Bandai Namco's much-anticipated new Dragon Ball fighting game is less than three months away, the publisher announced today. Dragon Ball FighterZ's release date has shifted from a vague "early 2018" to a precise date: it launches January 26, 2018 in the United States and Europe on PS4, Xbox One, and PC.
Developed by Arc System Works, the studio responsible for Guilty Gear and BlazBlue, FighterZ is a stylish 2D fighting game featuring a ton of characters from the world of Dragon Ball, who are rendered in 3D. Just recently, we learned that Nappa and Captain Ginyu will be playable, joining the likes of Android 16, Future Trunks, Krillin, and Piccolo. You can see all the Dragon Ball FighterZ characters in our roundup.
In addition to the competitive aspects of the game, FighterZ features a "what-if" story mode where Android 16 is revived and the Z-Fighters are progressively killed off. Players will take control of a different character from chapter to chapter.
Following its release in Japan and Europe, Nintendo will soon bring the SNES-themed New 3DS XL to the US. The limited edition console launches in the region next month, on November 27.
Unlike the European version, which was identical to the Super Famicom-themed New 3DS XL that released in Japan, the US version sports a design based on the region's distinctive purple-and-gray SNES. The top flap looks like the classic console's Power, Reset, and Eject buttons, while the bottom resembles the SNES's cartridge slot. You can take a look at images of the handheld below.
The SNES edition New 3DS XL is available to pre-order now on Amazon. It retails for $200 and includes a download code for Super Mario Kart, the debut installment in Nintendo's popular mascot racing series. The SNES edition New 3DS XL is listed as an Amazon exclusive, though it's unclear whether the handheld itself or the Super Mario Kart bundle is exclusive to the online retailer. We've followed up with Nintendo for clarification.
If you're more interested in the New 2DS XL, Nintendo will also release a special edition Poke Ball-themed handheld next month. The Poke Ball New 2DS XL launches on November 3 and retails for $160, making it a cheaper alternative for those still looking to pick up Nintendo's great handheld console.
The general rule of horror franchises is that, as the series continues, the plots get simpler and more repetitive, until the inevitable reboot which resets everything. Not so with the Saw series. What started in 2004 as a clever, gripping, but relatively modest thriller has, over the course of seven films, become a preposterously complicated narrative, with flashbacks, parallel subplots, recurring characters, twists, turns, and head-spinning callbacks. Jigsaw is the eighth movie in the series, and it hits theaters this week. But with a seven year gap since the last movie, 2010's Saw 3D, fans could be forgiven for not really remembering what the hell has happened so far.
The only true way to make sense of where we are is to sit through all the previous movies--which, conveniently, are now all on Netflix. But for those that don't have time, here's a recap of the essential elements of the story so far.
The main problem of attempting to chronicle the plot of the entire series is that so much happens out of sequence. Every movie contains flashbacks to scenes at different points on the timeline, with a variety of important events occurring before the first movie. So let's go from the very start.
There are several key players in the Saw story, all of whom have some backstory that is revealed before the first movie kicks off. At the center we have John Kramer, also known as Jigsaw. Before he was a torture-obsessed maniac, Kramer was a morally responsible architect with an equally wholesome, pregnant wife called Jill, who ran a clinic for recovering drug addicts. But a robbery at the clinic led Jill to have a miscarriage, and soon after, poor Kramer discovered he has an inoperable brain tumor. He attempted suicide but failed, and then decided that his life should follow a darker course. He decided to use his remaining time to set up a series of gruesome games, each one designed to test his victims' will to live.
We also have Amanda, a recovering addict at Jill's clinic, who orchestrated the robbery. Kramer abducts her, and she survives his test and becomes his apprentice. Finally, there's Hoffman, a cop whose sister was murdered by her boyfriend, Seth. Hoffman learns about the so-called Jigsaw killer, and uses a Jigsaw-style trap to kill Seth. Kramer learns of this, abducts Hoffman, and blackmails him into becoming another apprentice.
