What You Need To Know About The Recent Guild Wars 2 Kerfuffle

It’s one thing to report about developers getting fired over community outrage or over something silly you said in a public landscape. It’s another to somehow frame the whole story and narrative to make it seem like the fired parties are the true victims here, being oppressed by the very same fanbase who are toxic in nature.
Such is the case of ArenaNet, creators of Guild Wars 2, who recently fired two of its developers for breaking community rules: Jessica Price and Peter Fries. Right now, we have publications like Kotaku and BuzzfeedÂ misrepresenting the current story by omitting certain details concerning the two.
Here’s a breakdown of what happened (via One Angry Gamer):

Guild Wars 2 developers Jessica Price and Peter Fries were engaged in Twitter discussions with fans after Price made a public tweet thread about the game’s troubles of narrative design in MMOs. It’s a pretty lengthy insight but it’s worth sifting through.

https://twitter.com/Delafina777/status/1014234740772126720

Twitch streamers and gamers engaged in a thoughtful discussion with Price. She responded with the following:

https://twitter.com/Delafina777/status/1014554296107483136

like, the next rando asshat who attempts to explain the concept of branching dialogue to me–as if, you know, having worked in game narrative for a fucking DECADE, I have never heard of it–is getting instablocked. PSA.
— Jessica Price (@Delafina777) July 4, 2018

https://twitter.com/MMOINKS/status/1014282629036769280

Sure, dude. Now get out of my fucking feed with your assumptions and your entitlement to my time.
— Jessica Price (@Delafina777) July 4, 2018

Various Reddit threads popped up following the outburst. Check them out here and here. Currently, they’re getting quite a lot of upvotes from the Guild Wars 2 Reddit community.

That was enough to prompt ArenaNet CEO Mike O’Brien to issue the following statement:

“Recently two of our employees failed to uphold our standards of communicating with players. Their attacks on the community were unacceptable. As a result, theyâ€™re no longer with the company.

I want to be clear that the statements they made do not reflect the views of ArenaNet at all. As a company, we always strive to have a collaborative relationship with the Guild Wars community. We value your input. We make this game for you.”

Game news publications like Kotaku and Rock Paper Shotgun wrote about the story. Some outlets chose to redirect the blame towards ArenaNet and painted Price and Fries as victims of a Guild Wars 2 community filled with “harassers”.

Our take on this? Well…

Unless the developers had a torrid history of going out of line in public concerning community interaction and social media usage, firing the both of them seems a tad excessive.
Remember:Â “my views are my own on my social media feed” isn’t a “get out of social network jail” card.
It’s a sad state of affairs when your big gaming news sites love to focus more on stories that somehow bring gender into play as a way to get out of deep arguments and conversations about game design/game narratives.
It’s good that developers speak up at times. But there’s a fine line between “arguing in a civil manner” and “shutting down people aggressively and in a patronizing manner”. We think that ArenaNet may need their PR guys to help bring Price and Fries out of this situation. Wait for the responses and feedback for a day or so, then come back with an insightful reply.
If you’re representing your company and talking about your product, you still need to be professional about public interactions regardless. If, in an alternate timeline after Price said her piece and if INKS and Deroir called her nasty words and replied in a less polite manner, keeping your mouth shut and showing these replies to your more understanding colleagues and boss means that you come out the better person in the long run.


Rocket League Is Permanently Benching Randomised Lootboxes

At this point, it’s difficult to find modern games that don’t implement microtransactions and randomised lootboxes. This games-as-a-service business model is changing the way games are made, and not in a good way.
However, the people at Psyonix and Epic Games are taking small but meaningful steps towards ridding themselves of such features.

Psyonix has recently announced that they will be permanently removing all randomised lootboxes from their extremely popular football-but-using-cars game Rocket League.

Currently in Rocket League, you can buy Crates which will give you a randomised set of items and cosmetics after being opened. After the change is implemented, players will be able to see the exact items they’re buying. No more randoms.
In the same announcement, the developers have specified that features such as Rocket Pass Premium, DLC Cars, and Esports Shop will continue to be offered for direct purchase after the change is implemented.

“Here at Psyonix, and Epic Games as a whole, we are dedicated to creating the best possible experience for our players all over the world. In pursuit of that goal, later this year we will remove all paid, randomized Crates from Rocket League, replacing them with a system that shows the exact items youâ€™re buying in advance. This is similar to changes implemented earlier this year by the Fortnite Save the World team.”
– Psyonix Team
No exact date has been given yet but the developers have said that they will be sharing more information on the changes in the coming months.


Dead By Daylight Is Adding Nicolas Cage As A Playable Character

Behaviour Interactive has announced that Nicolas Cage is coming to Dead By Daylight. He will play himself in the game and will take the role of a playable Survivor. More information about Nicolas Cage is set to be revealed on 5 July 2023.
Here’s the official blurb:
“After countless awards and over one hundred movies shot across the globe, Nicolas Cage had seen it all and done it all – or so he thought. While on set filming the role of a lifetime, his performance summoned The Entity, a malevolent being of incomprehensible power. The actor soon found himself cast in otherworldly Fog, forced to Survive a host of terrifying Killers deadlier than even the most scathing film critic.”
Dead By Daylight is a multiplayer action/horror game where one player takes on the role of a brutal Killer and the other four?play?as Survivors. As a Killer, your goal is to sacrifice as many Survivors as possible. As Survivors, your goal is to work together to evade, escape, and most importantly – stay alive.
Nicolas Cage has become a horror icon in recent years, starring in movies like Willy’s Wonderland and the recent Renfield.


Rocksteady Co-Founders Leaving Studio After 2022 Ends

After 18 years of founding Rocksteady Games, co-founders Sefton Hill and Jamie Walker are leaving the company.
According to an official letter on the company’s official website, the president of Warner Bros Games David Haddad made the following announcement:
“With Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League nearly finished, they have both decided to leave Rocksteady at the end of 2022 and will begin a new adventure in gaming. We have the utmost respect and gratitude for Jamie and Sefton and wish them all the best in their new endeavour, and like many fans, we look forward to what they do next.”
The duo have a bit to say too about leaving the company, stating that Suicide Squad is near completion:
“Our decision to leave Rocksteady was emotional to say the least! From the day we founded the company in 2004 all the way to today, Rocksteady has been our life and soul. Now with Suicide Squad in safe hands, and the team here stronger than ever, it’s time to hand over the reins, and for us to start a new adventure together in games.”
Rocksteady Games’ upcoming game, The Suicide Squad Kills The Justice League, will be out in 2023. The company’s claim to fame is from the Batman: Arkham Asylum series.


Free Fire MAX Is Now Live, Offers Enhanced Gameplay

Free Fire MAX is now available for download globally on both the Google Play and iOS App stores. Free Fire MAX, a standalone mobile application, will offer players the same Free Fire gameplay with enhanced specifications. Players can enjoy Free Fire MAX-exclusive features, more realistic maps, and a more immersive gameplay experience, among other features.Â
Create and play in your own custom maps with CraftlandÂ

Craftland is a Free Fire MAX-exclusive feature that lets players create their very own maps and enjoy it with their friends â€“ all from their mobile phones! Players can get creative and include various objects, buildings, structures, and decorations to their very own maps for a social and enjoyable experience with friends.
Completed maps can be played by both Free Fire and Free Fire MAX players, with players able to share their custom maps for others to host. Players can also like, subscribe, and share their favourite maps to show their support for the creators!Â
Free Fire MAX offers more realistic mapsÂ

Free Fire MAX delivers graphically enhanced maps, allowing players to appreciate the finer details of their favourite maps. Map effects have also been added to offer a more realistic in-game experience. This includes added effects across water bodies, safezones, and even with natural surroundings â€“ players can even try shooting at trees to see leaves falling to the ground!Â
A new map â€“ Bermuda MAX â€“ will also be added to Free Fire MAX. The difference for Bermuda MAX lies in the details. Bermuda MAX brings a redesigned Clocktower and Factory area, with detail added to both the inside and outside structures.
Free Fire MAX delivers a more immersive gameplay experienceÂ
Free Fire MAX sports both visual and audio updates, allowing players to immerse deeper into their Free Fire experience.Â
Animations of basic movement â€“ such as running, jumping, crawling â€“ have been enhanced to provide a smoother and more realistic experience. Special animations when players consume mushrooms and parachute into the map have also been added.Â
Weapons within Free Fire MAX also received a boost. Reloading animations of weapons have been reworked, with sound effects refreshed to offer more realism. Tracer and bullet hole effects have also been added to Free Fire MAX. Added tracer effects have been included for weapons, and bullet holes will appear on walls and certain structures in the map. Tracer effects will only be visible from the playerâ€™s perspective, so no added advantage is given to Free Fire MAX players.
Continue to enjoy Free Fire with your friendsÂ
Free Fire MAX is supported by Firelink technology, Free Fireâ€™s in-house technology which enables complete interoperability between Free Fire MAX and Free Fire. This will enable players to:Â

Use their same existing Free Fire account to login to Free Fire MAX.Â
Sync all accounts data â€“ including account progress and game items â€“ across both applications.Â
Play all game modes with all Free Fire players, regardless of the application that they use.Â


Thailand Game Show 2022: All The Sights & Sounds

Thailand Game Show is back in full force this 2022; it’s the country’s premiere video game expo that’s giving everyone an offline chance to hang out, play games, see the latest going-ons in gaming, and perhaps partake in NFTs?
Yeah, that last bit might sound dubious, but there’s a lot happening in the Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre during the weekend of 21st October. We at Kakuchopurei took a heckaton of photos; check them out here!
We’ll be updating this page with more pics as time goes by: Thailand Game Show 2022 is still ongoing as we’re typing this.

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WandaVision Episode 3 Easter Eggs Explained

Well, that was a bizarre episode. And things are already escalating super fast in WandaVision.
Iâ€™ll be discussing heavy spoilers from WandaVisionÂ Episode 3 so if you havenâ€™t seen them or want to avoid spoilers, nowâ€™s your chance to stop reading.

Wanda Delivers Two Baby Boys (Twins)

We only found out that Wanda was pregnant at the end of Episode 2. In Episode 3, she basically goes to being about nine-months pregnant and ready to deliver her baby in the span of a single day. She does deliver the baby twins in the episode, and guess what?
Their names are Billy and Tommy, just like in the comics. You see, Wanda has two children in comic book canon; namely William ‘Billy’ Kaplan AKA Wiccan and Thomas ‘Tommy’ Sheperd AKA Speed. It looks like WandaVision will be adapted these two and introducing them into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Why do these characters have different last names? It’s complicated, but basically, Wanda created the baby twins using her powers. However, not even the likes of her can create a human soul. Therefore, she unknowingly used the fragments of Marvel villain Mephisto’s soul to create Billy and Tommy. Unfortunately, they were later uncreated as their souls were reabsorbed into Mephisto, but the souls of the twins reincarnated into William ‘Billy’ Kaplan and Thomas ‘Tommy’ Sheperd.
It’s unclear if WandaVision will go the same way as the comics right now, but it sure looks that way. If that’s true, then those rumours of a future Young Avengers adaptation could also turn out to be true.

