Square Enix announced Octopath Traveler--previously a Nintendo Switch exclusive--is coming to PC on June 7. The game will launch via Steam and be available to buy through Valve's PC game store or the Square Enix Store.
According to Gematsu, the announcement was made via a now-deleted blog post. The post didn't mention any changes coming to Octopath Traveler, so it seems to be a straight port to PC. Square Enix has not followed up with an announcement concerning the Octopath Traveller PC port since deleting the blog post.
In our Octopath Traveler review, Peter Brown gave the game an 8/10, writing, "Despite the lackluster stories that pull you through the world, Octopath thrives on its character progression and the temptations of high-level challenges and rewards. The promise of new jobs, exciting boss fights, and powerful gear will inspire you to poke around every corner, and there are no shortage of discoveries to strive for. And all the while, you're treated to one of the most interesting and effective re-imaginings of a retro aesthetic around. Octopath will likely be a divisive game due to its fractured storytelling, but it's one worth playing despite its lesser qualities. Its high points are simply too good to ignore."
Octopath Traveler is an RPG that puts you in the shoes of eight different heroes, each of which possess their own abilities and stories. H'annit, a hunter, for example, can tame animals and is in search of her missing master, while the knight Olberic can challenge NPCs to fights and is seeking redemption for his past actions. You begin the game as one of the eight, and then recruit the other seven in whichever order you choose.
Keanu Reeves might be 54-years-old, but anyone who has seen the John Wick movies knows that he doesn't hold back when it comes to getting involved in the action. John Wick Chapter 3: Parabellum hits theaters next month, and a new behind-the-scenes video has been released that shows the intense weapons training he underwent to prepare for his role as the reluctant hitman.
Reeves was given training by tactical firearms instructors Vigilance Elite, who taught Reeves how to move and shoot like a trained assassin presumably would. It's a long video but it's fascinating to look behind-the-scenes and see Reeves soaking up all the information needed for his iconic role. Check it out below:
John Wick Chapter 3: Parabellum is directed by Chad Stahelski, who helmed 2017's John Wick: Chapter 2 and co-directed the first movie. It also stars Ian McShane, Lawrence Fishburne, Halle Berry, Lance Reddick, Anjelica Huston, Jason Mantzoukas, and Mark Dacascos. It releases on May 17. Check out the most recent trailer, and some stylish character posters.
In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, Stahelski revealed that he and Reeves already have plans for a fourth movie if this new one is a success. "If people go see the movie, and it makes money, and they came back to us, Keanu and I have ideas for days. I could live here for the rest of my career. If people like it and want to watch more, I could think of way worse ways to spend your career. But, you know, we're in the entertainment business. We'll let the audience figure that out."
It's that time of the week again: Fortnite is now in Season 8, Week 7, which means there's a fresh set of challenges in its wildly popular battle royale. You know the drill: complete the challenges, earn Battle Stars, level up the Battle Pass, and then watch the cosmetic unlocks roll in.
Week 7's challenges shouldn't give you too much trouble at all as they're all pretty easy and, for the most part, can be completed in natural play. In the free section, which is available to all players, there are three challenges. These involve dealing damage with a pickaxe, visiting two locations in a single match, and also heading to three Pirate Camps.
For those that have spent V-Bucks on a premium Battle Pass, you'll need to do damage to players from above, search chests in Loot Lake or Snobby Shores, take out enemies in five different named locations, and deal damage to enemies while riding a zipline. That last challenge is a multi-part one, so you'll have another stage open up when it is completed.
Fortnite Season 8, Week 7 Challenges
Free
Visit Pirate Camps in a single match (3) -- 10 Battle Stars
Stage 1 of 3: Visit Junk Junction and The Block in a single match (2) -- 1 Battle Star
Damage opposing players with the Pickaxe (100) -- 5 Battle Stars
Battle Pass
Get eliminations in different named locations (5) -- 10 Battle Stars
Search chests at Loot Lake or Snobby Shores (7) -- 5 Battle Stars
Deal damage to players from above (500) -- 5 Battle Stars
Stage 1 of 2 - Deal damage to opposing players while riding a zipline (1) -- 5 Battle Stars
Damage While Riding Ziplines
The ziplines are fairly plentiful on the island, so the difficulty here really is actually getting on one and then landing shots. Expect lots of players to gather around ziplines and, as we all know, they're not going to just line up and let everyone take their turn. Prepare to defend yourself while trying to get on the zipline. If you manage to get on a zipline, try and use a weapon that spits out bullets fast, as that'll give you the best chance of hitting another player.
Damage From Above
Easy peasy: Get to stockpiling resources. Once you've got loads of material, start building and go high to give yourself a nice vantage point. When you're elevated, just start taking shots at anyone around. If you're feeling particularly spicy, you can aim to do this in the heavily populated areas or even around ziplines to catch players trying to complete the other challenge.
Damage Using Pickaxe
This one is familiar, as Epic likes to throw this challenge in fairly regularly. As a result, you've probably got a working strategy at this point. Our one is to group up with other players and wait for ambush opportunities. Now that respawning is a bigger deal in Fortnite, you may get lucky and stumble upon downed enemies or someone so focused on rescuing teammates that they don't see you coming with your Pickaxe.
Visit Pirate Camps
Epic loves this challenge. It was used in a previous week and is also part of the current Buccaneer's Bounty event. The upside of re-using old challenges is that we've already got a detailed breakdown of how to complete it, including specific locations of the Pirate Camps.
