[Aonuma On Remaking Zelda Games And Why We'll Probably Never See Skyward Sword Without Motion Controls]

Publisher: Nintendo

Release: September 20, 2019

Rating: Everyone

Platform: Switch

Earlier this year, the announcement of a Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening remake caught many off guard. The oddball title that debuted on Game Boy seemed like an unlikely choice, but the more fans thought about it, the more it made perfect sense for the remake treatment. We caught up with Zelda series producer Eiji Aonuma to discuss his philosophy on remaking Zelda games.

According to Aonuma, Link's Awakening had an incredible impact on him, even more so than other games like A Link to the Past. "Link's Awakening was a game I was not involved with the development; I was just playing it as one player," he says. "It left a very strong impression. The original Game Boy version was released 26 years ago, so it's a little bit hard to get your hands on it these days, so I've always wanted to reimagine it."

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD

While Nintendo has shown few reservations about releasing older games on modern devices, full remakes or enhanced remasters have been rare, with only particular games in long-running series getting the treatment. However, the Zelda series has received numerous remakes or remasters over the years, including Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask on 3DS, Wind Waker and Twilight Princess on Wii U, and now Link's Awakening on Switch. "I think why Zelda does get remade or remastered or ported a lot is because there's no one game style or art style," Aonuma says. "Every time there's a different art style or different gameplay. There's so much variety. So when we remake, they originally have all these different elements, but we can keep on incorporating new elements and introduce new gameplay or new excitement into these games. So when I create a remake or reimagining of a Zelda game, I always incorporate something new or fresh."

With Link's Awakening, that fresh element comes in the form of being able to create your own dungeon. "When we were thinking about this game, we always wanted to incorporate something where the player could do some kind of arranging of their own, and what we came up with was the dungeon arranging," Aonuma says. "Link's Awakening was a perfect fit for that, especially with the dungeons, so we wanted to incorporate that with this new, reimagined game.

When asked if any other Zelda remakes are planned, Aonuma doubles down on the need for new mechanics in remakes. "Currently I don't have plans, but there is a title that we can incorporate new elements or new features that is perhaps a perfect fit for a remake, then maybe we'll consider it," he says.

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

One "new element" many fans have clamored for in a potential remake of Skyward Sword is to remove the motion controls. For those hoping that is a possibility, Aonuma has some bad news. "So you're saying control it all with buttons?" he says with an incredulous squint. "That's a little hard! I think it might be close to impossible!"

While that dream may be dead for now, fans have another dream to dive into soon, as Link's Awakening launches on Switch on September 20. For more from this conversation with Aonuma, check out everything he was able to tell us about the newly announced Breath of the Wild sequel.

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[Everything You Need To Know About PES 2020]

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Publisher: Konami

Developer: Konami

Release: September 10, 2019

Rating: Everyone

Platform: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC

Konami says this year's PES is the second iteration in a three-year plan, and forward progress is exactly what fans have been calling for – from gameplay to more depth needed for the Master League franchise mode. The first thing that jumps out about the game, however, is that it inaugurates a whole new name for the series: eFootball PES 2020.

Luckily, the new name isn't the only thing notable about PES 2020. Read on for some of the big changes to this year's title.

What's With the Name Change?

Konami says it wants to signal a clear commitment to eSports. Of course, the game contains all the features of a normal PES title, apart from planned eSports tournaments and the league through the year, so changing the brand wholesale just to chase eSports cred seems odd. The series has been known by various names before Pro Evolution Soccer (Winning Eleven, International Superstar Soccer, etc.), but frankly I don't know how Konami's marketing department approved this. I know I won't be calling it eFootball PES 2020...

Is Master League Actually Different?

Yes, and it's largely due to the prominence of the manager position. A new dialog system lets you talk to your players and other members of the club whether it's to boost morale, talk to a player about their playing time (the mode also gives you an assistant who may make recommendations about up-and-coming players), or address club goals through the season which were more in the background last year. Your words can impact players by influencing their form or keeping them happy at the club. These concepts have been explored in previous iterations, but hopefully by putting them front and center in the mode it'll be more impactful from week to week and not buried in some menu and with no real consequence.

Is that Diego Maradona as a Manager?