Saw
Ok, got all that? Good. Now, onto the first Saw. The film centers on Dr. Gordon, the doctor who first diagnosed Kramer's tumour, and a man named Adam, who are two of Jigsaw's abductees and have been locked in a bathroom together, with a corpse on the floor. By the end of the movie, Gordon has sawn his foot off to escape, Adam has been shot and left to die in the room, and the corpse has stood up and revealed himself to be Jigsaw all along.
Saw II
Saw II starts to introduce some of the other characters into the mix. We meet Hoffman, as he and Kramer abduct various victims and imprison them in the disused building known as the Nerve Gas House. There, the duo proceed to play a series of gruesome games upon their abductees, which also an undercover Amanda, Jigsaw's other apprentice. The movie ends with Hoffman renovating the Nerve Gas House, setting up new traps in every room.
Saw III
Onto Saw III, and this is where things start to get really complicated, as the events of both Saw III and Saw IV take place simultaneously. It largely focuses upon a doctor named Lynn, who is placed in one of Jigsaw's traps (the shotgun collar) by Amanda and forced to perform life-saving surgery upon a bed-ridden Kramer. Both Kramer and Amanda die in this one, but don't worry, the games will continue!
Saw IV
As mentioned, Saw IV takes place at the same time as Saw III. This movie provides a lot of Kramer's backstory, revealed by Jill in an interrogation with FBI agent named Strahm. It also focuses on a cop called Rigg who is obsessed with trying to save people, following his own encounters with Jigsaw in the second movie. Of course, he doesn't make it out alive, and the movie ends with Hoffman truly established as the heir to Kramer's insane work.
Saw V
OK, four movies down, three to go. Ready for more? In Saw V, FBI agent Strahm figures out that Hoffman is actually Kramer's apprentice, and finds the Nerve Gas House. Strahm and Hoffman confront each other; Hoffman is locked in a coffin, while Strahm is crushed to death. Meanwhile, Kramer's widow, Jill, receives a mysterious black box from her dead husband...
Saw VI
We're getting there! Saw VI sees Hoffman given five more victims by Kramer from beyond the grave, their identities contained in Jill's black box. Unfortunately for him there is another name in the box--Hoffman himself. Having avoided the cops, Hoffman is caught by Jill, placed in a trap and left for dead. He manages to escape by tearing his face open. Eeeww!
Saw 3D
And… deep breath, just one movie left. Saw 3D sees the return of Dr. Gordon, who we learn was recruited by Kramer as an apprentice after the events of the first movie. Hoffman kills Jill with a trap, but Gordon catches him, and fulfils Kramer's final request by trapping Hoffman and leaving him to die inside the bathroom in which we started the series.
And that's it, so far! But if Jigsaw is a hit, expect this story to keep going, and going, and going. Ready to play...?
Out of everything that happened last night at TLC: Tables Ladders and Chairs, the most predictable outcome was that of Asuka's main roster debut match. Emma lost to the former NXT Women's Champion. But there's little shame in that; everybody loses to Asuka. She is currently undefeated in WWE singles matches; back in May 2017, she broke Goldberg's 173-win undefeated streak (Goldberg reached out on Twitter to praise her). And for anyone who's seen how hard she kicks and how utterly creepy her game face is, it's no wonder she managed it.
Here are the women who have the best chance of putting Asuka down for the count. Because all streaks come to an end; just ask The Undertaker. But it won't happen anytime soon, and when it does happen, it'll be on a massive stage. Empress of Tomorrow indeed.
Nia Jax
Up until a week ago, Jax would have been one of the most likely to break the streak. She's physically dominant, and she's right on the edge of clinching gold. She's body positive on social media. She's got the bloodlines because she's The Rock's cousin. But she reportedly walked out on Raw, which--rumor has it--was due to her unhappiness with creativity. According to Randall Ortman of CagesideSeats, she wanted to be the one who fought Asuka at TLC. And WWE doesn't take well to an employee who refuses to jump when the company tells her to.
Bayley
Again, not too long ago, this would be a different conversation. Bayley was the most beloved babyface coming out of NXT. But then, the Raw writers didn't book her into anything compelling. She lost a whole lot of steam. And on top of that, she's already lost to Asuka twice. At one point, an Asuka defeat would have been a Cinderella story for Bayley. Now, it's a little too late. Bayley needs to build herself back up again before rehashing this feud.
