During a Nintendo Treehouse Live segment directly following Nintendo's E3 2019 Direct presentation, we learned more about Pokemon Sword and Shield's Max Raid Battles. The games' producer, Junichi Masuda, and director, Shigeru Ohmori, were on stage detailing some of the features we were first introduced to during the June 5 Pokemon Direct; this included a demo of a Max Raid Battle, in which four players team up to take down an incredibly powerful Pokemon.
In Sword and Shield, Max Raids involve Dynamaxed Pokemon, or Pokemon who have become huge in size and more powerful. Up to four players can queue up to Raid, and once they're all ready, they each choose one Pokemon to take into the battle. In this case, the Max Raid Pokemon was a giant Steelix, who was shown in silhouette before the battle.
Once in the Raid, each player chooses their next move like any other Pokemon battle. Previews of these attacks seem to appear in the top-left corner of the screen, signaling each Pokemon's next move--they're icons representing things like attacks or defensive moves like Reflect. This seems to be a feature designed to help players strategize during the Raid.
Additionally, we saw that the Max Raid Pokemon can (or will) put up a barrier shield at some point in the battle. A five-section meter for this barrier appears under its HP, and the Pokemon will not take damage until the barrier has been broken, like how a Substitute works. The barrier seems to be unaffected by the involved Pokemon's type advantages or stats, so even weaker Pokemon can contribute to taking down the barrier. In this particular demo, once the barrier fell, Steelix's defense and special defense harshly fell, making it easier to take it down. After the Max Raid Pokemon's HP is knocked out, each player has a chance to catch it.
A new Astral Chain trailer was shown at Nintendo's E3 2019 Direct presentation. It offered another glimpse of the game in action with some over-the-top combat and boss fights.
In Astral Chain, you play as one of two special forces soldiers who partner with a living, robotic weapon called Legion for combat and solving puzzles. While swords and fists flew, dialogue from various characters played alluding the melodrama of the Astral Chain's plot. There still wasn't much to go by, unfortunately, but what we heard certainly got us excited to play.
Astral Chain is the latest game from renowned developer, Platinum Games, who is most known for Bayonetta, Nier Automata, and more. The game is set to launch for Nintendo Switch on August 30, 2019.
For the latest news, previews, and gameplay from E3 2019, be sure to check our E3 hub. If you're interested in the other press conferences, be sure to check out our full E3 2019 press conference schedule, which includes links to everything shown so far.
By Anonymous on Jun 11, 2019 11:03 pm Work together with the Legions to fight back against the invading Chimera and save humanity when PlatinumGames' ASTRAL CHAIN arrives August 30th!
Nintendo once again began the first official morning of E3 2019 with a Nintendo Direct presentation that outlined its own plans for the coming year--and beyond, considering we got a teaser for a Zelda: Breath of the Wild sequel. While it was chock full of numerous announcements about games, DLC, and updates for this summer, holiday season, and beyond, the company included a few surprise releases of games you can download right now. Here's what you can find on the Eshop beginning today, along with a Zelda spin-off game arriving later this week.
Contra Anniversary Collection ($20)
The Contra Anniversary Collection was previously announced, but its stealth-release still came as a surprise. It includes a wide array of games from the notoriously difficult shooter series, including both the NES and Arcade versions of Contra, Super C, Contra 3: The Alien Wars, Hard Corps, and more. For true completists it also includes the Europe-only Probotector games.
Collection of Mana ($40)
For fans of Japanese RPGs, the Seiken Densetsu series is a lost treasure. With the release of the Collection of Mana, players can play these games again, or even try some for the first time. It includes Seiken for the Game Boy--previously released in America as Final Fantasy Adventure--along with Secret of Mana and the hard-to-find Seiken Densetsu 3--aka Trials of Mana. Separately, Nintendo also revealed an HD remake of Trials of Mana, coming next year.
Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 Expansion Pass ($20)
While not exactly a game, you can start to prepare for Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 by pre-ordering the Expansion Pass. The DLC will include franchises including Fantastic Four, X-Men, and Marvel Knights. The game will launch on July 19, and the extra content will follow after.
Cadence of Hyrule ($25, Releasing June 13)
Nintendo is lending its iconic Legend of Zelda characters and music to Crypt of the Necrodancer developer Brace Yourself, for a rhythmic Zelda spin-off. Though it isn't available to download quite yet, it is coming on Thursday, June 13 to close out the E3 week festivities.