Yes. Legends like Maradona, Zico, and Johan Cruyff, can be managers in Master League. There are other legends available, but that's all Konami is talking about at this time.

What About the Transfer System?

Konami is importing real-world data to improve transfers, from their realism in relation to who goes where to replicating the ever-increasing fees involved. The new manager dialog system also comes into play when dealing with potential signings. Finally, signing a big player can actually boost the morale of the squad as a whole.

How Does the Game "Feel?"

The series is historically known for how good it feels to control players and the ball – and I know I say this every year – but once again PES feels great. Konami has added finesse dribbling, which ostensibly adds fine control with the right analog stick, but I wasn't able to master it in the few games I played – I would sometimes go into an auto-feint. However, I did notice times where I thought it made a difference in traffic.
One of the new features I'm intrigued with is an ability that some players have called Inspire. This makes your teammates go on runs and expect certain kinds of passes (like lofted or through passes) because they know your player is skilled enough to deliver the ball. I'm curious how this will synch up with the runs your teammates normally would make as well as gamers' own ability to initiate runs manually. It could be beautiful or it could lead you to being pissed at your teammates for not being on the same page.

Did Anything Gameplay-Related Surprise?

I was most surprised how reactive A.I. defenders were at blocking shots and passes, which is definitely something you see every match. It creates varied rebounds that all the players instantly react to, creating more moment-to-moment variance. 

What Are Some Gameplay Legacy Issues That Haven't Changed?

I specifically asked a Konami spokesperson about "catch-up A.I." in the game, where suddenly it seems like the field is tilted against you, and they didn't say meaningful changes would be made to correct this. Instead, it was described in terms of the fact that momentum in a match can shift in real life. Elsewhere, in my opinion, the player switching to get the correct player you want consistently still needs to be improved from last year. Is there a legacy issue that has been addressed? I've been told getting caught from behind by slower defenders shouldn't be a thing anymore.

Is VAR in the Game?

No.

Has Online Been Fixed?

Inconsistent and poor online infrastructure has plagued the series for years, and while Konami isn't announcing a magic solution for this year, I was told that as part of the ongoing emphasis on supporting the series' esports initiatives, the company is making a commitment to improving this aspect of the game in general.

What is Match Day?

Match Day is a new mode revolving around the big matches in the real world like famous derbies and rivalries. Every week players pick their side in the week before the match, and everyone's accomplishments, from goals to passes, counts towards their side, determining the winner. From there, the two best players on either side with the best stats face off in a livestreamed match. During the week there will be rewards for everyone involved, including prizes for MyClub mode.

So What's Next For the Game?

During the PES World Finals on June 28 Konami is going to deliver more info on the game's annual demo as well as something called "Project 11." Fans can also look forward to more information about MyClub mode in PES 2020, more Master League details, and new licenses for the game.

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[The Coolest Things We Saw At E3 2019]

Publisher: CD Projekt Red

Developer: CD Projekt Red

Release: April 16, 2020

Rating: Rating Pending

Platform: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC

Cyberpunk 2077 is already shaping up to be one of the standouts of E3 2019, which isn’t surprising considering how great last year’s demo was. Even though many of the basic questions about have been answered, we were looking forward to seeing more impressive gameplay moments, and CD Project Red did not disappoint. Over the course of our 50-minute demo, we saw cool stuff ranging from small details to big reveals, and these were the best of the bunch.

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Character creation
Your character is simply named “V,” and you get the opportunity to shape their appearance in a character creation. Though we were already familiar with how this works in Cyberpunk 2077, it was cool to see more options, and impressive how well each variant captured the vibe of the cyberpunk genre.

Translation effect
In our demo, V is equipped with technology that allows for instant language translation. But instead of just flashing the text on screen in plain English right away, the display has a cool effect where the text is first displayed in an unreadable format, and then the characters quickly change in a wave from left to right. It isn’t so slow as to impede your reading, but it is slow enough to remind you’re in a diverse world that you can’t understand without some help.

Dialogue influence
The idea of certain dialogue options only being available to players who have made certain choices is an old RPG standby. What makes it interesting in Cyberpunk 2077 is the variety of ways that you can add those kinds of options. It isn’t solely about reaching a certain threshold in a core ability score. Depending on which backstory you’ve selected for your character (like growing up as a street kid, or having a corporate background) you might see different options. If you’ve invested in certain skills (like hacking), that can also open new conversation paths. This means the actions you’ve taken are frequently recognized and brought to the surface.

