossible to put into words. What Fiege & MCU achieved over last 10-years has lead to this gloriously masterful moment in cinema & it’s truly mind-blowing how beautifully paced this storytelling is. Perfectly balanced. As all things should be.
— Kevin McCarthy (@KevinMcCarthyTV) April 23, 2019

Just watched Avengers: Endgame. I don’t believe hyperbole is possible for this movie. It is the ultimate Marvel movie in every way possible and words cannot describe how epic it is. And yes, Hawkeye is a rockstar.
— Rob Keyes (@rob_keyes) April 23, 2019

So I just saw #AvengersEndgame, and you guys aren’t ready for shiiiiit. All the theorizing didn’t prepare you for this. I cried a lot, I flung my hands in the air and screamed out loud. It’s incredible. #EndgamePremiereLA #Avengers #Endgame
— Beatrice Verhoeven (@bverhoev) April 23, 2019

Just walked out of Avengers Endgame premiere. Oh. My. God. #AvengersEndgame pic.twitter.com/EzTxQiWp1G
— KelleyLCarter (@KelleyLCarter) April 23, 2019

Wow. #AvengersEndgame is staggering. It’s surprising in ways I never saw coming and satisfying in ways I didn’t realize I needed. It’s kind of the ultimate gift to fans of the MCU. It’s very long and has a few hiccups, but is everything you’re hoping for and more. pic.twitter.com/RO97kw9fs5
— Germain Lussier (@GermainLussier) April 23, 2019

Spoiler free #AvengersEndgame thoughts: Fans are going to go APESHIT. #AvengersEndgamePremiere
— Joel Meares (@joelmeares) April 23, 2019

You guys. This is it! Avengers: Endgame is entertainment from beginning to end. There were tears, laughter, cheering. A lot of cheering. I’m ready to watch it again. The payoff is ?so plan your bathroom breaks accordingly. #avengersendgame
— Wendy Lee Szany (@WendyLeeSzany) April 23, 2019

Based on these takeaways it looks like:

Hawkeye is going to be a key player here.
It’ll make you cry and feel all emotional inside.
It will reset your expectations if you thought Avengers: Infinity War did that. So a double reset, basically.
It features masterclass storytelling & pacing. In other words, Citizen Kane and The Seventh Seal can go eat a dick.
You will need to plan your bathroom breaks accordingly. Or just hold your pee in as the endings roll.

So yeah, this isn’t a huge surprise since all of these reactions are based on post-screening hype. To be fair, it’s not like Marvel and Disney are purposely going to release a lacklustre flick for all the mass marketing they’re doing for this conclusive MCU film.
But at the same time, the following tweets are mostly from people who did attempt to defend the mediocreness that is Captain Marvel (Marvel version). Guess we’ll find out soon enough if Avengers: Endgame is the hot s*** tomorrow morning.
In related news, here’s an MCU film ranking feature that’s totally right.Â Oh, and 5 ways the Endgame film may end.Â


Bushiden Is An Upcoming Tribute To The 90s 2D Action Games We Love

It’s no wonder a lot of indie developers go to Kickstarter to get their games funded; it’s a veritable success and a guaranteed victory in fanfare and sales. I mean, we have retro-esque 2D games like Shovel Knight and…er…okay…Mighty No. 9 was bad… and Bloodstained, which is actually delayed to 2019.
Okay, hear me out: this upcoming action game Bushiden that’s on Kickstarter right now does look promising. It’s a 2D action platformer that revolves around cybernetic ninjas and the enemies that try to eliminate them. Our hero Reylee, who moves and slashes like a revamped Strider Hiryu, can climb walls, slide, throw lightning bolts, and can cast ninjutsu to clear the screen full of enemies.
Key features include:

Seven levels to explore plus a prologue area!
Survive epic boss fights to unlock new traversal and combat abilities!
Unique â€œcrowd controlâ€ combat system gives the player powerful options for dispatching hordes of foes!
Revisit levels with upgraded abilities to unlock new areas and become more powerful!
Beautifully drawn and animated pixel art! They donâ€™t make games like this anymore!
Purchase upgrades and Chi Spell Attacks from the Tech Shop!
Soundtrack by Michael “Garoad” Kelly, who you may remember is the composer for the awesome VA-11 Hall-A OST.