Nikki Cross
Nikki Cross isn't on the main roster yet--she's still in NXT. But when she finally gets there, she has a small chance of dethroning the Empress. Cross stands out because she is so radically different from every other woman on the roster, what with her rope biting and unhinged body language. She already has a high profile loss against Asuka: they fought in a Last Woman Standing match this past June. But despite that loss, Cross is hardcore tough in a way that many of the other women are not. She's a dark horse pick.
Alexa Bliss
One thing this past year taught us is that fans should never underestimate Little Miss Bliss. First, she held the Smackdown women's title. Now, she's holding the Raw women's title. And how has she managed that, despite being being shorter and weighing less than everyone else on the roster? She did it by being smart. By dodging at the right time, so her opponent goes crashing into the ringpost. By picking her spots and exploiting them to the best of her ability. Unfortunately, that may not be enough to believably defeat Asuka. One hellacious kick, and Bliss will be finished. Moving on.
Sasha Banks
Banks is, aside from Asuka herself, the most talented female performer currently on the main roster. Other wrestlers have better athleticism and better technical chops, but Banks possesses masterful ring psychology. The problem is that The Boss is currently a babyface, which is not her strength. Her heel character, on the other hand, is a veritable heat magnet, and it's through that character that Banks does her best, most believable work. That version of Sasha Banks could beat Asuka. But until she turns bad, she has little to no chance.
Kairi Sane
The winner of the Mae Young Classic, Sane has made some massive waves in a short amount of time. She's already famous in her native Japan, and she has the best elbow drop in the business; she's fairly small, but she throws her whole body into the windup of the move. She's positioned herself as a future champion on NXT, and a win against Asuka would be believable under the right circumstances. The only roadblock is the time factor; Sane will be a member of NXT for the foreseeable future. And by the time she moves up to the main roster, it might be too late to go through the process of first building her name recognition, and then giving her such a prominent win.
Charlotte Flair
The true star of the women's division, Flair is the obvious, no-brainer choice to finally topple Asuka's streak. She's the most decorated out of all the women. She has the height, athleticism, and prowess to make it believable. And she's got the Flair genes, which means that the fans would accept the outcome; if Asuka loses, she needs to lose to the best.
A big question mark, strangely enough, is Flair's finisher, the figure-eight leglock. Asuka would have to tap out to lose to Flair, and after the way she's been built up, it's difficult to imagine Asuka tapping out to anything. Flair's other finisher, the Natural Selection, won't get the job done either.
Still, it's always a poor idea to bet against Flair. And she has some time to build up to her win (or find a suitable finisher). Flair is currently on SmackDown, and either Asuka or Flair needs to switch brands to make this dream match happen.
Ember Moon
And lastly, we come to the woman who, if we're being honest, should have already handed Asuka her first loss. Ember Moon took Asuka to her limit twice, on two different occasions. One of those times, at NXT TakeOver Orlando, Asuka had to push the referee into the ropes in order to preserve her perfect record.
The two women's second encounter at NXT TakeOver Brooklyn III was even better than the first encounter. Moon scored multiple near pinfalls on Asuka; despite walking away with the win, Asuka had never been more challenged. And it was during this match that Asuka injured herself, forcing her to vacate the NXT women's title. She then moved to Raw, undefeated, which brings us to the current day.
Out of everyone on WWE's payroll, Moon deserves to beat Asuka the most, and she's the most likely to do so, eventually. She's a powerhouse in her own right and a future star in the making. But since Moon is still in NXT, this second rematch won't happen any time soon. And until then, we can look forward to the weeks and possibly months of Asuka-driven dominance to come.
The Marshadow distribution may have just ended, but Pokemon Sun and Moon players can now add a new Legendary Pokemon to their teams. Beginning today, GameStop and EB Games stores in the US and Canada will be giving away a shiny Silvally.
