By Array on Sep 23, 2017 08:30 pm
Tips To Survive
Divinity Original Sin II is a difficult game that eagerly punishes your mistakes in combat or even when talking to NPCs. With so many factors to consider as you explore, it can be tough to survive. To help newcomers to the series, we've gathered nine tips to know before you set off to Fort Joy, and into the world of Rivellon. Be sure to check GameSpot often for our full review of Divinity: Original Sin II. The game is out now for PC, but it's been in Steam Early Access for almost a year. It's the sequel to our 2014 PC Game of the Year, Divinity: Original Sin, and it netted over $2 million from 40,000 fans on Kickstarter. It features over 1,200 characters, all of them fully voice-acted.
First Timers Should Pick a Default Class
If this is your first time playing, pick one of the Divinity's default classes. The game gives you a great amount of freedom in custom class creation, but it's also easy to mess up and create a character with a bad skill set if you don't know what you're doing. While there's a way to reroll your character later on, your early adventures will still be unnecessarily difficult if you make poor skill choices. Your safest bet is also to play with an Origin character, rather than a custom one, in order to get the benefit of playing through their story.
Be Wary of Playing as a Skeleton
Be careful if you want to role-play as a skeleton. While it's awesome from a narrative standpoint, it makes the game significantly tougher. Healing potions and spells hurt you, and you need to use poison to regain health. (If you do opt to be a skeleton, keep in mind that you can heal by having a party member deal poison damage to you.) In addition, friendly NPCs aren't used to the idea of a walking, talking skeleton, which means you have to wear a hood or shapeshift into a more normal form if you don't want to get attacked. The skeleton race is more satisfying to play for experienced players.
Save Often
We'll repeat that headline above: save often. Divinity is a challenging game; show that F5 key some love and make a liberal number of quick saves. Quick save before entering a new area, during combat, or in the middle of conversations. Some areas you explore contain hidden enemies that can ambush you. During combat, even when it seems like you're winning, the enemy can make an unexpected (and unfortunate) comeback. And conversations can go sideways in an instant, resulting in the person you were amiably chatting with suddenly hurling fireballs at you. Quick save as often as you can; you never know when your good intentions might wind you up in a terrible situation.
Acquire the Pet Pal Perk
When you're creating a character, you get the option to choose from a list of perks. What's most beneficial is largely dependent on the kind of character you want to make. But for first-timers, it's highly recommended to choose the Pet Pal perk, which allows you to talk to animals. The ability to communicate with beasts can often make your life easier, as it allows you to avoid tricky areas and uncover hidden secrets. For example, rats dwelling in dungeons and sewers can warn you about traps and ambushes hidden in the darkness. While Pet Pal takes up a perk slot, it's worth it. However, it's important to note that an early party member you meet also has the perk, so if you're planning to have them in your group, acquiring Pet Pal may be worth it.
Save Your Resurrection Scrolls
During the course of a 30-40 minute fight, your characters might go down a number of times, but being even one member down can make things significantly more difficult. Dead characters don't automatically return to life--when a character dies, the only way to bring them back is by using a Resurrection Scroll. This useful item can be hard to come by, but it's capable of quickly turning a tough battle around or bringing your party back to full strength. Make sure that every member of your party is carrying at least one at all times, and consider loading an early save and trying to avoid death if possible.
Manage Your Party
It's important to stay healthy in the world of Rivellon; danger is around every corner. When you gain new party members, they'll give you the option to manage their perks and abilities. While it's important to take a healer with you to keep your party topped up in combat, make sure to round out your other members with more exploration-focused perks, especially with the myriad traps, ambushes, poison plants, fires, and exploding vents that you'll come across during your journey.
Methodical Healer
Potions are good go-to healing items when trying to replenish health quickly, but it's best to save them exclusively for battle. When you're outside of battle, eat food instead, as some have bonus status effects that might help you. You can also use your party members' healing spells, provided you're patient enough to sit through their respective cooldowns. However, the best way to heal out of combat is by using a bedroll. The ship that you start the game on has a few lying around, so make sure to take them all. When you use a bedroll, it fully refills your party's health, while also giving them the Rested status effect. Bedrolls are valuable items that you should always keep an eye out for when out in the world or when you're talking to traders.