There Are Several Undercover Agents Of SWORD In Westview
Kathryn Hahn’s Agnes (left), David Payton’s Herb (right)
Westview is the name of the town that Wanda and Vision are living in, and it turns out that there are actually more than one or two Agents Of SWORD. As I’ve previously explained, SWORD is a new organization similar to SHIELD, and they’re trying to look into Wanda’s situation right now.
Thanks to Episode 3, we now know that Teyonah Parris’ Geraldine AKA Monica Rambeau, Kathryn Hahn’s Agnes and David Payton’s Herb are all undercover agents of SWORD. Geraldine/Monica can even be seen wearing the SWORD logo on her necklace, and that goes into our next easter egg/reference.

Wanda’s Sokovian Accent Returns

Many have wondered why Wanda has suddenly lost her Sokovian accent in WandaVision, especially considering that she has always spoken with the accent in the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies.
In Episode 3, Wanda mentions her dead brother, Pietro, after singing a Sokovian lullaby to her newborn children and shedding a tear. Geraldine/Monica notices this and accidentally reminded her that Pietro died at the hands of Ultron (as seen in 2015’s Avengers Age Of Ultron).
This triggered Wanda, causing her Sokovian accent to suddenly return in a chilling way, and that segues into our next easter egg/reference.
The Show Turns Widescreen In The Real World, Confirming That Westview Is A Fake Reality

Wanda throws out Geraldine/Monica Rambeau from Westview. When Geraldine AKA Monica Rambeau gets thrown out, the screen ratio immediately changes to a modern widescreen, confirming that yes, Westview is indeed a fake reality seemingly created and maintained by a delusional Wanda.
WandaVision Episode 3 ends with Monica (let’s stop calling her Geraldine at this point) lies on the grass getting surrounded by a platoon of who might be SWORD agents. This is interesting because it might mean that the fake reality is in danger of getting breached, and Wanda will get even more defensive and darker in future episodes. Plus, future episodes will probably finally depict the outside world instead of just Wanda and Vision’s lives in Westview.


Overwatch’s Year of the Dog Event Introduces New Thailand Map

Overwatch’s Lunar Year of the Dog event will introduce a cool new capture-the-flag (CTF) map that takes place in Thailand. CalledÂ Ayutthaya, the map is said to reflect both modern and ancient aspects synonymous with the country. As explained by Game Director Jeff Kaplan in the latest dev update video, the Thailand map is also the first ever map designed for the CTF mode.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9nVxg3DqAM&w=560&h=315]
In addition to that, Kaplan detailed some changes to the CTF mode including the omission of draw results and introduction of the sudden-death mechanic. He also announced that there will be a specific, four-week long Competitive Season for CTF with its own specific rewards as well.
Speaking of four weeks, the Lunar Year of the Dog event will run for four weeks, instead of they typical three-week cycle previous special events normally last for. On the items side of things, Mercy and Genji will be receiving new skins, as well as new highlight intros for other heroes.
Overwatch’s Lunar Year of the Dog Event kicks off 8th February 2018 – but base don time difference, expect the update to drop around 3am on the 9th for players in the Asian region. Those who missed out on last year’s seasonal skins will have another chance of snapping them up this time around, along with the newly added ones as well.


Silent Hill 2 PC Gets An Updated Fan Patch That Fixes Everything

Silent Hill 2’s PC port is pretty crummy, but fans have already done something about it after so many years.
The fan-made patch and remastering of Silent Hill 2’s PC port now has a bunch of new improvements to make fans even more willing to support this version. Here are the changes (via GameSpot):

Clicking sounds when audio samples were interrupted are removed. This was noticeable when scrolling through the menu,
3D positional audio has been added,
Map view is adjusted for widescreen,
Integrated shaders allow you to customize your brightness settings,
SMAA antialiasing, colour temperature, fog texture resolution fixes,
A number of bug fixes.

All in all, this is a definitive improvement to make even PS2 owners of the original Silent Hill 2 consider playing it on PC with this patch. It’s a late Halloween present, sure, but it’s better than nothing. Or Konami’s previous efforts.


Oddyssey Your Space, Your Way Is A New 80s-Themed Space Sandbox Game

505 Games has announced Oddyssey Your Space, Your Way debuting on Steam via Early Access. Developed by Weird Fish, a newly formed independent game studio with AAA development pedigree (Dying Light, Dead Island, Painkiller, Call Of Juarez), Oddyssey sends players on a journey through deep space cartoon sandboxes laced with absurdly light-hearted humour and a classic animated visual style.
The single-player and co-op multiplayer game is set to launch into early access soon.

Inhabiting a small support ship aptly named the â€œOddyssey,â€ players will scour the galaxy for resources to power the â€œARK,â€ a mega-mothership housing Earthâ€™s last remaining two million human colonists who lie peacefully frozen in slumber. Through nebulas, asteroid fields, and whatever else stands in the way, the Oddysseyâ€™s few awakened colonists will gather resources to further the ARKâ€™s journey or use them to build and expand the ship to uncover new features that make life in space less difficult â€“ and totally more awesome.
Death is inevitable (this got dark fast), but not permanent (this got lighter, phew) as astronauts who perish can be replaced by any of the millions of other frozen humans stored on the ARK, awakening with different skills and traits to add everchanging variety to Oddysseyâ€™s gameplay. Players can also hack into characterâ€™s genomes to tinker with the very fibres of their being to adapt to the oddities of space travel aboard the Oddyssey.

Oddyssey features single-player gameplay with additional options for 4-player local co-op or 8-player online co-op multiplayer letting players work together to build new rooms, invent new technologies, mine materials, and much more. Each awakened ARK colonist has personal needs and can develop different traits depending on player actions and their ability to manage stress levels â€“ some are gnarly in a good way, some are gnarly in a bad way, some just gnarly.Â
A vast interstellar sandbox sprawls before players and houses a completely open-ended approach to playing the game. Players can closely follow main storyline events or engage in building freely â€“ roaming and exploring the galaxy to see what adventures lie in deep space. Throughout the game, characters can manage their ship by maintaining various mechanics such as power and resource delivery that develop hazards and impede performance.Â

Oddyssey Your Space, Your Way will blast into Early Access on Steam for PC for US$29.99. Wishlists are now open on Steam.


The Offspring To Perform In-Game In World Of Tanks

American rock band The Offspring will be the latest real musical acts to perform in a video game. Wargaming has announced that they will be performing in World Of Tanks from 18 September to 7 October 2019, where avatars resembling the band members will perform on a virtual stage in the Garage.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTDYxwinFvI&w=560&h=315]
These avatars of The Offspring will be achieved via motion-capture, which is the first time that the tech is used in World Of Tanks. In a statement to GameSpot, The Offspring singer Dexter Holland said:

“When the World of Tanks guys approached us with the idea of an in-game concert, we thought, ‘Hell yeah, let’s do it!’.
Video games are cool but video games where you can blow stuff up are even cooler.”

The band will perform some of their greatest hits, including “Pretty Fly For A White Guy),” and “The Kids Aren’t Alright”. They recently performed at the World of Tanks fan event Wargaming Fest: Tanker Day 2019 in Minsk, Belarus. It attracted over 250,000 people from around the world, which you can see in the post shared by the band on Twitter below.

Thank you Minsk! #wot #worldoftanks #WGFest19 pic.twitter.com/2MEueajVFF
â€” Offspring (@offspring) September 16, 2019


The Borderlands Movie Adds Marvel Actress As Tiny Tina

The Borderlands movie cast just keeps growing and growing.
Ariana Greenblatt joins Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Jack Black in the upcoming Borderlands movie directed by Eli Roth. Greenblatt is best known for starring as a younger version of Gamora in 2018’s Avengers Infinity War.
She will be playing the role of Tiny Tina, an unstable 13-year-old explosive expert who featured as an NPC in Borderlands 2, Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, and Borderlands 3.
Borderlands developer Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford himself confirmed the news on Twitter.

Ariana Greenblatt will play Tiny Tina in the Borderlands feature. pic.twitter.com/iSTh01ilqQ
— Randy Pitchford (@DuvalMagic) March 1, 2021

Even Ashly Burch, the original voice actress for Tiny Tina, approves of the casting:

The first character I ever voiced, written by my brother, inspired by our weird web series and our high school friend Christina, is now going to be in a multi-million dollar movie. Life is weird! Congratulations, @ArianaG!
— Ashly Burch (@ashly_burch) March 1, 2021

Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, director Eli Roth said about Greenblatt’s casting:
“Ariana is a spectacular new talent in cinema.
She has already worked with many of my close collaborators and everyone raves about her.
She blew us all away in her audition, and I cannot wait to see her bring the wild, insane and unpredictable Tiny Tina to the big screen.
Sheâ€™s going to blow up on screen like one of Tinaâ€™s grenades.”
Directed by Eli Roth, theÂ BorderlandsÂ movie doesnâ€™t have a release date yet but is slated to begin production soon inÂ Hungary.


Activision Faces Copyright Lawsuit Over Female Call Of Duty Character

A writer from North Carolina is suing Activision Blizzard, Infinity Ward and Major League Gaming Corp. over claims that his character has been copied by them in 2019’s Call Of Duty Modern Warfare. The lawsuit was filed by Clayton Haugen, who claims that his character of “Cade Janus” was used to create Call Of Duty operator Mara.
According to the lawsuit, Haugen created Cade Janus as the central character for a short story called November Renaissance he hoped would be made into a film (thanks, TorrentFreak).

https://www.instagram.com/p/BmNIVhZHIKb/?utm_source=ig_embed

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by A L E X (@alex_zedra)

In 2017, Haugen hired streamer Alex Zedra to portray the character in several photographs, which were shared on social media (see Instagram post above), but he claims that these photographs were allegedly used by Activision as a guide for the creation of Mara.
Haugen also claims that Activision hired Zedra to scan her likeness for Mara, and even the same makeup artist to reproduce the same look as Cade Janus.

Haugen registered the Cade Janus photographs back in December 2020, but Mara was added to Call Of Duty Modern Warfare in 2019 as part of the season one battle pass. With this lawsuit, Haugen is lookingÂ to “recover all monetary remedies from Defendants’ infringement, including all of their profits attributable to their infringements,” and “recover his costs, including attorney’s fees, incurred in this action to the full extent permitted by 17 U.S.C.”
Check out the full copy of the complaint here.