Stats
V’s capabilities in the world of Cyberpunk 2077 are determined by their ability scores. Those scores also influence V’s aptitude with a number of associated skills. The five core scores in our demo were: body, intelligence, reflexes, technical ability, and “cool” (which appears to be analogous to charisma in other RPGs). CD Projekt Red didn’t go into detail about everything these scores interact with, but the skill screen implied that a high reflex score might translate to increased proficiency with things like blades and handguns, while a high cool score influences skills called assassination and cold-blooded.

Following a trail
This is a world where getting what you want means talking to people, doing legwork, and picking sides. Though the demo didn’t fully illustrate how deep and immersive Night City is outside of missions, the degree to which you need to meet people and follow up on leads conveys a sense of living the cyberpunk lifestyle. You talk to a butcher (it’s synthetic meat; real meat is a luxury), and the butcher points you toward a local gang that can help you. The leader of the gang can give you information about a mysterious chip in your head, but to talk to the leader of the gang, you need to do a favor for one of her underlings named Placide, which sends you to a dilapidated mall full of maniacs. This progression from one phase of the story to the next feels organic; it doesn’t seem like you’re just blindly running from one objective marker to the next.

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Uncertainty
Another neat thing about the natural flow of the story is that it puts you in a lot of conversations. This means you get to know a lot of characters – but you don’t know what everyone is really after. For example, when you raid the mall full of maniacs we just mentioned, you do it because you assume it will get you a face-to-face meeting with Placide’s leader. That’s what you were promised…but was Placide lying? Yes, according to a government agent charged with regulating the ‘Net who confronts you later. Both sides of the story seem plausible, so who do you trust? This kind of uncertainty can be thrilling, as long as you don’t mind living with the consequences.

Clever dispatching
If you like devising fun and unconventional ways to take down foes, this game is for you (even though you technically don’t need to kill anyone). We saw V find all sorts of inventive ways to eliminate the opposition. You can toss people down trash chutes, use them as human shields, and grab turrets to turn them on the enemies. In a couple fitness-related kills, we saw V hack into a boxing robot to punch the head off its opponent. V also hacked into a bench press while someone was using it, resulting in a grim fatality. Is it gruesome? Yes, but it’s also rewarding.

Nanowire
This thin glowing strand (which looks like that awesome laser whip from Johnny Mnemonic) is both a tool and a weapon. We saw V sneak behind a couple of bad guys while brandishing the nanowire, and with a quick flourish, the enemies were on the ground. However, V can also use the nanowire to hack and plant malicious code from a distance.

Cyberspace
In a great flourish near the end of the demo, V gets taken to cyberspace – a digital landscape that is a core concept in some foundational cyberpunk inspirations (like William Gibson’s Neuromancer). Right now, this element of the game is full of potential; almost anything is possible in cyberspace for people with the right aptitude, and it seems like V’s quest will inevitably send players on at a least a few jaunts into this mesmerizing realm.

Keanu Reeves
Yeah, that reveal was awesome. But his character, Johnny Silverhand, is also interesting. He’s a key figure from the Cyberpunk tabletop game, but in 2077 he's a digital ghost who hangs out with V for the whole game, and seems to important to V's journey. We may not have all the answers, but we’re still intrigued.

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[Watch Dogs Legion Is Wildly Ambitious And Fun]

Publisher: Ubisoft

Developer: Ubisoft Toronto

Release: March 6, 2020

Platform: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC

In Watch Dogs Legion, Britain is on the brink of collapse. This post-Brexit world sees a private military corporation reign and privacy has become near non-existent. It's up to you to gather your DedSec hacker resistance to fight back against corruption and take back London.

I played a solid 45 minutes of Watch Dogs Legion at E3, and came away feeling impressed with the recruitment system and the ability to play as any character in the world. 

My demo begins in a pub, where I stumble around with hazy vision after a couple of drinks. My first objective is to scope out a potential recruit by profiling bar customers, to find the perfect addition for my DedSec team.