The game is slated for PC and PS4. So far at this point in typing, the Kickstarter goal is at US$95,527 and it’s currently at US$6,263. Hopefully, the following GIFs of the game’s special moves and action beats can convince you to take a stab at this neo-retro title.

Me? I could use more games like Dead Souls and Chasm in my digital diet. What’s one more, especially if it reminds me of old 2D action-heavy Megadrive classics like Shadow Blaster, Strider, Revenge of Shinobi, Mystic Defender, El Viento, and Alisia Dragoon?
God, I’m old.


The Shazam Family Returns In Shazam Fury Of The Gods Trailer

During San Diego Comic-Con 2022, Warner Bros Pictures revealed the first trailer for Shazam Fury Of The Gods.
Shazam Fury Of The Gods stars returning cast members Zachary Levi as Shazam; Asher Angel as Billy Batson; Jack Dylan Grazer as Freddy Freeman; Adam Brody as Super Hero Freddy; Ross Butler as Super Hero Eugene; Meagan Good as Super Hero Darla; D.J. Cotrona as Super Hero Pedro; Grace Caroline Currey as Mary Bromfield / Super Hero Mary; Faithe Herman as Darla Dudley; Ian Chen as Eugene Choi; Jovan Armand as Pedro Pena; Marta Milans as Rosa Vasquez; Cooper Andrews as Victor Vasquez; with Djimon Hounsou as Wizard.
Joining the cast are Rachel Zegler, Lucy Liu and Helen Mirren as three goddesses, with the latter being the film’s antagonists. The film is directed by David F. Sandberg and produced by Peter Safran. Rachel Zegler will play the youngest of the three goddesses.
Shazam Fury Of The Gods is slated to premiere in December 2022.
In the meantime, check out our review of Shazam here or check out the best Shazam stories you should read if you’re interested in knowing more about the character.
Check out the trailer below:


Nintendo Is Not Pursuing The Metaverse Or NFTs… Yet

It seems like almost every company in the video games industry is currently evaluating going into NFTs or the Metaverse. What about Nintendo, one of the biggest players in the game? In their latest investor’s Q&A report, they express interest in the technology (NFT and Metaverse), but they won’t be adopting the new technology yet.
The statement (translated via Nibellion on Twitter) reads:
“Metaverse is attracting the attention of many companies around the world, and we believe that it has great potential.
In addition, when the Metaverse is introduced in the media, software such as “Animal Crossing” is sometimes cited as an example, and in this sense, we are interested in this technology.
On the other hand, it is difficult to define what kind of surprises and fun can be provided to customers by the Metaverse.
As a company that offers entertainment, we place the utmost importance on how to deliver fresh surprises and fun to our customers.
If we can find a way to communicate our “Nintendo approach” to many people in an easy-to-understand manner, we may be able to consider something, but we do not believe this to be the case at present.”


New Palworld Trailer Shows Off Minigun Toting Totoro

The latest trailer for PokÃ©mon-esque game Palworld showcases various features that make it stand out from its influences, such as guns, base building, and monster fusions.
When Palworld was first announced, it took the internet by storm and for good reason. Its first trailer showed off a simple premise, another run off the mill PokÃ©monÂ clone, but then the player character pulls out a gun and everyone went mad. The newest trailer shows off more gameplay that lets it stand out from the iconic series itâ€™s trying to emulate.
For starters, the game is not a turn-based RPG but is instead a third-person shooter; there’s an emphasis on the shooter part because guns are a big thing in Palworld. The second trailer starts off with the player character soaring through the skies on a Pal, the titular monster companions in the series.
It then cuts to a squirrel, grass type Pal that climbs on top of the player and pulls out a machine pistol. The trailer then shows how Pals can help you in combat, shooting with you and essentially doubling your firepower.
http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcybNpsc3-E
Aside from being a shooter, what makes Palsworld different is that itâ€™s actually a survival game akin to Rust or Ark Survival. Youâ€™ll have to juggle food supplies, which the Steam page ominously implies the ability to eat Pals, and youâ€™ll be able to build bases with the help of your monster friends. Whatâ€™s more, their version of breeding takes it another step by allowing players to fuse their Pals, to create Pals with different element types as seen in the trailer.
The game aims to be a more mature alternative to the monster training genre as aside from the usage of guns and the implication of eating Pals, the antagonists of the game will be presented in their own version of Team Rocket, in the form of poachers. The trailer also teases the possibility of Pal experimentation or torture, carried out by the poachers.
Wouldn’t want him as my neighbour.
The game also features an electric type Totoro using a minigun which you can hop on its back and shoot alongside with it. Nuff said. The game is slated to release for PC in 2022, with no news for other platforms as of writing.
Palworld is something definitely to keep an eye on for 2022, but in the meantime, you can take a look at our tier list for Pokemon Unite.


