Immortals Fenyx Rising Is A Lighthearted-Yet-Familiar Open World Romp

Platform(s): Xbox Series X, Xbox One, PC, PS5, PS4
Genre: Greek-themed Ubisoft open-world odyssey, Breath of the Wild edition
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. In this 2020 and video game culture context, the Nintendo Switch hit Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is beaming with so much joy because there are a couple of titles apeing some of its tropes. We’ve talked about one of them and how enchanting it is, but what about the other one that’s made by Ubisoft and its Quebec team? The one called Immortals Fenyx Rising, formerly known as Gods & Monsters thanks to some foresight in avoiding a potential copyright issue with energy drink company Monster? Is it just a copy-pasta action-adventure title with a Greek flavour slathered atop it like cheap lamb gyros marinade?
Far from it. In fact, Nintendo could learn a thing or two from this 30-hour-or-so “imitation” game.
All Greek To Me

For starters, Greek mythology buffs and fans will get a kick out of how Immortals Fenyx Rising tells its tale. It’s focused on a warrior named Fenyx who has to restore major Greek gods to their former glory, turn folks back to flesh from stone, and rid the Golden Isle of the demon god Typhon who is spreading his corruption all across the expanse. The tale itself is narrated by Greek god chief Zeus and demigod Prometheus, where one plays the snide and boorish commentator while the other tells the story straight. While at first it may seem grating, there’s actually a character arc here worth paying attention to, as the narrative details how each of the gods have their own inner demons and issues with the lightning-in-chief. There’s a bit of off-colour meta humour here and there, but it’s written with genuine thought and isn’t as obnoxious with its quips and interjects.
The main quest narrative may not be that inventive, but its cast is entertaining. From the aforementioned narrators to even our hero Fenyx, who is basically a fanboy (or fangirl; you can choose your gender) of Greek stories & myths, suddenly being a fish out of water and being the hero he/she is born to be.
Still, that’s not what you’re here for most of the time. You’ll be exploring the whole of the Golden Isle in all of its colourful Saturday Morning cartoon palette-but-high-res-and-for-2020 glory. This is definitely one of Ubisoft’s prettiest and most saturated games by far; in a realistic sea filled with Ubisoft titles like Watch Dogs Legion and Assassin’s Creed Valhalla (which still looks great), it’s nice to see Ubisoft Quebec enchants us with its bright pastels and lush island beauty, topped off with planar scape-esque dungeons. It’s so surreal and immersive, you just want to dive in and stay for a while, perhaps forever.
There’s a lot to do here, from collecting Ambrosia and other resources to boost your health and craft your potions respectively (for healing, buffs, stamina-replenishing) to climbing large cliffs and escalating heights. Your movement is governed by the stamina system. You need to fly and glide from one edge of a cliff to another? You need stamina. Want to climb upward to get that chest? You need stamina. If it gets dangerously low mid-climb or glide, just down a stamina potion. You can even creep up on animals and tame them, turning them into mounts in case you are sick of walking, running, and gliding.
There’s a lot to collect, and it can be daunting to keep track of at first. Need to boost your stamina so that it’s more than 5 bars? Go check out a Vault of Tartarus, solve the puzzles, and you get Zeus’ Lightning that will upgrade that resource. Need to upgrade your skills and get better ones? Solve the Mythic Challenges (from memorizing Simon Says puzzles in lyre form to time trials) to gain Charon’s Coins that will either buff up your sword attacks, give you better traversal options, or unlock area-of-effect moves for combat. More on that later.
Puzzling Pantheon

Yes, your character will feel underpowered and weak at first, but the beauty of Immortals Fenyx Rising is that you get to improve your skills and whatnot, then eventually be a badass after 12 hours or so of playing, exploring, and taking your time with the main quests and its rewards. Said quests will tax your brain and your reflexes with puzzles and combat galore. There’s a good balance between the two: the game’s brain teasers will definitely stump you as more get thrown your way. The difficulty curve range from “oh that’s easy” to “goddammit what’s that one thing I’m missing here? It’s been 30 minutes!” ranging from memorization puzzles to guiding arrows through hoops in timed segments (via slow-motion arrow navigation from your bow and arrow) to physics puzzles involving blocks and balls.
There is no room for error for some of these puzzles; while some bouts have checkpoints in case you mess up the procedure, others like certain story dungeons with breakable crates and balls will require you to restart the segment if you so much as have them go out of bounds. Though that’s the appeal of Immortals Fenyx Rising: you feel very smart after conquering these hellish-yet-smartly-crafted bits. My favourite ones tend to be the ones where you change the direction of wind and figure out how to move certain crates and blocks to create a path for your giant-ass metal ball. And also the platforming bits that accompany said wind elements. Heck, this game made me appreciate the simplicities of mosaic puzzles, one of the many banes of my existence.

It’s a pity then that the other segment, the fighting, comes off as pretty simplistic and easy to barrel through. You have your standard sword attack, your heavy axe attack to break enemy defenses, your dodges that enables slowdown if you perfectly time it, and a parry that stuns enemies if pulled off right. All well and good, right? You also have special abilities you can unlock if you spend time exploring and getting the required materials for upgrades, from a tiny phoenix divebomb that stuns even the biggest foes to an upward spears-filled launcher that increases stun damage tenfold.
Once 12 hours of exploration and collecting has passed, and you are crafty with your upgrades, you can pretty much get away with mashing attack and dodge to get through battles unscathed. In fact, later boss battles are laughably easy once you’re halfway powered up. Combat isn’t terrible by any stretch of the imagination, butÂ Devil May Cry this ain’t.
Godlike?
Immortals: Fenyx Rising is not going to win any awards for originality. Nor is it going to hide its clear Nintendo-based (or Skyrim-based) inspiration from its colour palette to stamina system. But it is charming most of the time, features a lush Greek god island to explore that’s filled with secrets and discoverables, and contains a ton of brain-teasers mixed in with some light-yet-hearty combat. That’s more than enough to justify its existence within the open-world action gaming space, especially if it’s delivered with a genuine level of sincerity and beauty.
Plus, your weapons don’t break after 10 seconds of use and you don’t have to fiddle your JoyCon for a few seconds just to fire your goddamn bow. Already it’s superior to its inspiration in the ways that matters the most.
Pros

Fun side activities & mythic quests to complete.
Vaults & dungeons offer creative puzzles to solve.
Controls for navigation and combat feel good after a few hours.
Charming characters & portrayal of gods.

Cons

Game’s writing can be divisive for some.
Upgrades can make endgame combat laughably easy.

Final Score: 80/100


Silent Hill & Gravity Rush Creator Forms New Studio

Keiichiro Toyama has left Sony Interactive Entertainment Japan Studio and established a new indie games company; Bokeh Game Studio. He is best known for creating the Silent Hill, Siren, and Gravity Rush franchises.
Joining him at Bokeh Game Studio are fellow Sony Interactive Entertainment Japan Studio developers like Kazunobu Sato and Junya Okura.
Toyama is the chief executive officer (CEO), Sato is the chief operating officer (COO) and Okura is the chief technology officer (CTO).
The studioâ€™s name, â€œBokeh,â€ is an English term originated from the Japanese word â€œbo-ke,â€ which refers to the camera blur technique.
Speaking with Gematsu, Toyama said:
â€œHaving parted with Sony Interactive Entertainment which I have been with for a very long time, we have independently established a new development studio.Looking back at my inner self, nothing has really changed at all since day one when I set foot into this industry. Firstly I want players to enjoy games built from ideas with originality, and secondly, I want to enjoy making those games; this is all there was to it. Thankfully it was possible for myself and team to develop and release many games. However, the gaming industry has rapidly grown globally and is still drastically changing all the time. Day by day, living in these times, I have felt the need for a substantial change to pursue my own ambitions. This is why I have decided to become independent.Thankfully I am blessed with a team of colleagues who share the same ambitions as myself, which is why I am able to start this new chapter with a new game studio where we can form our original ideas. We are already under development for our first work, though obviously will need some time before release. We ask for your patience and to look forward to future announcements.â€
In an interview with Famitsu, Toyama confirmed that development is already underway for the studio’s first game; an original action-adventure game that will release on multiple platforms. It is expected to take between two to three years.
However, for fans of his previous franchises, Toyama clarified that Bokeh Game Studio will not be able to work on those IP (Silent Hill, etc.), but he hopes to continue his good relationship with Sony Interactive Entertainment and possibly work together on those franchises in the future.


Bayonetta 3 Adds In Nudity Censoring Mode

Remember when Bayonetta does her hair-involved Wicked Weaves moves and realize how naked she can get? Well you now censor that in the next Bayonetta game.
PlatinumGames announced a Naive Angel Mode for Bayonetta 3, which censors the game’s nudity when Bayonetta does her Wicked Weave moves, among other situations where the witch gets native. In Naive Angel mode, Bayonetta will still be fully-clothed when doing these moves. Check out the comparison video below:

Relax, the witch is back and sexier than ever?
We've added the revolutionary "Naive Angel Mode" to Bayonetta 3 so more people can fully enjoy it?
By turning it on, you can play right in the living room without having to worry about what's on screen… we think?#Bayonetta3 pic.twitter.com/SEs3vqrdYc
— PlatinumGames Inc. (@platinumgames) July 13, 2022

“By setting this mode to ON, you may be able to play in the living room without creating an awkward atmosphere”.
Yep, that should have been a feature in the game since the first title, but better late than never, I suppose.
Bayonetta 3 will be out for Nintendo Switch on 28 October.


Death Stranding Beginner Tips & Tricks You Should Know

Death Stranding is finally in the hands of gamers all over the world. I might have not liked the game very much but as I mentioned in my review, it will definitely appeal to a lot of people.
For those of you have begun your quest to reconnect America, this beginner tips and tricks guide will come in handy.
1. Equip Spare Boots On The Boot Clip

There’s a bunch of meters and percentages you have to keep track off while you’re out doing your deliveries. One particular detail that most players will overlook in the early parts of the game is that your boots will degrade as you traverse the beautiful world of Death Stranding.
You start with Level 1 boots which will probably only last you a few deliveries, assuming you don’t get distracted in taking out MULEs and exploring the environment. The game starts you with an extra pair of boots on your boot clip by default so make sure you continue this habit all the way until the end of the game.