In Watch Dogs Legion, everything in the profiler (the info box that pops up when you hack a person) actually exists in the world. Ubisoft says that every character has its own relationships and friends, as well as a job they actually frequent and different personalities. So what does this mean for the overarching story? According to Ubisoft, there are five different main storylines and over 60 missions. Trying to build a comprehensive story with no single main character was a challenge, creative director Clint Hocking told me, but was possible once they figured out the technology.

"We got a lot of really talented people in animation, in voice, audio, and in performance capture, and just just breaking down the problem and figuring out how to solve it," Hocking says. "We spent a long, long time working on that technology. And now it's here."

As I walked around the bar, I could add different people to my "contacts," which basically means I save their information in a menu screen so that I can later decide if I want to recruit them to DedSec. I decided on recruiting a young girl named Gabrielle, though to gain her support, I would have to first lend her a hand. She tells me that she needs her criminal record erased at the local Scotland Yard police station, so I hijack a car and head there immediately.

There are many ways to get around London. You can drive vehicles and motorcycles, fast travel thanks to Underground markers, or even switch to another character that you've already recruited. In Watch Dogs Legion, your recruits are fully playable, and have their own schedules, meaning they could be at different locations and doing different things depending on the time. Driving feels pretty much exactly as it did in Watch Dogs 2, which isn't a bad thing.

Two differences I noticed are that there are now self-driving cars that guide you to your destination automatically, as well as ID checkpoints. The latter are checkpoints on the roads that glow blue. If you're wanted, however, going through these areas will make them glow red and alert the police of your location. It's an interesting twist to police pursuit, and while I didn't get to see it play out in the demo, I'm curious to see how it'll fare in the final product.

Once I got to the police station, it was clear I had a challenge ahead of me. As a restricted zone, I couldn't just waltz in and tweak their database to my liking. Instead, I would either have to fight or sneak my way through. An interesting element in Watch Dogs Legion is that most enemies won't engage in gunfight unless you pull out a gun first. 

"In London, the police don't carry firearms," creative director Clint Hocking says. "[In Watch Dogs Legion], the police are painted as sympathetic characters. They're loosely but reluctantly affiliated with Albion, who are the security forces. [Police have] had their power stripped away."

To infiltrate the police station, I hacked into cameras (the same way you do in past Watch Dogs games), as well as used my spider bot to look around in the restricted zone undetected. The spider bot is similar to the RC car in Watch Dogs 2 which was used to scope out areas, climb through small vents, and hack things. The spider bot can do similar tasks, as well as take down opponents lethally without your character being put in danger. Each character you recruit has different stats and can be of three different classes: Hacker, Infiltrator, and Enforcer. As a hacker, it meant I could build spider bots quicker on the fly if one was shot down by a guard. 

A lot of the hacking elements from Watch Dogs 2 return, like distracting someone by buzzing their phone, but certain new perks and abilities change things up enough to feel fresh. For example, an AR cloak can rend you invisible for a few seconds at a time and you can now ride atop large, pilotable drones once they're hacked. 

The light RPG mechanics, where you can level up to gain new hacking abilities, are still present here, but it's a little different considering you have several playable characters. 

"There's individual progression," Hocking says. "So every character levels up, and as they level up, they get perks and new abilities to strengthen your playstyle for that character. But then DedSec also has a bunch of upgrades like the ability to hack into new kinds of drones and certain upgrades that you can get for spider bots or for buying new weapons. These are team upgrades that apply to every everyone in your team."

The biggest changes to combat are that half the weapons are non-lethal now, and that your characters can experience permadeath if you aren't careful as I later see firsthand in my demo. I saw some intense combat and gunplay during my gameplay session after the Canadian embassy was bombed in Trafalgar Square. A slew of militant guards came at me and, because they see me as a terrorist, they came in guns blazing. It's an overwhelming battle and my character loses health rapidly.

When near death, two options appear: I can either surrender to the armed forces or keep fighting. By surrendering, my playable character is taken to either a jail or a hospital, and by continuing to fight, I need to be extra careful because my character could permanently die if I take the slightest bit of damage. I lost two playable characters to permadeath, which I felt a tinge of sadness about since I had already begun to get attached to their personalities, but I loved that it brought a dynamic and ever-changing feel to the gameplay.

For more on Watch Dogs Legion, watch the reveal trailer here as well as our list about four reasons this could be the Watch Dogs we've been waiting for.