Learn Your Spell Combos
A major part of Divinity: Original Sin II is your command over the elements. Take time to experiment with spells, abilities, and the environment, so you understand how to gain the upper hand during a battle. Most abilities create some kind of effect, especially if you have specialist spell casters, like Pyromancers or Aeromancers. For example, water can be electrified, oil can be set ablaze, and fires can be turned to steam to block an enemy's sight. Much of this knowledge comes from experience and experimentation, so don't be afraid to leverage quick saves and play around with your options. Before you know it, you'll be chaining crazy elemental reactions and creating cursed clouds of doomed blood that shoot lightning.
Having Trouble? Try Out Explorer Mode
Divinity: Original Sin II's world is dense, massive, and full of crazy things to discover. But if you find that the tricky combat system is what's preventing you from experiencing these things, then don't be afraid to turn the difficulty down to Explorer mode. Classic mode can often be brutally difficult; however, Explorer mode puts the focus on navigating the world and talking to characters, discovering new details as you go. And once you feel more comfortable taking on combat, you can always switch back to Classic mode for a nice challenge.
By Edmond Tran on Sep 23, 2017 01:30 pm
Cosplay From Tokyo Game Show 2017
The sheer amount of amazing cosplay at Tokyo Game Show is unlike any other convention in the world. Here's a just a glimpse of the great costumes we saw while touring the show floor! Obviously, we have to start with this suave dude: Mr. Poke Ball Head. He pulled the plush Pikachu out from under his helmet! Be sure to check out our other galleries too: Big And Bizzare - Tokyo Game Show 2017 Photo Tour
D.Va
Overwatch cosplay is big in the West, and it's big in Japan too. D.Va costumes are always a crowd pleaser.
NieR: Automata
2B or not 2B? Haha. Bet no-one's ever thought of that joke before.
Final Fantasy XV
Who loves Final Fantasy XV? Well, just about everyone by the looks of things. This Cindy and Noctis pair looked great, but were definitely not without doppelgangers.
Final Fantasy XV
This Gladiolus was genuinely surprised when we asked him for a picture. He shouldn't have been, because he looked awesome.
Persona 5
Even though this Casual Joker has obviously picked the wrong waifu, he and Futaba still looked like they belonged together.
Persona
At one point all the Persona 4 cosplayers gathered together to pose. You can't see them, but there were about five other Yosukes, which means it must have been pretty friggen' annoying up there.
Persona 5
We saw a couple of people dressed as Ann Takamaki, but this costume was the most impressive.
Hot Mario
This Mario was a very nice guy, and he got a lot of attention. No nipples though, strangely. He'd never make it in The West.
Cloud + Chocobo
Alright so this kid was adorable. You could hear all the cries of "kawaiii~!" around him. His dad was so proud.
Final Fantasy VII
This Cid stayed in character even when people weren't taking photos of him. (No, he wasn't baby Cloud's dad)
Persona
Here's Elizabeth from Persona 3's Velvet Room. She's still the best Velvet Room attendant and you know it.
Final Fantasy XV
Noctis, Noctis everywhere! This was actually the only male Noctis we ran into.
Resident Evil
This crew went old-school--It's Chris Redfield, Jill Valentine, and Rebecca Chambers from the original Resident Evil.
Publisher Cosplay - Monster Hunter: World
Let's duck back into the halls for a little bit and take a look at some of the cosplayers that game companies had hired to hang out at their booth. This Monster Hunter duo was great, and their costumes were perfect replicas.
Publisher Cosplay - World of Tanks
A world of thanks to World of Tanks. I don't know what country dresses their Armor Divisions in this uniform, but if you know I'd love to hear from you.
Publisher Cosplay - Phantasy Star Online 2
Can you believe this game still hasn't made it to the West? Here's a look at some of the intricate armor their cosplayers were exhibiting.
Publisher Cosplay - Phantasy Star Online 2
And here's another. This one's orange!
Earthbound
Okay, back to the fans. We can always appreciate some Earthbound cosplay. This cosplayer was probably about the same height has Ness would be in real life, so that's pretty handy.