The Resident Evil 4 Remake Is Horrifyingly Superb

Platform(s): PC (version reviewed), PS5, Xbox Series X | S, PS4
Genre: Third-person survival horror
Resident Evil 4 is a classic that’s been around for 18 years and just got a jaw-dropping makeover. If you’re not familiar with it, the game follows Leon S. Kennedy, a suave government agent on a mission to rescue the President’s daughter from a creepy castle in rural Spain. But don’t be fooled by the damsel-in-distress storyline – this game is far from predictable. The castle is crawling with parasitic infections and brainwashed cultists, making it a spine-tingling experience.
The game’s core elements of intense combat and resource management are still intact, but now the character development is much richer. Capcom has done a fantastic job of balancing the game’s dark, horror-filled atmosphere with some well-timed humour. This remake is sure to please both die-hard fans and a whole new generation of gamers.

Still Very Much Resident Evil

Even if you’re a die-hard fan of the original Resident Evil 4, don’t worry, Capcom made sure to keep the iconic features while adding new details and changes to this remake. Personally, I’ve only played the remakes of the game, except for Resident Evil 7 and 8, so this reiteration gave me a fresh perspective on this classic horror title that everyone has raved about. But one thing is for sure, this remake will not disappoint you.
In Resident Evil 2, I remember avoiding wasting ammo on enemies that I could easily pass by. But in Resident Evil 4, the game throws double the number of enemies at you, and you must mow through them. You’re given an array of weapons, which you can obtain through chests or sales from the fan-favourite Merchant. I was always worried about running out of ammo, but I was always able to find the right resources to keep my guns loaded. This also means that you have to be strategic about which ammo you prioritize crafting, which is a new feature that the remake brings to the original formula. It’s almost like a strategy game on its own.
As Leon makes his way into the rural town in Spain, you quickly realize that something is off with the residents. But this isn’t the same infection that we saw in Racoon City; it’s something far different. The game leaves trails of notes and documents detailing how Las Plagas works and where it came from. The infected also have a degree of autonomy, unlike the zombies that you’re used to fighting. You’re constantly engaged in heart-racing fights that range from avoiding being grabbed to shooting and repeating. There’s no such thing as sitting still in Resident Evil 4.

Stunningly Scary Visuals

One thing that really stands out in the Resident Evil 4 remake is the attention to detail in the environments. The game looks incredible, with updated textures and lighting that make everything look more realistic. The game’s settings, such as the village and castle, are now even more stunning than before, with new additions and tweaks that give them a fresh feel.
While the game is certainly an improvement in many ways, there are a few things that could have been better. For instance, the game’s pacing can sometimes be a bit off, with some sections feeling too long or too short. Additionally, the game’s controls can feel a bit clunky at times, especially when aiming or manoeuvring in tight spaces.
Despite these minor flaws, however, the Resident Evil 4 remake is a fantastic game that honours the legacy of the original while also modernizing it for a new generation of players. Whether you’re a die-hard fan of the series or someone who’s new to it, this game is definitely worth checking out.
The Resident Evil 4 remake has undergone many changes but still maintains the core of the franchise. The writing can be cheesy and Leon is the king of one-liners that may make you cringe. However, it’s all part of the game’s charm, and I didn’t mind it. Some of the action moments were impressive, while others were corny, but it’s a Resident Evil game, so you can’t take it too seriously.
Resident Evil 4 was a significant turn in the franchise, which may have left horror fans wanting more. The remake evens out the pace with many moments of horror that make you jump out of your skin. Sometimes, I wished that the horror moments were longer, but the game also provides breaks from the dark and creepy hallways.
Capcom’s RE Engine is one of the best-looking engines I’ve ever seen. Even on my GeForce RTX 3060 Laptop, the engine looks spectacular. The character models are intricate and realistic, and every little detail in their skin and hair is visible in close-up shots. The environments are also immersive and well-designed.
I also appreciate the photo example that accompanies each specific graphic toggle in the settings. As someone who doesn’t know what ambient occlusion means, having a visual reference helped me understand what settings I was changing and how it could affect my performance. During my playthrough, I didn’t experience any glitches, and the game feels polished on PC.

Verdict

The pacing in the Resident Evil 4 remake is spot-on, with a good balance of puzzles, combat, and downtime. The puzzles aren’t too difficult, but they still require some thought and can range from unlocking doors to finding missing pieces. Combat is well-paced too, with moments that don’t drag on for too long and upgrades available to make it more manageable. The boss fights were great, but some of the areas they took place in felt too cramped. Exploration and character moments make up the game’s downtime, and both were enjoyable. It was satisfying to find hidden resources and the interactions between Leon and the other characters were nice, although I wish there were more of them.
All in all, I had a fantastic time playing and reviewing the game. Whether you’re new to the series or a longtime fan, Capcom has done a great job with this remake. Despite a few minor issues, it’s a polished AAA horror game that’s worth playing.

Final Score: 90/100


PS Sigh: How Sony Is Letting Down Its Southeast Asia Market

Update: A mere 15 minutes before this article went live, we found out via PlayStation Japan’s official Twitter account that the PlayStation 5 won’t be available on 12th November for in-store purchases. Sony Worldwide Studios former head honcho, Shuhei Yoshida also shared the same information:

Update 2: Something probably got lost in translation; what we gather was that PS5 is still coming to Japan this 12th, but only via deliveries for those who pre-ordered it. No walk-ins or on-the-day purchases available due to safety measures regarding Covid-19.
We apologize for any confusion that may arise. But our point still stands.
Anyway, back to the main meat of the story.
At the time of writing, we are exactly a week away from the release date of the PlayStation 5 in the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan , Mexico and South Korea. Sony’s next-gen console will then release in other markets worldwide a week later, on the 19th. Is it a great time to be a gamer? You bet.
However, if you live in Malaysia, or any neighbouring Southeast Asian countries save for maybe Singapore, you are in the dark. Believe it or not, we do not know when it will be officially reaching our shores. Heck, we don’t even have any information on pre-orders!
Can you believe that? In 2020. The Southeast Asia market is still behind when it comes to access to the latest technology. A quick check with my media friends out of Manila and Jakarta resulted with similar answers. Like Malaysia, both markets have very little to zero knowledge in regards to the PS5.

A Forgotten Cause?
Now if it’s always been the case with their past gen products, with say, the way it has always been with Microsoft and their Xbox, I would not be so worked up. Microsoft had focused on very few niche markets in Asia, namely Singapore and Hong Kong for the lifecycle of the Xbox One and its subsequent upgraded iterations.

Their absence or lack of presence in regards to the marketing of the Xbox Series S and X in Southeast Asia is very much expected. I am disappointed but totally not surprised. For better or worse, at least they are consistent.

However, this hits differently with Sony and the PS5. At the end of the PlayStation 3’s lifecycle, even before the reveal of the PlayStation 4, I personally witnessed a shift in their marketing strategy. They started paying attention to the Asian market. Specifically, the SEA region. SEA media were invited to special junkets for games releases.
Several legendary game makers were flown down to these parts of the world to promote their games. Regardless of the size and stature of your website or YouTube channel, you were equally informed. We felt … valued.
Sony Interactive Entertainment’s (SIE) focus in the region ramped up during the early years of the PS4, They even set up an office in Singapore. Now much closer to the Southeast Asian market instead of commandeering from afar in Hong Kong, their local teams did the smart move of recruiting the best Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines and of course, Singapore had to offer. These people were on point. They know their market better than Microsoft ever could.

They got acquainted with not only the media who were obviously enthusiastic with this development but also the local distributors, brick and mortar outlets and set up a chain of collaborations ranging from upcoming YouTubers and most recently, “influencers”. Needless to say, during a period where Microsoft didn’t bother to give the SEA market even a peep, Sony charged full-on with the SEA market. As a direct result of that, this makes them the undisputed leader in the Asian home console-sphere.
So what gives with this sudden uncharacteristic, drop in communication and support for a market that has always been so supportive leading up to the release of the PS5? It is definitely perplexing when not only were we kept in the dark, we weren’t even given any clues whatsoever on what to expect immediately following the official global reveal of the PS5.

It was as if the specific cable responsible for channeling information for SEA markets was violently and abruptly yanked off its source in September. Repeated emails inquiring about the current status of availability, pre-order dates and whether we are even going to get the PS5 on time were met with a cold ‘PS5 news will be announced when ready’ statement which quite frankly, raised more questions than answers.
While our peers in the States are already unboxing and reviewing their PS5 units, the closest any SEA media got to the PS5 was last week when our Singaporean media friends were invited to try out the PS5 at SIE offices in Singapore. Needless to say, folks in other SEA countries outside of Singapore are still stuck with present gen for a foreseeable time.
A 2020 Conundrum

Look. We totally get it if that, due to the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic which pretty much threw their plans for 2020 into the fire, the Asian market will inevitably face a delay in supplies and stocks of the next-gen peripherals. At a time where for many, finance has slowly become a tetchy subject, perhaps the delay of the PS5 might be a blessing in disguise. The money saved for next-gen console could be better used elsewhere, like for paying bills or making rent, or saving up for another world-affecting catastrophe.
But what we do not appreciate is the sense that we are being treated as second-class citizens in this regard. In spite of the unwavering support the Asian market has given after all these years, the majority of it is still considered as an afterthought. Or even worse, taken for granted considering PlayStation’s dominant position in the market. An acknowledgement or effort in informing us would have meant a lot.

Make no mistake, Sony, that Microsoft’s decision of “abandoning” the majority of the SEA market played a huge role in coaxing gamers to shift their focus to you throughout the lifecycle of the PS4.

There was a time when all SEA countries were treated as equals. Purchasing your PS4 in any country in the region grants a region-wide warranty service. An unexpected step which while very few gamers have taken advantage of, was still, a welcomed offering. Sadly, it is a stark contrast nowadays, when, in their most recent marketing stunt to promote the PS5, revealed that entries from some countries only qualify to win lower-tiered prizes in their contest.
The biggest slap in the face? For the upcoming PlayStation 5 Asia celebration, only entries from a handful of Asian countries are eligible to win the big prize, which is obviously the PS5.

Woo hoo, I can’t wait to win a Space Fantasy Theme for my last-gen device. Thank you, PlayStation Asia!

In closing, what is the main issue here? Logistics? Market prioritization? Tiered importance? If SIE is concerned about the number of units they will actually be able to sell, then they should have focused on larger markets such as Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia. A PS5 sold in Jakarta is no less valuable than one sold in Qisahn. A PS Plus user in Kuala Lumpur is as important as the one living in Lavender.
And no, SIE: Singapore does not represent the Southeast Asia market. Putting my tinfoil hat on, perhaps Sony is so confident of their position in this market that they have opted to shift their focus on bigger battlegrounds of North America and Europe where the breakdown between PlayStation and Xbox are still very even, while Asia is very much a fixed deposit for them. The battle has been won! Trim down the garrison! Send troops elsewhere! Oh, please tell me I’m wrong here.

Just remember, Sony: loyalty begets loyalty. Even a tinge of neglect will be swiftly followed by a market speaking their minds with their wallets. Relationships work both way; don’t leave either side hanging or assuming the worst.