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[Decades In The Making]

Publisher: Square Enix

Developer: Square Enix

Release: 2020

Platform: PlayStation 4, Switch, PC

Earlier today on Nintendo's E3 presentation, Square Enix unveiled both Collection of Mana and Trials of Mana remake, marking the first time that the third Mana game has been released in America. Collection of Mana includes Final Fantasy Adventure and Secret of Mana, which have both been released in the U.S., and now Trials of Mana, which had previously only been known as Seiken Densetsu 3. In addition, much like the Secret of Mana remake before it, Trials of Mana is also getting a fully 3D remake for modern platforms. 

We had a chance to sit down today with Masaru Oyamada, producer of the Mana series, and got to learn a few things about the remake and how it came to be.

1. Trials of Mana, both in the remake and the original incarnation, allows you to pick from six characters for your protagonist with their own origin stories. Then you pick two compatriots that join your protagonist's story as party members and you explore some variation of their quests. Each protagonist has a different quest, like the knight Duran chasing down a wizard that attacked his castle, or the Werewolf Kevin being stymied by a killer Jester as he seeks to save his father's kingdom.

2. The decision to remake Trials of Mana and bring the Collection of Mana over was because of feedback from the western side of Square Enix. While the remake has been in the works for a while, the western branch of the company suggested that it would make sense to bring the 2017 Switch anthology over as well for fans who would prefer the original.

3. The game looks a lot better than 2018's Secret of Mana remake. When the remake for Secret of Mana released, it looked a lot like a low-budget remake that did not accurately translate the art from the SNES classic. With Trials of Mana, the developers wanted to put their best foot forward for the game's first introduction to western shores, so there was an engine change to Unreal Engine 4 and more resources put into making it look good.

4. The partner A.I. has improved since previous games. Taking feedback (and complaints) from other Mana titles, the developers have overhauled the A.I. for Trials. We only got to see a boss fight with extra A.I. partners, but the extra partners managed to attack the boss, the Fullmetal Hugger, in his weak points with attacks and spells pretty competently.

5. The full game will be voice acted and will allow players to choose between English and Japanese voice acting.

6. Unlike the SNES original, there is no co-op in this version. The developers say they want to focus on the single player part of the game, so you won't be going through this one with your friends.

7. On the other hand, switching between any three of your party members is seamless and easy. Trials of Mana is definitely an action RPG and each characters looks to have a different play style. Some characters focus on magic or quick hits or big strong sword attacks or a combination of magic and melee, so playing through all the origin stories will feel different in terms of gameplay.

8. The story is not exactly the same as it was on the SNES. While the basic structure is the same, there will be an expansion on the ideas within it. For purists, the original version is out on Switch still, letting the team feel more comfortable reimagining the title.

9. The developers had no idea there was a cult following in the West thanks to a fan translation at first. After the project was greenlit, the developers began searching on the internet about it and found the fan translation for the first time.

10. The producers want to remake the entire series eventually, so there may be something for Legend of Mana if Trials of Mana sells well. They also want to eventually make new Mana games that channel the series' origins better.

11. While the Secret of Mana remake was not on Switch, Trials of Mana is thanks to fan feedback over the lack of Mana on the console. Oyamada said that Collection of Mana was Switch-exclusive because they had to actually get the code for the games from Nintendo, meaning the Switch made sense.

Collection of Mana dropped on Switch today, while Trials of Mana's remake releases in early 2020.

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[You Don't Have To Kill Anyone In Cyberpunk 2077 After All]

Publisher: CD Projekt Red

Developer: CD Projekt Red

Release: April 16, 2020

Rating: Rating Pending

Platform: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC

The world of Cyberpunk 2077 can be rough and brutal, and morally flexible individuals can be very successful. That's why we weren't too surprised last year at E3 when developer CD Projekt Red said it wouldn't be possible to finish the game without ending a few lives.

However, based on the demo we saw today, the studio has reversed it's position; the CD Projekt Red representative leading our demo confirmed that players can now complete pacifist runs of Cyberpunk 2077.

That is surely welcome news for players who enjoy a challenge. However, based on all of the fun weapons and abilities we saw dedicated to death and destruction, players shouldn't feel guilty for delving into Cyberpunk 2077's array of lethal options.