.hack
Say hello to this .hack crew! Featuring special guest: Hatsune Miku
King of Fighters
This cosplayer is dressed as everyone's favourite S-Tier King of Fighters character, Leona from Team Ikari. There was a Clark floating around too, but he was a bit of a jerk.
Final Fantasy
This Final Fantasy VII crew was on-point. Unfortunately, Final Fantasy VI is still the better game.
????
Okay, I gotta be honest. I don't know who this character is but the costume is great. If you know, tell me in the comments! I wanna say he's a Dragon Quest boss or something?
Pokemon: Team Skull
Wow, look at this group of jerks trying to steal Pokemon from little kids. Just kidding, these guys were cool and had all just met. Criminal bonding for the win.
Overwatch
Looks like at least one person living in Japan thinks Reaper is cool. Reaper isn't cool, everybody.
Final Fantasy X
Hey, it's Wakka! Hands down the best character in Final Fantasy X, and hands-down the cosplayer with the nicest smile.
Final Fantasy
One more shot of the kid dressed as Cloud riding a chocobo. He's going to grow up to be something great, I can tell.
Street Fighter
This Bison's evil grin is on-point.
Splatoon
STAY FRESH! There were a couple of Squid Girls roaming around, but there definitely needed to be more.
Transformers
What the hell is Michael Bay's Megatron doing in Tokyo? Get back to the dark side of the moon or wherever it is you came from!
Persona 5
Here's another shot of the Takamaki from before with her partner in crime, dressed as Joker. These two were great!
Street Fighter
The whole crew is back together! And they're not beating each other up!
Street Fighter
OH GOD BLANKA IS HERE AND HE'S REAL MAD HE GOT LEFT OUT OF THAT GROUP SHOT.
Something something Minecraft?
Sometimes, you just need to wing these things. Original costumes are great too! That's it for all the cosplay we saw at Tokyo Game Show 2017. For more on this unique show, be sure to check out our other galleries! Big And Bizzare - Tokyo Game Show 2017 Photo Tour
By Edmond Tran on Sep 23, 2017 06:00 am
Welcome to Tokyo Game Show 2017
Japan's biggest video game show returns in 2017 with big, spectacular booths and weird, head-scratching oddities. Never been before? Well let us be your experienced guides on this magical journey. Here we are at the main gates, where Psycho Break 2 (aka The Evil Within 2), dominates the banner advertisements.
The Show Floor
Tokyo Game Show was spread out across eleven halls this year. This is just one of them. (Disclaimer: If you're wondering about the relatively small amount of people in these photos, please note that we took them on the Business and Media days of the show, prior to public access)
Konami
Let's start with everyone's favourite Japanese video game publisher probably, Konami.
Zone of the Enders VR
They have themed demo stations showing off one of the surprises of the PlayStation TGS 2017 conference, Zone of the Enders VR.
And here's one of the Konami attendants cosplaying as Ken Marinaris from the very same game. If you're looking for more cosplay, stay tuned for our Tokyo Game Show Cosplay gallery!
PlayStation Booth
PlayStation always have one of the biggest booths at Tokyo Game Show, and this year is no exception. We couldn't even fit it all in one picture.
Detroit: Become Human
Okay, here's the first bizarre thing we saw at the show: They had real people standing around in this glass cabinet all day pretending to be androids. They stood perfectly still, but if you waved at them they would wave back in a real creepy manner.
Detroit: Become Human
Here's a closer look at one of the androids. Notice the 'For Sale' signage which imitates some of the sets from the game itself.
Detroit: Become Human
Another look at one of the androids.
Monster Hunter: World
Japan loves Monster Hunter, so Monster Hunter: World also had a huge presence. This isn't the main booth for it (we'll get to that later), but Sony had a portion of space devoted to it as well.
Monster Hunter: World
They had this replica campfire setup which will be instantly familiar to anyone who has played the game.
Gran Turismo: Sport
There were multiple rows of Gran Turismo: Sport demo booths. Kind of a big deal, right?
Gran Turismo Limited Edition PS4
The Gran Turismo-themed PlayStation 4 was on display at the booth.
Gran Turismo Limited Edition PS4 Controller
...and here's a look at the controller.