Jogging through the world without any footwear will drain your stamina a lot quicker. As you progress through the game, you’ll unlock the option to fabricate Bridges Boots of higher levels which will last longer.

Even if you do forget to clip an extra pair, just be on the lookout for Sandalweed plants which you can gather to use as makeshift shoes. They don’t last long but hey, they’re better than being barefoot.
2. Parry Hard
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After you find your first MULE camp, you’ll also be taught that you can use Sam’s Strand (that blue and red rope he has) to do sneak attacks on MULEs. You’ll also learn to use the strand to parry a MULE’s melee attack.
Most players understand that parrying in most games requires skilful timing. That’s not the case in Death Stranding. The game will actually go into slow motion if you have strand equipped and ready when a MULE is about to hit you with those electrical stick weapon of theirs. Metal Gear Rising this ain’t.
This means that you’ll have a huge window of opportunity to perform parries. Once you successfully parry a MULE, you can immediately follow it up with a bind (exactly the same as a sneak attack) which will immediately subdue them.
3. Use Tools To Make Two-Way Paths

From ladders to 3D printers, the game gives a lot of tools to help you overcome the many environmental obstacles that will make deliveries tougher for you. Here’s an extra piece of advice: Don’t be stingy. Just use those tool whenever and wherever because you’ll probably get more along the way thanks to other players dropping their own tools.
Aside from being generous with your tools, you should also be a bit more strategic when placing them in the world. When you put a ladder to traverse a river or climb a steep cliff, try to see if you can position it so that you can also use it in the reverse direction. If you put a ladder to climb up, make sure you can use it to climb down as well.
There will be a lot of future deliveries that will require you to backtrack and go through the same paths you’ve taken before. Timefall might degrade and destroy some of your tools but in the event that they remain strong and steady, you can use them to make those to-and-fro deliveries a lot easier.
4. Always Have Spare Tools

Speaking of tools, make sure you never forget to bring them on your deliveries. Sure, you can just skip them in hopes that you’ll find tools along the way but there are times where you might take a path no one else or at least a very small amount of players have taken so there won’t be that many tools lying around.
I would recommend bringing these on every delivery:

1x Ladder

1x Climbing Anchor

1x Floating Carrier

1x Container Repair Spray

2x PCC

The ladder, climbing anchor, and container repair spray are self-explanatory. A must-have is definitely the floating carrier. Once you unlock it, I recommend always having one with you because it can really help lighten the load. The only downside is that you can’t use a vehicle or climb ladders and ropes while you have one attached with you.
PCCs are super helpful because they give you a huge amount of options in terms of what you want to build. Most of the really important structures such as a Timefall Shelter and Generator can be built without needing you to contribute any materials.
5. Gotta Gather Em’ All

When you scan the environment with your Odradek, you’re bound to see a lot of things pop up on your screen but pay attention to gathering spots for cryptobiotes, chiral crystals, and sandalweed. Collecting these things will not add any carrying weight and won’t take up any package space.

Cryptobiotes can be eaten to restore blood and they do so a lot quicker than blood bags. Before you come across and defeat your first BT, you won’t have a lot of chiral crystals which makes it imperative for you to pick up as much as you can because they’re often used in fabricating equipment.

I explained the significance of sandalweed earlier in my tip of bringing an extra pair of boots.
6. Red Means Stop

Your Odradek’s scanning capabilities also lays out potential hazards in the environment. The most obvious one being strong river currents that you’ll have no chance of walking through. Once scanned, these zones are marked in red dots.

Always, ALWAYS scan a river before you cross it. Some areas might seem safe and you would probably assume they are yellow zones at worst but believe me, looks can be deceiving.

To avoid losing your precious cargo in the rivers and potentially destroying them in the process, scan those rivers.
The simplest workaround for red zone rivers is to put ladders down as makeshift bridges. If ladders don’t extend long enough, you might have to build a bridge using a PCC. If that fails as well, scan again and check if you can find yellow zones in the same river.

There’s actually a lot more that you need to know to make things easier for you in Death Stranding. I’m sure you guys will learn it all yourself but I’m always to share the lessons I learnt (the hard way) with fellow porters.
Stay tuned to Kakuchopurei because we’re going to be publishing an analysis of Death Stranding’s plot.


Primal Is Genndy Tartakovsky’s Next Animated Project

The creator of Samurai Jack and Dexter’s Laboratory (as well as the annoyingly-popular Hotel Transylvania films) has a new show lined up for Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim. It’s called Primal and it’s definitely living up to its gruesome, violent, prehistoric, and hardcore moniker.

Here is the show’s description:

PrimalÂ features a caveman at the dawn of evolution. A dinosaur on the brink of extinction. Bonded by tragedy, this unlikely friendship becomes the only hope of survival in a violent, primordial world.

So it’s Pixar’s The Good Dinosaur, but good. Animation fans can expect to see a blend of simple storytelling with striking visuals and punchy action moments that he’s known for. It’s also good to see Tartakovsky return to doing non-kiddy fare, despite the fact he’s making a lot of money from the aforementioned Hotel Transylvania series.
Primal will premiere this Fall.


Netflix Gets A Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinnochio Special This December

We’ve seen many versions of the Italian folklore story of Pinnochio, especially the infamous one starring the inappropriate voice of Pauly Shore. But what about a stop-motion clay-filled adaptation from visionary director Guillermo Del Toro?
The director behind classics like Pan’s Labyrinth and Pacific Rim will be bringing his stop-motion animated take on the story onto Netflix by the end of 2022. The upcoming animated movie, titled Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinnochio, will feature a number of big names like Ewan McGregor (Sebastian J. Cricket, because Jiminy’s taken by Disney), Ron Perlman (the Podesta), David Bradley (Master Geppetto), Finn Wolfhard (Candlewick), Cate Blanchett (Sprezzatura the Monkey), Christoph Waltz (Count Volpe), and Tilda Swinton (Fairy with Turquoise Hair). Gregory Mann will be voicing the titular wooden boy.
Here’s the official description & synopsis:
“Academy Award®-winning filmmaker Guillermo del Toro reinvents the classic tale of the wooden marionette who is magically brought to life in order to mend the heart of a grieving woodcarver named Geppetto. This whimsical, stop-motion film directed by Guillermo del Toro and Mark Gustafson follows the mischievous and disobedient adventures of Pinocchio in his pursuit of a place in the world.”
It sounds like we’ll be seeing more terrifying versions of children turning into donkeys and very detailed insides of a giant whale. For those who don’t know, Guillermo Del Toro wanted to make this dark version of Pinnochio back in 2008. It has been in production since then, with him getting company ShadowMachine to animate and produce it in 2012. We’re not sure what happened to that version, but nobody wanted to fund his version of Pinnochio until 2018 when the project was revived to be a stop-motion animated film instead. Thankfully, Netflix has acquired it and will be releasing his version of the wooden boy chronicles.
Check out the film in action below, stop motion 3D and all. Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio will be out this December on Netflix and select cinemas worldwide.


Overwatch Heroes Coming to SEA in March

Seems like folks attending Comic Con Asia 2018 are in for a treat.
Apparently the voice actors for Overwatch heroes; Zenyatta, Symmetra, Sombra and Pharah (YAY! Pharah main, btw) will be attending the convention which happens from March 24-25th at SMX Convention Center, Pasay City.
According to GeekCulture who broke the story, the post on Facebook has since been removed but upon confirmation with the organizers, all four of them will indeed be making appearances at the event. Just please, please don’t line the entrance with Symmetra turrets aye?
Anyone for a quick trip to Manila this March? For more info on ComicCon Asia, you can check their official website here. Ticket details are available there as well.

Original story reported via GeekCulture


[Report] Borderlands 3, Rage 2, New Splinter Cell, & More Leaked Ahead Of E3

Don’t you just hate it when your best-kept secrets are leaked accidentally by major retailers? Take this report with a grain of salt until it’s made official, but a recent Walmart Canada retail list leak via Wario64 unveiled a lot of good news for gaming fans who like sequels to past blockbusters.
So what are we getting? Here are some highlights:

Just Cause 4. More Rico Rodriguez grappling action; we can’t wait.
A new Splinter Cell.
Rage 2, the sequel to the first Rage which is id Software’s version of Mad Max.
A new Assassin’s Creed game.
Gears of War 5; inevitable since the previous Gears of War game’s ending foreshadowed a future plot point.
LEGO DC Villains, which would be a nice change of pace from using DC heroes.
Borderlands 3. I’ve been saying this offline quite a bit, but this series needs a current-gen comeback.

Apart from that, there’s a new Destiny expansion codenamed Comet and a new title called Insurgency Sandstorm. Usual suspects like the Final Fantasy VII reboot, The Division 2, Beyond Good & Evil 2, The Last of Us 2, and Dragon Quest Builder 2 (probably mislabelled as “Dragon Quest 2”) are also on the retail list.
Check out the screen cap below courtesy of Wario64.

Again, take this with a grain of salt, but this E3 is shaping up to be exciting since we’ll be taking a look at some old friends making a comeback.


Microsoft Xbox Is Promoting Its Activision Blizzard Merger Plans Through UK Paper Ads

Microsoft isn’t going down without a fight when it comes to its acquisition of Activision Blizzard, despite many objections from companies like Sony PlayStation.
Case in point: its recent full-page advertisements in UK newspapers. As spotted by The Verge reporter Tom Warren, the ad appeared on the Financial Times and Daily Mail during the week, claiming that if the US$69 million deal goes through, Xbox will be able to offer Call of Duty to more than 150 million additional players.