A new TV spot from Avengers: Endgame has been released. The much-anticipated follow-up to Marvel's Avengers: Infinity War arrives later this month, and this new promo features some new footage not seen in previous trailers.
The theme of the TV spot is focused on the remaining Avengers' mission to stop Thanos and get their friends back. There's a voiceover from Steve Rogers that suggests that the team will split into separate units to complete their mission and there's lots of quickly-cut action-packed shots that show just how dangerous it will be. Check it out above.
This TV spot is the latest in a whole load of promotional material released for Endgame in the last few weeks. The first full clip was released earlier this week, while this recent trailer was packed with new footage.
Avengers: Endgame releases on April 26, 2019. It stars Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Brie Larsson, Sebastian Stan, Scarlett Johansson, Don Cheadle, Jeremy Renner, Danai Gurira, Paul Rudd, and Josh Brolin. Tickets went on sale last week, and so far presales have exceeded those for Captain Marvel, Infinity War, Aquaman, and Star Wars: The Last Jedi combined.
Endgame will be followed by Spider-Man: Far From Home in July, with Tom Holland's Spider-Man and Samuel L. Jackson's Nick Fury both returning, along with a variety of characters from Homecoming.
Yakuza Kiwami 2 is coming to PC for the first time, publisher Sega has announced. The Yakuza 2 remake makes its way to Steam on May 9, and it's available to pre-order now for $30 / £25.
Kiwami 2 first launched on PS4 in Japan at the end of 2017, before coming to the West on the same console in August 2018. May 9 will mark the first time the game has released on any other platform.
Sega says the new version is "fully optimised for PC, including stunning 4K resolution and unlocked framerates, customisable controls and robust graphics options." In addition, if you pre-purchase now, you'll "receive the complete Clan Creator Bundle DLC, including super rare Clan Creator Leaders and Packs, exclusive weapons, outfits and more."
We enjoyed the PS4 version here at GameSpot; critic Edmond Tran awarded it an 8/10 in our Yakuza Kiwami 2 review. "The tale of Tokyo and Osaka, Kiryu and Sayama's partnership, and Kiryu and Goda's rivalry remains one of the Yakuza's best stories, and Kiwami 2's minor missteps don't affect the heart of that experience," he wrote. "The modernization of its presentation and its mechanics elevate it, making it absolutely worth revisiting or experiencing for the first time. Yakuza is an exemplary, if flawed series that does an incredible job of steeping you in contemporary Japanese-style crime drama, and establishing an evocative sense of place. Yakuza Kiwami 2 is an excellent example of the series at its best, coupling its most memorable stories and characters with its most sophisticated mechanics yet."
It's been a long time coming, but Sony has finally rolled out the much-requested PSN ID change feature. PS4 users now have the option to change their PSN IDs as many times as they'd like either through the console itself or a web browser. Here's how the process works.
The first time you change your PSN ID will be free, but each subsequent change will carry a $10 / £8 fee. If you have a PlayStation Plus subscription, you'll pay half that, so each change will cost you $5 / £4. As previously mentioned, there are no limits to the number of times you can change your PSN ID, and you can always revert back to any previous ID at no charge by contacting PlayStation support.
To change your PSN ID through your PS4, first go to the Settings tab and select Account Management. From there, choose Account Information, then Profile, and finally Online ID. Input the PSN ID you'd like to use and follow the on-screen prompts to finish the process. To change your ID through a web browser, first log in to your PSN account, then select PSN Profile. Click the Edit button next to your PSN ID and you'll be able to change it. Follow the remaining prompts to complete the change.
As previously noted, you'll only be able to change your PSN ID either through a PS4 console or a browser; you can't do so on PS3 or Vita. Moreover, child accounts cannot change their ID. If you do change yours, you'll have the option to display your old ID next to your new one on your profile for up to 30 days to help your friends notice the change. You can read more about the process on the PlayStation Blog.
Another caveat to keep in mind is that not all PS4 games will support ID changes. While any title published on or after April 1, 2018 should display your new ID in-game, Sony says it discovered one instance "where a [recent] game did not fully support the feature." A small handful of games also have "critical issues" that may potentially result in the loss of game progress and other data if you do change your ID. You can see the full list of games that support PSN ID changes here.
April's free NES games for Nintendo Switch Online subscribers are now available. While the selection of titles in recent months has varied between the West and Japan, this month's lineup is the same across regions and includes the classic boxing game Punch-Out, the shoot-'em-up Star Soldier, and the notoriously difficult Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels.
In addition to those three games, Nintendo has added a special save state of one of last month's titles, Kid Icarus, to the NES library. This version starts players off in the final level before the climactic confrontation with Medusa, with all three Sacred Treasures already equipped. You can watch a trailer for this month's NES lineup below.
The NES library is one of the perks Switch owners receive for subscribing to the Nintendo Switch Online service, offering unlimited access to more than 30 NES games with added online multiplayer support for as long as you have an active membership. Nintendo adds new games to the catalog every month; March brought Kid Icarus and StarTropics, while Kirby's Adventure and Super Mario Bros. 2 were added in February.