Crusader Kings 3 Might Be Coming To Consoles

According to Gematsu, the Taiwan Digital Game Rating Committee has rated strategy game Crusader Kings 3Â for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, and Xbox One.

While this is not a confirmation in any way, perhaps the strategy game might be coming to consoles soon. We’ll have to wait for the official announcement from the developers.
Crusader Kings 3 originally launched for PC in September 2021.


The Top 15 JRPGs With Female Leads

The concept of a female lead in a video game has always been a struggle to realize. Whether due to the large male-player demographic or simply creator preference, the number of games out there with female protagonists are comparatively low, and that list gets narrower the deeper into a genre you go.
Complicate this with more recent trends of developers including gendered options for protagonists instead of a commitment to one of the other and it can still feel a bit like finding a needle in a haystack when looking for a game that proudly champions a lady.
While JRPGs in particular have always traditionally celebrated men and women alike in strong roles, often putting them on equal ground against the big world-ending baddie, it’s no secret that the main leads of these games have also often been men.
With that in mind, we’ve taken the liberty of scouring for 15 great JRPGs that undoubtedly feature some inspiring female protagonists at the front wheel.
#15. Tales of Berseria

For more than two decades, the Tales series has maintained a prominent presence in JRPG culture. Uniquely seen for its focus on action-heavy combat and a vast amount of character skits, the popularity of Tales in Japan would only lose to bigger juggernauts such as Dragon Quest, Pokemon, and Final Fantasy.
Thanks to the positive reception towards Tales of Xillia for offering a choice between two genders for the protagonist, it was as recently as 2016 when the series then debuted its first solo female lead, with Velvet Crowe in Tales of Berseria.
Wielding a daemonic arm that is corrupted from the opening events in the game, Velvet’s role in Berseria is that of a vengeful anti-hero, seeking to kill the man who murdered her little brother at any cost.
#14. Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights

Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights is a dark and foreboding game, crawling with demons and the undead. But it’s also a story about Lily, the last descendant of White Princesses, who must cleanse the doomed realm of Land’s End from the Blight.
The game plays out like a Soulslike game, with a story that unfolds through the environment and dialogue. Meanwhile, the levels are pieced together and explored in a way akin to Metroidvanias.
While Lily cannot fight on her own, she is able to summon powerful entities to defeat enemies in her stead. Like other action RPGs, you’ll have to time your dodges and attacks, as well as figure out strategies to defeat your opponent.
If you’re a fan of more challenging gameplay with a tinge of exploration, as well as the melancholic and haunting setting, Ender Lilies happens to be a recent game that also proudly features a female lead.
#13. Wild Arms 3

The Wild Arms series has been a dormant Sony franchise as of late, though it was something of a popular IP back in the day. With its unique blend of western-style aesthetics with fantasy elements, Wild Arms on the original PlayStation was an instant hit.
Wild Arms 3 represented the series’ debut on PlayStation 2, and with that also came a leap to cel-shaded graphics as well as 3D gameplay, though its classic turn-based system remained intact.
The protagonist of the story is Virginia Maxwell, an 18-year old Drifter in search of her long-lost father. Wielding two revolvers in hand, you couldn’t ask for a more suitable character to roam the vast planet of Filgaia with.
#12 Xenosaga Trilogy

If you’ve heard of Xenoblade Chronicles, then you may be interested in a little old series called Xenosaga. Developed by the very same Monolith Soft, this series was a sprawling sci-fi adventure with spaceships and robots, but also contained character drama and philosophical motifs regarding religion and the mind.
At the centre of it all is Shion Uzuki, the heroine and a computer scientist, who also becomes responsible for the development of a female android known as KOS-MOS. As humanity faces extinction under the wrath of the alien Gnosis, they begin a journey through space to unlock the mysteries behind their foe.
The Xenosaga trilogy is, as you may have guessed, divided into three parts. The first game acts as an introduction to the series, while the second and third games expand on the story’s key themes. Though we were meant to see Shion’s adventures span for as far as six titles, this play was unfortunately cut short.
Regardless, Xenosaga is still a complete story, and a good series to dive into if you’re big on worldbuilding and dialogue.Â
#11. Atelier Series