Microsoft has placed a full-page ad in two newspapers in the UK today for its Activision Blizzard deal. "Call of Duty for 150 million more players," argues Microsoft as it pushes for its deal to be approved by UK regulators https://t.co/An7Lo465UK pic.twitter.com/PkayLYfEh8
— Tom Warren (@tomwarren) March 8, 2023

This ad is referring to Microsoft’s commitment to bring Call of Duty to Nintendo Switch users; all 125 million of them and counting. And also GeForce Now’s 25 million users. This is also Microsoft’s way to get the deal through and appease the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). One of the stipulations to let the deal go through is via behavioural remedies; one example includes having Microsoft promise to make Call of Duty available on other platforms post-merger. Hence, the ad.
Last we checked, Sony argued that said behavioural remedies aren’t enough as Microsoft has many “ways” to “withhold or degrade access [which] would be extremely difficult to monitor and police”. For example, Xbox could release buggy CoD games for PlayStation, despite Microsoft and Xbox offering Sony a 10-year legally enforceable contract to make a CoD game with full content and feature parity for PlayStation consoles. And also the fact that it’s willing to put CoD on Sony’s PlayStation Plus subscription.


Netflix + Japanese Animation Studios = Dragon’s Dogma Anime & More

Netflix has teamed up with Japanese studios such as Anima, Sublimation, and David Production to bring us more anime content in 2019. Netflix’s partnership also includes earlier deals with Production I.G and Bones in 2018.

Let’s break down the shows that will be up:

Altered Carbon: Resleeved – This anime feature spin-off from Anima, set in the same universe of the Netflix live-action sci-fi series, will explore new elements of the story mythology.
Dragon’s Dogma -Â Originally a Capcom game, the anime by Sublimation follows the adventure of a man brought back to life and challenged by demons who represent the seven deadly sins of humans.
Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045 – Brought to Netflix by Production I.G, the sequel of much-acclaimed Ghost In the Shell SAC series has come back as a full 3DCG anime series.
SPRIGGAN – Edgy sci-fi battle action by David Production about a man with supernatural powers to seal historical remains.
Vampire in the Garden – An original series by WIT STUDIO on two girls Momo and Fine about an unlikely friendship between human and vampire race that intertwines with the power or music.
Super Crooks – Coming to Netflix thanks to bones.inc and Mark Millar as well as artist Leinil Francis Yu, the creators of Kick-AssÂ andÂ Wanted. Crime and thrills meet supernatural powers in this Millarworld title.

Netflix Director of Content (Japan) John Derderian had this to say about the upcoming lineup:

“Netflix aims to be the most compelling and attractive home for anime fans, creators and production studios. We are creating an environment where production houses can do their best work, and deliver their shows on a service where we connect anime fans from over 190 countries to content they love”.

These deals indicate a strong commitment from Netflix to grow its quality anime library by working in tandem with top creators of the industry. Production line deals are one of the best ways to secure top craftsmen in the industry in every process of production, integral to continue bringing the highest quality content to members around the world.


DOTA Underlords Will Be Getting A Casual Mode And Reworked Ranked Mode

In a recent news post on Steam, Valve has just announced that there will be changes made to the matchmaking system of DOTA Underlords. If you’ve been playing Valve’s attempt at the auto chess genre, then you’ll be pleased to know that the next update will allow you to play in either Casual or an improved Ranked mode:
In Casual:

You’ll be matched against opponents of the same skill level.
You can either queue solo or with friends.
Daily challenges and achievements can be earned.

In Ranked:

You can only queue up solo and your rank will be used for matchmaking.
New players need to at least play 5 casual games to unlock ranked mode.
Daily challenges and achievements can be earned.

The confusing rank promotion system will also be revamped and clarified. Rank is now a number you can see clearly and moves up and down in a predictable way. This is purely dependent on where you finish in a ranked match and isn’t related to your opponents’ rank.

When you reach a minor rank, you will be granted bonus points and when you reach a major rank, it’s locked in and you cannot drop to a lower major rank.
Once the new update drops, every player’s current rank will be converted to the new system. For example, the Lords of White Spire will become Big Boss V. In conjunction with the changes, the leaderboard will be cleared.
So will the new changes make things more interesting? Can Valve improve DOTA Underlords until it becomes as accessible and popular as Teamfight Tactics? Perhaps not but it’s a good improvement nonetheless and it’ll give fans of the auto chess genre more games to choose from and play.


The Magic Rain’s Top 5 Indie Games Of 2020

Post originally from The Magic Rain. Check out their anime content on their website.
It seemed like only yesterday when Among Us was the only thingÂ anybodyÂ was talking about. Even crazier to think that the game first came out 2 years ago. But in this time-warped, helluva crazy year filled with delayed video games and even more delayed video games, the sudden surge of online co-op games is hardly our highest priority.
But amidst the chaos, a few indie games managed to rise above the noise. Seemingly contrasting the tone of the year, these games were quiet and contemplative in nature; picking out topics about the larger meaning in life, rather than simply spilling blood and guts (although there was, indeed, still the spilling of some guts.)
Without further ado, these are our picks for the best indie games of 2020 â€” but first, some honourable mentions:
Honourable Mentions
No Straight Roads

Metronomikâ€™s first release was an ambitious one, and to many degrees, it fulfils what its audience expects of it.Â No Straight RoadsÂ is a hack-and-slash, boss rush game that benefits players who have a rhythm in their step. Each boss represents a different genre of music, and following the rhythm of their tunes helps you dodge their attacks â€“ as well as plan your own â€“ to greater efficiency.
The heart of the game lies in its colourful cast of characters and world design, both heavily peppered with Malaysian flavour. Its gameplay is also fun and accessible for both musicians and non-musicians alike; a double-edged sword for music and rhythm game enthusiasts who had hoped that the game would be more technically demanding. However, its catchy tunes and likeable characters results in a final experience that is light-hearted and grabs your attention, while undoubtedly paving the way for the next big thing from Malaysian studios.
Not For Broadcast

Not For BroadcastÂ is not the kind of game you play to relax, unless your idea of rest and relaxation is high-stakes resource management and/or simulating an actualÂ jobÂ that people get paid for, in which case, do I have the game for you! Its premise is simple: Control the live broadcast of a news channel and keep your viewers watching.
Seems easy enough, but add on the tasks of censoring swear words, dealing with the occasional power surge, and having to switch camera angles to keep viewers hooked â€“ all of it propped against the backdrop of the countryâ€™s political unrest â€“Â Not For BroadcastÂ quickly becomes the most challenging game on this list. But if you manage to overcome the gameâ€™s mechanics, thereâ€™s truly nothing that beats the sense of satisfaction that comes with completing a hard day of work at the news station.
Among Us

Nobody really knows howÂ Among UsÂ emerged from the shadows to become a viral hit. Maybe because people ran out of games to play in the pandemic, or maybe people missed arguing with human beings outside of their family. But when a game becomes so viral that companies all over the world begin making parodies to market their products, you know youâ€™ve made it.
Among UsÂ is on our list partially because of its fun gameplay, but mostly because of its impact on the community. At its peak, this was the go-to game for players and streamers everywhere; some streamers even making their entire name and living from playing the game. Even now as the its popularity begins to wane in favour of another online co-op,Â Rust, theÂ Among UsÂ fandom continues to live on in stream compilations, TikToks, fan art, and fanfiction â€” an Internet treasure trove thatâ€™s bound to make some fans in the distant future very, very happy.

Our Top Indie Picks
Spiritfarer

Letâ€™s begin at the end.Â Spiritfarer is a game about the river Styx, which you may know from Greek mythology as the watery passage between life and death. But imagine instead of a row boat, a houseboat. Instead of Charon, the ancient ferryman of the dead, a young girl named Stella and her pet cat. Instead of a one way trip to the other side, imagine a fantastical road trip (or I guess, water trip) to ease your passengers into the reality of death.
SpiritfarerÂ is endearing and heart-felt, from theÂ Tetris-like way you expand your ship, to the spirits that you help move on from their worldly regrets. But ultimately, it gives players a sense of duty. As the spiritfarer, your role is to care for your passengers. This duty echoes throughout every action in the game, whether itâ€™s clearing puzzles, managing resources, or easing their worries about life and death â€” and when the time finally comes to escort them to the afterlife, that is your duty as well.
Kentucky Route Zero

Kentucky Route ZeroÂ is the epitome of its journey, not its destination. It is an explorative point-and-click game with no concrete mechanics beyond walking around and interacting with objects. The extent of a â€œquestâ€ in this game is asking for directions, and there is no character creation unless you count answering questions that strangers ask about you.
Yet, the game completely immerses you. Each place you travel to comes aliveÂ through beautiful and intricate design, and its audio adds atmosphere that otherwise wouldnâ€™t be there. We wouldnâ€™t blame you for staying in one spot to admire the view, but there is so much more value in exploration, as each place you visit brings new people for you to meet. Talking to them allows you to learn their stories which range from relatable to heart-breaking, but ultimately, imperfectly human.
Ori and the Will of the Wisps

WhenÂ OriÂ and the Blind ForestÂ first launched in 2015, there were few games that came close to the beautiful animation and gameplay polish present in Moon Studiosâ€™ debut game. Even 6 years later, it remains an ethereal experience that players go back to again and again â€” perhaps only rivalled by its long-awaited sequel,Â OriÂ and the Will of the Wisps.
The sequel improves on the familiar world of the first game by adding everything from charming new characters and environments, to a brand new roster of combat moves that emphasises the sequelâ€™s combat-focused, boss fight system. While this is a noticeable departure from the first gameâ€™s platforming-focused design, the added complexity pays off in fun combat and even more content in the form of side quests. Though for new players, weâ€™d definitely recommend picking upÂ Ori and the Blind ForestÂ first.
If Foundâ€¦

If Foundâ€¦Â is unlike any visual novel weâ€™ve ever seen, yet itâ€™s concept is so simple that it makes you wonder why it hasnâ€™t been done before. Using an eraser, the player erases away the story from present to past. On one hand, learning more about our charactersâ€™ back stories. On the other, helping them erase the memories theyâ€™d rather forget.
The gameâ€™s art style, a series of simple sketchbook-like doodles, gives you the impression of peering into someoneâ€™s secret diary â€” an act that feels both illegal and enticing. However, it only lends to the gameâ€™s true impact as its story reveals themes of dysfunctional families, fear of coming out, and found family. Reaching this part in the story, the game begins to feel strangely confrontational as youâ€™re forced to erase in order to progress. But forÂ If Foundâ€¦Â this is where its beauty emerges, right between the cracks.
Hades

Last but not least â€” we have to say,Â HadesÂ didnâ€™t win all those awards for nothing. Supergiant Gamesâ€™ latest release is a roguelike dungeon crawler that follows Zagreus as he attempts to escape the clutches of his overprotective dad and overlord of the Underworld, Hades. I donâ€™t exaggerate when I say we fell in love with this game instantly.
Hadesâ€˜ heart and soul lies in Greek mythology, but it is integrated into every facet of this game to near perfection. From the way each character is fully voiced, their design taking inspiration from both myth and modern interpretations to the way the gameâ€™s combat upgrades take inspiration from myth, like how Dionysusâ€™ boons are useless unless you want to get drunk. As for the gameâ€™s story, it progresses every time you die â€” rewarding you for failure in a way that eliminates the frustration of starting over.
This is without even touching on the gameâ€™s expansive weapons and upgrades roster, mythical subplots, or the simple fun of starting over and improving after each go. What can we say? This game is just too easy to love. The only thing weâ€™d recommend to new Supergiant fans: check out their other games, we heardÂ TransistorÂ is pretty great.