Nintendo Switch Online subscriptions run for US $4 / £3.49 / AU $6 for one month, US $8 / £7 / AU $12 for three months, and US $20 / £18 / AU $30 for one year. Nintendo also offers a Family Membership that can encompass up to eight Nintendo Accounts for US $35 / £31.49 / AU $55. Other benefits for subscribing include the ability to play Switch games online, cloud save data backup for most games, and exclusive offers such as Tetris 99, which is free to download for NSO members.
Vampyr, the 2018 game starring a doctor who turns into a vampire and struggles with his new bloodthirst, is a commercial success, it seems. Developer Dontnod Entertainment announced today that the game has sold more than 1 million copies since release. The game was published by Focus Home Interactive, and the two companies are now renewing their publishing deal.
Terms of the renewal were not disclosed, but Dontnod said in a press release that the "new co-production promises to be one of the most ambitious in the history of the publisher and the studio."
Focus Home COO John Bert said the publisher has been "delighted" to work with Dontnod, going to to tease that the developer's new game is "intended to be among the most ambitious" in the history of both Focus Home and Dontnod.
Dontnod CEO Oskar Guilbert said in his own statement that Focus Home is an "ideal partner" for their new game thanks in part to Focus Home's expertise in the areas of marketing, digital distribution, and other factors. "Vampyr is a great success and we are very happy to develop this partnership with this exciting new project," Guilbert said.
Vampyr is currently available on PS4, Xbox One, and PC. It's free on Xbox One for Xbox Game Pass subscribers. The game is also reportedly coming to Nintendo Switch, but a release date hasn't been announced.
Based in France, Dontnod was founded in 2008, and its first title was 2013's Remember Me, which was published by Capcom. The studio went on to create the Life is Strange series with Square Enix, including the spin-off The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit. In addition to Life Is Strange 2, the developer is working on another episodic game, Twin Mirror, which is going to be published by Bandai Namco. The studio is independent, which allows it to choose a publishing partner.
The EA Access catalog of free games continues to grow. The newest addition, NHL 19, arrived this week, and the timing is notable given that the NHL Playoffs just began.
NHL 19 is a fantastic simulation ice hockey experience, and it stands out from previous entries with its addition of pond hockey. GameSpot's NHL 19 review scored it an 8/10.
EA Access is only available on Xbox One right now, but it's reportedly coming to PlayStation 4 as well. A PC edition called Origin Access is also available, but NHL 19 is not available on PC.
EA Access costs $5/month or $30/year, and for that, subscribers get access to a growing catalog of EA Games including other 2018 sports titles like NBA Live 19 and Madden 19. Outside of those, titles like Battlefield 1, Skate 3, Titanfall 2, and many others are in the Vault of freebies. Subscribers also save 10 percent on all EA digital content, while members also usually get to play upcoming EA games multiple days before their public release. There are also perks like bonuses in new EA games like Apex Legends.
During an earnings call in February, management discussed bringing EA Access to another "major" platform, so that could be a reference to PlayStation 4. Keep checking back with GameSpot for the latest.
The massive Star Wars fan event, Star Wars Celebration, begins tomorrow with a high-profile panel focused on Star Wars: Episode IX. The panel is set for 11 AM CDT on Friday, April 12, and it promises new details about the highly anticipated third movie in the new trilogy.
Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy and director JJ Abrams will be on stage, while the panel's official description also teases there will be "plenty of surprises and special guests." According to Lucasfilm, this is an event "you will definitely not want to miss."
Thankfully, it's being streamed. You can watch it through an embed from Star Wars that we'll add here when the show gets closer. As mentioned, it begins at 11 AM CDT from Chicago, which works out to 12 PM ET, 9 AM PT, 5 PM GMT, and 4 AM AEDT in Australia on Saturday.
Episode IX doesn't have a title yet, so that could be among the reveals for the panel. There also hasn't been a trailer, and Star Wars Celebration seems as likely a place as any to release one.
The third and final entry in the new trilogy that began with 2015's The Force Awakens, Episode IX wraps up the entire Skywalker Saga that began all the way back in 1977.
PlayStation fans can rejoice, as the much-requested PSN ID change feature is finally live on PS4. Changing your PSN ID is free for the first time; each subsequent change will cost $10 / £8, while PS Plus subscribers get a reduction to $5 / £4. The news is good, but there's a catch: not every PS4 game might not play nicely with your new ID, and in some cases the problems could be significant.
As stated on the PlayStation Blog, "As a result of the preview program, we've found an instance where a game did not fully support the feature." Sid Shuman, PlayStation's director of social media, clarified that any game published on or after April 1, 2018 should support the feature. However, not every game has been tested with the feature implemented.
Sony has provided a tentative list of games that could present issues for those who change their PSN IDs. Sony says a "large majority of most actively played PS4 games support the feature," and while you can rollback the change, you'll want to be aware of the potential for issues.
There are two ways to change your PSN ID: on the PS4 itself or via a web browser. Once you've done so, be mindful when jumping into the games below, which are separated into those that have been found to have issues and those with "critical issues."
Games With Issues Identified
Changing your PSN ID may cause the previous ID to remain visible or disappear entirely, user accounts to unlink, and settings to return to default in these games. Sony suggests that signing out and signing back in should resolve these non-critical issues.
Absolver: Downfall
Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag
Big City Stories
Bloodborne
Call of Duty: Ghosts
Crossout
Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin
Dark Souls III
Dragon Quest Builders
FIFA 17 Standard Edition
Gauntlet: Slayer Edition
God Eater 2 Rage Burst
Grand Theft Auto V
Gundam Versus
Guns Up!