The Best Steam Winter Sale 2019 Deals

The Steam Winter Sale has begun, and with it comes a new sales mechanic and a bunch of titles with slashed prices. It’ll last from today until 2nd January 10am PST.
Customers can now earn Festivity Tokens by buying marked-down games or completing Holiday Quests. These tokens can be spent in the Holiday Market where you can get Chat Stickers, Chat Room Effects, and sales coupon. If you ask us, the latter is definitely more enticing.
Here are our top picks for this holiday sale. We’ll be updating this page as the days go by.
Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age (RM80)

One of our favourite Final Fantasy games is now half price on PC. If you want to see and play a better Star Wars story than Episode IX, go play this one. Even if you played the original FFXII, you may want to see it in 60fps high-res glory. It’s majestic stuff.
Risk of Rain 2(RM31.20)

This randomized third-person shooter is still in early access, but that still doesn’t mean you should ignore it. The sequel to the 2D shooter is just as frenetic and challenging as before, now that you have to deal with a 3D space.
Stardew Valley (RM18.60)

The hit farming game is now 40% off. As if you needed more excuses to jump aboard the “US Harvest Moon but better” bandwagon.
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (RM206.67)

It’s not a huge price markdown, but it’s a pretty good Star Wars game. So why not?
Monster Hunter: World(RM55.60)

Need to play Iceborne on PC next year? Better get the base Monster Hunter game while it’s on sale.
Fallout 4 (RM35.55)

Believe it or not, Bethesda created a Fallout game that isn’t an MMO-esque dumpster fire. Get part 4 for a 70% discount.
Darksiders III(RM40.46)

If Darksiders Genesis is too pricey for you, get this instead. This game is basically Dark Souls with the 90s apocalypse touch, and ample dodge invincibility windows.
Katana Zero (RM21.44)

This beauty of a 2D action game is now 33% off. Not only do you get some challenging gameplay, you also have a sweet soundtrack to get jiggy with too.
Life is Strange 2(RM64.09)

Dontnod’s latest story-heavy game is now 51% off. If you instead want a sample of the madness and melancholy, you can buy the first episode for RM6.50 instead.
Dark Souls III (RM42.50)

In terms of polish and overall scale, Dark Souls III is the best in the series. If you don’t think you’re ready for Sekiro, this is the best game for you to prepare yourself on PC.
SUPERHOT (RM14.80)

Stop and time slows down. Move and time starts to move as well. SUPERHOT is high adrenaline action perfect for those looking for the closest thing to a John Wick simulator.
Divinity: Original Sin 2 – Definitive Edition (RM52.25)

When it comes to turn-based western RPGs, Original Sin 2 is one of the most rewarding experiences to ever grace PC gaming. Everything from the combat to the dialogue has hundreds of hours worth of amazing content.


Moon Knight Episode 3 Breakdown & Easter Eggs

The third episode of Moon Knight is now streaming on Disney+ Hotstar Malaysia. ll be discussing heavy spoilers so if you haven’t seen it or want to avoid spoilers, now’s your chance to stop reading.
Moon Knight follows Steven Grant, a mild-mannered gift-shop employee, who becomes plagued with blackouts and memories of another life. Steven discovers he has dissociative identity disorder and shares a body with mercenary Marc Spector. As Steven/Marc’s enemies converge upon them, they must navigate their complex identities while thrust into a deadly mystery among the powerful gods of Egypt.
Check out my breakdown of Moon Knight Episode 1 and Episode 2 here.
You can check out my previous breakdowns of Hawkeye Episodes 1 and 2 here, Episode 3 here, Episode 4 here and Episode 5. and Episode 6 here.
In addition, you can check out my previous breakdowns of Marvel’s What If? Episode 1, Episode 2, Episode 3, Episode 4, Episode 5, Episode 6, Episode 7, Episode 8 and Episode 9 here.
If you haven’t, you can check out my previous breakdowns and easter egg articles for WandaVision Episode 1 and 2, Episode 3, Episode 4, Episode 5, Episode 6, Episode 7, Episode 8 and Episode 9.
For The Falcon And The Winter Soldier, you can check out my previous breakdowns for Episode 1, Episode 2 and Episode 3, Episode 4, Episode 5 and Episode 6.
For previous breakdowns of Loki episodes, check out Episode 1 here, Episode 2 here, Episode 3 here, Episode 4 here, Episode 5 here and Episode 6 here.

Marc Experiences blackouts too And It’s not steven taking over

Marc experiences the same disorientation when he gets blackouts too. However, it turns out that Steven isn’t the one taking over anymore during these blackouts. If it’s not Steven, then it must be the other personality/alter from the comics: Jake Lockley. However, this has yet to be confirmed in the MCU series, as Jake has yet to be mentioned.
The end credits sort of teases this already, with what looks like three figures or three sections of his head split.

There Are Avatars Of Other Egyptian Gods

When Khonshu teleports Marc to inside of the Great Pyramid of Giza, he meets other Avatars of other Egyptian Gods like Hathor, Isis, Horus, and more.
It turns out that the other Egyptian gods has a similar excuse to the Eternals. They didn’t want to meddle with humanity.
Meet Anton Mogart AKA Midnight Man

Anton Mogart is played by the late Gaspard Ulliel (he passed away earlier this year due to a skiing accident). In the comics, Anton Mogart, as Midnight Man, is a costumed criminal who steals art treasures and valuable original manuscripts. As part of his schtick, he “always struck at midnight”, which is how he gets his name.
If the character is still alive by the end of this series, Marvel Studios will likely have to recast the role.

Moon Knight Immediately Changes Suits When He Changes Personalities

Interesting, his suit immediately changes when he changes personality. In the comics, he uses the Mr Knight suit when dealing with crime scene investigation and consulting openly with law enforcement.
Khonshu Gets Imprisoned

Khonshu uses his powers to manipulate the weather in order to find Ammit’s tomb, but the Egyptian gods punishes him for that by imprisoning him. As a result, Marc/Steven loses their powers.
Until next week, true believers, excelsior!


10 Questions With Xavier Woods, Plus His Top 5 Games Of 2018

Check out these exclusive short-but-sweet videos we did with WWE superstar Xavier Woods. First one’s a simple 10-questions game with the main man:

The next video is the first fighting game character he thinks up when we mention certain wrestlers in the WWE roster.


Final Fantasy XV Mobile MMO Is In The Works

Believe it or not, Final Fantasy XV was in development for about a decade. All hiccups aside, it’s not difficult to assume that Square Enix must’ve already planned spin-offs and sequels during that period. It looks like we finally have more details about one of those spin-offs.

Niko Partners analyst Daniel Ahmad tweeted out new information regarding one of Square Enix’s latest project. The studio is working on a new FFXV title but it’s going to be a MMO made for mobiles.
Way back in 2017, Square Enix did announce that they were bringing an entirely new FFXV mobile game to China. In other words, this isn’t the first time that this is being talked about.
What is new is that the names of the studios involved have been revealed. The game is being co-developed by Korean studio JSC and Chinese studio GAEA. Publisher Oriental Pearl will distribute the game in China and a global release is also planned.
Other game-related information revealed is that it will be made using Unreal Engine 4. Instead of just being a port of FFXV, it will have new original content that expands the game’s lore. A new area called the Great Pagoda will be added and there will even be floating continents in the sky.
That’s all we know for now. The analyst says that more information will be shared later in the first half of 2020.


Rainbow Six Siege Brings The Apocalypse In New Limited-Time Event This Month

Ubisoft has announced a new limited-time event for Tom Clancyâ€™s Rainbow Six Siege Year 6 Season 1, Apocalypse, beginning from 4 May 2021 until 18 May 2021. Apocalypse introduces a post-apocalyptic version of Outback, where players will have to fight for their clan, hope and freedom to revitalize life.
In the world of Apocalypse, humanityâ€™s dependence on nuclear energy ultimately led to the fall of civilization and the emergence of two clans, The Keepers and The Warband. These warriors and scavengers seek the last plant on Earth, which holds the power to re-grow life on Earth.
The new game mode, Canister, will have players fight as The Keepers (Defenders) or The Warband (Attackers) for the last remaining plant on Earth. Defenders can move the canister containing the plant around the map, while the Attackers can activate specific scanner rooms to detect defenders as they roam through the rooms.
The main objective of the Attacking side is to defuse the canister transporting the plant. On the Defending side, Operators must protect the canister until time runs out to win. Last but not least option to secure the win is to get rid of the opposing team entirely. Who will hold the key to humanityâ€™s new future?
The Apocalypse event comes with its own Collection of 35 items featuring Fuze, Gridlock, Maverick, Nomad, Twitch, Maestro, Melusi, Rook, Smoke and Valkyrie. Players will have access to personalized headgears, weapon skins and uniforms. Each Operatorâ€™s exclusive, time-limited customization items are available for purchase as Bundles in the Shop section for 1680 R6 credits or via the Apocalypse Packs for 300 R6 Credits or 12,500 Renown.
Recently, Rick And Morty crossed over into the game as well. In the meantime, check out the trailer below:


Gamescom 2019: Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare Lets PS4 Owners Try Out 2v2 Mode First

The Call of Duty: Modern Warfare reboot reimagining has got everyone excited because it seems that Infinity Ward is back to making FPS games that focus on fun and frantic multiplayer action. The new 2v2 multiplayer mode is testament to that.
PS4 owners will be the first to get a taste of the 2v2 action as there will be an Open Alpha Weekend exclusively on the PS4. The alpha begins on 23 August 2019 and the trailer emphasises that the alpha will only be playable for that one weekend only. The alpha will allow players to try out 5 different maps.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whRTQFx-enE&w=560&h=315]
The game’s producer Dino Verano got onstage at Gamescom 2019’s Opening Night Live to re-emphasise that the game’s multiplayer will have a number of modes including 2v2, 6v6, and large scale maps that support more than 100 players.

The game will also support crossplay between console to console and console to PC. So even if you play on PC and your friends are playing on PS4 and/or Xbox One, you can still play with them.
It’s not too surprising that the PS4 is currently Call of Duty‘s preferred console as it’s also the official platform of the Call of Duty World Leauge, the game’s biggest multiplayer tournament that’s hosted by Activision.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is scheduled to be released on 25 October 2019 for all platforms.


Gotham Knights Key Art Unveiled Ahead Of DC FanDome 2021

Publisher Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and developer Warner Bros. Games Montreal have released the key artwork for open-world, third-person action RPGÂ Gotham Knights.
They have also announced that there will be a new exclusive look at a new reveal from the game at the upcoming DC FanDome on 17 October 2021 at 1am GMT+8.
Well, what’s important is that best Robin Tim Drake will be playable and that’s all that matters.