There's something very familiar, and yet very different, about Wolfenstein: Youngblood. The budget-priced spin-off carries on the dark-but-absurd sci-fi Nazi-fighting story of BJ Blazkowicz, but makes enough changes that it feels like something new. Playing a couple of Youngblood's levels ahead of E3 2019, the differences were a bit jarring.
The jarring part is that, as a spin-off game, Youngblood isn't always exactly what you expect from MachineGames' Wolfenstein series. Youngblood overall has more of an arcade bent than the series that spawned it (although it also goes harder on RPG-like aspects--more on that in a minute). As a cooperative game, Youngblood also feels a little less strategic about blasting Nazis than Wolfenstein: The New Order or Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus did. It's delivering a different kind of shooter experience, one that's more about tag-teaming to clear a room and revive each other, while high-fiving along the way.
If you're not familiar, Youngblood is a spin-off cooperative game in which you take on the role of one of BJ's twin daughters, Sophie and Jessica, who battle together throughout the campaign. The other twin is controlled either by another player through online co-op, or by the game's artificial intelligence, but the relationship between Jess and Soph is central to what MachineGames is doing. The two daughters have the fighting spirit and training that made their parents such effective Nazi-fighters, but they're young, inexperienced, and a little goofy. Luckily, they both have Wolfenstein's spiffy power armor, which means they can go toe-to-toe with anything the Nazis can throw at them.
In an interview with GameSpot, executive producer Jerk Gustafsson said the studio is going for a more adventure feel with Youngblood. The game is lighter in tone (as well as in content compared to the main Wolfenstein games--it's a budget title with a $30 price tag) than its predecessors, and its protagonists reflect that.
"It's more of an adventurous type, you know, where we use movies like The Goonies as a reference, for example," Gustafsson said.
Finding Blazko
In the cinematics leading up to the levels MachineGames previewed, you get a sense of Jess and Soph's upbringing and their wide-eyed optimism despite living in a Nazi-dominated world. The twin teenagers are eager to get into the kinds of scrapes and adventures they've heard about from their parents--apparently BJ's tortured warrior-poet vibe has been lost on his offspring. When they discover their father is missing, Soph and Jess come off like a pair of Nancy Drews or the Hardy Boys (they even refer to each other using the names of the two boy detectives from an in-universe novel series they read). They quickly team with Abby, the daughter of FBI head Grace Walker from The New Colossus, to track BJ down.
Soph and Jess's relationship is constantly on display in Youngblood; their back-and-forth adds a lot of character to the game. Of course, they're a great deal younger than BJ and lack that simmering sense of the horrors of war that has informed MachineGames' take on the character. That lends to the arcade-like Nazi-blasting feel of Youngblood--Soph and Jess are wrecking crowds of Nazis and having a great time doing it.
"We always try to find that sense of humor in everything, even if it's dark," Gustafsson said. "It's also, of course, a serious subject that we have to be a bit careful about, but I do like that dark humor that we have managed to integrate into this. But this being a spin-off, and the way that we're doing it with the '80s [setting], I think it makes sense for us to try to have a little bit lighter tone to it--and try to make it a spin-off in that sense as well, and not always stick to what we have done previously."
From a gameplay standpoint, co-op adds a new dimension to MachineGames' Wolfenstein formula of creating lots of options during combat. Most rooms have multiple entry points, allowing you to slip in steadily or blast your way in, or any combination of the two. With a second person, Youngblood provides you a lot more opportunities to coordinate and work together as you take slightly different paths to the same place. But this is still Wolfenstein--Youngblood is tough, requiring you to take down enemies fast, keep an eye on your health and armor levels, and help each other out. If you get dropped, your teammate can revive you as in other cooperative games. Jess and Soph can also offer each other "pep ups" with a button push; hit it, and the sisters shout some encouragement to one another that results in a small stat boost.
You Got Your RPG In My Nazi Shooter
Youngblood marries its fast co-op combat with several RPG systems that further push it away from the more linear single-player experience of the mainline Wolfenstein games. Once you fight through the first few early levels, you reach a hub area that lets you choose which missions to attack and in what order. Soph and Jess level up as you play the game, and missions are marked by their level difficulty--you can take on the ones above your level if you want, but they're going to be a lot tougher (and award more experience points), Gustafsson explained. Enemies also have levels akin to what you might see in something like Assassin's Creed: Odyssey, along with big health bars that let you see how hard they are to take down.