Injustice 2 - Standard Edition
Killzone Shadow Fall
Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite
MLB The Show 17
Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4
Naruto Shippuden: Storm Trilogy
Naruto Storm: Road to Boruto Expansion
NBA 2K19
PlayStation VR Worlds
Rock Band 4
Rocksmith 2014 Edition – Remastered
The Last of Us Remastered
Titanfall 2
Trackmania Turbo
Trove
Uncharted 4: A Thief's End
UNO
Warframe
WipEout Omega Collection
Games With Critical Issues
Changing your PSN ID may cause you to lose progress and/or in-game currency in these games. Additionally, some parts of the game may function properly. Sony doesn't recommend changing your ID if you want to keep entitlements and Trophies as it's "possible to incur permanent game errors or data loss."
Apex Legends developer Respawn Entertainment is developing a new Star Wars game, Jedi Fallen Order, and it's finally set for its big debut this week at Star Was Celebration.
The event is taking place this Saturday, April 13, during an panel that begins at 1:30 PM local time in Chicago where Star Wars Celebration is taking place. That works out to 2:30 PM ET and 11:30 AM PT. Internationally, the stream starts at 7:30 PM GMT and 4:30 AM AEST in Australia on Sunday. Respawn boss Vince Zampella and game director Stig Asmussen will appear on a panel where they'll talk more about Jedi Fallen Order. Presumably we're getting a trailer, too.
So far our most detailed look has come from a brief teaser on social media. That showed a glowing hilt of a broken lightsaber accompanied by the words "Don't stand out." It's possible this is a reference to a stealth mechanic, the story of a Jedi who has escaped the purge and gone into hiding, or both. Here is the official description for the Jedi Fallen Order panel:
"Join the head of Respawn Entertainment, Vince Zampella, and Game Director, Stig Asmussen, along with many special guests, to be the first to learn about this holiday's highly anticipated action adventure game, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. Hear how Respawn and Lucasfilm collaborated on this original Star Wars story, following a young Padawan's journey in the Dark Times following Order 66. And of course, we'll have a few surprises in store."
While Jedi Fallen Order is scheduled for release later this year, very little is known about it so far. That's set to change during Star Wars Celebration, and we'll have all the news here on GameSpot as it's announced.
What we do know is that Knights of the Old Republic II writer Chris Avellone worked on the script, while Asmussen, the game director, previously worked on the God of War franchise at Sony before moving to Respawn. In terms of the story and timeline, Jedi Fallen Order tells an original story that takes place "shortly after" the events of Episode II: Revenge of the Sith.
Star Wars Celebration also promises news and reveals for Star Wars: Episode IX and lots more. Go to GameSpot sister site CNET to see a full rundown of what to expect from the show.
The new Hellboy movie starring Stranger Things actor David Harbour hits theatres this weekend, and ahead of that, reviews have started to appear online. To help you get an idea about if the film is worth your time and money, we've rounded up review scores and opinions from various outlets. GameSpot reviewer Dan Auty called it a "demonic disappointment."
This is the first Hellboy since 2008's Hellboy II: The Golden Army. That film, along with the 2004 original, featured Ron Perlman as Hellboy, with Guillermo del Toro directing. The new film is the first with a new actor in the lead role, and if the movie makes enough money, it might not be the last, as the end-credits very strongly tease a new movie is coming.
The new Hellboy is directed by Neil Marshall, who directed episodes of Game of Thrones, Westworld, Hannibal, Black Sails, and Constantine. The script was written by Andrew Cosby (Haunted, 2 Guns), and it's based on the Mike Mignola comic series.
In addition to Harbour, the new Hellboy features Milla Jovovich as the evil Blood Queen, Ian McShane as professor Broom, Daniel Dae Kim as Ben Daimio, Sasha Lane as Alice, and Thomas Haden Church as Lobster Johnson.
You can see a rundown of Hellboy reviews below, while more information on the film's critical reception can be found on GameSpot sister site Metacritic.
Hellboy (2019)
Directed By: Neil Marshall
Written By: Andrew Cosby, Mike Mignola
Starring: David Harbour, Ian McShane, Milla Jovovich, Daniel Dae Kim, Sasha Lane, Thomas Haden Church
Release Date: April 12 (United States)
GameSpot
"Harbour remains a great choice to play the character, and it will be a shame if this is the last time we see him in the role. But ultimately this is not the Hellboy movie fans wanted to see him in." -- Dan Auty [Full review]
Uproxx
"I spent almost Hellboy's entire run time either recoiling in horror or howling with laughter. Like Hellboy's climax, the subtext of which is essentially the protagonist heroically screaming 'Yuck, girls!' it was perfectly true to the spirit of an extended adolescent metalhead fantasy. I think this is how Hellboy was always meant to be." -- Vince Mancini [Full review]
New York Post
"The race for worst movie of the year is heating up. You could even say it's hotter than hell, now that Hellboy has taken the lead. This awful, disgusting, unfunny, idiotically plotted comic book flick offends the senses as much as the rankest subway car on the hottest summer day." -- Johnny Oleksinski [Full review]
Entertainment Weekly
"Look, I'm glad expensive movies are R-rated again. But this is the doofiest kind of maturity: boring CGI bloodsprays, F-bombs galore." -- Darren Franich [Full review]
USA Today
"Hellboy is kind of all over the place, with two hours' worth of adventures (and misadventures) that never gel cohesively and momentum-killing flashback origin stories for pretty much every main character." -- Brian Truitt [Full review]
Associated Press
"Maybe the reason it staggers so poorly is because its DNA is all wrong. If the first two films lacked a certain verve and the third is a violent muddle, maybe making 'Hellboy' movies is as cursed as its hero." -- Mark Kennedy [Full review]
The Hollywood Reporter
"It's just lousy. Bloated, vastly less funny than it aims to be and misguided in key design choices even when it scores with less important decisions, the film does make bold choices that might have paid off under other circumstances. But these aren't those circumstances." -- John DeFore [Full review]
One element of the discussion surrounding Avengers: Endgame is about its length--at three hours, the superhero film is very long. In a new interview, Marvel boss Kevin Feige said the runtime is the "least interesting thing" of all about the movie.