Like other Pokemon distributions, the shiny Silvally will be available via a free download code. The Pokemon is level 100 and comes equipped with a Gold Bottle Cap. It also knows the following four moves:
Multi-Attack
Parting Shot
Punishment
Scary Face
To get your shiny Silvally, select Mystery Gift from Sun and Moon's main menu and choose the option to receive your gift via code/password. When prompted, input the code you received at either GameStop or EB Games and you'll be able to claim the Pokemon from the deliveryman waiting inside any Pokemon Center.
Netflix has announced what's coming and going in the month of November. As usual with the streaming service, many titles--both original and not--will be added to the service leading throughout the month. One particularly interesting addition is the upcoming documentary Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond, which is made up of behind-the-scenes footage of Jim Carrey during production of Man on the Moon--the Andy Kaufman biopic.
Of course, the most anticipated release of the month for Netflix is none other than Marvel's The Punisher. The streamer's first Marvel series after Defenders launches November 17, with Jon Bernthal playing the gun-toting vigilante. November will also see the arrival of new seasons of Lady Dynamite and Broadchurch, along with movies like Chappie, Men in Black, and Piranha.
Leaving Netflix isthe Matrix Trilogy, V for Vendetta, and The Human Centipede: First Sequence, to name a few. On the TV front, the streaming service will also remove all nine seasons of How I Met Your Mother, along with four seasons of Jessie.
You can take a look at the full list of what's coming and going on Netflix in November below. And for streaming completists, make sure to check out what's being added to Hulu in the month of November, as well.
Arriving on Netflix, Netflix 2017
November 1
42
Casper
ChappieCharlotte's Web (2006)
Field of Dreams
Men in Black
Michael Clayton
Oculus
Scary Movie
Silent Hill
Stranger: Season 1
The Bittersweet
The Pursuit of Happyness
The Reader
The Whole Nine Yards
To Rome with Love
Under Arrest: Season 7
Undercover Grandpa
Where the Day Takes You
November 2
All About the Money
It's Not Yet Dark
Ten Percent (aka Call My Agent!): Season 2 (Netflix Original)
November 3
Alias Grace (Netflix Original)
Eventual Salvation
The Big Family Cooking Showdown: Season 1 (Netflix Original)
November 4
Williams
November 5
The Homesman
The Veil
November 6
The Dinner
November 7
Dizzy & Bop's Big Adventure: The Great Music Caper
Fate/Apocrypha: Part 1 (Netflix Original)
Killing Ground
P. King Duckling: Season 1
Project Mc²: Part 6 (Netflix Original)
The Journey Is the Destination
November 10
Blazing Transfer Students: Season 1 (Netflix Original)
Dinotrux Supercharged: Season 1 (Netflix Original)
Glitter Force Doki Doki: Season 2 (Netflix Original)
Lady Dynamite: Season 2 (Netflix Original)
Mea Culpa (Netflix Original)
The Killer (Netflix Original)
November 12
Long Time Running
November 13
Chasing Trane: The John Coltrane Documentary
Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed
November 14
DeRay Davis: How To Act Black (Netflix Original)
Hickok
November 15
Lockup: State Prisons: Collection 1
November 16
9
November 17
A Christmas Prince (Netflix Original)
Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond - Featuring a Very Special, Contractually Obligated Mention of Tony Clifton (Netflix Original)
Longmire: Final Season (Netflix Original)
Luna Petunia: Season 3 (Netflix Original)
Marvel's The Punisher (Netflix Original)
Mudbound (Netflix Original)
Red, White, Black, Blue Odyssey
Santa Claws
Shot in the Dark: Season 1 (Netflix Original)
Spirit: Riding Free: Season 3 (Netflix Original)
Stretch Armstrong & the Flex Fighters: Season 1 (Netflix Original)
November 20
Piranha
November 21
Beat Bugs: All Together Now (Netflix Original)
Brian Regan: Nunchucks and Flamethrowers (Netflix Original)
Saving Capitalism (Netflix Original)
The Case for Christ
November 22
Cherry Pop
Godless (Netflix Original)
The Boss Baby
Tracers
November 23
Deep
She's Gotta Have It: Season 1 (Netflix Original)
Bushwick
Cuba and the Cameraman (Netflix Original)
Frontier: Season 2 (Netflix Original)
The Many Faces of Ito: Season 1 (Netflix Original)
Trailer Park Boys: Out of the Park: USA: Season 1 (Netflix Original)
November 27
Broadchurch: Season 3
Darkness Rising
My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic: Season 7 Part 2
Xbox One games won't be the only ones to look better when played on Xbox One X. Enhancements will also be available for a select number of Xbox 360 games, Microsoft confirmed today.
