Dauntless, the debut effort from Phoenix Labs, has drawn many comparisons to Monster Hunter since it was unveiled at The Game Awards in 2016, and it's easy to see why. Like Capcom's monster-slaying series, the object in Dauntless is to team up with other players to take down colossal Behemoths and use the materials you gather to forge new weaponry and armor.
That's not to say Dauntless is simply a Monster Hunter clone, though. While its premise may be similar, the game sets itself apart from Capcom's series in a number of notable ways. Perhaps the most obvious is its free-to-play structure, which should make the game more welcoming for curious players to jump into. Dauntless also has more variety in terms of its weapons; in addition to the standard array of swords and shields, we got to try a set of kusarigama, which functioned both as a fast-paced melee weapon and allowed for long-range attacks.
One of the big draws of Dauntless is experimenting with different weapons and armor, each of which has unique properties that change the way you approach a hunt. We saw some of these in action in our previous hands-on time with the title, but Phoenix Labs has added plenty of new options and abilities since then. One major addition are Lanterns. You can equip a Lantern before a hunt, and each one endows you with a different, limited-use support ability; one, for instance, creates a restorative field around your avatar that allows players within your vicinity to regain health.
Like Monster Hunter, the Behemoths you're tasked with slaying are powerful and require different tactics to defeat. In our hands-on time at E3, we teamed up with developers from Phoenix Labs to hunt a giant, owl-like monster, which could bowl players over by swooping across the battlefield. This attack in particular caused a heavy amount of damage, and we had to roll out of the way in time to avoid it and follow up with our own attacks. You can catch a glimpse of the Behemoth, and learn more about the game, in the video above.
Dauntless is in development for PC and is currently in pre-alpha; however, Phoenix Labs has announced it will be launching the "Founder's Alpha" on August 18. This will be the first publicly available version of the game for players who purchased one of the Founder's Packs tiers on the Dauntless website. You can find more information about the Founder's Alpha on the developer's blog.
By Anonymous on Jun 24, 2017 10:30 pm Jesse Custer is back for Preacher Season 2 and he's taking a road trip with Cassidy and Tulip. Oh and the Saint of Killers is hunting them down. Find out why you need to watch this show!
By Anonymous on Jun 24, 2017 08:30 pm Transformers: The Last Knight is hitting cinema screens. So here's Dave and Tam with 5 things you should know about the movie.
Sega's Yakuza series has been around for more than a decade, garnering both critical and commercial success in Japan since the release of its first entry in 2005. While the series consistently sold well in its native country thanks in part to its appeal to mature audiences and its portrayal of Japanese culture, its sales never managed to meet the same numbers in the West.
For a while, it seemed unlikely that western audiences would receive any more mainline Yakuza games after the series' fourth entry and zombie apocalypse spin-off, but in spite of poor sales, Yakuza accrued a devoted western fanbase. And it was their commitment that eventually inspired Sony's Third Party Productions group in 2014 to collaborate with Sega to bring over the series' fifth entry, which originally released in Japan in 2012. The strong reaction spurred Sega to bring over subsequent mainline entries to the West. With the release of the sixth core entry and a remake of the original game coming up, it seems the franchise is at its most stable and popular among western gamers in its 12-year history.
At the head of the Yakuza series is its creator, Toshihiro Nagoshi, a longtime Sega producer and designer notable for his work on classic games like Virtua Racing, Daytona USA, and Super Monkey Ball. His resilience during the series' early days and his leadership across the development of every subsequent entry played a large part in establishing Yakuza as one of Sega's flagship franchises, which is a major surprise given the company's previous focus on games aimed at younger audiences.
We recently caught up with Nagoshi at E3 to discuss Yakuza 6, the future of the series, and his thoughts on the recent resurgence of Japanese games in the West.
What are some of the new ways Yakuza 6 evolves the mechanics and storytelling from past games?
First of all, the main thing is Yakuza 6 is built from the ground up with an entirely new engine. We've taken the storytelling, battles, mini-games, and all the series' core underpinnings from previous games and have made the entire experience seamless. On top of that, there's a lot of stuff that's occurring in real-time, so there's more of a rhythm to everything happening in the world, so there are often surprise encounters or small details around every corner that you might not expect to see or run into.
Toshihiro Nagoshi
Yakuza 6 is set to be the final chapter of Kazuma Kiryu's saga. What fueled the creative decision to do this?