Perhaps the inverse of a lot of traditional game franchises when it comes to protagonists is Atelier. You have your odd male lead here and there, but Atelier is an overwhelmingly female protagonist series.
The premise for most of the games is simple; you play as an up-and-coming alchemist who roams the world, collecting objects to synthesize into other items. The stories themselves are light-hearted slice-of-life romps without much drama or impending doom.
Little by little, you’ll be using your alchemy to solve everyday problems or to take on characters’ personal goals. It’s a more feminine-focused environment overall thanks to strong leads like Ryza and Sophie, so if you’re looking for a more relaxed RPG experience, Atelier ticks all the boxes for it.
#10. Drakengard 3

With NieR having a resurgence as of late, many people have gotten to know Yoko Taro in all of his eccentricities as a game creator. However, some fans may not realize that NieR is a spin-off from an older series he has worked on, called Drakengard, and is technically set in the same universe.
Sparing the details, Drakengard 3 is a prequel to the entire Drakengard series, and by extension NieR, making it an easy entry point for newcomers. It puts players in the shoes of Zero, an Intoner with a flower growing out of her right eye, who is mysteriously hell-bent on murdering her sisters.
Out of the games here, Drakengard 3 is probably the most mature one out there. You’ll see blood and violence, cussing, and even a few adult jokes. The story, however, is a lot more emotional than meets the eye, and you can’t go wrong with a soundtrack also composed by NieR’s Keiichi Okabe.
And if you’ve experienced the NieR raid in Final Fantasy XIV, who knows, you might even recognize a couple of familiar things in Drakengard 3.
#9. Persona 2: Eternal Punishment

Despite the popularity that the Persona series has seen as of late, Persona 2 rarely ever comes into the forefront of discussions. In this sense, you’d be forgiven if you didn’t know that Persona 2 does, in fact, feature a solo female leadâ€¦ or at least, the second part of Persona 2 does.
Persona 2: Eternal Punishment is the direct sequel to Persona 2: Innocent Sin, and focuses on Maya Amano, a reporter for a teen magazine who was also a party member in the first Persona 2 game. As a series of deaths revolving around a mysterious Joker ensue, Maya sets out to investigate.

Naturally, things eventually go awry in the city of Sumaru, and so Maya and friends must avert the crisis with the power of their summoned Personas.
Considering that this is a continuation of Innocent Sin’s story, Eternal Punishment might not be the most accessible game if you’re just looking for a female lead. However, it is a full-length game in its own right, which is rare enough for female protagonists in general.
#8. Blue Reflection

Looking for a change of pace? Unlike much of the other listed games here, Blue Reflection is a more introspective title that’s focused on your average high school girl.
Hinako is a ballet dancer whose dreams are cut off prematurely after she experiences a knee injury. With her hopes dashed, she enters high school in bitter spirits but immediately finds herself pulled into a magical world. She awakens as a magical girl called a Reflector, and in this form is able to move her legs freely again as she battles foes called Sephira.
When Hinako isn’t out battling as a Reflector, time is spent exploring her social life. Taking cues from similar games like Persona, Hinako must spend time and bond with different characters to strengthen herself, as opposed to the traditional RPG way of levelling up.
This being the case, Blue Reflection is a game that focuses more on relationships and what could be considered the mundane everyday. Hinako herself must gradually learn to come to terms with her circumstances, and that is reflected in this coming-of-age story.
#7. Recettear: An Item Shop’s Tale

Here’s a cute little game for you. Recettear is a simple game about running a day-to-day item shop. You play as the titular Recette as she is forced to run a business and turn out a profit to pay off the debt left behind by her father. You’re accompanied by Tear, a fairy who, apart from being the second titular character, is basically here to oversee your debt.
Collect items and sell them. Hire adventurers to scour dangerous dungeons and collect valuable objects. Learn to set prices and haggle with customers. All in all, it’s a solid business simulator that happens to be set in a fantasy world. Though, with debt that exponentially rises and business options that continue to expand, one might also consider it a nightmare.
If you don’t mind a surprisingly deep business management game with an absurd setup, as well as the cute 2D-sprite aesthetic, Recettear will no doubt be a romp of a time. Capitalism ho!
#6. Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is a game that was a long time coming. Helmed by Koji Igarashi as a spiritual successor to the classic Castlevania games (particularly Symphony of the Night), the game’s post-Kickstarter development endured its fair share of anxieties from fans. However, the game eventually launched to critical success.Â
The story follows Miriam, a young lady cursed by demonic power due to crystals embedded into her skin. After awakening from a decade-long slumber in 18th-century England, she learns of a castle from Hell that has taken form and proceeds to explore it in order to halt the summoning of an evil demon.
The gameplay itself is a classic Metroidvania, featuring robust action, deep exploration, as well as heavy role-playing elements. If you know the genre, you know what you’re in for.
NEXT: The Top 5 JRPGs With Female Leads