When played on Xbox One X, these Xbox 360 games will run at "higher resolution, 9X the original pixel count, and [with] expanded color details," according to Microsoft. This is done using the Heutchy Method--named after the Microsoft engineer who developed it--which is also used to play improved versions of original Xbox games on Xbox One. This "leverages the power of Xbox One X to let the Xbox 360 emulator present the very best version of the game possible with the existing assets--all without touching the game code."
At least to start, only four Xbox 360 games will feature Xbox One X enhancements. These are, however, some of the platform's biggest titles. Here's the full list that will be supported on launch day.
There's no word on when we'll see more Xbox 360 games added; a number of Xbox One games have already been confirmed for Xbox One X enhancements. Specifics vary from game to game in terms of the actual changes, but we'll likely have a much better idea of what to expect as the system approaches its release on November 7.
The Predator is the upcoming reboot of the sci-fi action series, and a first poster was revealed earlier this month, when it was spotted on Fox's stand at Brand Licensing Europe Expo in London. Now an official version has been released, as a cool motion poster via the franchise's app.
It shows lightning striking a town at night, with the bolts of electricity ultimately forming the Predator's mask. It's very cool, and somewhat scary. Check it out below:
The Predator was originally set to arrive in March but will now hit theaters on August 3. It's directed by Shane Black, who previously made Iron Man 3 and last year's comedy thriller The Nice Guys. It stars Boyd Holbrook (Narcos, Logan), Trevante Rhodes (Moonlight), Keegan-Michael Key (Keanu, Key & Peele), Sterling K. Brown (The People v. OJ Simpson), Olivia Munn (X-Men: Apocalypse), and Jacob Tremblay (Room).
"I think that they came to me knowing pretty much that... they said, basically, if I wanted to make Predator but treat it like it was Iron Man 3 instead of just another little movie. I said, 'Let's really do it right this time.'"
Ever since the seemingly endless search for Sophia back in its second season, The Walking Dead has been happy to drag events out over a frustrating number of episodes. For many fans, Season 7 was one long, tiresome tease for the inevitable showdown between the Saviors and Rick's people at Alexandria. This was not helped by the decision to separate many of the characters and spend entire episodes away from certain storylines, leading to a pace that felt glacial at times.
Showrunner Scott Gimple has been open about his decision to make Season 8 faster-paced and more focused, and if nothing else, "Mercy" delivers on that promise. It's also the 100th episode, but unlike Season's 7 controversial premiere, this wasn't about headlines, cliffhangers, or unexpected shocks. No one of consequence dies, and there's not really anything happening that we haven't seen before.
War against the Saviors has begun, and Rick and his people launch their assault on Negan's base. The episode opens with a series of inspirational speeches--the sort only ever spoken in movies and TV shows by people about to face impossible odds against an unstoppable enemy. Rick has a go, then Maggie, then Ezekiel. Carl looks cross that he can't join in, and instead has to stay behind and look after Judith. Sound like something we've seen before?
Thankfully, once the speeches are out of the way, the characters actually get on with it rather than just talking about it. We are spared the details of Rick's plan; instead simply seeing it in action. Daryll is communicating with Dwight, who has swapped sides and is working undercover amongst the Saviors. Explosives are set, walkers are herded up, and Rick and crew roll up and demand Negan's surrender.
This brings a level of urgent immediacy to "Mercy", and viewers who felt a little starved of action will certainly be happy with much of episode's second half. There are no juicy walker kills, but zombies do play a crucial role in Rick's plan, as Daryl leads them towards Negan's base. There isn't much room for character moments either, beyond what we've seen many times before--Rick and Daryl are gruff and manly with each other, Gabriel offers Rick some moral quandaries, and Michonne continues in her dual role as Carl's older sister/stepmom. And Gregory remains a far more interesting bad guy than cartoonish Negan, Xander Berkeley playing him with just the right balance of cowardice, deviousness, and knowing villainy.