The Studio That Helped Make Rust And Crackdown 3 Is Expanding To Malaysia

What do games like Crackdown 3, Goat Simulator, and Limbo have in common? The answer is UK game studio Double Eleven. The studio isn’t the primary developer for any of those games but contributed in a lot in the development process.
Great news for video game developers in Malaysia, Double Eleven is opening a new office in Bangsar South, Kuala Lumpur. Similar to Larian Studios, they’re aiming to reduce crunch by operating in different time zones across the world.
A photograph of the Double Eleven UK team. Image courtesy of Double Eleven.

“Our Malaysian studio will be there to support and bolster the incredible teams we have working in the UK. The Asian market is a huge player on the global stage, and we want to be at the vanguard of this exciting new hotbed of our industry.”
– Lee Hutchinson, CEO of Double Eleven.
The new studio will only be opening in spring 2020. For those of you interested in joining them, they’ve already put up job listings for the Malaysian office. Recruitment is expected to begin in February 2020.
With more international video game studios such as Double Eleven, Larian Studios, and Sony Interactive Entertainment making new homes here in Malaysia, it definitely brings a smile to my face. Local gamers and game developers now have a lot more to look forward to.
Thanks, Venture Beat.


Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania Features Kang & MODOK

Marvel’s next adventure for Paul Rudd’s Scott Lang/Ant-Man finally has an official poster via Marvel Studio’s panel at San Diego Comicon 2022.
It’s looking colour-coded as far as superhero uniforms are concerned. And there’s Kang the Conqueror in the background, serving as the third Ant-Man film’s antagonist.

And who is the person in the purple Ant-Man suit? Why it’s Scott Lang’s daughter Cassie Lang (Kathryn Newton), who will be teaming up with her dad. Here’s what we know about the film based on previews at SDCC 2022 (via io9).
The trailer begins with Scott Lang doing a reading of his new book Look Out for the Little Guy at the City Lights bookstore. The crowd is littered with kids dressed as Ant-Man and as he ends he gets a call on his cell phone: “Why is jail calling?” Turns out his daughter, Cassie (Kathryn Newton) is in jail. Apparently, she’s been working with the Van Dynes but Scott doesn’t want that life for her.
Both families sit around a dinner table. Scott mentions that he saved the universe for the billionth time. “Oh, you’ve never mentioned it, you should write a book about it,” Janet (Michelle Pfeiffer) says. They all give him crap. “You’re welcome for all not being dust,” he says. They laugh. We see Scott and Cassie driving. Scott and Hope are on a red carpet. It looks like life is good.
A voiceover then begins. It’s Kang (Jonathan Winters) though we don’t see him yet. “Time isn’t what you think,” he says. An experiment goes wrong and a blue light pops out of what looks like an Arc Reactor. It sucks all the Langs and Van Dynes into, we believe, the Quantum Realm. It looks like an alien planet from Star Wars. Lots of weird aliens and creatures… as well as Bill Murray. He remembers Janet from her time there.
Kang emerges and Scott tells him “I don’t know who you are, but I have to warn you, I’m an Avenger.” Kang reveals himself and says “An Avenger… have I killed you before?”

The footage also showed off MODOK, a Marvel villain known for its giant head and tiny arms, as well as its science and murderous aptitude, who will be making its appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Kang the Conqueror will be the main bad guy not just for this Ant-Man movie, but also for the MCU since there’s a movie called Avengers: Kang Dynasty coming out in the far future.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania will kick off Phase 5 of the MCU and will premiere on 17 February, 2023.


Here’s The Latest Samurai Shodown Update Patch Notes & Basara Trailer

We’ve got two major Samurai Shodown news that’s sure to keep the game’s lifeblood a-flowing.
First up, Basara’s got a release date. The tricky combo-equipped giant shuriken wielder will be shadow teleporting his way into the roster this 15th October.

So who’s left in the DLC pack? Kazuki will be out this November while Wan-Fu will be crashing in this December.
Second piece of news: the upcoming 1.30 update will be buffing up certain low-tier characters like Rimururu and Wu Ruixiang. The former will have a damage boost and faster startups for her moves, while the latter will gain faster attack startups and larger hitboxes.
The patch will also nerf Shizumaru’s “turn punch” Crazy Downpour move; its charge will reset when the player Rage Explodes or performs a Lightning Blade attack. He’s still a speedy shoto who hits pretty hard, so yay?
Full notes below.
General
â€¢ A new DLC character was added.
â€¢ Balances to character interactions during battle have been made.
â€¢ Fixed other minor issues and features.
Countering / Blade Catching
â€¢ Resolved an issue where at times it was possible to counter / blade catch an attack coming from behind.
Haohmaru
Standing Far Light Slash
â€¢ Reduced recovery frames
Standing Far Heavy Slash
â€¢ Hastened attack startup.
Jumping Heavy Slash
â€¢ Resolved an issue where it was difficult to hit opponents at the edge of the screen.
Advancing Light Slash
â€¢ Increased opponent knockback duration on hit.
Nakoruru
Crouching Medium Slash
â€¢ Altered so that upon block the player character enters a recoil state.
Hanzo Hattori
Jumping Heavy Slash
â€¢ Resolved an issue where it was difficult to hit opponents at the edge of the screen
Standing (Holding Forward) Kick
â€¢ Reduced recovery frames.
Advancing Kick
â€¢ Increased attack frames
â€¢ Attack now behaves the same regardless if a weapon is held or not
Ninja Exploding Dragon (Light, Medium, Heavy)
â€¢ Blast Reduced recovery frames.
Ninja Exploding Dragon Blast (During Max Rage)
â€¢ Increased time where this attack can be followed-up with another attack.
Ninja Mon Dance (Light, Heavy)
â€¢ Now has the same recovery frames as a normal jump upon landing regardless if one attacks or not.
Galford
Jumping Heavy Slash
â€¢ Resolved an issue where it was difficult to hit opponents at the edge of the screen.
Standing Kick
â€¢ Shortened the top of the hurtbox.
Advancing Kick
â€¢ Increased attack frames.
â€¢ Reduced recovery frames.
Rush Dog
â€¢ Hastened attack startup
Rush Dog (During Max Rage)
â€¢ Hastened attack startup.
â€¢ Increased damage.
Overhead Crash
â€¢ Increased damage
â€¢ Hastened attack startup
â€¢ Reduced recovery frames.
Kyoshiro
Dance of Fire (Light, Medium, Heavy)
â€¢ Changed so that the hitbox doesn’t disappear when trading with an opponent’s projectile.
Twisting Heavens (Light, Medium, Heavy)
â€¢ Added a lower hitbox which triggers on first attack frame.
Flesh and Blood Fandango
â€¢ Increased opponent downtime on hit.
Tam Tam
Ahau Teotihuacan
â€¢ Resolved an issue where, for a brief moment, Tam Tam was registered as “in-air” even after landing.
Genjuro
Reverse Five Flash Rip
â€¢ Resolved an issue where opponent’s are knocked out of Genjuro’s Reverse Five Flash Rip when hit by Cherry Blossom Slice during the attack animation.
Earthquake
Standing Far Heavy Slash
â€¢ Expanded hitbox of third attack backwards.
Fat Breath (light, medium, heavy)
â€¢ Changed so that the hitbox doesn’t disappear when trading with an opponent’s projectile.
Yoshitora
Advancing Medium Slash
â€¢ Resolved an issue where the hitbox would disappear mid-attack.
Yashamaru
Crouching Far Heavy Slash
â€¢ Increased opponent knockback duration on hit.
Darli Dagger
Standing Kick
â€¢ Increased opponent knockback duration on hit
â€¢ Increased opponent recovery frames on block.
Wu Ruixiang
Standing Far Light Slash
â€¢ Expanded the hitbox forward and upwards.
Standing Far Medium Slash
Crouching Close Heavy Slash
Crouching Far Heavy Slash
Jumping Light Slash
Jumping Medium Slash
â€¢ Hastened attack startup.
Standing Punch
â€¢ Hastened attack startup.
â€¢ Expanded the hitbox downwards
â€¢ Reduced recovery frames.
Crouching Punch
â€¢ Hastened attack startup.
â€¢ Reduced recovery frames.
Jumping Punch
â€¢ Hastened attack startup
Advancing Punch
â€¢ Expanded the hitbox downwards.
Standing Kick
â€¢ Increased opponent knockback duration on hit.
â€¢ Increased opponent recovery frames on block.
Black Tortoise Torrent (Medium)
â€¢ Expanded the hitbox downwards
Vermilion Bird Blaze (Light, Medium, Heavy, During Max Rage)
â€¢ Changed so that the hitbox doesn’t disappear when trading with an opponent’s projectile.
Kirin Earthen Rampage
â€¢ Increased hitbox on a successful counter
Rimiruru
Standing Far Light Slash
Standing Far Heavy Slash
â€¢ Hastened attack startup
Crouching Light Slash
â€¢ Increased attack frames.
Crouching Medium Slash
â€¢ Expanded hitbox forward.
Advancing Light Slash
â€¢ Now cancellable
Advancing Kick
â€¢ Hastened attack startup on second attack
â€¢ Can now cancel into Konru Shiraru during the rebound animation after the second hit.
â€¢ Reduced recovery frames (without weapon).
Konril Nonril
Konril Nonril (During Max Rage)
Rupu Tum (Light)
â€¢ Increased damage.
Rupu Tum (Medium)
â€¢ Increased damage.
â€¢ Expanded hitbox forward
Rupu Tum (Heavy)
â€¢ Increased damage.
â€¢ Expanded hitbox forward.
â€¢ Opponent now reacts the same as when hit by a crouching heavy slash.
Rupu Kuareãƒ»Nishi (light, medium)
â€¢ When an opponent guards between startup and the moment before the attack begins, their guard pose would be triggered and they wouldn’t be able to move. This has been changed to match the weapon-equipped version where their guard pose would not be triggered.
Rupu Kuareãƒ»Tu Tu
â€¢ Reduced recovery frames.
â€¢ Decreased opponent knockback duration on hit.
â€¢ Reduced opponent recovery frames on block.
Upun Orb (Light, Medium, Heavy)
â€¢ Changed so that it no longer hits from behind.
Shizumaru
Counter
â€¢ Resolved an issue when, in the case where a player is unarmed (by performing a Mist Blast, etc.), they could not cancel a kick into a counter even when the weapon returns.
Advancing Light Slash
â€¢ Resolved an issue where an opponent’s recovery frames from blocking this attack were longer compared to blocking the same attack by a different character
May Shower Slice
â€¢ Resolved an issue with Shizumaru’s model when an opponent is chipped to death at the edge of the screen.
Rains of Time
â€¢ Resolved an issue where Shizumaru will continue jumping on the opponent even after the time is up
Crazy Downpour
â€¢ Charging now resets whenever the player Rage Explodes or performs a Lightning Blade attack.
â€¢ Note: The intention was there to be a trade-off between Rage Bursting / Lightning Blades and charging Crazy Downpour by disabling the kick button as a way of charging. However, players were able to hold both a slash and the kick button to circumvent this, and so now the charge will automatically reset instead.
â€¢ Resolved an issue where the 2nd tier of this attack would trigger on release before the appropriate amount of time had passed
Demon Memory: Heaven’s Tears
â€¢ Resolved an issue where characters weren’t locked in place for this attack during certain conditions.