He told io9 that Endgame is "as long as it should be."
"We are not fans of overindulging movies. We are not fans of laborious lengths for no reason," he explained. "We are fans of movies that you wish didn't end. Movies that you want to see again as soon as it's over. And movies that you just don't ever find a good time to run out to the bathroom. That's when a movie's working. And if a movie doesn't feel like that to us we continue to trim, we continue to shape, we continue to bring that time down."
Feige confirmed that Marvel made cuts to Endgame "to a certain extent" to make sure it didn't overstay its welcome while also delivering a satisfying conclusion to 10 years worth of storytelling. "We got to a point where it feels very exciting and goes by very quickly and in the end is the perfect length. And everybody that saw the movie felt the same way," he said.
Co-director Anthony Russo is also quoted in the piece; he said only "very little" was cut from Endgame. The director's cut would only be about two minutes longer, he estimated.
Avengers: Endgame hits theatres at the end of the month. The story picks up after the dramatic conclusion to Infinity War, which saw the evil Thanos snap his fingers and immediately wipe out half of the galaxy's population. There is a theory that Ant-Man will fly into Thanos's butt to save the galaxy, but that probably won't happen.
Marvel's Black Widow movie, which hasn't even been announced or confirmed yet, continues to add to its cast. Following the news last week that Rachel Weisz and David Harbour would join Scarlett Johansson in the film, The Hollywood Reporter confirms that The Handmaid's Tale actor O-T Fagbenle is joining the superhero movie.
Florence Pugh, who starred in Fighting With My Family alongside The Rock and will be seen next in the eerie pagan movie Midsommar, is also set to appear in Black Widow.
Australian director Cate Shortland is said to be directing the Black Widow movie off a script by Jac Schaeffer. It's expected the movie will focus on Johannson's Natasha Romanoff, who started her career as a KGB assassin before joining the Avengers.
The Black Widow movie is reportedly scheduled to start filming this June in London.
As mentioned, the film has not been announced or confirmed yet. In an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live this week, Johansson dodged a question about the movie, while Robert Downey Jr. sounded seemed baffled by how Marvel has yet to confirm the movie.
The next big Marvel movie is Avengers: Endgame, which comes to theatres on April 26. It's the final movie in the MCU Phase 3; Phase 4 details are expected to be revealed after Spider-Man: Far From Home comes out in July.
Warner Bros.' live-action Detective Pikachu movie hits theaters in exactly one month, and those who go see it will be able to take home a little bonus. In a nice throwback to the days of the first Pokemon movies, fans who purchase a ticket to the film will receive a special Detective Pikachu Pokemon TCG promo card.
The card, which you can take a look at below, will be distributed at theaters on opening weekend, and it features Detective Pikachu--voiced in the film by Ryan Reynolds--drinking a cup of his favorite adult beverage, coffee. One of his moves is also a play on his love of caffeine. If you're hoping to get the card, however, you'll need to see the movie early, as The Pokemon Company says it'll only be available while supplies last.
The Detective Pikachu card was announced as part of a new promotional video, which takes the form of a mock screen test showcasing numerous Pokemon that will appear in the movie, including a couple we haven't previously seen, like Purrloin and Torterra. You can watch the new video below.
Like the 3DS game that inspired it, the Detective Pikachu movie is set in Ryme City and follows the story of Tim (Justice Smith), whose famous private detective father has mysteriously gone missing. Tim has the unique ability to understand Pokemon, and he teams up with Pikachu to investigate his father's disappearance.
The Detective Pikachu movie premieres on May 10. It's directed by Rob Letterman (Goosebumps, Captain Underpants) and also stars Kathryn Newton (Blockers), Ken Watanabe (Godzilla, Inception), and Bill Nighy (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows). While you're waiting for its release, be sure to check out our roundup of everything we know about the Detective Pikachu movie.
Mike Mignola's Hellboy is one of the great comic book creations of the 1990s, and like all the best heroes, he's a fascinating, unique character with a great backstory. He's a wise-cracking demonic paranormal investigator who must fight his own inner conflicts and contradictions, and reconcile his demonic origins while fighting monsters alongside his human colleagues. It was this complex personality that drew Guillermo Del Toro to the material, and he produced and directed the movies Hellboy (2004) and Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008), both starring Ron Perlman in the title role. While neither movie was a huge box office hit, they were warmly received by critics and fans.