That's part of the problem. A hundred episodes in, and we're still watching the good guys run around shooting at a group of similar-feeling bad guys, while trying to avoid being eaten by zombies. This is what The Walking Dead does, and a radical reinvention is perhaps never going to happen. It's hard to see the show maintaining any momentum past the end of this particular conflict. In the comic book, the whole story jumped forward two years for this very reason.
A potential time-jump is teased in this episode, although it's hard to know whether the scenes seemingly set in the future are a dream or a glimpse of actual events. The unfolding action is interspersed with two sets of strange interludes, one an extreme close-up of Rick looking upset, the other a shot of Judith as a little girl, Rick living a happy life with Michonne, and a big grey beard. Perhaps we are seeing two potential futures. Or perhaps both will come to fruition; security and happiness followed by yet more sadness and loss.
The Walking Dead has used this technique before, teasing events by dropping non-chronological inserts into the main narrative--think Sasha's journey in the coffin at the end of Season 7, or Abraham's reappearance earlier in the same season. The ones in "Mercy" are even more oblique than usual, but in this case they work. The timeline of the main story is already jumbled, with the preparations for war intercut with the action itself, and these fleeting moments add mystery without interrupting the episode's flow.
On the whole, this was a solid episode. There was a cliffhanger of sorts--Gabriel trapped in a cabin with Negan, surrounded by dozens of walkers, and that does suggest that we'll hopefully get to see Jeffrey Dean Morgan do some of the proper acting he is more than capable of, instead of just smirking and swaggering. VFX whiz and Walking Dead veteran Greg Nicotero directs with plenty of energy, but on the whole it felt like a placeholder episode, something to remind fans of why they like the show in the first place, while hinting at some more interesting developments to come--not a 100th episode.
Best kill
"Mercy" was short on zombie-splatter, and the best kill actually happened off-screen. Rick ambushes one of the Savior's men and is about to leave him to die until he starts taunting him about Carl. Rick cuts a walker that was tethered nearby free, and the man is devoured by the hungry zombie. Sure, he was going to die anyway, but this death sounded A LOT more painful.
Bungie partnered with Vicarious Visions to make sure Destiny 2 is specifically tuned for the PC and has the look and feel of a game that's true to the platform. This meant having a seven-week release gap after the console versions, as developers stated that the extra time was spent to get it right. The game is also going to live on Blizzard's Battle.net ecosystem and uses some of its functionality--like the friends list and chat/whisper. But what else separates this version from its console counterparts? And what specific features are offered for PC players?
Control Schemes
Competitive players will no doubt use a keyboard and mouse, but Destiny 2 still has full support for controllers. So, for those more laid-back and less stressful encounters, you can kick back with a controller, if you want, since the game seamlessly transitions between control schemes. The game will switch schemes as soon as it receives input from either one. Unlike keybinds, gamepad button mappings aren't fully customizable, but gamepad control options are the same as seen on consoles.
Recoil Pattern
While we're on the subject of controllers, Bungie and Vicarious Visions stated in a roundtable discussion that the recoil pattern for weapons is different depending on whether or not you're using keyboard and mouse vs controller. For example, an auto rifle will have a scattered recoil pattern when using keyboard and mouse, but the same gun will pull upward as you're firing when using a controller. These patterns immediately switch as soon as the game receives an input from either control scheme.
As the developers stated, it wouldn't be good design if players constantly had to constantly swipe the mouse downward to fight the recoil whereas this is much less of an issue with a controller's analog stick.
Graphics Options Galore (3D Ambient Occlusion, No MSAA)
Destiny 2 got the full PC graphical treatment with plenty of options to choose from. You'll be able to unlock the framerate, so users of high-refresh monitors should be happy. It comes with that coveted FOV slider for wider viewing angles and even accommodates 21:9 displays properly.