Your Legacy Begins Now. Step Into the Knight. #GothamKnights pic.twitter.com/XGb8hLaHl9
— Gotham Knights (@GothamKnights) September 3, 2021

Gotham Knights is slated to release for the PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC sometime in 2022. You can read more about what’s in store for DC FanDome 2021 by heading over here.
During DC FanDome 2020, the most popular announcements and reveals were trailers for Matt Reevesâ€™Â The Batman, Warner Bros Montrealâ€™sÂ Gotham KnightsÂ and theÂ Justice League Snyder Cut, all of which attracted more than 150 million views in total.
In the meantime, you can check outÂ our coverage of everything related to DC FanDome 2020 here.


VTuber Minato Aqua Gets New Concert Figure In 2023

Hololive VTuber Minato Aqua will be getting a new figure based on her first solo live concert back in August 2020.
Good Smile Company will be releasing the Minato Aqua: Aqua Iro Super Dream scale figure in Japan and North America on February and April 2023 respectively. You can pre-order it for US$274.99 right now.
This 1/7th scale detailed figure is pretty packed, with a star-shaped pedestal and her huge-as-heck dress attire. Check out the pictures of the figure below.

Pre-orders will be going on for this figure until 6 April.


Mythic Quest Season 2 Presses Start To A Great Beginning

Mythic Quest is one of the best and most refreshing sitcoms of recent times. Produced by the creators ofÂ Itâ€™s Always Sunny In Philadelphia and Ubisoft Film & Television, the first season of the Apple TV+ series showed that it wasn’t afraid to be both funny and over-the-top while also being hard-hitting and packing an emotional gut-punch.
It helps that the games industry setting is one that’s ripe for all kinds of hilarious shenanigans and situations.
Who’s The Boss?

At its best, Mythic Quest feels like The Office meets Community (one of the actors, Danny Pudi, also starred in Community). In Mythic Quest, the characters are all co-workers in a games developer/studio responsible for making an MMO game called Mythic Quest, which is pretty much a fictional version of Blizzard’s World Of Warcraft. By way of a familiar workplace comedy set-up, its debut outing offered more than just a comforting distraction last year.
The two lead characters behind Mythic Quest are the egomaniacal creative director Ian Grimm (played brilliantly by Mythic Quest showrunner Rob McElhenney) and the stressed out and always overworked lead engineer Poppy Li (Charlotte Nicdao). At the end of Mythic Quest Season 1, Poppy finally gets promoted to the same position as Ian and becomes the studio’s co-creative director. Of course, whenever the status quo gets shaken, things don’t always go silky smooth.
Only two episodes have been released for Mythic Quest Season 2, and Poppy is struggling with being in a new leadership position as a co-director, which she’s not used to. This results in another interesting dynamic being explored, as her relationship with everyone at the studio has now changed. She’s no longer a fellow colleague, but a boss, and she’s working on how to best perform her new job.
She’s not the only one feeling that way, as executive producer David Brittlesbee (David Hornsby) once again feels insecure. He’s technically the boss of everyone at the studio, but they don’t really treat him that way. Just like Poppy, he now has to learn how to be a better boss and assert his dominance, so to speak.

Besides Poppy and Ian, two other relationships that will seemingly be the focus of the new season are those between monetisation head Brad Bakshi (Danny Pudi) and his protÃ©gÃ© Jo (Jessie Ennis), who was previously David’s assistant back in Season 1, as well as the budding romance between QA testers Rachel (Ashly Burch) and Dana (Imani Hakim). It will be exciting to see how Season 2 will explore these new relations moving forward.
Mythic Quest Season 1 had a lot of crazy plots, including one where the developers have to deal with childish and arrogant video game streamers, who are hilariously almost always children or teenagers in the Mythic Quest universe (which is even funnier considering they’re supposed to mirror the attitudes and personalities of real-life streamers). There’s also another noteworthy plot thread where they have to deal with the toxic and borderline-abusive behaviour of gamers.
In the two episodes of Mythic Quest Season 2 so far, we have a running joke where the main characters keep taking advantage of and exploiting the studio’s art team, forcing them to work according to their whims without any regard to their well-being (which will surely lead to something later this season). One of my personal favourites where they’re trying to make a mobile game while also attacking the very idea of mobile games.
Arguably the standout and best episode of Mythic Quest Season 1 was the excellent “A Dark Quiet Death”, which was a standalone episode that featured none of the main cast. Instead, it focused on Jake Johnson’s Doc and Cristin Milioti’s Bean as a couple in the 90s who goes on to form a games studio of their own.
This episode was notable for turning down the over-the-top tone of the usual episodes and goes straight to showcasing the realistic struggle of a company in the games industry trying to balance creativity and business. The episode doesn’t end well, as business and commercial profits ultimately triumph over creativity and heart; putting the spotlight on real game companies who start out being beloved for their great games before succumbing to selling out for purely financial reasons (like BioWare, Blizzard, and more, if you know, you know).

Other great Mythic Quest episodes include the specials released in between the first and second seasons. “Quarantine” focused on the struggle of self-isolation while “Everlight” had a fun LARPing element while still being emotionally satisfying. I really hope the Mythic Quest Season 2 will try to do more of these insane and experimental episodes since the first two episodes have pretty much been the usual tamer stuff.
If you’re looking for a new sitcom to spend about 30 minutes with once a week, you can’t go wrong with Mythic Quest. Viewers who are gamers or game developers themselves will probably be able to appreciate the show more, but casual viewers will still be able to love the jokes and characters. I’m definitely looking forward to the rest of Mythic Quest Season 2. In the words of F. Murray Abraham’s C.W. Longbottom: Huzzah!
FINAL SCORE: 90/100
The first two episodes of Mythic Quest Season 2 premiered on Apple TV+ on 7 May 2021. Subsequent episodes will premiere every Friday. There will be nine episodes in Mythic Quest Season 2.


Volition Is Rebooting Saints Row For The Better After Past Shenanigans

Platforms: Xbox One, Xbox Series, PS4, PS5, PC
Genre: Open world action-adventure times a hundred
The last we heard of Volition’s Saints Row series, it ended with a huge bang with part IV and its Gatt Out Of Hell expansion, which basically pushed the envelope in terms of action-adventure open-world sandbox craziness. Part Crackdown, part GTA, and all crazy, the Saints Row games are critical darlings among gaming fans & sandbox game aficionados because of its multilayered approach. Why buy the cow when you can spray the metaphorical milk all over the city for free? No wait, that’s not how the saying goes.
In any case, developer Volition plans to revisit the Third Street Saints once again after years of staying quiet. How will the next game shape look like? In the developer’s words, it’s just going back to its open-world action adventure roots.
New Jack City

So what is the new Saints Row about? It’s not a part 5 and a continuation, that’s for sure. Volition is doing a clean slate with the action-adventure series and is starting anew. The team said that after the events of Saints Row IV and the Gatt out of Hell expansion, there really is nowhere else to go. A reboot is necessary if they want to continue with the game brand, especially if they want to go for a “contemporary” narrative.
But it’s a reboot that makes sense, as Saints Row did start out as a “grounded” GTA clone but with better action and more humour (juvenile and otherwise). Saints Row The Third was the apex of that sandbox gameplay before it went over-the-top and emulated Crackdown in part 4, so the team are doing just that with the reboot.

“We’re just going back to our origins,” says chief creative officer Jim Boone. He and his team mentioned that the touchpoints of influences for the next Saints Row are threefold: Baby Driver, Hobbes and Shaw, and John Wick. These action films are what will inspire the next Saints Row; car chases, crazy guns, shooting and combat up the wazoo against rival factions, and all-out mayhem as you assert your dominance in the game’s brand new setting.
The reboot will feature a new Third Row Saints gang, led by “The Boss” (which is you) in an all-new city: Santo Ileso.
This new locale is clearly modeled after New Mexico (think Breaking Bad), but with a lot more incoming crazy nonsense befitting of a Saints Row game. Apart from jacking cars, performing heists, or just participating in straight-up gang wars, you can customize your criminal empire as you build it from the ground up. If you want to put a fast-food restaurant next to a sewage power plant, you’re free to do so. There will be nine districts, with revealed locations including the El Dorado casino district, the rich mansion-filled housing district of Monte Vista, and a financial district ripe for skydiving and wingsuit-gliding.
Yes, there are wingsuits in this game. The gameplay demo we were shown wasn’t completely detailed with how much micromanaging you can do, but you can clearly build whatever you want when you take over certain parts of the city.
Gangland

Your control over the city will not go unchallenged: you have three new factions to fight against. The orange-clad Los Panteros are the brute force gang, while Marshall Defense are the military contractor group with all of the city’s security systems and armaments. The Idols are the “icons of the new world” and wear visually overwhelming gear while championing their self-style anarchists reputation.
All of them are dangerous foes with their own strengths and weaknesses: the Los Panteros can probably maul your group head-on with powerful weaponry and attacks, while The Idols have strength in numbers, bikes, and hand-made explosives (among other gadgets they have). Needless to say, Marshall Defense has high tech gadgets, weapons, and vehicles -from tanks to VTOL planes- up the wazoo.

Fortunately, you have crafty pals by your side. Tagging along The Boss (your character) is Neenah the driver, Eli the planner (and former failed startup guy), and Kevin the wild card.
Each of them will have their quirks, their own story missions to flesh themselves out, and probably a defining trait to make them just as entertaining as past characters in the Saints Row franchise. For example, Neenah used to work for Marshall Defense while Kevin was formerly an Idols gang member before they changed their ways to help The Boss.
Speaking of, The Boss can be either male or female, with eight different root voices to choose from. No pitch-shifting though; all the crazy customization for the main protagonist is toned down this time around, so don’t expect part IV levels of creation.
Rock N Rolla

If you’re hoping to see old characters like Johnny Gatt making an appearance, you will be disappointed. Volition is serious when they wanted to make this a pure reboot with no major connections to the past four mothership games, apart from easter eggs. Which is honestly fine by me; it’ll be interesting to see how the new cast and storyline will fare and whether it can recapture the glory days of the series while carving out a new identity of its own.
Some omissions are a bit controversial though. Cruise control will not be back; it’s a divisive feature among fans and the devs at Volition as it maintains a constant acceleration speed while driving so you don’t have to control the car while doing a drive-by. So naturally, they’re taking it out. To make up for it, the team made a promise that the car will be a better weapon than before. Driving will be improved upon and will not be totally reliant on what gun your driver and passengers will be wielding.
While we’re talking about extra players, this Saints Row will still have its two-player co-op back, so you can team up with a buddy to cause mayhem in the not-New Mexico city you’re in. Volition mentioned that there will be a “pranking” mechanic in co-op, though the team can only talk about this in a later time. We’re guessing two players in the same space can prank each other in-game with tools & glitches.
Return Of The Cool

Best of all, the title’s new in-house engine will make all these fundamental gameplay mechanics work and move smoothly. We’re talking fast loading, seamless gameplay transitions; it’s going to be a feat the devs will hopefully accomplish.
Based on the gameplay and trailer we’ve witnessed, Volition is making do with that promise of going back to basics. The developer has already proven themselves to be a de facto action-adventure expert if the Saints Row series reception in the past is of any indication. This current vision of the upcoming game is just a reminder that we need another high-quality open-world do-it-yourself action adventure crime caper; at least one that is worthy of our 30+ hours of play.
The Saints Row reboot will be out on 25th February, 2022 for PC (Epic Games Store exclusive), Xbox One, Xbox Series, PS4, and PS5.