Like The New Order and The New Colossus, Youngblood also has a perk system that lets you unlock new abilities as you play, but it doesn't function in quite the same way as in the mainline games. Here, the ability to dual-wield guns, throw knives, or execute stealthy takedowns are unlocked piecemeal with experience points, and you can amp up your guns and equipment with Silver Coins you find throughout the game. That makes Youngblood more customizable than the past games, because you can pretty much get whatever you want as you soon as you have the currency required to unlock it. That also lets you give Soph and Jess differing but complementary abilities.
In the two levels we played, working together in levels filled with Nazis was a lot of fun. Wolfenstein's difficulty and quick, responsive gunplay mean that you feel powerful throughout the game, but you also have to work together with your partner in every encounter. Youngblood does a great job of capturing that feeling of two people kicking down a door and wrecking everyone inside, but its largely run-and-gun nature is balanced such that you have to talk to your teammate and work together, or the baddies are going to wallop you with their superior numbers.
Still, the RPG focus and arcade-style action are very different from other Wolfenstein games and take a little getting used to. Youngblood feels a great deal more "gamey" than MachineGames' other titles. That's part of the point here, as Gustafsson said. MachineGames started from the standpoint of wanting to build a co-op game and went from there--but it also wanted to take a different path than it did with The New Order, its spin-off The Old Blood, and The New Colossus.
"The main reason that this game is very different is that we all as a studio, we want to try to do something new and do something different, right?" he said. "And not to say, we might just go back to exactly what we have done previously for the next game, but it's also refreshing for the team. It's fresh air to some extent. We really enjoy it. I think this will probably be our most entertaining game, and it's fun to play."
With a competent friend, Youngblood is a lot of fun thanks to MachineGames' strong handle on its twitch shooter mechanics. That said, with its RPG aspects and more arcadey gameplay, it's different enough that it might put some Wolfenstein fans off who want more of the broodier BJ. Those folks will be missing out on two great characters in Soph and Jess, though; Youngblood might take some getting used to, but Wolfenstein's two new protagonists are worth putting in the time.
The company saved a few of the biggest surprises for the end, though. A new trailer for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate revealed Banjo-Kazooie is joining the fray, and then the presentation ended with the first look at a sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Check out the trailers below, and keep up with all of the news out of Nintendo from E3. We'll be adding additional trailers as they become available.
In a Nintendo Direct that kicked off the first official day of E3 2019, Nintendo confirmed the name and release date for Animal Crossing's highly anticipated debut on Nintendo Switch. It'll be called Animal Crossing: New Horizons, and unfortunately, it's delayed. Animal Crossing: New Horizons was initially planned to launch in 2019, but now, the title will release on March 20, 2020.
In Animal Crossing: New Horizons, your character will be ferried (via the Nook, Inc. charter) to a deserted island, where they can set up a tent and start growing their own town through many of the same activities seen in previous Animal Crossing games: crafting items, shaking trees, fishing, and more.
As the new release date for Animal Crossing: New Horizons draws closer, we're sure to receive additional information about the game and get more of a look at its gameplay, but for now, Animal Crossing fans can at least be satisfied knowing a full game title and date. Pre-order listings are already starting to go live for the game, so if you already know you'll be buying Animal Crossing: New Horizons on day one, you might as well go ahead and secure your copy below.
Pre-order Animal Crossing: New Horizons standard edition
The standard edition will come with the base game and any pre-order bonuses announced later.
Nintendo followed the teaser with a short statement that read, "The sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is now in development." No release date, title, or further details were announced. The teaser trailer, which you can watch above, showed Link traveling with Zelda herself on horseback. The video also featured some eerie music and a stunning landscape similar to the one seen in the original game.
The first game was released as a cross-generation launch title for the Nintendo Switch. It received universal acclaim, including a 10/10 in GameSpot's Zelda: Breath of the Wild review. Our critic, Peter Brown, wrote: "No matter how gorgeous its environments are, how clever its enemies are, and how tricky its puzzles get, the fact that Breath of the Wild continues to surprise you with newfound rules and possibilities after dozens of hours is by far its most valuable quality. It's a game that allows you to feel gradually more and more empowered yet simultaneously manages to retain a sense of challenge and mystery--which, together, creates a steady, consistent feeling of gratification throughout the entire experience. Breath of the Wild is a defining moment for The Legend of Zelda series, and the most impressive game Nintendo has ever created."