Kakuchopurei Presents: Wargaming Wednesdays

Fancy a round full of exploding metal monsters and armor piercing action? Then come join us at Wargaming Wednesdays where the crew jump into Wargaming.net’s free-to-play, triple-A quality titles starting with World of Tanks this week.
This week, our resident streamer Tasha hops into her tanks of choice in hope of not being another statistic and actually causing a dent on the battlefields of World of Tanks on PC. The stream kicks off at 9PM tonight Kuala Lumpur/ Singapore time so be sure to tune in. (click on the pic below)

Wargaming Wednesdays is brought to you in collaboration with Wargaming.net Asia. Access and press account codes are courtesy of the good folks at Wargaming.net Asia.


Re:Legend Valiantly Goes Beyond Its Fantasy-Laden Farm Simulator Inspirations

Re:Legend isnâ€™t just your run of the mill farming simulator. It aspires to be so much more.
Malaysian games studio Magnus Games Studio released Re:Legend to the public through Steam Early Access as of 30th August. Although the game in its current state is riddled with bugs, donâ€™t let the mixed reviews on Steam sway your decision to give this game a go. The developers have been actively listening to its community and have already released a handful of patch updates based on their feedback.
As someone who has put in numerous hours into games like Stardew Valley, I can tell you that Re:Legend is worth investing in, even in its unfinished state.
PokÃ©mon Crossing

Re:Legend is all about being able to tame monsters that will fight by your side, these monsters are cheekily called Magnus.
These monsters of different shapes and sizes are scattered all across the various regions of Ethia; they can be tamed and added to your party. The Magnus that you tame will fight as your companions. What I find really cool is that each of these unique critters are assigned a certain role.
Some Magnus are Berserkers or Tanks, preferring to deal melee damage and soaking enemy attacks while some are Healers or Gunslingers, providing damage and support from range. Having a max of two Magnus in your party at a time really forces the players to carefully consider which beasts they should bring on their adventures. These creatures even have their own stats system which you can customize. More on the stats system later.
Hereâ€™s where Iâ€™ll highlight one jarring negative about Re:Legend -Â you are actually able to evolve your Magnus to even cooler, stronger forms but the game doesnâ€™t really explain that to you. In fact, there are many, MANY gameplay mechanics that are not explained in the monster breeding simulation hybrid game at all.
I later found out through the community Discord that you have to fulfil certain conditions before you can evolve your loyal companions. If I were a casual player, I wouldâ€™ve never found out about that.
However, this could be an intentional feature by the developers to get their community to share and collaborate to figure out the game together. Either that or a complete developer oversight that hopefully gets addressed in the future updates of the game.
Not All About The Farming

As mentioned before, I reckon I had spent actual weeks playing Stardew Valley religiously at one point of my life. I can tell you for certain that Re:Legend doesnâ€™t feel anything like Stardew Valley. Yeah sure, the game revolves around farming crops and interacting with townsfolk but that isnâ€™t the primary focus of the game.

In fact, I would go so far as to say that you shouldnâ€™t make any comparison between the two. Yes, Re:Legend was inspired by those aforementioned farm simulators, but it’s a completely different beast.