Kitase & Nomura Tease More Final Fantasy VII Projects In Development

Today marks the 25th anniversary of Final Fantasy VII, which originally launched for the PlayStation 1 back on 31 January 1997.
To commemorate the occasion, Final Fantasy VII director and Final Fantasy VII Remake project producer Yoshinori Kitase, and Final Fantasy VII character designer and Final Fantasy VII Remake project creative director Tetsuya Nomura have shared message updates (via Twitter).
Yoshinori Kitase
â€œThis year marks the 25th anniversary of Final Fantasy VII. It also marks the 35th anniversary of the Final Fantasy series itself, which means that Final Fantasy VII was born in the 10th year of that 35 year long history.
Personally, I had always thought of Final Fantasy VII as a recent game, but it has actually now become one of the games from the â€˜early series.â€™ Even so, we were honored last year when it was voted as the third most popular game ever by gamers in a (Japanese) TV poll. That we could achieve something like that is very much thanks to all the support we have had from our fans over the long years. Thank you so much.
Final Fantasy VII has re-emerged as the latest game in the series once again, with titles like Final Fantasy VII Remake and Final Fantasy VII: The First Soldier, and you can look forward to even more exciting new developments in the future!â€
Yoshinori Kitase
Final Fantasy VII Director and Final Fantasy VII Remake Project Producer
Tetsuya Nomura
â€œWith the 25th anniversary of Final Fantasy VII this year, the game has now existed for a quarter-century. I am truly grateful to all the fans who have loved Final Fantasy VII over these 25 years, and thanks to your support, Cloud has never felt far away over that time.
Continuing on from the release of Final Fantasy VII Remake, Final Fantasy VII: The First Soldier has also now opened for service, and next we have Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis waiting in the wings too. With all of these exciting new projects, I get a release sense of how more and more people are supporting Final Fantasy VII. Not just the fans from the original game, but also those who never experienced it are being drawn to the unique world of Final Fantasy VII.
â€œAnd there will be even more new Final Fantasy VII projects that started up after the remake coming in the future too. The team see this 25th anniversary as a waypoint on our journey with Final Fantasy VII, and will continue pressing ahead to even greater things, so please keep supporting us going forward!â€
Tetsuya Nomura,
Final Fantasy VII Character Design, etc. and Final Fantasy VII Remake Project Creative Director
In the meantime,Â head on over hereÂ for our review ofÂ Final Fantasy VII Remake, or check out ourÂ separate review for the Episode Intermission DLC with Yuffie.


Ubisoft CEO Makes Formal Apology Ahead Of Ubisoft Forward

Just several hours ahead of Ubisoftâ€™s second Ubisoft Forward presentation in 2020, the company’s CEO Yves Guillemot gave a formal apology in a roughly four-minute-long video.
On behalf of Ubisoft, he apologized for everyone who has been hurt and affected by cases of harassment and racism instigated by â€œcertain Ubisoft employeesâ€. This is the first formal apology made by directly by Guillemot himself.
Guillemot also said that the company fully supports the Black Lives Matter movement, and will focus on “improving diversity and inclusivity at all levels”, including investing an additional one million dollars over the next five years in the company’s graduate program.

Ahead of #UbiForward, a message from our CEO Yves Guillemot: pic.twitter.com/NDfOj4tFk7— Ubisoft (@Ubisoft) September 10, 2020

The formal apology video comes after the company was rocked by allegations of sexual misconduct, harassment, and workplace toxicity for the past few months. It remains to be seen if anything will truly change at Ubisoft, but it seems like the company may already be taking the first steps towards that.
Stay tuned for our coverage of the Ubisoft Forward September 2020 presentation later today.


The Best Animes of Winter 2019 You Should Watch Right Now

The stream of new anime never ends. An end to winter only signals the advent of the spring anime 2019 season, and with the number of shows that are constantly popping up, it can be difficult to keep track of whatâ€™s out there.
Donâ€™t worry though, if youâ€™re short on time but still want some quality winter 2019 anime to watch, this is the place for you. Everything from comedy to romance to adventure, read on to see our recommendations of the best shows for you to binge watch.
#9. Domestic Girlfriend

Genre: Drama, Romance
Aired: 12 January 2019
Episodes: 12
Domestic Girlfriend is a complicated affair, to say the least. A young high school student named Natsuo develops a crush on his teacher Hina, but then ends up sleeping with another girl named Rui. But after his father remarries, both Hina and Rui end becoming his siblings, spurring a love triangle that hits a little too close to home.

Still, what does make this story stand out is its focus on adolescence and the troubled feelings that arise from that. If romantic chaos of the dramatic kind is your thing (or youâ€™re just looking for an unpredictable story), Domestic Girlfriend certainly has that out in spades.
#8. Kakegurui Season 2

Genre: Mystery, Drama, Psychological
Aired: 9 January 2019
Episodes: 12
Yumeko is back with more of her gambling antics. If youâ€™re looking for stress and drama, the second season of Kakegurui offers that and then some. The seat for student council president is up for grabs this time, and with stakes being higher than ever, some crazy gambling games ensue.
Many participants go absolutely bonkers, and the show is filled with its staple of ridiculous facial expressions. Are they fearful, excited, or just crazy? Itâ€™s gambling ramped up to ridiculous levels but still a fun time overall.
#7. The Quintessential Quintuplets

Genre: Harem, Comedy, Romance
Aired: 11 January 2019
Episodes: 12
The Quintessential Quintuplets doesnâ€™t try to hide that itâ€™s a harem. Mouthful of an English title aside, the anime revolves around a poor boy with excellent grades named Fuutarou who is tasked with tutoring quintuplets that are doing terribly in school. The thing is, these five girls are also wealthy, but Fuutarou is not, and so they begin concocting devious plans to shoo him away from their home.
Itâ€™s a slight change of pace from the typical harem shows where gorgeous girls are just pining for the main man. But if youâ€™re really into harem comedies, The Quintessential Quintuplets is a solid pick that ought to be right up your alley.
#6. Boogiepop and Others

Genre: Horror, Mystery, Psychological
Aired: 4 January 2019
Episodes: 18
A fascinating mystery to uncover, and supernatural events that bog the mind. With the onset of mysterious school disappearances happening, a being named Boogiepop appears in the form of a high school girl to fend off an encroaching evil. You may start watching Boogiepop and Others feeling confused about everything thatâ€™s happening, but the anime does a good job at keeping you hooked to the screen.
Besides an intriguing enigma in the plot, this anime also explores the nature of human beings and immerses you in a darker mood than some of our other recommendations. Boogiepop and Others is a show for mystery and supernatural story enthusiasts that are bound to have them thinking up a storm.
#5. Dororo

Genre: Action, Adventure, Historical
Aired: 7 January 2019
Episodes: 24
Itâ€™s not often these days that we get to experience a historical setting thatâ€™s also ripe with the supernatural and strange. Dororo is a reboot of the classic tale from 50 years ago by Tezuka Osamu, who you may know as the creator of the popular Astro Boy.
Itâ€™s a simple story that follows two characters: a boy named Dororo, and a swordsman with prostheses called Hyakkimaru as they hunt down 48 demons throughout a Sengoku era Japan.

