Monthly Archives: September 2017
Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Is the Hardcore RPG Switch Needs
Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is not for inexperienced RPG players. The battle system at its most intense is a tremendously complicated ballet of patience and timing that will take dozens of hours to master, and for RPG fans waiting for their fix on Switch, this should come as great news.
Xenoblade Chronicles 2 follows a protagonist named Rex as he searches for a world called Elysium. Rex and his companions are known as “drivers,” and the weapons they carry have manifested into personalities called “blades.” In battle, a driver can cycle between multiple different blades to perform different types of elemental damage.
A separate meter will show whether your blade’s attacks (or “arts”) are ready to use or whether they’re currently charging between uses. Arts can be various types of attacks, HP potions, or other actions you’ll want to perform in battle, and can be selected using the Switch’s face buttons.
Star Wars Rebels’ Final Season Premiere Date Revealed
Star Wars Rebels' fourth and final season will premiere on Monday, October 16, Disney XD has announced.
The one-hour debut episode of Season 4 will be available on Disney XD and the Disney XD app, and kicks off the "most important mission yet for the Ghost crew." For an early look at Star Wars Rebels' long-awaited introduction of X-Wings, as well as a fresh glimpse at Grand Admiral Thrawn, check out the new trailer below:
Season 4 of the Emmy-nominated series sees Ezra leading his crew back to Lothal, as a new threat from the Empire, led by Grand Admiral Thrawn, strikes his home planet. According to executive producer Dave Filoni, Star Wars Rebels will be much more serialized in this final season.
Swery Announces The Good Life Crowd Funding Campaign
Hidetaka Suehiro, better known as Swery, revealed his latest game at PAX West, The Good Life, will be partially funded by a Fig campaign.
The Good Life is described as a "debt repayment life simulation RPG." Set in a bucolic English village, the residents of the town take to the streets at night, where they turn into cats. It's also equal parts life-sim and murder mystery, according to developer White Owls.
So, pretty par for the course for Swery, who last month said the The Good Life inherits "the spirit of Deadly Premonition," which he describes as his "most representative work."
The Fig campaign aims to raise $1.5 million USD to "achieve Swery-level greatness." Interested fans can invest in shares, or "traditional reward-based backing."
FIFA 18 Dev Explains Why Switch Version Has Cut Modes
FIFA 18 producer Andrei Lazarescu has come forward explain why the EA's upcoming Switch port is lacking several noteworthy features found in the Xbox One, PS4 and PC versions.
With regard to Ultimate Team, Lazarescu told Eurogamer the team feared the large amount of content might overwhelm Switch players who haven't grown accustomed to all of the features that have been progressively added over the years.
"If you look at the history of Ultimate Team on the likes of Sony or Microsoft—I think it's a seven year history if I recall correctly," said Lazarescu, "If you throw everything from the get go to a completely new player base, you might not get the desired result."
Borderlands-Themed Skins Coming to Battleborn
Battleborn will soon feature Borderlands-themed skins, Gearbox Software announced today at PAX West 2017.
The character skins, featuring familiar faces like Siren and Claptrap, were revealed during the "Inside Gearbox" panel at this year's Seattle-based convention. Check out the gallery below for a look the six character skins that were shown.
Battleborn players will have access to the Borderlands skins sometime later this year. Those who attended the panel at PAX West were given a code to unlock the bundle of upcoming character skins.
Gearbox Software's team-based hero shooter was released in May of last year for Xbox One, PS4 and PC. A little more than a year after its launch, a free-to-play version of the game, featuring unlimited access to all of Battleborn's competitive multiplayer modes, was made available for players.
Metroid: Samus Returns’ First Few Hours Have Us Hooked
IGN producer Zach Ryan and I have played a few hours of Metroid: Samus Returns so far, and we can’t stop talking about it. Instead of keeping our thoughts to ourselves (and annoying our deskmates), we thought we’d share our discussion with you all right here. We’ll talk about Metroid: Samus Returns more on IGN’s weekly Nintendo show, Nintendo Voice Chat (be sure to tune in to the September 8 episode), and we’ll have our full review of Samus Returns on September 12.
Sam: We’re not supposed to use the intro “It’s hard to believe it’s been XX years since…” here at IGN. It’s a banned phrase! So just let me say it’s unthinkable, unfathomable -- unjust -- that it’s been 14 years since the last “2D” classic Metroid (which was Metroid: Zero Mission). Samus Returns? About frackin’ time, amiright?
It Filmmakers on Delivering a Scary Pennywise
A few months ago, with the anticipation for the new adaptation of Stephen King’s classic horror novel growing by the day, I was among a small group of journalists who paid a visit to the It edit bay, where the filmmakers were hard at work completing the September 8th release.
Director Andrés “Andy” Muschietti and producer Barbara Muschietti – the brother-sister duo who previously collaborated on Mama – showed us several scenes from the film, and discussed their approach to bringing King’s novel to the big screen.
The scenes we were shown were from fairly early on, beginning with one in which young friends Bill Denbrough (Jaeden Lieberher), Richie Tozier (Finn Wolfhard), Stanley Uris (Wyatt Oleff) and Eddie Kaspbrak (Jack Dylan Grazer) investigate an opening in the Derry, Maine area known as the Barrens that leads them into the sewers – and make a discovery connected to one of the many missing (and presumed dead) kids in the area, which includes Bill’s own brother, Georgie.
Pokken on Switch Is the Portable Pokemon Fighting Game I’ve Always Wanted
As a kid, battling was always my favorite part of Pokemon. Even more than catching ‘em all, building my party and carefully selecting a strategy was what got me hooked on the games (and eventually even the Trading Card Game) in the first place. When Pokemon Stadium came around on N64, it was like a dream come true to finally see those battles in 3D, but it was always missing a key element for me: portability.
With Pokken Tournament DX on Switch, I feel like I finally have the portable Pokemon fighting game I’ve always wanted. While I spent some time with Pokken on Wii U, it looks even better on Switch, and, at least for me personally, I can’t overstate the appeal of being able to play it on the go.
Amazon Gaming Preorder Deals: Destiny 2 for £41, FIFA 18 for £43, Call of Duty: WWII for £43, Star Wars: Battlefront 2 for £43
Final Fantasy XV Pocket Is Such an Exact Remake It’s Surreal
From the second it starts, playing Final Fantasy XV Pocket Edition is surreal. Aside from its chibi art style, the beginning of the game is identical to the console edition of Final Fantasy XV, from the early flash-forward to saying goodbye to King Regis, and even pushing the Regalia after it breaks down.
As you’d expect for mobile, battles have been drastically simplified, now based on tapping instead of the turn-based mechanics you’d find in XV on console. Warp Strikes are performed by swiping, and you can target an enemy from afar by holding down a finger on them. Parrying and dodging comes in the form of touch-based quick time events, and movement is simply dragging your finger to where you want Noctis and friends to run.