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[Welcome KVELLER]

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Welcome to UnityHQ Nolfseries Community. Please feel free to browse around and get to know the others. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask.

KVELLER joined on the 06/11/2019.

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[Exploring Ghost Recon Breakpoint's Crafting System and Endgame Content]

Publisher: Ubisoft

Developer: Ubisoft Paris

Release: October 4, 2019

Rating: Mature

Platform: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC

With the wide strokes of Ghost Recon Breakpoint already outlined earlier in the year, Ubisoft Paris took its E3 time in the spotlight to instead focus on some of the more granular innovations coming to the franchise. Our one-hour hands-on session took us to the same region of Auroa as the first look, but this time we got to stretch our legs outside of the research compound and get a sense of the open world. Here are the four biggest takaways we had from our time with Breakpoint.

These Soldiers Have Crafting And Camping Boy Scout Badges

With no supply drops to replenish their stocks, the Ghosts on Auroa need to find their own resources. Thankfully, they appear to be abundant. Running low on ammo? Take out the roving Wolves patrols and grab their leftover magazines. Need more health items? Collect the various plants littered around the island and craft them yourself. 

"For us, really, the objective is to fulfill the fantasy of being spec ops, and we wanted to go further than just the fighting and the fact that you kill enemies," says UX designer Matthew Tomkinson. "We wanted the ghosts to be able to rest, spend time traveling, and also take advantage of the environment. Auroa for us is almost the main character of the game. The island is super important."

Maybe it was just the region the demo took place in, but the landscape was largely devoid of human activity – Tomkinson says you shouldn't expect to see as many civilians roaming the roads considering the curfew placed on the island's inhabitants. But the lack of people doesn't mean there isn't anything to beckon you to engage the world outside of armed conflict. Flowers, aloe vera, termite nests, and other various resources were sprinkled across the terrian we explored, giving Ghosts ample opportunity to gather supplies. Some fauna are roaming the regions as well. A well placed shot to the heart of a deer yielded a good stock of protein my soldier could prep back at camp. 

The bivouac is the only area where players can engage in the crafting system, which we weren't able to use during the demo, but I did mess around with the other options you have when making camp. Preparations allow you to choose among a series of minor buffs that grant temporary accuracy increases, slightly larger health reservoirs, increased stamina, a larger drone range, or even increased resistance to injuries or fatigue. You can also swap out your character class or change your loadout. 

Faction Missions Deliver Fresh Content Daily

Like Wildlands before it, Ghost Recon Breakpoint features an in-depth storyline that should keep players engaged for dozens of hours. But once the credits roll, you will still have a wealth of activities thanks to the Faction Missions system.

"We want the players to be able to play endlessly, so there are parts of the faction missions that are procedural," Tomkinson says. "But there are also other ones that are handcrafted, with a degree of narrative and with cinematics. It's like the same quality as the missions that you get when you play the main story. So the idea is really that is that you are helping different factions in the game and you're getting rewards for that."

These faction missions center on the two factions inhabiting the island besides the Wolves and Skell Technology. One is the Outcasts, a mysterious group we don't know much about just yet. The other is the Homesteaders, a collective led by a retired U.S. Marine named Mads Shultz. When the Wolves invaded, this group of anti-industrialists fled into a cavern system.

"[The faction mission system] gives more depth to the world and the experience that offers players the opportunity to go off the narrative and engage with the world in a different manner," says Breakpoint writer Emil Daubon. "You gain perks and buffs from fighting these other missions, which still support that overarching narrative of the mystery of what happened on Auroa. It broadens the story, and it introduces new characters, which may or may not be popping up in post-launch content. From a storytelling perspective, the faction arcs give us this enormous playground to play with additional stories and missions that will serve to sort of push the story forward."

The Behemoth Drones Keep Endgame Firefights Frantic

This being a Ghost Recon game, a well aimed headshot will still take down any human in Breakpoint. But when you square off against some of the advanced technology like the behemoth drones, you need to rely on a lot more concentrated firepower and explosives like rocket launchers and EMPs to emerge victorious. These drones are stationed around critical communication relays on Auroa, and unprepared soldiers will be neutralized with extreme prejudice.  