Back during Yakuza 4's development, we started to think, "How are we going to bring Kazuma Kiryu's story to a close?" Since the games are made to have all the characters age with each consecutive entry, we had to consider when to put an end cap on each character's story. Yakuza's story doesn't contain characters with superpowers who can use magic; this isn't fantasy. The game tells stories with real people and real drama. This has always been a major underpinning of the series, so we always knew that, at some point, Kiryu's story had to come to a close.
Similar to the way the 007 series hires new leads to keep the franchise going, we intend to have different protagonists appear in the Yakuza games in order to keep the series alive. When Sean Connery passed on the James Bond torch, a lot of people complained, but eventually people grew accustomed to the new actors. Each actor put their own flair to the 007 character, so in the same way, we believe that the different protagonists we'll end up using will ultimately be able to carry the torch for Kiryu.
Yakuza continues to have an incredibly devoted fan base in the West. Why do you think the series resonates so much with western audiences?
Yakuza's asian setting makes it different than the typical places gamers get to explore. And in that same way, the human drama surrounding the series heavily differs from the more Hollywood-esque storytelling you see in western games. People recognize [the Yakuza games] as different, so I think people are attracted to them because it's new and fresh.
Would you equate that interest to the way someone enjoys watching a foreign film?
Yeah, I'd say that's a possible equivalent--maybe like a Japanese person watching a Korean film or an American watching a Swedish film. But the one difference I see in Yakuza is, for example, Korean films often end on very dark or sad notes. I don't really enjoy these sorts of endings, and it's one of the reasons why Yakuza ends on more uplifting notes, which is more of a quality you see in Hollywood-style film narrative.
Japanese games have been making a comeback these days with western audiences, with quality games like Resident Evil 7, Nier: Automata, Persona 5, and of course, Yakuza 0. Why do you think Japanese games have finally returned to the limelight in the West? What would you attribute this phenomenon to on your side as a Japanese developer?
I don't really have a strong opinion about this nor do I know the true answer myself, but when I'm here at E3 and see games like Call of Duty: WWII or God of War, I can't help but notice each game's incredible standard of quality and how they're likely set to make a lot of money. That said, it's not always about the sales--of course, the Yakuza series does sell a lot in Japan--but I believe there's starting to be people here in the West who are looking for games they've never played before or have never touched. I think these people are starting to look at games, like Persona 5 and Yakuza 0, to discover something completely new.
One of the things that fans love about the series is its juxtaposition between its relatively serious main story and the absurd comedy of its sub-stories and side-activities. Why do you feel humor is such a necessary element to the Yakuza series? Is it tough balancing these tones to work together, given how they're essentially polar opposites?
Having humor alongside more serious subject matter is absolutely necessary because when you have too much of one over the other, people often grow tired of it. There's no variety. That's always a fear for us, so we always add a little humor on the side to mix things up.
Another aspect to our reasoning for adding humor into Yakuza is that in the real world, there's a lot of serious issues and unfortunate events, but if you sit down and pull at the strings long enough, you'll notice at its core, there's always something really stupid and hilarious about it. That realization that humor is at the core of everything is what makes up the seriousness and over-the-top comical moments you see in Yakuza games.
You've been involved with the Yakuza series since the beginning. Do you think there will ever come a day where you might move on from Yakuza? Or is the series too close to your heart for that to ever happen?
It's difficult to discuss things too far in the future for me, but as far as I'm concerned, I don't feel like everything is finished for Yakuza. Of course, Yakuza 6 is the end of Kiryu's story, but that doesn't mean the series is done or that we don't have any more ideas for it, so stay tuned.
Kiryu is a super-cool and masculine guy, but since he's a well-established character with a specific personality, there are things that he would and wouldn't do. That's why I believe having a new character with different caps and limitations opens the doors for all sorts of different kinds of narrative explorations. I want to leave the door open for possibility for the Yakuza series.
Can we expect a Yakuza Kiwami-like remake for Yakuza 2 someday? Or better yet, could we maybe expect Yakuza 2-5 on PS4 or PC?
Unfortunately, I can't really comment on that at this time, but I do understand and am aware that there are a lot of people asking about that.
By Anonymous on Jun 24, 2017 08:30 am Buddy Hutton goes over who Shadow Moon is, who his parents are, who Essie is and why Mad Sweeney threw coins out of the Ice cream truck!
GungHo Online Entertainment, the publisher of Suda51's hack-and-slash game Let It Die and the Puzzle & Dragons series, has a game in development for Nintendo Switch. While the company couldn't reveal much information about the project, it did confirm the title will be an "original action game."
"This has been in the works, for about four to five years, and we've been kind of thinking what to do with it," explained GungHo CEO Kazuki Morishita via an interpreter. "And then when the Switch was announced, we decided with the kinds abilities the Switch brings to the market for different ways of playing, we felt that it would be a good fit."