Bungie Places A US$50 Paywall Behind Destiny 2’s Nightfall Strikes

Here’s another addition to a long line of Bungie missteps in getting more money out of its fanbase.
Bungie has recently released classic Destiny 1 Vanguard Strikes to all players, which includes Devil’s Lair, Fallen S.A.B.E.R, and Proving Grounds. That’s all well and good, but there’s a catch that was spotted by YouTuber Cheese Forever: the Nightfall difficulty for these Strikes are locked by a paywall.
Yes, you can play the F2P versions of the Strikes with your free Destiny 2 account, but if you want to play it in Nightfall, you will have to buy the Beyond Light DLC AND the Season Pass. Yes, you need both to access the Nightfall versions of these classic Strikes. This was never mentioned prior to today in any of Bungie’s campaign and Season advertisements.

We’ll keep this story updated if Bungie has anything to comment about this misstep on its part.


Valve Says Half-Life: Alyx Is Not The End Of The Series

Half-Life: Alyx is Valve’s long-awaited return to the series that gave us the G-Man, the Gravity Gun, and Half-Life 3 memes. While it’s not Half-Life 3, Valve say that AlyxÂ is very much a proper series entry and tease that there’s more to come.
“Half-Life: Alyx is a full-fledged entry in the Half-Life series, both in terms of the sheer amount of content as well as the importance and substance of its narrative relative to the rest of the series,” developer Robin Walker told Game InformerÂ in an interview. “It’s a critical part of the larger story, and it does push that story forward.”
He added that “Half-Life means a lot to us, and it’s been incredibly rewarding to refamiliarize ourselves with its characters, setting, and mechanics. There are Half-Life: Alyx team members who have been at Valve since Half-Life 2, and quite a few who go back to the original Half-Life.

“There are also people on the team for whom Half-Life: Alyx is their first time working on this series at all â€“ and many of them certainly hope it’s not the last. We absolutely see Half-Life: Alyx as our return to this world, not the end of it.”

As for why the game is in VR, Walker explained that developing The Lab helped them realize that players wanted more ambitious experiences akin to “full-scale triple-A” ones. “We thought we were in a position to help provide that. Now, four years later, there are a lot more developers who share these goals, and we’re hoping games like Half-Life: Alyx continue to encourage that even further,” he said.
Earlier this week, Valve dropped three gameplay videos for Half-Life: Alyx. All three were impressive and definitely felt like the ambitious “full-scale triple-A” experience Walker described. Like Half-Life 2 back when it released in 2004, it looks like Alyx will be one heck of a return to the Half-Life universe.
The game launches on Steam this 23rd March 2020.


Orange Esports Cafe Is Offering PCs For Rent

Is the Movement Control Order making you miss the cybercafe experience? Well, with Orange Esports Cafe’s new initiative, you can sort of experience it from the confines of your home by renting PCs from them.
Yes, Orange Esports Cafe is letting you rent PCs, although you’ll have to be residing in Klang Valley to be eligible for the service. There are two tiers of PCs, and you can rent them for either two weeks or a month. The PCs are pre-installed with staples like Dota 2, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Fortnite, Apex Legends, and PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds.
The Premium PC package contains:

i5 6th gen processor
16GB RAM
GTX 1050 Ti Graphics Card
BenQ 24 inch gaming monitor

And the Ultimate PC choice gives you:

i7 9th gen processor
16GB RAM
GTX 1070Ti Graphics Card
BenQ 24 inch 144Hz gaming monitor

The two weeks rental option will cost you RM200 and RM300 for the Premium and Ultimate PC respectively, while the one month option will set you back RM350 and RM500 respectively.
There’s no word on how many PCs are available, but it’s an interesting service for sure, and a timely one considering that our movement control order got extended till April 14. If you’re into the idea, you can contact the Orange Esports Cafe Facebook page, or use the number or email address provided in the image above, for more information.


The Joker Gets The Last Laugh In His Final Trailer

Warner Bros. has released the second and final trailer for the upcoming Joker movie starring Joaquin Phoenix as the Clown Prince Of Crime. According to the official description, it will be “an original, standalone fictional story not seen before on the big screen.”
This version of Joker has a name, Arthur Fleck. He works as a clown-for-hire during the day and a stand-up comedian at night. While director Todd Phillips has previously mentioned how his interpretation of the iconic villain will not be following the comics, this synopsis of the movie (from the new trailer) looks incredibly suspect:

“Caught in a cyclical existence between apathy and cruelty, Arthur makes one bad decision that brings about a chain reaction of escalating events in this gritty character study.”

The most prominent Joker origin story in comics is Alan Mooreâ€™s Batman: The Killing Joke (1988), in which the Joker began as a family man who started his descent into madness when his career as a stand-up comedian failed to take off, resulting in the â€˜one bad dayâ€™ when he turned to a life of crime and fell into a vat of chemicals.
Sound familiar? Both versions of the Joker are stand-up comedians and both experiences one bad day (or one bad decision) that turns them into the legendary villain.

It will be interesting to see how the Joker movie will turn out, even though it ultimately doesn’t make much sense that this version of Joker could still be Batman’s nemesis, considering that Fleck is his 40s and Bruce Wayne is a child.
The Joker movie also stars Robert De Niro as Franklin, Zazie Beetz as Sophie Dumond, Brett Cullen as Thomas Wayne, and Dante Pereira-Olson as Bruce Wayne. Joker is slated to release on 4 October 2019. In the meantime, check out the final trailer below.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAGVQLHvwOY&w=560&h=315]


A New Game Of Thrones Jon Snow Spinoff Is In The Works

HBO is making yet another Game Of Thrones spinoff series, but this time it’s going to be set after the events of 2019’s Season 8 and will focus on Jon Snow, with Kit Harington reprising his iconic role.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the Game Of Thrones Jon Snow spinoff series is currently in early development. The last time we met Jon Snow in the end of Season 8, he discovered his true birth name (Aegon Targaryen), helped to defeat Daenerys, and he was last seen journeying North of the Wall with the rest of the surviving Wildlings.
This is an interesting project because it will be the only one that’s a sequel to the main Game Of Thrones series. Including this new one, there are currently seven Game Of Thrones projects in various stages of development. This includes the upcoming prequel series, House Of The Dragon, which will premiere on 21 August 2022.
Other live-action prequels includes 10,000 Ships (a.k.a. Nymeria) with showrunner Amanda Segel, 9 Voyages (a.k.a. The Sea Snake) with showrunner Bruno Heller, and Dunk And Egg with showrunner Steve Conrad, as well as three animated prequel projects, including The Golden Empire, which is set in the China-inspired land of Yi Ti.


Assassin’s Creed Chronicles China Is Free Until Next Week

Assassin’s Creed fans should take this opportunity and claim Assassin’s Creed Chronicles China, which is free to keep over on Ubisoft Connect as part of the store’s currently-ongoing Lunar New Year sale.
Starting from now until 16 February 2021 at 4pm GMT+8, you can add Assassin’s Creed Chronicles China to your account by heading over to Ubisoft’s giveaway page.Â 2015’s Assassin’s Creed Chronicles China was the first in the Chronicles trilogy of spin-off games in the franchise, following 16th-century assassin Shao Jun in a side-scrolling stealth game.
It’s important to point out that this only applies to the PC version of the game on Ubisoft Connect (formerly Uplay).

In celebration of Lunar New Year 2020, Ubisoft is hosting a Lunar New Year Sale with special discount across digital stores platforms, including Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch and Ubisoft Store for Windows PC.
The promotional discount includes the latest releases to the most awarding games.
Some of the key titles include the following:

Immortal Fenyx RisingÂ (check out our review here)
Just Dance 2021
Assassinâ€™s Creed ValhallaÂ (check out our review here)

You can enjoy up to 40 percent off for the recent releases, and up to 85 percent off for classic and must-buy games. You canÂ visit the respective digital stores below for each platform:

Play Station Asia Store: 3 to 17 February 2021.
Nintendo Switch Hong Kong eShop:Â  4 to 17 February 2021.
Xbox Marketplace: 9 to 15 February 2021.
Ubisoft Store: 9 to 22 February 2021.


Video Game Music Challenge: Days 1 – 21

Just this morning, I came across this pretty nifty Facebook challenge post on my feed. Basically for the next 30 days, you have to list down a song matching the criteria listed.

Of course, the added challenge here is that you cannot repeat titles. One song per game. So let’s do this. For these 30 days -including today- I will put on my SoundScape hat and dish out my favourite tunes to match the requirements.
Day 1: Title Screen Music
The Legacy Of Kain: Soul Reaver 2 ~ “Main Theme” byÂ  Kurt Harland & Jim Hedges

Any game featuring vampires, theatrics, time-travelling, and soul-traversing needs a haunting and chilling soundtrack to accompany it. And I feel that this main theme to the third in the series (Blood Omen and Soul Reaver were the first two) sets the stage for the twists and turns that follow.
With sound bites from Blood Omen echoing amidst the chimes and hard percussions that start getting heavier past the 1:02 mark, it’s clear as day that main anti-hero Raziel means business. Even if half of that business involves block-pushing and wall-phasing.

Day 2: Opening Level Music
Mega Man X4 ~ “Opening Stage X” by Toshihiko Horiyama

Mega Man X’s “Opening ~ Highway” is a landmark tune, but there’s a sense of sadness in part 4’s opening when you play as X. Like as if the more he fights his everlasting battle for peace, more innocent Reploids get caught in the crossfire.
The fact that almost all the bosses here are disillusioned military bots instead of infected Reploids sets the sombre-yet-ass-kicking mood of part 4’s entire score, kicked off with aplomb here.
What are we fighting for, indeed….

Day 3: Opening Level Music
Journey To Silius ~ “Stage 1” by Naoki Kodaka

Naoki Kodaka is known for making Sunsoft bangers and earwigs from the NES/Megadrive Batman games to Fester’s Quest. Journey To Silius is basically one of his later and darker works, channeling a post-apocalyptic future that is kinda like Terminator.
Wait, wasn’t this NES supposed to be a Terminator game before the license-holders got cold feet and went to another game publisher instead? I wonder how that turned out.