Tomkinson says these end-game focused enemies are much stronger and don't allow any mistakes. They detect you easier and are super deadly when hunting down those who dare to breach the perimeter.

It may be foolish to do so, but Tomkinson says strong players with sound tactics and true aim may survive fighting a behemoth early in the game, but he recommends getting your bearings before attempting such a feat. "Even if you with your starting character you can take on almost everything in the game, but it really makes your life much easier if you get to better gear and improve first," he says.  

Responding To Community Feedback Is A Top Priority

When Ubisoft Paris announced its plans to remove the A.I. squadmates from Breakpoint, many fans (myself included) bemoaned the loss and weren't looking forward to roughing it aided only by our trusty drone companion. After hearing the feedback loud and clear, the developers reversed course and announced plans to re-introduce squad teammates after the game launches. That's not the only quality-of-life change the studio already agreed to; when fans complained about the weapon restrictions for the different classes, they took that criticism to life and reversed course yet again. 

This pattern of responding to fan feedback should only strengthen after the creation of the Delta Company, a new community hub where cosplayers can share creation ideas, competitive players can organize tournaments, and critics can share feedback with the developers.

Ghost Recon Breakpoint is scheduled to release on October 4 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. 

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[In Bloody Good Hands]

Publisher: Paradox Interactive

Developer: Hardsuit Labs

Release: 2020

Rating: Rating Pending

Platform: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC

One of my fondest gaming memories is playing Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines in the dead of night. Like many people, I had been enticed by Bloodlines' reputation being the only other game released alongside Half-life 2 at launch to use the Source engine. However, the tech for the game became a moot point, as I found myself sucked into the World Of Darkness' gripping universe of vampires trying to balance a busy life of blending in with humans, backstabbing other vampires, and preventing end of the world prophecies from coming to pass.

When it was revealed at this year's GDC that Bloodlines 2 was getting a sequel, my excitement was tempered trepidation. Seattle as a setting sounded like a good move, and the prospect of returning to the universe that so held my attention as a teen was great. However, instead of being entrusted to a studio with experience crafting immersive sims like Obsidian, Bloodlines' sequel is being created by Hardsuit Labs, a developer for the multiplayer first-person shooter Blacklight: Retribution.

At this year's E3, I got to see a 20 minute demo of the game in action and speak with several members of the development team making it. I came away relieved and confident in Hardsuit Labs' ability to follow up one of my favorite RPGs to the point the long wait for the Spring 2020 release will be agonizing.

So what makes Bloodlines 2 so promising a successor? Let's get to it, my fanged pals of the night.

The World Is Still So Rich

Bloodlines' defining quality is that it's just such a great universe to inhabit. If you haven't played the original game, the closest comparison I can make to it is John Wick's underground world of assassins. You have vampires living in modern times, creating laws (or breaking them) meant to keep their identities safe and humans ignorant, using their powers to shift their fortunes and make the best of being creatures of the night as the hum of the modern world continues around them. Entire wars are waged outside of mankind's awareness, in sewers, in alleyways, and in skyscrapers. The sheer wonder of using your super powers against a deranged serial killer doctor living in Santa Monica or ridding a haunted house of its ghost to please the owner of a gothic night club is still arresting all these years later.

Seattle is different territory than Los Angeles, but the lighting and the layout of the streets felt like a much prettier version of the original Bloodlines. You're not going to be wandering forever and ever in search of where you need to go. The districts are filled with locales of interest and quest givers, much like the original, and all those quest givers have agendas, which you can embrace as your own or reject fully.

Clan In The Front

Much of the intrigue of the original Bloodlines' story was the feuding clans and the distinct traits that set them apart from one another. The Toreador, for example, are master manipulators, capable of great charisma and seduction through their charms. They can talk their way out of nearly anything the world throws at them. On the opposite end you have the Brujah, big nasty vampires who like to hit their problems in the face with super strength. Naturally, these two clans are not fond of one another.

In Bloodlines, the overall relationship of the player to the clans was set in stone: you were an errand boy/gal working for all the clans at one point or another. Bloodlines 2 changes it up by making things a bit more flexible and giving players choices. 