GungHo rose to prominence thanks to its Puzzle & Dragons series, a match-three puzzle game for mobile devices that was a phenomenal success in Japan. The series made its 3DS debut in the West with Puzzle & Dragons Z, which was also bundled together with the crossover Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Edition. The studio seems to have similar global ambitions for its Switch project. "We're developing it to be a global-centric title," Morishita said. "We're making it for a global audience."
As for Let It Die, there's new content in store for the game. At E3, GungHo unveiled the Tower of Barbs, a new area that players will have to battle their way through. Along with new gear and enemies, the reveal trailer also gives fans a quick glimpse at the next Four Forcemen. You can get a peak at the Tower of Barbs in the video above.
Let It Die is available free-to-play exclusively for PlayStation 4. GungHo hasn't announced a release date for the Tower of Barbs content.
By Anonymous on Jun 24, 2017 04:48 am Pokemon Sun and Moon players can now get their hands on five rare Mega Stones for Blaziken, Swampert, and other Hoenn-native Pokemon.
Update: A new update for OpenIV has now been released, seemingly with Rockstar's blessing. It's unclear what exactly about it has changed to abide by the rules outlined by Rockstar and Take-Two below, but this appears to be a positive move for the modding community.
Original Story: The recent legal shutdown of Grand Theft Auto V mod tool OpenIV angered fans, to say the least. Developer Rockstar Games has now released a new statement addressing its stance on mods, and while there is some good news, it still likely isn't what many people are hoping for.
In a post on its website, Rockstar reveals that it's spoken with its parent company, Take-Two, and convinced it to avoid pursuing legal action against certain types of mods. "Rockstar Games believes in reasonable fan creativity, and, in particular, wants creators to showcase their passion for our games," the statement reads. "After discussions with Take-Two, Take-Two has agreed that it generally will not take legal action against third-party projects involving Rockstar's PC games that are single-player, non-commercial, and respect the intellectual property (IP) rights of third parties."
There are, of course, other restrictions as well: "This does not apply to (i) multiplayer or online services; (ii) tools, files, libraries, or functions that could be used to impact multiplayer or online services, or (iii) use or importation of other IP (including other Rockstar IP) in the project," the statement continues. "This is not a license, and it does not constitute endorsement, approval, or authorization of any third-party project. Take-Two reserves the right to object to any third-party project, or to revise, revoke and/or withdraw this statement at any time in their own discretion. This statement does not constitute a waiver of any rights that Take-Two may have with respect to third-party projects."
All of this started when Take-Two issued a cease-and-desist to the developers of OpenIV, which is a tool that is used to power numerous GTA V mods. Take-Two and Rockstar subsequently explained that this wasn't intended to specifically target single-player mods and that "malicious mods that allow harassment of players and interfere with the GTA Online experience for everybody" were the real problem. The companies also said they were investigating how to "continue to support the creative community without negatively impacting our players." Despite this, there was an outcry from fans, who sunk the game's average user review score on Steam. Additionally, a petition calling for OpenIV to be left alone has attracted nearly 77,000 signatures as of this writing.
Today's statement doesn't totally clarify what the future of GTA V mods looks like. OpenIV would seemingly still be disallowed by these rules, despite not directly targeting GTA Online. Rockstar told Motherboard that it's spoken with OpenIV's developer about allowing it to continue, but at this point, it remains unclear where things go from here.
A new Overwatch PTR update is out today, and it includes a big new patch that's currently in development. It focuses on overhauling the Loot Box and Highlights systems, but it also includes some other quality-of-life improvements and bug fixes.
One of the biggest changes that arrives in the update is to Loot Boxes, which should now produce considerably fewer duplicate items. This means, of course, that you'll not be getting Credits as compensation for duplicate items as frequently; Blizzard anticipated this and is increasing the amount of Credits given out as Loot Box rewards.
In addition, the Highlights system has been reworked to allow players to save the videos permanently. The current top five setup for Highlights is retained, but they'll be kept for 24 hours, instead of disappearing if you exit from a match. There's also now a Recently Captured section, which lets you manually tag moments during a match to be saved as Highlights.
Blizzard talked a lot more about these changes this week, and you can read all about it here. The full patch notes for today's update are below, as shared on Blizzard's blog. The patch is available on PC in the PTR right now. As always with these PTR updates, many of these features will be released for everyone on PC, Xbox One, and PS4 in the time ahead.