Sadly, after many years trying to get Hellboy 3 off the ground, in early 2017 Del Toro confirmed that it wasn't going to happen. Instead we have this complete franchise reboot. Stranger Things star David Harbour has now taken on the lead role, while directorial reigns have been handed to Neil Marshall, best known for his work on shows such as Game of Thrones and Lost in Space, as well as movies like The Descent and Doomsday.
Much has been made of the fact that this latest Hellboy movie taps into the horror-influenced side of Mignola's comic books, taking the material in a darker direction than Del Toro's more family-friendly action/fantasy films. On the face of it, this is a smart move. Del Toro is one of modern fantasy cinema's greatest filmmakers, and any attempt to match his genre-blending ambition and visual invention would almost certainly be doomed to failure. But if you're going to strip away these elements, then you better have something compelling to replace them, and this is where Marshall's movie comes up woefully short.
As in the comics, Hellboy is an employee of the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense (BPRD), a covert organisation dedicated to fighting monsters and stopping paranormal threats. A seemingly routine job in Mexico to extract a fellow agent goes wrong, and a distraught Hellboy is pulled back to BPRD headquarters. He is dispatched on a new mission by his adoptive father and BPRD boss Professor Broom (Ian McShane), on a mission that sends him to England to help stop some fearsome giants who are tearing up the countryside. But things don't go according to plan there either, and soon Hellboy is teamed up with surly military agent Daimio (Daniel Dae Kim) and psychic pal Alice (Sasha Lane) to stop the return of Nimue, the Blood Queen (Milla Jovovich), an ancient demoness who was thwarted in the Middle Ages but is back to claim Hellboy as her king and wreak her vengeance on the land.
There's a lot going on here. Writer Andrew Cosby took inspiration from three of Mignola's limited series (Darkness Calls, The Wild Hunt, and The Storm and the Fury), and the result is that nothing ever feels like it's part of a single consistent story. Throughout the movie, characters and subplots are introduced then quickly forgotten, and there is an over-reliance on exposition and flashbacks to plug the narrative gaps. It's understandable that Marshall might want to incorporate as many elements from the source material as possible, but when some familiar roles (Kroenen, Lobster Johnson) are basically reduced to cameos, you wonder what the point was if it's going to interfere with the narrative flow.
The movie's problems sadly don't stop there. A talented cast do their best, but the clunky dialogue and hamfisted attempts at humor result in some surprisingly weak performances. Lost star Kim struggles with an underwritten role as Daimio, a gruff agent with a dark secret, while Lane is mostly given a bunch of one-liners that fall flat. There is an attempt to give Nimue more depth than might be expected for this sort of villainous role, but Jovovich doesn't get enough screen time to really develop her character. Worst of all is Gruagach, Nimue's huge, hulking, pig-faced assistant, rendered in CG and voiced by Stephen Graham (most noted for his work on HBO's Boardwalk Empire). Graham can be a powerful and intense actor, but here he's reduced to playing a deeply annoying, pointlessly foul-mouthed monster who pretty much ruins every scene he's in.
As for Harbour, there are occasional scenes where we see the power that he could've brought to this role, as Hellboy is seduced by Nimue, leading him to question why is fighting alongside the humans against "his kind." These are the elements that make Hellboy such a fascinating character, and Marshall deserves credit for attempting to weave the character's backstory into the main narrative, rather than give us just another origin movie. But while Harbour does get to flex his dramatic muscles a couple of times, it's at the expense of the other elements--the humor, the compassion, the camaraderie--that Perlman brought so vividly to his version of the character.
There's no denying that Hellboy fully grabs the opportunity provided by its R-rating. This is a gory movie--heads, limbs, and guts are thrown around with wild abandon, especially toward the end as demons descend on London. But the high level of bloodshed doesn't really add anything. The movie might be packed with monsters, but it's never scary, and the over-reliance on digital blood quickly becomes tiresome. There are a few impressive physical effects--Hellboy himself looks great, and the most effectively spooky sequence comes when he confronts the half-blind disfigured witch Baba Yaga. But the CG for the monsters and action scenes elsewhere frequently falls short of the standards expected from modern blockbusters, giving the movie a disappointingly cheap look.
It's perhaps unfair to constantly compare Marshall's film to Del Toro's Hellboy movies. However, it's hard not to when this Hellboy gets things so wrong. The movie's ending--plus a mid-credits sequence--clearly set up a sequel, so if it happens, perhaps the filmmakers will get a chance to correct the mistakes here. Harbour remains a great choice to play the character, and it will be a shame if this is the last time we see him in the role. But ultimately this is not the Hellboy movie fans wanted to see him in.
The Good
The Bad
Harbour is well cast, and gets some impressive dramatic scenes
The next Inside Xbox live stream is scheduled for April 16 at 2:00 PM PT / 5:00 PM ET / 10:00 PM BST. The show will cover pre-E3 news, as well as announcements for Game Pass and several upcoming Xbox One games.
The April Inside Xbox live stream is scheduled to be an hour long, and "will explore some exciting Xbox Game Pass news," Xbox Wire editor-in-chief Will Tuttle wrote in a blog post. The show will also provide further details for the upcoming anniversary update for Sea of Thieves and footage of the beta for Warhammer: Chaosbane. An exclusive look at Rage 2 will also occur during the live stream, followed by "several surprises" for other games.