In Stardew Valley, farming crops would serve a few purposes, cooking, selling them for profit, and occasionally to win over an NPC. In Re:Legend however, you can go on a long while without any crops at all and make profits through other means. Players are incentivized to farm crops to create food items that give you buffs useful in combat or used to evolve Magnuses, which goes to show how different the tone of this game is.
Simple Fightin’, Great Progressin’

Movement and combat in Re:Legend feels like playing one of those old PS2 games, and thatâ€™s not necessarily a bad thing. Some might argue that a game released in 2019 should have more advanced movement controls. Here, the somewhat clunky movement and combat feel like it belongs. Hear me out.
Even though the combat system may be simplistic, it gets the job done. You have a couple options of combat styles, melee or ranged. In melee, you can use dual swords or a greatsword while in ranged combat, you would use a magic staff or a bow. Combat is simple and bare-bones; players only need to face an enemy and click to do damage with the occasional use of dodge rolling to avoid getting damaged.
To complement this combat system, Re:Legend has implemented a character stats system. Each time your character levels up, you would receive two stat points. What I find most interesting about this system is that it doesnâ€™t just affect combat but also your ability to do other activities in the game.
Depending on how you want to play your character, in my case I made my character a ranged magic user, so I invested heavily into the Intelligence stat. This would mean that I could do higher magic damage but ALSO increase my fishing power as well, making my character an excellent fisherman.
Another example would be the Luck stat which increases critical chance but also your passive drop rate of items from enemies. The stats system also extends to your magic critters. My Magnus gains five stat points with each level up, which I can then also manually distribute.

Want your Tank Magnus to become an unfaltering meat shield? Invest your points into Endurance and Wisdom for high defence and HP. This system feels balanced and provides a unique experience for every player.

Each player can build their character along with their Magnus differently and result in vastly different styles of gameplay which I find super interesting.
Too PC NPCs

In a game that requires the player to interact with NPCs rather frequently, the NPCs in Re:Legend are rather one-dimensional in nature. When interacting with them, they usually make a comment about how great the weather is or ask generic questions like â€œAre you keeping your weapons in good condition?â€. These interactions feel stiff and awkward.
In Stardew Valley, you feel interconnected relationships between every NPC. A character you’ve been bonding with will express their thoughts on current events or how they feel about another person in the whole town. This really helped to give the players a sense of immersion that allowed them to escape into this game world.

In Re:Legend however, you really donâ€™t get that sense of escapism. On top of this, shops donâ€™t let the player know what time of day that close, leaving the player having to guess and sometimes make wasted trips all the way to the shop just to find that the shopkeeper isnâ€™t there.

Again, this may be intentional to get players to carefully observe and note down the times for themselves but even just a simple sign to inform the player goes a long way.
Overall, the world doesnâ€™t feel lived-in by these NPCs. Currently, there are only a handful of NPCs that donâ€™t quite fill out the massive world space well enough. I would love to see smaller settlements scattered throughout the world space that players can encounter.
Item Drops Like It’s Hot

Remember how I mentioned that thereâ€™s more than one way to earn your living in Re:Legend? Well, I was talking about how youâ€™re are able to craft gear from items dropped from the Magnus that you defeat. Every item drop has a certain rarity and is used for certain crafting recipes.
So make sure to hoard all those items you find, you might be able to craft a piece of gear that sells for a whole load. These values might get tweaked in the full release but if they remain the same, you can bet that Iâ€™m becoming a full-time blacksmith.
Speaking of crafting, letâ€™s talk about the crafting system. Every time you want to create an item, you need to have the required ingredients, consume 20 points of stamina, and play a simple mini-game.
Sounds simple enough right? These diversions may look simple in nature, but they’re not.
An arrow moves from side to side on a bar and you time it correctly to hit the coloured parts of the bar. Fail to do so three times and you fail the entire crafting process. However, consider this, you need to play this mini-game even when crafting an iron ingot for example, and some gear needs 5 iron ingots to craft it.

Add the crafting process of the gear itself, you have to play this mini-game a total of 6 times. Yep, 6 times. And thatâ€™s not including the times you fail the process.

It’s tedious as all heck. But you can argue that this gives crafting items in this game feel more rewarding and you feel like you worked hard to attain the item, cherishing that item even more. Itâ€™s really a matter of perspective.
Harvest Mooned
One of the many reasons that Stardew Valley was a fan favourite quite instantly is because they could actively change and place items in their farm space, creating their very own idealized versions of their very own farm. Storage chests, furnaces, animal barns, pathways, you name it, you could place it however and wherever your heart desires.

In Re:Legend, donâ€™t get your hopes on that. Yes, you have your very own farm space but thereâ€™s little you can do to change much of the appearance of it. Your house is already fitted with dÃ©cor, a bed, a furnace and a central storage system.