General
Custom Games and Game Browser
Clarified the text on the "Flag Carrier" options under the Capture the Flag settings for Custom Games
Removed the "Projectile Speed" and "Projectile Gravity" options for heroes who do not have projectile weapons
User Interface
Added ability to create customized reticles
Reticle options can be found under the "Controls" tab in the "Options" menu (click the "Advanced" expander under the "Reticle" heading)
Bug Fixes
General
Fixed a bug that could cause the user interface to incorrectly indicate that an enemy player has been hit when colliding with them
Fixed a bug that could allow projectiles that would normally pierce shields (i.e. Reinhardt's Fire Strike) to pass through other surfaces
Heroes
Fixed a bug that could cause eliminations from Junkrat's Total Mayhem to be mislabeled in the kill feed
Fixed a bug that allowed Roadhog's Chain Hook to latch on to Orisa's Supercharger
Fixed a bug that allowed Sombra to take damage after activating her Translocator
Maps
Fixed a bug that caused AI-controlled players to perpetually move toward the objective on the Gardens point in Oasis
Fixed a bug that prevented Training Bots from facing the right direction and returning to their original location after being moved by player interactions on the Practice Range
Fixed a bug that could cause D.Va to fall through the floor while boosting into the ground in a specific area on Volskaya Industries
User Interface
Fixed a bug that caused the Heroes of the Storm promotional portraits to appear locked, even after being unlocked
Fixed a bug that could cause an error message in chat if you attempted to spectate a new player while already spectating another player
Fixed a bug that could cause the chat window to be placed too high on the main menu, blocking menu options
Fixed a bug that prevented text from wrapping in the Report Player text box
Today, SpaceX launched a rocket that had already been used once before, becoming only the second rocket ever to fly twice. Even more impressively, the rocket successfully landed again, after withstanding much higher heat than the first rocket.
According to CEO of SpaceX Elon Musk, this particular mission required an unusually high amount of thrust, meaning that the rocket was going fast. The first stage--the booster stage, and the part of the rocket that lands and is launched again--had to carry a satellite into geostationary transfer orbit, which required almost all of its fuel on the initial takeoff. Then, it had to flip over and navigate down onto a droneship in the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Florida.
The view from the droneship after the rocket's successful landing.
Upon re-entry into the atmosphere, this rocket underwent the highest force and heat ever during a SpaceX landing attempt. It landed hard on the deck of the droneship, which used up most of its emergency crush core system--the structural system designed to withstand landing shock. But it was nonetheless successfully recovered, and Musk said that the core could be replaced in a couple of hours.
For the short history of spaceflight, it's been normal for rockets to be used once and then lost. Certain parts of rockets, like solid fuel boosters and capsules, have been recovered, but to relaunch an entire rocket was unthinkable only a few years ago. SpaceX achieved the first-ever relaunch of an orbital-class rocket last month, which you can watch here.
Injustice 2's next character is just a few weeks away. Mortal Kombat mainstay Sub-Zero will be playable in the superhero fighting game in July.
Creative director Ed Boon announced this on Twitter, revealing that Sub-Zero is due out on July 11. He shared the news with a reference to Game of Thrones (Season 7 of which also debuts in July), saying, "Winter is coming...in July."
Sub-Zero was first revealed as a DLC character back in May alongside two other characters: Red Hood and Starfire. Red Hood was released earlier this month for $6. All three characters are included as part of the $20 Fighter Pack 1 DLC, which bundles them with the Gods shader pack and a Power Girl Premiere skin. Those who purchased the Deluxe or Ultimate editions of the game get these three characters for free.
During E3, we got our first real look at Sub-Zero in action. You can see a gameplay video of him above, but if you're familiar with the character, you'll know what to expect: He freezes opponents, creates weapons out of ice, and generally does Sub-Zero things.
Developer NetherRealm Studios hasn't yet said exactly when Starfire will be released. Given the schedule for the other two Fighter Pack 1 characters, you can likely expect her in August. A total of at least nine characters, including these three, will be released as DLC for Injustice 2.
We got a look at Super Mario Odyssey last week at E3 2017, and one of the biggest reveals was that Mario will be able to throw his hat at creatures and objects to possess them. For instance, you can take control of a Goomba, which will subsequently grow a mustache and wear Mario's hat. But one coder decided that, because they can't get a Switch and Odyssey is still a long way off, they would mod the ability into Super Mario 64.
User Kaze Emanuar somehow managed to put together a working mod for the game only a few days after the E3 reveal. You can see one of the first versions running in the video here; from this look, it seems to do everything you'd expect. It even lets you possess birds and fly around the castle.