PlayStation
Here's the back of the PlayStation booth.
GT: Sport
There were a lot of VR experiences at Sony's booth, but no-one looked happier than this person playing Gran Turismo Sport.
Bandai Namco
Bandai Namco has one of the other huge booths at TGS since they have tons of games based on popular anime and manga series. Here's the side of their booth with a small section dedicated to Dragonball FighterZ.
Code Vein
Code Vein is the newest game from the God Eater team and has definite Dark Souls influences. The wait to play it (on a Business day, without public attendance) was over 90 minutes!
Code Vein
Namco were also showing off some of the collectable figurines based on the game's characters. If you're interested in more collectables or merchandise, stay tuned for our Square-Enix collectables gallery and Tokyo Game Show Merchandise gallery.
Secret of Mana
The Secret of Mana remaster took up a small portion of Square-Enix's booth. Here's a look at the glass cabinet displaying the upcoming special edition of the game.
Secret of Mana
...and here's a closer look at the figurines.
Secret of Mana
You could also get your picture taken with a presumably life-sized Rabite. Aw, how cute!
Itadaki Street: Dragon Quest & Final Fantasy 30th Anniversary
A bunch of very excited fans play Square-Enix's crossover Monopoly-like board game, Itadaki Street: Dragon Quest & Final Fantasy 30th Anniversary. This series has previously been released in the west as "Fortune Street".
Virtual Reality
I, uh. I'm not really sure what's going on here. That is to say I don't really want to know what's going on here.
Virtual Reality
From what we could make of it, these people were some kind of virtual classroom game. Because why not, right?
Let It Die
SUDA51 and GungHo's Let It Die had a surprisingly huge booth this year.
Let It Die
They were also handing out branded fidget spinners to those who played, because the world has truly gone to hell.
Esports
There was a big portion of the show floor dedicated to an esports stage. Who doesn't love esports, right?
Esports
There was a Street Fighter V exhibition happening while we were there.
The Show Floor
Here's another look at another hall, with Metal Gear Survive hanging out at the front.
Earth Defence Force
D3 Publisher had a big booth this year, with multiple Earth Defence Force titles to show off. Additionally, if attendees were able to ride that bike down the bottom left hard enough, you could make the giant mech move!
Earth Defence Force
A closer look at the giant mech.
The Second Building
Let's pop over to the other building for a bit. The one you see here housed the cosplay area, merchandise booths, and the huge indie and vr game areas.
Arc System Works
Here's a glimpse at the Arc System Works booth, selling all sorts of Blazblue and Guilty Gear merchandise.
Square-Enix Music
As always, there's a booth dedicated to Square-Enix soundtracks. These folks are perusing this year's selection.
Indie Games
The Indie Game section this year was huge, bigger than any other year.
Rez: Infinite
Everyone's favourite VR title, Rez: Infinite, had a small demo station where you could wear the famous light-up body suit.
VR
These guys are having a virtual snowball fight. I think.
VR
Meanwhile, a handful of people are going on a virtual spelunking tour, and are currently riding a physical (and virtual) minecart. Sure, why not?
VR
Not content in the regular amount of VR sickness, this pair decided to take things up a notch with a physical rollercoaster thrill ride contraption. I'm getting sick just looking at them.
VR
And uh...
VR
At least he's having a good time?
VR
Nevermind, that's it. I'm outta here. Let's go back to the other hall.
Sega + Atlus
Ah, Sega! They're huge at TGS this year. Here's Yakuza director Toshihiro Nagoshi speaking on stage. Finally, a booth that doesn't have anything strange happening in it at all.
Yakuza Kiwami 2
Anyway, here's a couple of women they've hired to stand around and be photographed all day to promote Yakuza Kiwami 2.
Fist of the North Star
This promotional worker's job is to spend her time fondling the plastic biceps of this Kenshiro statue for Fist of the North Star.
Sega + Atlus
Look at how big this booth is! You can see their three biggest titles advertised here: Yakuza Kiwami 2, Yakuza Online, and Fist of the North Star
Sega
On the other side they have demos of many other titles.
Where's Atlus?
Sonic's all like "Sega + Atlus? I dunno dudes, I don't see no Atlus games here".