Not only has the art style been revamped for modern tastes, but the animators have also amped up a lot of the action to meet the demands of todayâ€™s viewers. But even if youâ€™re not into action or historical settings, Dororo is a retelling of a timeless tale that provides heartfelt life lessons for us all.
#4. The Rising of the Shield Hero

Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Isekai
Aired: 9 January 2019
Episodes: 25
And here we are with yet another story about a person getting transported to another world. Whether youâ€™re tired of the popular isekai space or not, The Rising of the Shield Hero pretty much makes a point that the genre is here to say. A fantasy world in peril, a chosen one to save the day, and a high school student who so happens to be that hero.
Youâ€™ve seen this plot thread hundreds of times at this point. However, you havenâ€™t seen a story where the hero gets thrown out by the people heâ€™s meant to save, and then having to fend for himself with nothing but a shield. If you like seeing characters ‘rise’ against insurmountable odds, you should consider The Rising of the Shield Hero.
#3. The Promised Neverland

Genre: Horror, Mystery, Psychological
Aired: 10 January 2019
Episodes: 12
The Promised Neverland surprised a lot of us with its thrilling depiction of children trapped in a sinister orphanage. To see the ordinary life from the beginning of this anime get twisted into a horrendous journey of life and death is quite the treat. Or not, depending on who you are.
But what makes this anime truly stand out is its strong sense of world-building and the attention to its slew of characters. Some of the adults in the show also tap into fears we may have had as children and can be quite frightening. Definitely a high recommendation if youâ€™re looking for a dark and suspenseful show.
#2. Mob Psycho 100 II

Genre: Action, Comedy, Slice of Life
Aired: 7 January 2019
Episodes: 13
The first season of Mob Psycho 100 may have been all laughs, but this second season will take you for a much different ride. The seemingly average Mob, who has powerful psychic abilities, is back and must face various new spirits. Still, Mob isnâ€™t an all-powerful being and this season exists to prove that.
Thereâ€™s still some comedy to enjoy and the beautiful animation will still blow you away, but Mobâ€™s character will also see a lot of development, with his fears and beliefs being challenged constantly. This tone sets Mob Psycho 100 II up as probably an even better season than the first one, though youâ€™ll probably have to watch it to believe it.
#1. Kaguya-sama: Love is War

Genre: Comedy, Romance
Aired: 12 January 2019
Episodes: 12
Two student council members of a prestigious high school have a mutual attraction for each other but wonâ€™t admit it. In an effort to make the other one confess, they become locked in an endless battle of wits that often achieves hilarious outcomes.
On the surface, Kaguya-sama: Love is War is your typical slice of life comedy. But what may seem like your usual rom-com romp is strengthened by great production values, some incredibly funny jokes, and characters that you canâ€™t help but root for. Trust us when we say you wonâ€™t want to miss out on this battle for the ages.


Amazon’s New World Is Popular And Bricking Expensive Graphics Cards

Amazon-developed MMORPG New World‘s closed beta session launched recently, and it’s the talk of the town. Both in numbers and in heated news.
First: the good. New World has hit a peak of 190,811 players in its closed beta session according to SteamDB, and has 700,000 live viewers watching 9,000+ individual channels playing the game on Twitch. Keep in mind that the game can be run without racking up playtime on Steam, meaning players who aren’t happy with the purchase can refund it without much hassle. At least until the game is out for real this 31st August.
Now the bad: the game is killing GeForce RTX 3090 graphics cards. That’s bad enough, but this expensive graphics card is currently pretty hard to come by as well due to recent news about its stock being low from all the cryptocurrency business the past few months.
According to the New World subreddit, users have noticed the dying of the light from their RTX 3090 cards. Ditto Twitter:

ATTENTION:
Playing the New World beta on my EVGA 3090 has fried my graphics card completely. There are many accounts of this same thing happening with the same card with the same game.@TEAMEVGA @playnewworld @EVGA_JacobF
I just want to make sure this doesn't happen to others
— Gladd (@Gladd) July 21, 2021

Long story short: you may not want to run New World uncapped and having it overheat your GPUs in the meantime. Instead, play the game with a capped frame rate and in an underclocked condition so that you won’t kill your expensive and hard-to-find graphics card.


Star Wars’ Ahsoka Tano Finally Gets The Hot Toys Treatment

Star Wars The Clone Wars concluded earlier this year with its seventh and final season. Hot Toys has announced the Star Wars The Clone Wars Ahsoka Tano 1/6th Scale Collectible Figure, which is based on her latest appearance from the aforementioned final season of the animated series.
The greatly detailed collectible figure is specially crafted with authentic styling featuring a skillfully crafted head sculpt with the stunning likeness and articulated head-tails, specialized body to portray Ahsokaâ€™s physique, finely tailored outfit and armour pieces, Ahsokaâ€™s iconic lightsabers, a cloak, and a display base.
I have previously mentioned how Ahsoka Tano is one of the best Jedi characters in Star Wars canon, even compared to the likes of Luke Skywalker, Anakin Skywalker or others. Her development throughout the previous 121 episodes ofÂ Star Wars The Clone WarsÂ animated series makes her one of the most fleshed-out protagonists in the franchise.
Sheâ€™s a genuinely strong and captivating female character, which unfortunately does not apply to the New Trilogyâ€™s Rey (who is bland and a Mary Sue character). Learn more about the upcoming Star Wars The Clone Wars Season 7 here, and check out why I think Ahsoka Tano deserves her own live-action movie or series here.
Check out the figure below:


AMD Reveals Its Ace In The Hole: The Radeon VII

The graphics card market has been in the clouds lately, with the rise and crash of cryptocurrency as well as the introduction of Nvidiaâ€™s next-gen cards, the RTX lineup, AMD wasnâ€™t one to stay silent, releasing a brand-new lineup to go head-on against Team Greenâ€™s new stack of cards.
Dubbed the Radeon VII, it brings to the table a flurry of features and the specs are astounding as well. The Radeon VII is described to perform exceptionally especially for the latest triple-A titles, esports as well as VR games. The new card is also a powerhouse for getting those demanding 3D rendering and video applications done.

Built on a strong foundation
The Radeon VII is designed and built on the enhanced second-generation Vega architecture. So, you can already imagine the power behind the beautiful design. Whatâ€™s more impressive is that the Radeon VII has TWICE the memory and TWICE the memory bandwidth compared to its predecessor, the Radeon RX Vega 64. This means the card has more than enough power for demanding content such as high-refresh HDR gaming at 1080p, ultrawide 1440p and 4K while propelling next-generation photo and visual creation applications on vibrant 8K monitors.
AMD claims that the card is aimed towards gamers, content creators and enthusiasts. To prove that, these are some of the benchmark tests done against Nvidia’s RTX 2080:

What will the Radeon VII bring to the table?
AMDâ€™s competitor against the RTX has a tall wall to climb, but with the features announced, it has its own tricks up its sleeve.

The features include:

60 compute units, 3,840 stream processors and the card can clock up to a whopping 1,750 MHz to drive excellent gaming performance and hyper-realistic images.
A massive array of 16GB HMB2 VRAM with 1TBps bandwidth and a 4,096-bit memory interface enable ultra-high-resolution textures, hyper-realistic settings and life-like characters.
Remarkable DirectX 12 and Vulkan performance, with improvements of 35% in Battlefield V and 42% in Strange Brigade compared to the Radeon Vega 64.
Performance to drive 3D rendering, video editing applications and next-generation compute workloads, including up to 27%higher performance in Blender, up to 27% higher performance in DaVinci Resolve 15 and up to 62% higher performance in the LuxMark benchmark compared to Radeon Vega 64.
Radeon FreeSync is available and offers more than 650 compatible displays, delivering buttery smooth gaming at almost every price point. Radeon FreeSync 2 HDR offers more than 2X better brightness and colour volume compared to sRGB.

Radeon VII is now available to purchase on AMD.com for $699 USD (~2,844 MYR). AMD also offers a bundle aptly named the â€˜Raise the Game Fully Loadedâ€™ bundle, which awards buyers of the Radeon VII or a Radeon VII powered PC a complimentary PC version of some of the most anticipated games of 2019. These includeÂ Resident Evil 2, Devil May Cry 5, and The Division 2. A pretty good deal, if I should say so myself.


The New Sailor Moon Movie Is Coming To Netflix This June

Studio Deen and Toei Animation’s Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Eternal The Movie was originally supposed to release in 2020, but now it’s officially going to premiere globally (outside of Japan) on Netflix on 3 June 2021.
Based on the â€˜Dream Arc’ of the original hit manga series, the two-part movie is about the Sailor Guardians’ growth, both as teenage girls and as Sailor Guardians, as well as the faint first love of Chibi-Usa and Helios. As the new moon obscures the sun and gradually dims its light, Usagi and Chibi-Usa encounter a mysterious Pegasus named Helios, who is in search of the chosen Maiden who can break the seal of the Golden Crystal.
Meanwhile, a mysterious troupe called the Dead Moon Circus appears in town, hatching a nefarious plan to scatter the nightmare incarnations known as Lemures, seize the Legendary Silver Crystal, rule over the moon and the earth, and eventually dominate the entire universe.
In the meantime, check out the trailer below:


Here’s Everything You Need To Know About The New COD Mobile Zombie Mode

One of the best features of past Call of Duty games is the Zombies Mode which pits the players against hordes of zombies and other monstrosities in missions that can be done solo or in co-op. It’s good to see Call of Duty: Mobile also getting the fan-requested mode.

The Call of Duty: Mobile Zombies Mode can be played right now. You just have to make sure that you’ve reached level 5 in-game and then you’re good to go. Do note that Zombies Mode is a temporary addition to the game so make sure you don’t miss out on this unique event. Activision didn’t state when the event will end so better make full use of it.
There are two modes that can be played: Survival Mode and Raid Mode. Both of them take place on a map called Shi No Numa (Swamp of Death). If you’ve ever played Call of Duty: World at War, then I’m sure you’ll be quite familiar with the locale.
In Survival Mode, your mission to fight against an endless horde of zombies and see how long you can last before succumbing to the undead onslaught. You can choose to either play on Normal or Heroic difficulty. There’s a special map easter egg if you play on Heroice but you’ll still have find it and complete it yourself.

In Raid Mode, you fight against a predetermined number of waves. 8 waves in Normal and 12 waves in Heroic. When you decimate all of the zombie waves, you’ll take on a final boss. It appears to be some sort of scorpion-crab monster called “Abomination”. Playing on Heroic might also lead you to a second boss and more secret areas.
Regardless of which mode you play, Zombies mode will reward you every three rounds and you can get up to five rewards each session. That’s a bit disappointing since I’m pretty sure some of us will be good enough to survive more than 15 rounds in Survival Mode.
For more news and updates on Call of Duty: Mobile, stay tuned on Kakuchopurei.