Day 4: Music From A Console Exclusive Series
InFamous (PlayStation Exclusive) ~ “Anything For Trish” by Amon Tobin

Tobin’s audio manipulation magic works wonders for this soundtrack. While “The Courier” and “Stampton Bridge” showcases his unique sounds better, I personally gravitate towards this track because the string work here sounds so damn edgy and cool.

Day 5: Hub World/Overworld Music
Terranigma/Tenchi SÅzÅ ~ “Underworld” by Miyoko Kobayashi

Time to start flexing my JRPG knowhow. If you haven’t played this Quintet gem, find a way. Miyoko Kobayashi’s work in Enix is just too good not to pass up.

Day 6: Music That Makes You Feel Relaxed
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim ~ “Ancient Stones” by Jeremy Soule

Arguably the best music to calm your nerves while you’re exploiting the RPG’s many, MANY bugs. It’s probably the last good thing to come out of Todd Howard & company.

Day 7: Music From An Indie Game
Mighty Switch Force! ~ “Whoa I’m In Space Cuba” by Jake Kaufman
Mighty Switch Force OST by Jake Kaufman
An overall fun peppy soundtrack with outstanding synth and chiptune work. Jake Kaufman knows how to make catchy chiptune music by focusing on melodies tailor-made for 8-bit synths, then adding more layers to make each chorus and verse more impactful.

Day 8: Music From A First-Person/Third-Person Shooter
Doom ~ “Kitchen Ace (And Taking Names)” by Bobby Prince

One of the many reasons people loved PC gaming back in 1993 and 1994: this awesome shooter. Great tracks from Bobby Prince, the man synonymous with good PC gaming music from your Commander Keens to your Duke Nukems.

Day 9: Music From A Licensed Game
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: The Manhattan Project ~ “Scene 3” by Yuichi Sakakura, Tomoya Tomita, Kozo Nakamura

Before Konami became, well, post-Kojima Konami, the company made awesome 90s TMNT beat-em-up games. This track proves that you can get away with recycling the soundtrack from the cartoon series with 8-bit synths if you’re creative enough.
The rest of the OST is just as stellar and should be placed alongside TMNT The Arcade Game and TMNT The Hyperstone Heist as definitive TMNT games with great 90s era soundtracks.

Day 10: RPG Battle Music
Grandia 2 ~ “Fight!! Ver. 1” by Noriyuki Iwadare

Now THIS is a battle theme I can get behind. Rocking 2000 JRPG era music, plus chord and bridge variations (2:00) that add a ton of flavour to something you’re going to hear for 40+ hours. You know s*** is getting real when your fights go beyond the 1:16 mark.

Day 11: Puzzle Game Music
Mr Driller ~ “Speed of Light” by Go Shiina

The Gameboy Tetris theme and Dr. Mario’s “Fever” are catchy and all, but they pale in comparison to this grandstanding work from Go Shiina.
Other standouts from this puzzle game include “I/O” and “Goâ†’”

Day 12: Music That Makes You Feel Sad
Final Fantasy Tactics ~ “Antipyretic” by Hitoshi Sakimoto

Hitoshi Sakimoto and Masaru Iwata made their mark in the video game soundtrack world with this epic “orchestral synth” collab work with performer Katsutoshi Kashiwabara and sound programmer Hidenori Suzuki.
From epic battle themes like “Trisection” to the more sad & despair-laden pieces like this one that comes with a lot of range, the OST is essentially a masterpiece.

Day 13: Music You Like From A Game You Don’t Like
Final Fantasy XIII ~ “Blinded by Light” by Masashi Hamauzu

A boring-ass JRPG that took too damn long to get its point across. At least it had some great and epic tunes to go along with it, coupled with a pretty memorable battle theme that was remixed in a superior sequel.
Honourable mentions: Both Destiny games from Bungie.

Day 14: Music With Lyrics
Outrun 2 ~ “Life Was A Bore” by Fumio Ito, Kan Takagi, and Donna Burke (vocals)

A fun & cheery pop song that goes well with this Sega racer, elevated by the vocals of the talented Donna Burke (who did Metal Gear music). If you want to find out more about her, check out our special interview.

Day 15: Boss Battle Music
The King of Fighters ’96 ~ “Fairy” (Arranged) by SNK Sound Team

What a world of difference an arrangement can make. When I think “cool boss theme”, this pulse-pounding rockin’ anthem comes to mind; it gets better after its sweet acoustic intro .
I wasn’t expecting much from a mid-boss, but I’m glad Chizuru Kagura’s fight theme proved me wrong.Â The KOF 2003 arrangement is an honorable mention; that fight is way tougher in comparison.

Day 16: 16-bit Music
Streets of Rage 2 ~ “Dreamer” by Yuzo Koshiro

Hey, I like SoR 4’s music a lot. But you cannot go wrong with the classics that paved the way. Yuzo Koshiro is definitely a man ahead of his time with beats like these that he still plays in clubs nowadays.

Day 17: Music You Never Get Tired Of
Streets of Rage ~ “Keep The Groovin'” by Yuzo Koshiro

Like I said, Yuzo Koshiro is a musician ahead of his time. He basically made people take video game music seriously with Super Shinobi, followed by these sets of bangers in his first-ever Sega beat-em-up project. I’m just glad that future fans are keeping the groove going with part 4, which you should totally get if you haven’t yet.

Day 18: Music In A Game Released The Year You Were Born
Donkey Kong Jr. ~ “Stage 1” by Yukio Kaneoka

“Yep, we’ve come a long way since bleeps and bloops”; probably the most overused phrase when starting a feature on video game music. But until 1984 hit, there was quite a lot of repetition and loops in video game BGMs that felt more like obligations than jingles.
Games like DK Jr. remind us that the old ways weren’t necessarily the best.

Day 19: Cover of music by a different artist
Final Fantasy VII Remake ~ “Crab Warden” composed by Nobuo Uematsu, arranged by Yoshitaka Suzuki

I still get goosebumps when 2:40 comes in. Yoshitaka Suzuki has gone pretty far since his Ninja Blade days.

Day 20: Music from a racing game
F-Zero X ~ “Decide in the Eyes (Big Blue)” by Taro Bando

I’m all for WipeOut’s OST, but I’d like to bring up F-Zero since Nintendo doesn’t.
Hence, Big Blue remix from that one Nintendo racing game they should goddamn remaster or create a sequel for on the Switch.

Day 21: Music you associate with frustration
Ori and the Will of the Wisps ~ “Mora The Spider” by Gareth Coker

The first fight with Ori 2’s giant spider was bad enough; it was Dark Souls-style stuff but with Disney-like graphics.

Once the music hits to 3:27 and you’re waylaid with a precise platforming segment, shit just got real. First time going into this, I think I died 10 or so times for this entire segment. But it was so worth it.

Ori 2 = great candidate for GOTY 2020.

Stay tuned at 6:30pm GMT+8 tomorrow for the next update.Â


Pokémon Sleep Is Real & It’s Coming This Summer

During the Pokemon Day 2023 presentation, The Pokemon Company announced that Pokémon Sleep is indeed a real functional app that is slated to release sometime in summer 2023.
What is Pokémon Sleep? It’s basically one of the sleep aid apps but with Pokémon. The app measures, records, and analyzes your sleep; Pokémon who tend to sleep in the same way that you do will show up in your game. The game thereby encourages you to “research” the sleep styles of various Pokémon.

It’s currently unclear how exactly the Pokémon Sleep app will work, but there will be different sleep types that will match your sleeping habits.

Pokémon Sleep will launch for Android and iOS sometime in summer 2023.
Check out the trailers below for a sneak peek of how the app works:


Here Are Two Point Campus’ System Requirements

A lot of us are waiting for the simulation title Two Point Campus, the sequel to Two Point Hospital where you now run a campus with a ton of classes. We enjoyed the preview build we played, so hopefully the rest of the game is pretty awesome.
But what do you need to have PC-wise to run it? How will the sim game tax your system?
Minimum Spec Requirements:
Operating System: Windows 10 64-bit
Processor (Intel): Intel Core i3-6100
Processor (AMD): AMD FX-4350
Graphics (Nvidia): Nvidia GeForce GT 1030
Graphics (AMD): AMD RX550
RAM: 4GB
Storage: 6GB
Recommended Spec Requirements
Operating System: Windows 10 64-bit
Processor (Intel): Intel Core i5-6600
Processor (AMD): AMD Ryzen 1600X
Graphics (Nvidia): Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060
Graphics (AMD): AMD RX 580
RAM: 8GB
Storage: 6GB
As you can tell, it’s not that demanding. If you have an i5 processor (or equivalent) and a decent graphics card -with the total coming to less than RM2,000 or so- you’ll be fine. Any desktop PC you bought for playing games last year should run Two Point Campus just fine on recommended settings.
Two Point Campus will be out for PC and consoles on 9th August.


Dodgebrawl Game Knockout City Will Be On Xbox Game Pass Ultimate At Launch

Team-based dodgebrawl multiplayer title Knockout City will be free for all EA Play members and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate players when the game launches 21st May.
The latter players will be able to play Knockout City with their Game Pass subscription thanks to their access to EA Play. Players will have unlimited access to the full game and fight in style with the exclusive Knockout City “Epic Outfit: Ready Up”.
Also, the game’s open beta weekend has seen 1 million-plus players downloading and trying the game out. So that’s good news for players looking for a free multiplayer gaming fix.

Knockout City will be out for PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC (Steam and Origin) on 21st May.


E3 2019: Elden Ring Is Like A More Open & Vast Dark Souls, Says Creator

Not much is currently known about From Software and George R.R. Martinâ€˜s new game, Elden Ring, which was recently officially announced during Microsoftâ€™s Xbox E3 2019 press conference. However, game director Hidetaka Miyazaki has clarified a bit further about the upcoming game.
In an interview with IGN, Miyazaki said that Elden Ring is “a third-person action RPG with a fantasy setting” and that it plays similar in terms of gameplay with the Dark Souls franchise.
He added that it doesn’t mean that Elden Ring plays exactly like any of the Dark Souls titles, but that “the way combat plays out becomes fundamentally different with a more open and vast environment.”
The open-world in Elden Ring will naturally create different situations in each battle and that it is bigger than anything else that came before from From Software. Here’s everything else we know about Elden Ring so far:

The player’s customized character will be able to traverse the open-world on a horse and find enemies while riding it.
Players will still fight difficult bosses, and die a lot in the process.
There will be no towns or cities, and most importantly, no NPCs to interact with.
The reason for that is because adding towns and NPCs would be a “bit too much’ for the developers to add to an already challenging game to make.

Elden Ring is slated to launch for the PS4, Xbox One and PC on an unspecified release date.