It's not exactly Banjo-Threeie, but this announcement might be just as exciting. Confirmed today at the E3 2019 Nintendo Direct, Banjo-Kazooie, that is, Banjo the bear and Kazooie the breegull are coming to the greatest crossover in video games: Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. The duo will be rubbing shoulders and trading fists and feathers with the likes of Mario, Link, and Pikachu, as well as other guest characters like Joker from Persona 5 the Hero from Dragon Quest, who was announced at the same presentation.
In traditional Nintendo fashion, the reveal didn't come without a rustle. The announcement trailer began with Donkey Kong and his pal Diddy are chilling with their nemesis King K. Rool, when they're startled by something. It appears to be a bird--but it's not a breegull, just the duck from the Duck Hunt duo. Your guard is let down, but just for a second--Kazooie and Banjo pop out and all is right with the world.
If you're familiar with Banjo-Kazooie, their fighting style in Smash Bros. Ultimate won't have too many surprises. Banjo will throw punches, Kazooie will both fire eggs and use heris wings to help Banjo float and return to stage. Banjo-Kazooie will be available in Smash Bros. in Fall 2019.
Banjo-Kazooie wasn't the only character announced today--Japanese RPG fans can look forward to the Hero from Dragon Quest, who will arrive in Summer 2019. Hero will fight with a sword, shield, an assortment of magical spells, and his trusty Slime buddy.The hero can take the form of the protagonists from Dragon Quest 3, 4, 10, and 11. You can find more about him in our story.
In our Super Smash Bros. Ultimate review, we said "An inconsistent online mode and situational downers don't stop Super Smash Bros. Ultimate from shining as a flexible multiplayer game that can be as freewheeling or as firm as you want it to be. Its entertaining single-player content helps keep the game rich with interesting things to do, as well as bolstering its spirit of loving homage to the games that have graced Nintendo consoles. Ultimate's diverse content is compelling, its strong mechanics are refined, and the encompassing collection is simply superb."
During Nintendo's press conference at E3 2019, the company showed a sizzle reel of games coming to the Nintendo Switch in 2019 and beyond. Although it only appeared briefly, one of those games was a port of Creative Assembly's horror spooktacular, Alien: Isolation.
Originally released back in 2014 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC, Alien: Isolation is a horror game set within the Alien universe of Xenomorphs, facehuggers, and bad-ass women with flamethrowers. The game sees you take on the mantle of Ellen Ripley's daughter Amanda, as she seeks information on her mother's disappearance aboard the Sevastopol, a derelict space station thrown into disarray due to a particularly frightening stowaway.
The reveal of Alien: Isolation's move to Switch is another feather in the cap for Nintendo's hybrid console, giving Switch owners the opportunity to play a triple-A horror game while out and about. It will be interesting to see how the port holds up.
Kevin VanOrd reviewed Alien: Isolation for GameSpot in 2014, awarding it a score of 6/10 and concluding his review by saying, "At least the ending brings with it a sense of relief. Some of this relief stems from the lingering fear of the alien's presence. You have left the game and its creature behind, never to smell the alien's putrid breath, never to witness its syrupy saliva, never to seek refuge in a claustrophobic locker and wish the beast away. More relieving is that you won't have to trudge through the same duct-lined corridors for another however-many hours, or have to repeat ten minutes of switch-pulling and keycard-searching after firing a bullet into a friendly's head because you presumed she might attack you, as so many dwellers do. Alien: Isolation provides us a glimpse into a future that holds the Alien game you've always wanted. It is not, however, the vessel that carries you there."
Alien: Isolation is due to arrive on the Nintendo Switch in 2019.
The trailer showcased more of the Legend of Zelda-themed Crypt of the Necrodancer game, including gameplay. As previously established, you can play as Cadence, Link, or Zelda in the music-based dungeon crawler. Move around and attack in time to the music and you'll be rewarded. Failing to do so will see you punished.
Cadence of Hyrule is coming to Switch in just a few days. The game will be released on June 13, which is right around the corner. Made by the same folks behind Crypt of the Necrodancer, Cadence of Hyrule is a roguelike and borrows most of its mechanics and features from Necrodancer. It will feature 25 remixed classic tracks from the Legend of Zelda series of games.
This is just one of multiple Switch games releasing this week. In fact, multiple games launch on the Eshop today, following the Direct.
In our Crypt of the Necrodancer review, Britton Peele wrote, "Regardless of your musical tastes, Crypt of the NecroDancer takes a proven but basic recipe and improves it with a seemingly simple twist. It would have been a fine roguelike game without its musical side, but the rhythm mechanic makes it a truly special experience."
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