Aside from these few commodities, thereâ€™s not much free will to change any of that. You canâ€™t craft extra storage units; you canâ€™t buy a new painting to hang in your house, none of that. Youâ€™re also limited to a designated plot to plant your crops with no options to expand it.
I suppose in a game that puts more emphasis on adventuring and monster taming as well as the core design of the game landscape, doesnâ€™t give much room for such a gameplay mechanic. I think many players coming into Re:Legend thinking that it would be similar to Stardew Valley have to manage their expectations.
PokÃ©mon, But For Fish?

Besides being able to cook and sell fish like a normie, wouldnâ€™t much more love to catch fish and enslave them to illegal underground fish races?
I wasâ€¦ just kidding about the whole illegal underground bit but the fish races are 100% real. There are designated spots hidden away in different parts of the map, with a blackfish swimming near the surface indicating that the player is able to fish there. You canâ€™t just fish in just any body of water, which I suppose makes sense.
Complete a relatively simple fishing mini-game and poof, you got yourself a little fish friend. You can either to keep or release this fishy friend of yours but what youâ€™ll notice is that these fish have their own form of stats, in the form of Speed, Willpower, and Endurance. Each fish has its own unique stat numbers, one will never have the same numbers as the other, despite being the same fish species.
If you choose to keep the fish, you have a few options here. You can cook them into delicious treats for yourself, use them to potentially evolve a Magnus OR chuck them into the pond in your farm. Doing the last option there lets you monitor their condition through the Fishipedia.

As of now, the stats that show on the Fishipedia donâ€™t actually register the actual stats of the fish you throw in the pond but Iâ€™m sure itâ€™ll be fixed soon. This is just more evidence that the developers want to add their own spin on the fishing mechanic from what weâ€™re usually used to.

A Plot Full Of Adventure & Mystery
With any good game, players want a good story. From my several sessions playing the game, Iâ€™ve managed to uncover a good portion of the overarching plot of the game. Spoilers ahead.

You first start the game getting shoved off a cliff right after the character creation screen. Yea, I know, rude. Days later, you wash up on the shores of Vokka Town and youâ€™re found by Papa Pia, a talking penguin fisherman, itâ€™s a fantasy world, just go with it.
You awaken in the town infirmary with little recollection of who you are and are even uncertain of your own name, xXPussy_SlayerXx (if thatâ€™s what you choose to name your character, of course).
Fast forward a couple weeks, one day you enter the town square and the townsfolk are gathered around this huge bright glowing crystal. You are told that this crystal keeps the peace and order in the world and that itâ€™s starting to act up because a spreading â€˜corruptionâ€™ has tainted the Guardians of the Crystals. Itâ€™s up to you to venture out to different regions to confront the Guardians of these regions respectively.

Thatâ€™s what Iâ€™ve been able to learn so far. These Guardians will serve as boss encounters for the players which they can repeat over and over again daily. Itâ€™s a pretty cool daily boss system if you ask me. These Guardians are relatively tough to take down, youâ€™ll definitely fail if you attempt to take it on alone but thatâ€™s why you have Magnus to fight alongside you. Trust me, sometimes the Magnus does more damage than you do.
As of me writing this, I am currently exploring the second region after Vokka Town, and it is exponentially bigger than the first region. Iâ€™m excited to see how the other regions shape up as the game continues to grow.
Fantasy Life
Re:Legend shows a lot of promise and the care that the developers put into the artstyle of the game is evident. The graphics are cutesy, the soundtrack is charmingly ranch-like, the world space does really feel like a fantasy world. The main appeal of Re:Legend, the Magnus, range from super adorable to badass. You really feel motivated to, at the risk of copyright, “catch emâ€™ all”.
Despite that, the game still has a lot of growing to do; itâ€™s definitely not perfect in its current bug-riddled Early Access state. Inventory management can be a chore. Loading screens between areas can take a while. Combat can feel clunky and inaccurate at times.
These are all the things Iâ€™m hoping will be ironed out across the numerous patch updates the game will receive in the coming months.
Pros

Character progression feels rewarding.
Each Magnus feels powerful and unique.
Every player will have their own experiences and stories to tell.
Aesthetics are appropriate for the genre.

Cons

Currently in Early Access and undergoing changes every day.
NPCs feel one-dimensional.
Certain game mechanics feel clunky and tedious.
Lack of info regarding game mechanics.

Final Score: 60/100