Shin Megami Tensei
Just kidding, here's a sweet replica of the helmet from Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey to promote the upcoming redux version.
Sonic
But Sonic's all like "Whatever dudes, Sonic Mania was dope and now everyone loves me"
Counter-Strike Online 2
Actually, online is my favourite way to play Counter-Strike.
Capcom
Alright, I love these guys! Here's the stage at the Capcom booth where they would show off their gameplay demos of the new Resident Evil 7 DLC. Chun-Li is on it right now for some reason.
Not A Hero
Speaking of Resident Evil, here's a photo booth they set up so you can tell all your friends back home that you are in fact, not a hero.
Resident Evil
Resident Evil is still a big deal for Capcom, as you can see.
Marvel Vs. Capcom Infinite
But they also dedicated space to promote their latest titles lime Marvel Vs. Capcom Infinite.
Resident Evil Shooting Range
But never mind Marvel Vs. Capcom, back to Biohazard! The BB Gun shooting range from past years returns again.
GUNS
Those replicas are intimidatingly true-to-life.
Shooting Range
Would you want this guy by your side in a zombie apocalypse? Judging by his paper target, probably not.
Monster Hunter: World
Okay! Here's a look at the giant Monster Hunter: World booth. There must have been up to fifty demo stations in here easily, and the line was massive even on the business day.
Monster Hunters
They had some really great cosplayers out front hanging out with an impressive monster statue.
Monster Hunter: World
Here's a look at the other side of the Monster Hunter booth.
Monster Hunter: World PS4
They were even showing off the special limited-edition Monster Hunter: World PS4 console. Looks pretty good, right?
Here's a close-up of the controller. Now let's turn around and go over...
Final Fantasy XV
OH MY GOD THAT TITAN JUST CAME OUT OF NOWHERE
Final Fantasy XV PC
A lot of Square Enix's booth was actually devoted to the various Final Fantasy XV spinoffs, but here's the one that you probably care about most--the PC port.
Final Fantasy XV PC
They built a special "Lunafreya" gaming rig made of white components. But... isn't this a Japanese game?
PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds
Not even the Japanese can resist the allure of a 100-player LAN setup for PUBG
Public Day!
Now here's a photo we took a few days later, when all the public was let in. LOOK AT THAT CROWD.
And that's it! That's your taste of the sights of Tokyo Game Show. This isn't everything though, we've got galleries coming soon on the cosplay and merchanise of the show, so stay tuned!
By Array on Sep 23, 2017 04:41 am
Be Your Own Baller
In both NBA Live 18 and NBA 2K18, players will be able to create custom players for the various NBA teams by using the in-game creator, or each game's face-scanning technology. Though each game's face-scanning tends to vary--mostly due to poor lighting, hair, and movement during the scanning process--often times you'll end up with decent results. The GameSpot staff decided to test out what the tech from both games can do, and while it's largely improved from last year, NBA 2K18 still wasn't able to work well with everyone. Here's a quick gallery of the custom players we were able to make.
Gajan, Social Media Producer
"OMG, it actually worked this time."
- Gajan
Joey, Video Producer
"Put us in, Coach!"
- Joey
Ben, Video Publisher
"I look like a giant, bearded baby."
- Ben
Michael, Tech Editor
"2K did me dirty, but Live got me looking like a man-baby."
- Michael
Hana, Associate Social Media Producer
"I got some sick sideburns, though."
- Hana
Miguel, Editor
"I look like a chapter 2 boss in Sleeping Dogs."
- Miguel
Nick, Video Producer
"2K wasn't ready for this game face."
- Nick
Sheiva, Social Media Producer
"Delete this."
- Sheiva
Rob, Senior Video Producer
"I've made a huge mistake."
- Rob
By Michael Higham on Sep 23, 2017 03:44 am
What's In The Box?
What's In The Box?
We have the Super Nintendo Classic Edition and we'll show you everything that comes in the box! We also have the original Super Nintendo on hand so you can see the two side-by-side. This miniature version of the SNES launches on September 29 for $80 USD / £70 GBP / $100 CAD / $120 AUD. It contains 21 pre-loaded games from the original system, including the never-before-released Star Fox 2. Let's take a closer look at this reimagination of one of Nintendo's greatest consoles of all time.