Since its first release, Kaze Emanuar has continued updating it. In the latest version, Mario can control basically anything, including power-up blocks and environmental objects. It's even more absurd than the first version, and it's pretty awesome. The latest version's trailer is embedded above.
Always be cautious about downloading user-created content, but you can grab the mod here; you'll need a Super Mario 64 emulator to install it. It's a pretty cool implementation of the ability, although I'm guessing Nintendo's not thrilled that it was hacked into one of its old games that quickly.
It might seem a little unusual to announce a video game adaptation of a cartoon that hasn't even premiered yet, but it's fitting in the case of OK K.O. The upcoming Cartoon Network series draws much of its inspiration from video games, and the game spun off from it, OK K.O.: Let's Play Heroes, was developed in tandem with the cartoon and had direct input from series creator Ian Jones-Quartey, who worked on other Cartoon Network shows such as Adventure Time and Steven Universe.
OK K.O. revolves around the eponymous K.O., the newest employee of Gar's Bodega, a convenience store for superheroes. K.O. dreams of becoming a superhero himself, and both the cartoon and game follow his adventures to be immortalized in his own POW card (collectible cards for each of the town's heroes). Despite its ties to the show, however, Let's Play Heroes isn't an adaptation in a traditional sense; Jones-Quarty considers the game to be its "own canon" that explores the series and its characters from a different angle.
Fittingly, where the OK K.O. television series draws inspiration from video games, Let's Play Heroes takes many of its ideas and elements from cartoons. Players can freely explore the town of Lakewood Plaza, but the transitions between each area resemble "cuts" to a different scene, and dialogue between characters is framed as an over-the-shoulder shot/reverse-shot. It's a unique effect that certainly makes the game feel like an interactive cartoon.
The game plays out like a traditional, side-scrolling beat-'em-up with light RPG elements. Players take on quests that typically involve battling Shannons (the robotic minions of the series' antagonist, Boxmore). You unleash different combos depending upon the directional input of your attacks; for instance, players can juggle an enemy by uppercutting them into the air or knock them to the ground by holding down on the control stick while attacking. It's a simple but surprisingly flexible battle system, allowing young players to approach the game while still providing depth for older players to explore.
A further layer of depth comes from the aforementioned POW cards, which serve as the basis of the entire adventure. Your main objective is to collect POW cards and restore their powers because all of them have been reset to zero by Boxmore. After completing a quest for a certain character, you'll restore power to their POW card, which in turn allows you to equip it and summon their skills during a battle. Much of the fun of the game stems from trying out different combinations of POW cards; in our hands-on time with the game, we used K.O.'s friend Rad to run over foes with him van and summoned the hulking Mr. Gar while they were in the air to swoop in and spike them. Developer Capy Games says there will be many kinds of POW cards, each with unique abilities, giving players a lot of freedom in how they approach the game.
OK K.O. premiers on Cartoon Network this August, and it'll be followed by Let's Play Heroes this fall. The title is coming to PS4, Xbox One, and PC via Steam. For a closer look at Let's Play Heroes, be sure to check out our almost 20-minute playthrough of the game's demo at the top of this story.
Developer Ready at Dawn's next game, Echo Arena, aims to be one of the first real sports games in virtual reality--and this weekend, you can check it out for free.
Echo Arena's open beta started today, and it's available to anyone who has an Oculus Rift headset. You can download it here. The game consists of four vs. four matches of a sport that's essentially a mix of ultimate frisbee and rugby in zero gravity. You have hand jets and a boost that let you move around the arena, and you can also grab objects and throw yourself over them.
Your goal is to pick up a disc and throw it into the other team's goal. However, players also have the ability to punch enemies, which locks their armor and forces them to drop the disc if they're carrying it.
I was able to play a match last week at E3 2017, and I came away very impressed with how it felt like a real, physical sport. It was exciting to race around the arena and take swings at other players. If you're interested in learning more about it, read my preview here.
Echo Arena officially launches on July 20 for Oculus Rift, and the full game will be free. If you can't play it this weekend, the developer promises that there'll be more open betas before its full release. It's a standalone spinoff of another Ready at Dawn-developed VR game, called Lone Echo, which is a single-player, narrative adventure game. Lone Echo also launches on July 20, and it'll cost $35.
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Jesse Custer is back for Preacher Season 2 and he's taking a road trip with Cassidy and Tulip. Oh and the Saint of Killers is hunting them down. Find out why you need to watch this show!
Transformers: The Last Knight is hitting cinema screens. So here's Dave and Tam with 5 things you should know about the movie.
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Everyone's favorite purple-haired Saiyan enters the fray.
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