This Big Chinese Online Entertainment Company Is Hosting Its Own Games Press Briefing

No Chinajoy? No problem!
One of China’s biggest online entertainment platforms that focuses on anime, comics, and video games will be hosting its own new game press briefing later this month; 31st July. That company? It’s Bilibili.
For those who don’t know, Bilibili is the main Chinese publisher for anime/anime-like/mobile gacha nonsense like Fate/Grand Order, Princess Connect! Re: Dive, and SinoALICE (the mobile game from Yoko Taro). In other words, quite a big deal. The game press briefing will feature 11 games; while primarily on mobile gaming in China, the company has expanded to PC and consoles recently.
Previously, the company announced its investment plans for games like Eastern Exorcist for PS4 and Steam, as well as the mobile port of 2018’s indie darling action Metroidvania-esque game Dead Cells.


David Cronenberg Returns To Body Horror With Crimes Of The Future

The master and one of the fathers of the body horror genre, David Cronenberg, has returned with what looks like another disturbing and gross (in a good way) movie, Crimes Of The Future. Cronenberg already made a movie titled Crimes Of The Future back in 1970, but this 2022 film won’t be a remake of that movie.
Cronenberg is best known for body horror movie classics like 1981’s Scanners, 1986’s The Fly, and more. Body horror usually involves grotesque or psychologically disturbing violations of the human body, so not everyone will be able to stomach it.
The synopsis reads:
As the human species adapts to a synthetic environment, the body undergoes new transformations and mutations. With his partner Caprice (Léa Seydoux), Saul Tenser (Viggo Mortensen), celebrity performance artist, publicly showcases the metamorphosis of his organs in avant-garde performances. Timlin (Kristen Stewart), an investigator from the National Organ Registry, obsessively tracks their movements, which is when a mysterious group is revealed… Their mission – to use Saul’s notoriety to shed light on the next phase of human evolution.

Crimes Of The Future stars Viggo Mortensen as Saul Tenser, alongside Léa Seydoux, Kristen Stewart, and Scott Speedman. David Cronenberg directed the film based on his own original script.
It is slated to premiere sometime in June 2022. Check out the disgusting(ly good) teaser below:


The First Slam Dunk Movie Comes To Malaysian Cinemas February 2023

Takehiko Inoue’s popular anime basketball, The First Slam Dunk movie will be coming to cinemas in Malaysia on 23 February 2023. Distributed by Odex, the film will be exclusively available in GSC cinemas nationwide.
GSC Cinemas announced earlier today on their Twitter account the anime’s upcoming debut after 26 long years:

THE FIRST SLAM DUNK
Coming soon exclusively to GSC this 23 February 2023! ?Stay tuned for more updates!#TheFirstSlamDunk #SlamDunk #Shohoku #TakenoriAkagi #HisashiMitsui #RyotaMiyagi #KaedeRukawa #HanamichiSakuragi #ODEXAnime #ODEX #GSCMovies #GSCMAnime pic.twitter.com/A39RJze76R
— GSC ? (@GSCinemas) January 19, 2023

Written and directed by Takehiko, The First Slam Dunk will feature most of the original characters and recast all his principal voice actors: Ryota Miyagi (Shugo Nakamura), Hisashi Mitsui (Jun Kasama), Kaede Rukawa (Shin’ichiro Kamio), Hanamichi Sakuragi (Subaru Kimura), Takenori Akagi (Kenta Miyake), Haruko Akagi (Maaya Sakamoto), Kiminobu Kogure (Ryota Iwasaki), and many more.
The First Slam Dunk is an adaptation of the popular manga series. Following the manga’s 1990 debut on Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump, Toei Animation adapted the franchise into an anime, which aired from 1993-1996. This will be the first entry in the series since the original anime ended in the late 90s.
The movie adaptation unfolds the match between Shohoku High and Sannoh Secondary School. You can still watch it without having seen the previous series, as it is meant to introduce you to the characters and setting.
Watch the official trailer down below to get your sneakers ready and a glimpse of what’s to come by Shohoku High.


Tundra Esports Wins The International 2022; Online Production Stream A Kerfuffle

The International 2022 has finished, and has a new winning Dota 2 team for the year: Tundra Esports.
The team has beaten Team Secret 3-0, with players Sneyking and Aui_2000 leading the team to victory and making history for themselves with top-tier play. Tundra Esports have won US$8,492,444 for being in first place.

? YOUR #TI11 CHAMPIONS ARE @TundraEsports ? pic.twitter.com/9H6KHCX7St
— ESL Dota2 (@ESLDota2) October 30, 2022

Hope I don't get kicked
— Aui 2000 (@Aui_2000) October 30, 2022

Tundra Esports is a pretty dominant team during TI11, beating a 14-4 record in Group Stages to an undefeated run in upper bracket. The team ended TI11 with only 5 total map losses, with this inspirational parting message from Nine.
?

At What Price Victory?
While Tundra Esports and Team Secret relished in being in the top two spot of The International 2022, fans who tuned in have seen better days. The show’s production value for the online portion has dropped significantly on the final day of the show. The Twitch stream had frame skipping and lagging voices, with the stream going offline at 20 minutes into the third match in the finals. While savvy viewers migrated to YouTube, the broadcast on that channel froze and was rewound by five minutes.
 Stream just died from      DotA2

At least Dota 2 fans witnessed some highlights and thrilling matches on the main stage, as well as made their voices heard for the tournament. Plus, we get lovely moments from top-tier Dota 2 player Iceiceice.
 SMG.iceiceice the legendary troll. from      DotA2

Valve reaffirms its commitment to the scene and hopes to improve the level of effort for next year’s TI. The question remains whether Singapore will still be on the list for potential TI tournament grounds given a lot of rumblings and Reddit threads about it.


Do We Really Need A Masters Of The Universe Follow-Up?

Minor spoilers in the review; we need to talk about the first episode’s resolution. We won’t spoil the rest of the series though.Â
When it comes to 80s toy lines with their own cartoon shows, I’m more of a Transformers and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles guy than a He-Man & The Masters Of The Universe fan. Call it personal preference, I guess. But I can understand the love and adoration of Mattel’s very famous boy-centric toyline with its creative aesthetics and “creative” use of the fantasy genre without being brutal and hardcore like a Conan The Barbarian flick.
So when I heard about the Masters of the Universe series on Netflix, it was probably because Kevin “I bitched about Star Wars & made a career out of it” Smith, a man who does not even like the series that much, is producing it (and writing the first episode). Oh, and the “bait-and-switch” marketing and Rotten Tomatoes “review-bombing” fallout that occurred. I was naturally curious.
So what did I end up with? A pretty solid sequel that looks & sounds great, but needs some work in-between.
Muscle Powered

If you’re new to the Masters of the Universe series, just remember that it was based on an 80s Mattel fantasy toy/action figure line featuring big burly men and humanoid monsters with dumb names. The 80s show is basically a monster-and-situation-of-the-week where our hero Prince Adam and his superpowered sword-wielding alter-ego He-Man saves the world of Eternia from Skeletor’s forces on a Saturday morning cartoon basis. With a Funimation budget -more jumping than actual fighting- and strict 80s programming.
In this Netflix sequel, the gloves are off: He-Man and Skeletor get locked in a fated showdown where actual fighting and action happens, explosions and sword-stabbings included. That’s good! Longtime fans who had to fill in the blanks for the less-than-stellar-looking-right-now 80s show will get to see how the show’s action should be like with 100 times the budget. Powerhouse Animation (of Netflix’s Castlevania fame) really did a great job maintaining the look of the show while glossing things up with striking colours and effects.
For fans who know the lore inside out and are ready to keep an open mind, the show’s main plot revolves around the cast: the aftermath of that fated battle basically left Eternia with little to no magic left, and a He-Man-and-Prince-Adam-less world. Man-At-Arms gets banished because King Randor’s secretly an asshole, and Teela feels super-betrayed because she isn’t in on the “Prince Adam is He-Man” secret.
Edgelord Teela ends up being a mercenary with her new “friend” Andra, who is wide-eyed and optimistic, and somehow ends up being given a quest to fix Eternia’s magic problem with unlikely allies and returning pals. There’s a good bunch of action and story going on with this, as Teela and co. end up being the focal point to help get the world back on track. It’s a bold choice, and one made with actual thought and care since the last thing we want is a retread & regurgitation of the 80s show’s cyclical plot but with better animation.
It’s also pretty ballsy for axing certain characters left and right, upping the stakes when needed and fleshing certain relationships so that we actually give a crap.Â As someone who has seen many reboots happen for a ton of 80s toyline-to-animation properties, I approve.
Powerless

A few problems with this reboot-sequel’s current path though: the writing can get wretched at times, Teela comes off as whiney and entitled, to the point where she can’t get over her betrayal for FOUR episodes straight, and the voice-acting does not feel unique. If the writers can tone down Teela’s personal story arc so that she doesn’t come off as selfish, then maybe her actions and persona can be tolerable. It’s just written poorly here, and makes me care more for the supporting cast. That’s a problem when you choose to focus the plot on Teela and her quest though.
This problem is exemplified in one of the later episodes where she ends up in Eternia’s version of the underworld and she confronts her worst fears. The end result is cringeworthy and unnecessary; better writers would have actually made more sense out of this bit.
And no, that’s not Teela and Skeletor’s voices you’re hearing. That’s Buffy pretending to be Teela and Joker pretending to be Skeletor. As star-studded, the cast is, most of it is mostly because it will attract the masses & pop culture aficionados rather than because it felt right for most of the characters.
Yes, I’m aware this is a PG kid’s show and that some of the lines can get corny and on-the-nose, but most of the plot requires all that knowledge of the 80s Mattel toy line and lore ingrained in your mind. Striking that balance between old and new fans is tough, and in this regard, this one is skewed towards the former. If you’re jumping into this fresh, you’ll have no idea who the hell Moss Man is, and why there’s only one person guarding the one major location that every bad guy in the show wants to conquer.
It’s arguable that the show the hardcore He-Man fans wanted may not be this, and believe me there’s a lot of videos and articles bringing this up. I blame this more on the marketing that happened prior to the show’s release. As a standalone follow-up to an 80s toy property with a cartoon tacked onto it, it’s fine. Just remember that this is one-half of a full series that will wrap up how Eternia will end up. At the very least, the shocker of an ending for this season really has me looking forward to the next half.
Masters of the Universe: Revelation certainly has the power, but it still needs to channel it right to reach its full potential. Here’s hoping the second half will sort that out.
Final Score: 60/100