Back Of The Box
Back Of The Box
The back of the box will probably evoke plenty of great memories for those who spent hours on the original console. Here you can see every game that's built into the SNES Classic: - Contra III: The Alien Wars
- Donkey Kong Country
- Earthbound
- Final Fantasy III (Final Fantasy VI in Japan)
- F-Zero
- Kirby's Dream Course
- Kirby Super Star
- Mega Man X
- Secret of Mana
- Star Fox
- Star Fox 2
- Street Fighter II Turbo: Hyper Fighting
- Super Castlevania IV
- Super Ghouls'n Ghosts
- Super Mario Kart
- Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
- Super Mario World
- Super Metroid
- Super Punch-Out!
- The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
- Yoshi's Island
Instruction Manual
Instruction Manual
The instruction manual will give you some straightforward directions to getting this up and running, but there's more to it...
Folded Poster
Folded Poster
It folds out as a poster that highlights six games with three screenshots from each: Super Mario World, Super Metroid, Super Mario Kart, Star Fox, F-Zero, and Zelda: A Link to the Past.
SNES Controllers
SNES Controllers
You'll get two wired controllers that are exactly as you remember them. They have the same button layout, color scheme, size, and feel as the original. At about five feet in length, the cable on these is considerably longer than the NES Classic controllers!
Shoulder Buttons
Shoulder Buttons
Here's a quick look at the L and R shoulder buttons.
SNES Classic Console
SNES Classic Console
Finally, here's a look at the console itself. It's designed identically to the Super Nintendo released in North America, but is much smaller.
Power, Reset, Eject
Power, Reset, Eject
The power and reset buttons work just like they're supposed to while the eject lever doesn't do anything (since there aren't any cartridges to use). It wouldn't be a SNES without all the original features, even if some are non-functional.
Controller Ports
Controller Ports
The original ports are right up front, but the packaged controllers don't plug into them. So, what do we do?
Real Controller Ports
Real Controller Ports
Pop the fake ports downward to find the real controller ports! These are the same inputs used on the NES Classic and Wii.
Plugging In
Plugging In
Snap the controller input right in and you're ready to go! Well, almost...
HDMI Out, DC Power In
HDMI Out, DC Power In
We have to plug in the console through HDMI and use the packaged USB power cable to get it running.
HDMI Cable, AC Adapter, USB Power Cable
HDMI Cable, AC Adapter, USB Power Cable
The essential contents are all right here. You get a four-foot HDMI cable, the AC adapter for USB, and a four-foot mini-USB cable to juice the SNES Classic console.
Bottom Of The Console
Bottom Of The Console
Let's just look at the bottom really quick. Rubber feet will help keep the console in place.
Beside The Original SNES
Beside The Original SNES
Please, don't mind the discoloration of our original SNES; it's been through a lot. Here we can see just how much smaller the SNES Classic is compared to the original.
It's Cute
It's Cute
Like a parent and child, the original SNES gives the Classic Edition a piggyback ride!
Can You Tell Which Is The Original?
Can You Tell Which Is The Original?
The controllers packed with the SNES Classic are identical to the originals, almost impossible to tell the two apart. The top one is the Classic Edition gamepad and the bottom one is the original.
Everything You Get
Everything You Get
That's everything you get in the packaging: the console, two controllers, HDMI cable, AC adapter, USB cable for power, and the instruction manual and poster. But remember, you get 21 games from one of the most important eras in gaming. So, let's boot this thing up before we go!
Main Menu and UI
Main Menu and UI
The user interface (UI) is designed similar to that of the NES Classic Edition. All the games are on a horizontal scroll and the options bar is on top. You can even pick up right where you left off in games from the main menu.
Are You Getting A SNES Classic?
Are You Getting A SNES Classic?
It's a bit tough to get your hands on the SNES Classic if you haven't pre-ordered it, but it'll be available on September 29 for $80 USD. Stick around for more coverage on the SNES classic; we'll be bringing you gameplay and a full review in the near future. For now, check out what we've covered so far:
Recent Articles:
| 
No comments:
Post a Comment