World Of Warships Legends Update Adds Warhammer 40K & British Aircraft Carriers

World Of Warships Legends has packed their November update with a bombardment of new content. It all starts off with the new Origin of Wisdom campaign, a new branch of aircraft carriers, Russian battleships leaving Early Access and the next installation of the Warhammer 40,000 collaboration.
Origin of Wisdom Campaign

This all-new campaign spans 6 weeks and 120 milestones, across two 3-week updates. The Origin of Wisdom campaign brings two new ships, the Tier IV French destroyer Siroco, sporting effective HE shells at milestone 40, and the Tier VII German cruiser Mainz at milestone 120, which features powerful guns and sonar capabilities. Players wonâ€™t need to choose the reward: both ships will be available with active Admiralty Backing once the campaign has been completed in full.
The legendary Royal Navy brings its wings!

One of the most important naval forces of WWII arrives on the legendary seas: itâ€™s time to attack with Swordfishes and Barracudas from the decks of British aircraft carriers! The new tech tree line features three ships: Tier III Hermes, Tier V Furious and Tier VII Implacable, with a special aircraft carrier Commander, Denis Boyd, available from the first hours of the update. Carpet bombings and numerous torpedoes are ready to be unleashed!
White-hot Fury meets mighty Waaagh!

Part two of this collaboration with Warhammer 40,000 arrives in World of Warships: Legends, with two new ships. The Cross of Dorn of the Black Templarâ€™s Space Marines and Ship Smasha of the Orks have arrived and are each equipped with dedicated Commanders; also available in this update are themed camos, flags and patches, as well as dedicated Eternal war crates that contain a whole self of goods.
Alternative Russian cruisers available for everyone
The Tier IV Kotovsky, Tier V Gorky and Tier VI Tallinn Soviet cruisers are all made available as the tech tree branch departs from Early Access. These ships are equipped with flat ballistics, sonar, and respectable torpedoes, making them good all-rounders at every tier. At the forefront of this range available in this update is the Tier VII Riga, which boasts impressive 8.7 inch (220mm) guns.
Last, and certainly not least, especially for competitive players, come three Ranked seasons. Battles will take place with Tier V, VI and VII ships depending on the season, with no Arms Race mechanic and no aircraft carriers whatsoever.
[videopress zCmOab54]


F1 2021 Offers First Look At Story-Driven Braking Point Mode

EA and Codemasters have revealed a closer look at the leading lights from Braking Point, theÂ new, thrilling story experienceÂ in F1 2021. Featuring a new and returning cast,Â Braking PointÂ allows players to choose fromÂ one of five teams for a shot at stardom in the highly charged world of Formula 1.

Aiden Jackson

Aiden is a potential star in the making. A young, promising driver embarking on his first F1 season, who idolises his teammate, Casper Akkerman. Jackson is viewed as a success story, having worked his way up from F2. Easy to like, Aiden can put up a good front for the cameras.
However, behind the scenes, heâ€™s struggling with the transition to the big league. Expected to be courted by one of the bigger teams, he has hit the ground running and is already making waves.
Casper â€˜Casâ€™ Akkerman

Known for hisÂ ice-cold and no-nonsense approach,Â Casper is a steady hand determined to lift his team away from the midfield battle. His calm temperament and dogged determination have served him well throughout hisÂ illustrious career.
However, with a crop of young talent breaking through, heâ€™s feeling the pressure of trying to remain at the top of his game despite being in the twilight of his career.
Devon Butler

TheÂ Braking PointÂ antagonist. Devon is much more than aÂ cocky, loud-mouthed upstartÂ trying to make a name for himself.Â Highly respected on the track, Devonâ€™s questionable off-track behaviour leaves a lot to be desired.
Always ready with a wisecrack comment or barbed piece of advice, Butler uses his encounters to get under the skin of any driver he deems as a threat.Â Love or loathe him, Devon Butler intends to become a living legend in the world of Formula 1.
Brian Doyle

Brian is theÂ direct liaison to the team principal, and it falls on him to keep things running smoothly. Doyle spends a lot of his time as the go-between, passing on messages, race strategies, or ironing out any grievances within the team.
He has established himself within the sport and runs a well-oiled machine. A larger than life character who lives and breathes Formula 1, Doyle is up when itâ€™s going well but crashes to earth when things donâ€™t go according to plan.
Zoe Akkerman

Casperâ€™s wife and theÂ bedrock of his world. Zoe has been on the scene for several years andÂ knows the sacrifices neededÂ for her husband to remain competitive. Zoe is always ready with aÂ sympathetic ear and kind words, no matter where her husband is in the world.Â Mother to a young daughter, Lily,Â Zoe is the only person who knows theÂ demons Casper faces competing against the next generation of drivers bursting onto the scene.
Braking Point provides a new narrative mode alongside a host of F1 2021 gameplay innovations. The two-player Career feature allows players to join forces or race competitively with rival teams in synchronous sessions. Real-Season Start enables players to jump in at any point in the calendar that has already occurred with up-to-date standings. F1 2021 also has a host of returning options, including My Team, two-player split-screen, and various assist settings that allow players of all abilities to come together and compete.
F1 2021Â for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, and PC (Steam) will launch on 16 July 2021. A Digital Deluxe Edition is also coming earlier on 13 July 2021 with additional drivers.


Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Post-Credits & Ending Explained, Breakdown & Easter Eggs

Black Panther Wakanda Forever is the latest Marvel Cinematic Universe movie and it’s now showing in Malaysian cinemas. You can check out my spoiler-free review of the movie by heading over here.
I’ll be discussing heavy spoilers in this article. Here’s your last warning:

If you’re reading this article past this point, you’ve probably already watched Black Panther Wakanda Forever. So, I’ll be discussing the most important stuff and easter eggs from the movie. Also, the people of Talokan are apparently called Talokanil, so I’ll be using that term to refer to them in this article.
There Are Other Vibranium Plants/Flowers Out There, Perhaps As A Way To Introduce Mutants In The MCU

Now that Shuri (Letitia Wright) is able to create synthetic Heart-Shaped Herbs, technically any Wakandan or even a normal person can become the Black Panther, or at least gain the enhanced abilities of one.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever also revealed that the Talokan people or Talokanil became what they are today (enhanced strength and ability to breathe underwater) because of their own unique Vibranium Plants/Flowers.

If different Vibranium Plants/Flowers can bestow different genetic abilities to humans, perhaps this is one way for the MCU to introduce Mutants. In the Ultimate Universe (Earth-1610) in Marvel Comics, mutants were artificially created via genetic modification by the government; they weren’t naturally gifted like the mutants of the main Marvel universe (Earth-616).

Contessa Valentina Allegra De Fontaine AKA Madame Hydra Appears Again

This is actually the first time that she actually appears in an actual MCU movie. Contessa Valentina Allegra De Fontaine AKA Madame Hydra (as played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus) originally appeared in The Falcon And The Winter Soldier series before later appearing in the post-credits for the Black Widow movie.
Black Panther Wakanda Forever reveals that she’s currently the Director of the CIA and that she was previously married (now divorced) to CIA agent Everett K. Ross (Martin Freeman). In the movie, Ross gets apprehended by Valentine for working with Wakanda but he gets freed by Okoye at the end of the movie.
It’s also revealed that she wants Vibranium for some reason, as the movie features the CIA actively searching for their own source of Vibranium.
Valentine will next be seen working towards assembling her own group of superhumans: the Thunderbolts in the Thunderbolts movie, which is slated to premiere on 26 July 2024.

M’Baku Is Probably The Next King Of Wakanda

At the end of the movie, at a coronation ceremony, it’s M’Baku who shows up instead of Shuri. M’Baku then proclaims that he wants to challenge the claim for the throne. We don’t see what happens next, but if Shuri is busy being the Black Panther and being a scientist, perhaps it’s best for someone else to resume the royal responsibilities of Wakanda.
Riri Williams Will Have To Built A Brand New Ironheart Armour From Scratch, To Be Continued In Her Disney+ Series

Riri Williams manages to build her Ironheart Mark 2 suit (or whatever it’s officially called) to fight the Talokanils. However, Shuri tells her at the end of the movie that she can’t bring it back with her to the US, probably because the suit is made of Vibranium or something. This means that she’ll have to build a brand new suit of armour in her upcoming Disney+ series (which doesn’t have a release date yet).
We Haven’t Seen The Last Of Namor And The Talokanil

At the end of the movie, Namor loses to Shuri a.k.a. the new Black Panther and forges a new peace between Talokan and Wakanda. However, this peace might be a fragile one because Namora (Mabel Cadena) is dissatisfied that Namor surrendered to the Wakandans.
We might see more Talokanil rebelling against Namor and choosing to attack the surface world without him. In the comics, Attuma is a villain and he often does this.
Namor predicts that the surface world will eventually turn against Wakanda and that they would require Talokan’s help in the future. Perhaps against a certain Latverian dictator? Who knows?
In the Doomwar comics, Doctor Doom and Latveria attack Wakanda to steal its Vibranium.

My personal wishlist is to see the Defenders Of The Deep, Atlantis’ own team of superhumans. Now that the MCU has Namor and Talokan, there’s no reason they can’t do this.

Namor Said His Iconic Catchphrase And Even Mentioned That He’s A “Mutant”

During the movie, when Namor (Tenoch Huerta) was telling Shuri about his origins and the origins of the Talokan, he mentions that he’s a “mutant”, which is probably (I might be wrong) the first time that the word “mutant” is verbally mentioned in the MCU.
Namor is often mistakenly said to be the first mutant in the Marvel Universe. That’s incorrect. He’s the first mutant in terms of publication, which means that he’s the first mutant to be published in the real world. In the Marvel universe in the comics canon, he’s not the first mutant. that distinction goes to Apocalypse a.k.a. En Sabah Nur or any of the mutants of Okkara (ancient mutants) or those from Arakko.

Another fan-pleasing moment in the movie is during the climactic fight between Shuri as the Black Panther and Namor. Before their final decisive clash that ended the battle, Namor said his iconic catchphrase in his language: Imperius Rex.
In the comics, Imperius Rex is Namor’s battle cry, which he loudly proclaims every time he goes into battle, sort of like the Avengers’ “Avengers Assemble!”.

Black Panther Wakanda Forever Post-Credits Scene

There’s only one post-credits scene in Black Panther Wakanda Forever, which is the mid-credits scene.
In the scene, we see Nakia (Lupita Nyong’O) revealing to Shuri (Letitia Wright) that she and the late T’Challa had a son together. The child is quite old (maybe around 5 to 10 years old???), which means that they’ve kept this secret for a while. His Haitian name is Toussaint but his Wakandan name is T’Challa, the same as his father. This means that he’s essentially T’Challa II (read: the second), which is normally how different generations of royalty are referred to when they have the same name.
Perhaps we’ll see this T’Challa carry on the mantle of Black Panther? That might be years away, considering how young T’Challa’s son is. In the comics, T’Challa never had or has a child, so this has never been seen in the comics.
However, in the 2008 animated movie Next Avengers Heroes Of Tomorrow (which isn’t based on anything in the comics), T’Challa has a son with Storm of the X-Men named Azari.