Rage 2 seems to be the focus of the live stream, as watching the show on Mixer while logged into your Microsoft account will unlock a Rage 2-themed avatar item. So far, most of the gameplay trailer for Rage 2 have focused on the game's fast-paced combat--which incorporates destructive powers to make you feel like an unstoppable superhero. However, there haven't been too many examples of the game's driving components--which is surprising given developer Avalanche Studios' work on Mad Max.
Prey and The Golf Club 2 arrive on Game Pass on April 11, Monster Hunter World and The Walking Dead: A New Frontier on April 18, Life is Strange 2: Episode 2 on April 24, and Resident Evil 5 on April 25. Earlier this month, Michonne, Marvel vs. Capcom Infinite, and Minecraft joined Xbox Game Pass.
Overwatch's next big event, Storm Rising, is coming on April 16. In the meantime, Blizzard is teasing some of the new cosmetics you can earn, and we got our first look at a brand-new skin. This one features the newest character, Baptiste, but it's far from a heroic makeover.
The Legendary skin is called "Talon Baptiste" and features the soldier of fortune in his obviously evil red and black ensemble. Fans of Overwatch lore may recall that Baptiste was a Talon operative before having a crisis of conscience and abandoning the organization.
You can't run from the past. Terminate your enemies as TALON BAPTISTE (Legendary)! Chase the truth: April 16 pic.twitter.com/139OzDnzJs
As it happens, the Storm Rising event revolves around another Talon operative, an Omnic named Maximilien. The Overwatch team of Tracer, Genji, Winston, and Mercy are dispatched to bring him in as a storm threatens to obscure his movements while he slips away again.
This is the latest in the Overwatch Archives series of events, which have featured PvE co-op missions that establish story material. Past events have had younger incarnations of the Overwatch heroes, along with different looks like Talon Widowmaker. The past Archives missions, Uprising and Retribution, will be playable as well.
Storm Rising will run from April 16-May 6. Blizzard is likely to keep dropping more early looks at cosmetics leading up to the event.
Niantic and Warner Bros.' joint Harry Potter game, Wizards Unite, is coming to iOS and Android devices later this year. While the title still doesn't have a firm release date, the companies recently opened pre-registration for it on Android, and now those who've played one of Niantic's previous games can reserve their same usernames for it.
From now until 11:59 PM PT on April 30, Ingress Prime and Pokemon Go players can reserve their in-game names to use in Harry Potter: Wizards Unite. To do so, you'll first need to go to Niantic's website, then select the option to use either your Ingress Agent name or Pokemon Go Trainer nickname. Follow the prompts and your Harry Potter: Wizards Unite username will be set.
Niantic notes that there may be some instances where you can't use your same username, specifically if it overlaps with one in a different Niantic title. If that happens to be the case, the developer says that reservations will be handled on a first come, first served basis.
Wizards Unite casts players as a member of Statute of Secrecy Task Force, and it's your mission to explore the real world, locate Foundables (important people and items in the wizarding world), and dispel the Confoundable magic that's trapping them. While the basic premise of the game is similar to Pokemon Go, it also bears many similarities to a traditional RPG, with a stronger emphasis on story and RPG elements like skill trees and potion brewing.
Harry Potter: Wizards Unite was originally scheduled to launch in 2018 before being delayed into this year. You can read more about the title in our hands-on impressions, and Android users can pre-register for it on Google Play.
Seeing an opponent leave an Apex Legends match early is one of the more irritating facets of the game, but fortunately developer Respawn has a fix in the works to penalize anyone who does go MIA. Unfortunately, the company accidentally set the feature live before it was ready, before quickly disabling it once again.
In an update on the Apex Legends subreddit, community manager Jay Frechette said the studio has been working on the feature, but "it wasn't our intention or plan to have it go live with the [April 4] update." He says the penalty turned on early due to a piece of missing script, and the studio has since fixed it to disable the penalty. He states he doesn't have an ETA for "if or when" it will be released.
The 1.1 update included some quality-of-life changes, like allowing you to invite a member of your last squad into your party, and the addition of squad invites to the Friends menu. You can also mute from the Leegends select screen, so altogether it seemed aimed at making the game easier to connect with good teammates and ignore bad ones.
Still, the quit early penalty has been one of the most requested features among the community, since revolving around three-person squads means that a single premature exit can be a crippling blow to your team composition. The admission that the team doesn't know if the feature will be implemented at all suggests that it is still weighing the idea, possibly against other ways to deal with team composition issues.
April marks the start of the spring anime season, which will continue until the end of June. Across Crunchyroll, Funimation, Hidive, Netflix, Hulu, and VRV, there are dozens of new anime airing in the US this spring, ranging across almost every genre. Below, we've outlined every new movie and series that's been announced for these six streaming sites, and provided a brief description for each anime.
Although this spring sees the continuation of several Winter 2019 season premieres (such as The Rising of the Shield Hero and Dororo), for the purposes of this article, we're only compiling anime seasons or parts that make their debut in April. If you're looking for an anime that's already completed its run, check out our Winter 2019 guide.
Attack on Titan's third season finally concludes with a second part this spring, seeing the return of the well-animated action scenes and explosive drama that made this anime so popular.
A detective agency composed of individuals with supernatural abilities inspired by famous writers and their respective novels continue to defend their city from powerful criminals.
After most of his family is murdered by a demon and his sister transformed into one, a boy embarks on a quest to discover the secret to making his sister human again.