There were three distinct anti-aliasing options in the beta, but the final release has one dropped. The beta had issues with multisample antialiasing (MSAA), and Bungie and Vicarious Visions stated that they couldn't get it working properly. Fast-approximate AA (FXAA) and subpixel morphological AA (SMAA) are the only ones found in the menu. Supersampling is possible through increasing the render resolution; it's visually superior but also taxes performance big time. Check out our explainer if you want to know more about anti-aliasing techniques and how they impact performance,
There's also a never-before-seen ambient occlusion option available. It's simply marked as "3D" in the menu, and this particular implementation here uses proprietary tech that adds more depth to the look of object shadowing than HDAO, and it's similar to techniques like HBAO plus. You can dig deeper into what ambient occlusion does for games in our own explainer video here.
How To Improve FPS
Speaking of performance and framerate, Nvidia did a comprehensive analysis on each graphics option; the visual difference and their effect on FPS. The company used a mid-range rig equipped with a 6GB GTX 1060 video card and an Intel Core i7-6700K CPU at 4.6GHz with a 1080p resolution for a large majority of the performance breakdown, but highlighted a few points if you want to squeeze out more FPS without sacrificing too much visual quality:
Turning off "Depth of Field" gave an extra 4 FPS
Going from an "FOV" of 105 to 95 saved about 2.4 FPS
"Foliage Detail Distance" from High to Medium added 4.1 FPS
Using HDAO instead of 3D for "Ambient Occlusion" boosted framerate by 5.4 FPS
"Shadow Quality" on High instead of Highest saves about 4.1 FPS
Note: using Medium offers a 9.4 FPS boost from Highest
At the Activision/Bungie preview event for Destiny 2 on PC, GameSpot was able to experience the game in 4K while consistently staying above 60 FPS, even in chaotic Crucible matches. Our graphics settings included SMAA, 16x anisotropic filtering, 3D ambient occlusion, and a mix of medium to max quality settings with FOV set to 105. The system used for the following gameplay video was equipped with an Intel Core i7-7700K CPU and Nvidia's GTX 1080 Ti video card.
Content Rollout Will Sync With Consoles
A big question about the PC version of Destiny 2 is how the rollout of content will be handled on the platform, considering the nearly two-month release gap. The Raid will be available approximately one week after release, giving players time to level and gear up. Over time, the cadence of activities and events will be in sync across all versions. In talking with the developers, it's confirmed that DLC and patches will come out at the same time for each platform.
In addition, the PC version may also receive patches separate from the console version, since it'll likely need attention to platform-specific issues that may arise, like weapon balancing or potential bugs.
No Cross-Play Or Cross-Save Planned
Bungie and Vicarious confirmed in a roundtable discussion that there aren't any plans to implement cross-play, even for non-competitive situations. PC players will only be able to play with other PC players, and same goes for each console. There also aren't any plans for cross-save functionality, so characters on each version can only be used on that particular platform.
Those are a some of the key differences between the PC and console releases of Destiny 2. If you want to get an idea of how the game is as a whole, check out Kallie Plagge's full Destiny 2 review of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions and stay tuned for her updated review that'll include the PC version. And if you're ready to get started, be sure to read through our wealth of class guides and tips.
Activision hosted and provided accommodations for a preview event for the PC version of Destiny 2 in which GameSpot participated and gathered the information in this article.
Along with a cast of fan-favorite characters, Steven Universe: Save the Light, the upcoming Steven Universe RPG for PS4 and Xbox One, will feature a handful of new characters. Today, Cartoon Network revealed another Crystal Gem who'll be making her debut in the title: Hessonite.
Described as a "pompous Homeworld commander," Hessonite is the Crystal Gem allied with the game's other original character, Squaridot. Hessonite is the one responsible for stealing the Prism from Steven at the start of the adventure, and she intends to restore into a powerful Gem weapon. You can take a look at the first artwork of Hessonite below.
Like Paper Mario, Save the Light is a 2D RPG that features a turn-based battle system with action commands. Players form a party out of popular Steven Universe characters and must press the correct button at the right time in order to defend yourself against enemies and deal more damage when you attack. You can watch 20 minutes of gameplay footage from the title above.
Steven Universe: Save the Light launches for PS4 in North and Latin America later this month, on October 31. The Xbox One release will follow globally three days later, on November 3. The game will only be available digitally and will cost $25.
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