Star Wars The Bad Batch Season 2 Serves As A Bridge Between The Prequel & Original Trilogy Eras

After almost two years since the end of Star Wars The Bad Batch Season 1, the series finally returns for a second season. The first season of the spinoff and successor series to Star Wars The Clone Wars wasn’t perfect, but what about the second season?
Rise Of The Empire

Star Wars The Bad Batch follows the elite and experimental clones of the Bad Batch (or Clone Force 99) as they find their way in a rapidly changing galaxy in the immediate aftermath of the Clone Wars. When Season 2 starts, several months will have passed since the end of the first season. The first season mostly focused on how the Bad Batch betrayed the Empire, went AWOL and met Omega. They were presumed dead at the end of Season 1, so it’s refreshing to see them now no longer actively just always on the run, which got old fast. Now, they’re in hiding and somewhat free to do what they want, but with the threat of the Empire always looming on the horizon.
Unfortunately, Season 2 does commit some of the same mistakes as Season 1. Being 16 episodes long per season, fillers were unavoidable, but Season 2 does feel more structured overall, with a higher sense of urgency as the Empire grows stronger. However, the problem is that the filler episodes are always those involving the Bad Batch themselves on random missions or jobs for Cid to get money. Sometimes we get variations like an episode that introduces a new variant of Podracing, but most of these episodes feel samey and bland. In contrast, the best episodes are often episodes that put the spotlight on supporting characters such as Crosshair, Captain Rex, Commander Cody and others. I can safely bet that these episodes will be the ones that turn out to be fan favourites when they eventually premiere.
Emperor Palpatine in a scene from “STAR WARS: THE BAD BATCH”, season 2 exclusively on Disney+. © 2022 Lucasfilm Ltd. & ™. All Rights Reserved.
My favourite of the season was one episode that finally addressed and explained how the Empire transitioned from using Clone troopers and started employing, as well as deploying, Stormtroopers. This question finally gets answered in canon this season and I’m sure fans of the franchise would look forward to that. That alone should be enough of a hook to start watching this season, but Star Wars The Bad Batch Season 2 also has more fun easter eggs and references for fans, including the return of the Jedi Wookie named Gungi (which can be seen in the trailers) and more. I believe one is even a homage to Ridley Scott’s Alien and Godzilla.
In Season 2 Star Wars The Bad Batch also isn’t afraid to tackle mature and serious subject matter, such as the Empire’s inhuman treatment of the remaining clone troopers, discarding them aside and treating them like property. This can be seen as social commentary and an allegory to the United States’ treatment of war veterans.

As fans of the franchise, it’s also nice to see the military of a proto-Empire. At this time, the Empire was still phasing out the clone troopers and the early stormtroopers wore the TK trooper armour instead of the iconic stormtrooper armour we all know from the movies. The Empire also still used the Venator-Class Star Destroyers and not the iconic Imperial-Class Star Destroyers. All these details are surely great fodder for fans of the franchise.
Last but not least, Dee Bradley Baker triumphantly returns as the voice of the Bad Batch and Michelle Ang as the voice of Omega. Rhea Perlman returns to guest star as Cid, Noshir Dalal returns to guest star as Vice Admiral Rampart, and Wanda Sykes makes her guest-starring debut in the series as Phee Genoa. All of the voice performances are commendable, but the MVP is once again Dee Bradley Baker, of course, due to the sheer variety of voices he has to perform as different clones. Also, be prepared for some unexpected cameos and voice actors, which are fun to spot.
The Fall Of The Clones

Ultimately, it’s still a shame that Star Wars The Bad Batch Season 2 doesn’t resolve all of its problems from Season 1. However, it’s still an improvement over the previous season and a must-watch for fans of the franchise if they want to keep up with canon lore. It’s a shame that some of the Bad Batch-focused episodes still feel like filler, but they’re worth sifting through in order to get to the “good stuff”. Perhaps Star Wars animation is best served with shorter and more focused like in Star Wars The Clone Wars Season 7, or an anthology format like Star Wars Tales Of The Jedi.
FINAL SCORE: 80/100
We received an early screener of fourteen episodes of Star Wars The Bad Batch Season 2 courtesy of Disney+ Hotstar Malaysia. Star Wars The Bad Batch Season 2 is slated to premiere on 4 January 2023 on Disney+ Hotstar Malaysia, with subsequent episodes following every Wednesday.
In other related content, we participated in a brief exclusive interview with actress Gwendoline Yeo, who voices the Kaminoan named Nala Se in Star Wars The Bad Batch, courtesy of Disney+ Hotstar Malaysia. We also managed to participate in a roundtable interview with head writer and executive producer Jennifer Corbett as well as supervising director and executive producer Brad Rau, courtesy of Disney+ Hotstar Malaysia.


Call Of Duty: Mobile Hits 35M Downloads; Currently Top iOS App Worldwide

Call of Duty: Mobile was released just two days ago and it has already formed a playerbase of more than 35 million gamers on iOS and Android combined. After the resounding success of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) Mobile, it’s safe to say that Tencent has conquered the mobile shooter market.
According to Venture Beat, the game has already generated US$2 million in player spending after being released in the U.S., Europe, India, and Latin America (from Sensor Tower analysis). Similar to PUBG Mobile, the in-app purchases consist of cosmetic items such as clothing and weapon skins.

In Activision’s own investor report, the game has nabbed the #1 spot on the Apple App Store in 100 countries, making it not only the top mobile game on the app but also among all apps. According to AppBrain, the game has been downloaded for more than 10 million times on the Google Play Store and is ranked #1 in many country’s ‘Top Free’ category.
The game’s explosive launch is big news to everyone in the mobile esports industry. It means that a new game is ready to enter mobile esports and shake up the current economy. With Tencent’s other battle royale, PUBG Mobile, being one of the most popular games in the scene, the company is definitely heading towards a strong hold over the industry. Well, it already has that.

Call of Duty: Mobile is currently free to download on the Google Play Store and Apple App Store. PC users can play the game through the GameLoop emulator.


Tom Clancy’s The Division Free Update 1.8 Drops Tomorrow + Free to Play Weekend News!

Update 1.8 â€œResistanceâ€ for Tom Clancyâ€™s The Division will launch simultaneously onÂ PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Windows PCÂ platforms tomorrow, December 5. This will be followed by a free weekendÂ coming to all platforms from December 7 to December 10. Additionally, all Division owners will have free access to all of the expansions included in The Division’s Season Pass (Underground, Survival, and Last Stand) from December 5 to December 10.
The largest free update thus far for Tom Clancyâ€™s The Division, “Resistance” expands the game map with a new area accessible to all players: West Side Pier. In addition to the variety of open world activities available across the whole map, West Side Pier will be home to two new game modes; Resistance (PvE) and Skirmish (PvP).
In addition to that, the new update will include a new social hub, improvements to the Underground DLC, a revamp of the rogue mechanics, as well as an optimization of the gear system letting players improve the stats of their favorite equipment.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Q8FZiwrQNs&w=560&h=315]
In conjunction with the free weekend, there will be discounts on Tom Clancyâ€™s The Divisionâ€™s Standard and Gold Editions on the Ubisoft Store. All progress from the free weekend will carry over to the full game if players purchase it.


You Can Now Play The Amazing Titanfall 2 Free On PS4

I really enjoyed Respawn’s Titanfall 2 for its creative and fun single-player campaign. The multiplayer is stellar, of course, but the whole bot-team-up-with-man against a slew of other mecha-piloting goons while using a time-warping device to solve puzzles is a tad more enticing.
Which is why it’s great that you can play that for free on your PS4, because Titanfall 2 is one of the free games you can play on December’s PlayStation Plus offering starting 3rd December.
Oh and there’s also some other game called Monster Energy Supercross – The Official Videogame that’s free too, but screw that noise.Â  If you haven’t played Titanfall 2, you really, REALLY should.
Keep in mind that this is the US listing for PS Plus; we’ll double-check later this week to see if this applies to Asia as well. Then again, having multiple regional accounts is pretty common for gamers in this day and age.


Metal Gear’s Hideo Kojima Misidentified As Shinzo Abe’s Assassin Thanks To Terrible Internet Jokes [Update]

One can take racist jokes a bit too far, especially if it’s affecting news reporting.
As you may have heard, former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was assassinated in Japan, where gunfire and gunshots are incredibly rare. This led to a lot of corners of the internet making bad jokes about the situation. This led to a Greece news station named Ant1 News misidentifying famous Metal Gear/Death Stranding game developer Hideo Kojima as Shinzo Abe’s assassin.

How did this happen in the first place? As chronicled on ResetEra, lots of people made bad jokes (via 4chan) about Abe’s suspected killer looking like Kojima due to the whole “Asian people looking similar to one another” and all that jazz. This led to far-right French politician Damien Rieu retweeting images of the game director with the message “the extreme left kills”.

The Tweets are already deleted as Rieu realized this was a bad joke, but that didn’t stop Ant1 News to misreport the assassination.
The news report said the following on a video which is now deleted since it’s obviously an error:
“Tetsuya has confessed to his actions to the police, admitting that he wanted Abe dead because he was disappointed and upset with him. The police have learned that he [the culprit] had served in the Navy Special Forces and taught a unit in Medical School on Physiotherapy for dementia patients. He was passionate about Che Guevara.”
Hideo Kojima has yet to respond to this chaos.
Kojima Productions has responded to this with intolerance and will consider taking legal action “in some cases”, via a Tweet regarding the situation.

#KojimaProductions strongly condemns the spread of fake news and rumors that convey false information. We do not tolerate such libel and will consider taking legal action in some cases. pic.twitter.com/fDi0FR9kB0
— KOJIMA PRODUCTIONS (Eng) (@KojiPro2015_EN) July 9, 2022