An original anime, Fairy Gone takes place in a fantasy world where a war fought between humans killed off most fairies. However, some still remain, and they're eager for battle.
One Punch Man Season 2 -- Hulu (Crunchyroll for the UK)
The superhero who can defeat any foe in a single punch returns, continuing his search for a foe who can finally provide him the challenge he desires.
A high school girl quickly realizes--to her horror--that she is having impure thoughts about the cute boy in her class, and decides she must banish said impulses to appear normal.
A stressed out man returns to his apartment one day to discover he's been visited by a benevolent fox spirit, who promises to do all his chores so he can relax after a hard day's work.
Hitori is incredibly shy--so much so that she's only ever had one friend. But now that she and her childhood friend have gone to different schools, she needs to learn how to make new ones.
Characters from Re:Zero - Starting Life in Another World, The Saga of Tanya the Evil, Konosuba, and Overlord become high school classmates in this chibi-style anime.
No character actually speaks in this anime that follows the everyday lives of cute high school girls, so each story is told entirely through facial expression, action, and musical score.
The ridiculous comedy returns with two new episodes, each of which have multiple versions that offer different takes on the ludicrous series of events that transpire.
An ex delinquent and a girl who only ever "speaks" by writing out senryū poetry forge an adorable connection over their shared love of writing literature.
This anime reimagines the beloved 2001 classic of the same name, while also finally finishing the incredible story of a teenage girl who moves in with a family that suffers an unusual curse.
A hard-working student meets his match when he's tasked with tutoring his genius peers--a math prodigy, a brilliant writer, and an exceptional athlete--in their weakest subjects.
A powerful wizard raises an infant, but realizes--only after the boy decides to venture out into the world on his 15th birthday--that he hasn't actually taught his ward a lick of common sense.
Why The Hell Are You Here, Teacher? -- Hidive, VRV
Despite his best efforts not to, an ordinary student continues to find himself trapped in erotic, risque situations with his frighteningly violent teacher.
The lone survivor of a mysterious event that caused hundreds of people to just vanish, Yuki seeks the aid of a courier to deliver her to her father--who somehow is still alive.
Picking up at the start of a new season, the Seidou High School baseball team accepts new members and faces off against old rivals.
Carole & Tuesday -- Netflix
In celebration of its 20th anniversary, studio Bones has created a story-driven anime about two girls from different backgrounds who both want the same thing: to become musicians.
Upon learning her school has no baseball club, Arihara founds one and a slew of other girls soon join, each finding the support they need to overcome the trials of growing up.
The Idolm@ster Cinderella Girls Theater Climax Season -- Crunchyroll, VRV
The Idolm@ster spinoff series that depicts what the music idols do in their time off away from the drama of the stage continues with a fourth season.
The sole remaining member of the koto club and a delinquent (who's also a koto player) strike an uneasy bond after the former realizes he can't judge someone for their appearance.
A sequel to the 1985 baseball manga Touch, MIX sees two step brothers work together to take their high school team to nationals, while also trying to escape the tragic legacy of their fathers.
Two divine beings join forces with the 13 buddhas in order to combat the vices in humanity, but they'll have to contend with the personification of Earthly desires in order to succeed.
An unlucky man is trapped in a space shuttle with the debt collector assigned to hunting him, but the two decide to forge an uneasy alliance and find a rumored paradise planet.
An original anime, Sarazanmai is about three eighth-grade boys who magically transform into kappa in order to protect their city from zombies.
YU-NO: A Girl Who Chants Love at the Bound of This World -- Funimation
Based on the 1996 visual novel of the same name, the anime follows the twisted tale of a high school boy who travels through time to learn the truth about his father's disappearance.
Destiny 2 is getting a new seasonal event--The Revelry, a three-week celebration of Spring. Like the Halloween-themed Festival of the Lost and holiday-themed Dawning, the Revelry will last three weeks, kicking off on April 16 and continuing until May 6. The event will add content and a new Exotic weapon to the game; check out all the new details in the trailer below.
The Revelry grants access to a new version of Mercury's Infinite Forest, called the Verdant Forest. Like Festival of the Lost's Haunted Forest, it adds objective-based fights that you need to clear in order to face off against an onslaught of bosses. Although Verdant Forest can be tackled alone, Bungie advises to fight "with a team."
During the event, you'll also be given a Reveler's Tonic. The tonic can be filled with Reveler's Essence by killing the Verdant Forest's bosses or clearing certain side quests. Once filled, the tonic can be used to reduce the cooldown on grenades, melee attacks, or class abilities. The potency of the tonic can be increased as well, by equipping pieces of The Revelry's new Inaugural Revelry or Vernal Growth armor sets. The effects of these armor pieces and the your tonic will apply in all game modes except for Private Matches during the entirety of The Revelry event.
You will also be able to exchange the Reveler's Essence you collect for limited-time rewards, "including world drops, Enhancement Cores, and ornaments for the Inaugural Revelry helmet." The latter will grow in size by equipping more pieces of the Inaugural Revelry or Vernal Growth armor sets. Essence can also be exchanged for a new Exotic kinetic fusion rifle called Arbalest. Bungie describes the firearm as "the first weapon of its kind," and "does extra damage against enemy shields."
During The Revelry, drop rates for Bright Engrams will be doubled, and players at max level will earn one every time they level up. Limited-time Revelry Engrams will be available as well, the images of which are posted above.
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