For example, during our demo, a character for an unrevealed faction sent the protagonist vampire, a lowly thinblood, to secure some information through any means from a Nosferatu, deformed vampires who can't be among humans because of how disfigured and monstrous they are.  When you visit the the Nosferatu hideout to get information on where your target is, the gatekeeper gives you the option to offer your target sanctuary at the Nosferatu hideout instead of handing information over to your client.

When you reach your target, a number of options unfold. You can beat him into submission until he gives you the information and then let him go or execute him. You can also just charm him into giving you the information, offer him the sanctuary and convince him to go there. Your choices will, of course, have consequences.

Letting the Nosferatu go without getting the information you need will infuriate your original client and might wipe out any future quest opportunities you could have with them. On the flip side, your relationship with the Nosferatu will blossom, giving you access to their quests, and you might even get something from the Nosferatu vampire you let go earlier.

According to senior narrative designer Cara Ellison, the game is designed so that there are no right or wrong choices, just interesting what Hardsuit hopes are interesting consequences for your actions.

It's All Hub World, Baby

One of my main concerns for Bloodlines 2 was that current trends might push it toward an open-world design when the original game was hub worlds, with areas separated by loading screens. This meant that such areas were much more focused on unique details and felt like real spaces, with relatively few cloned assets or environments that might be necessary with the sprawl of an open world.

According to lead UI/UX designer Rachel Leiker, Bloodlines 2's version of Seattle is (thankfully) a hub world. Areas are divided into districts of real-world Seattle, like The Jungle, a place known for its homeless population. Bloodlines 2, as the series is wont to do, adds fantastical elements to these places. In the case of the Jungle, the encampment serves as a stomping ground for the Nosferatu.

Weird Setpieces Are Still On The Table

Ellison says that Bloodlines 2 will have a "crime-based drama" feel to the story. However, that doesn't mean that fantastical segments, like the infamous haunted house sequence or the creepy mansion inspired by Alice In Wonderland in the original Bloodlines, won't be making an appearance. While the story is more grounded, Paradox senior product manager Florian Schwarzer says, "We will have things on [Bloodlines' weirdness level] in the game....This is definitely not going to be a game without a special effects budget."

Your Choices Affect More Than Just Storytelling

The abilities you choose when building your character, from selecting their clan to their powers, affect how you play through various missions in a way reminiscent of Dishonored and the last two Deus Ex entries. During our demo, our player had access to an ability that would let them turn into mist. This is mostly useful for traversal, letting you use vents to reach secret areas and sneak behind foes.

Like the original game, you can also often talk your way out of conflict without ever killing a single soul. During the demo, our vampire was able to bribe a guard to let us into a restricted area with 50 bucks. This gave us free rein to explore, with other guards ignoring us while we searched for a way forward.

You Might See Some Old Friends....Maybe

Bloodlines had a number of richly written characters, from the Machiavellian Prince Sebastian LaCroix to the anarchist with a secret to hide, Nines Rodriguez. I asked if some of them might be making an appearance in the sequel. I expected a "no," but got something more promising, if cryptic. "If you have some favorite characters," says Ellison. "We might try to put them in somewhere but we're not going to talk about it right now." She also notes that this Bloodlines does exist in the same timeline as the first: "You might find some of the characters will reference events that happened in that game."

(Editor's Note: Bring. Back. Chunk.)

Combat Is More Dynamic This Time Around

Bloodlines has a lot of virtues. Its combat, with numbers leaping out of bullet-sponge enemies, is not one of them. Luckily, Hardsuit is aware of that issue and is making combat more dynamic. Leiker says "The first game relied on standard combat mechanics. We're more focused on giving the player the experience of being a vampire. It's focused on expressing your vampireness against different types of foes."

To the extent of our demo, "vampireness" seems to translate to "nearly indestructible killing machine." Most of the enemies our character comes up against are humans trying to hurt the vampire with knives and bullets, which do little damage. On the flip side, it takes mere seconds for the demoer to rip through four goons armed with assault rifles.

The combat is amusing to watch, with superhuman punches and kicks sending foes flying against the wall with bone-crunching force, only for them to goofily ragdoll to their deaths. During the demo, I also watched our vampire use blood magic to make enemies puke blood and lob sticky grenade-looking globs that deal damage to anyone caught in the goop. In other words, there's a lot in Bloodlines' toolset o' death to like.

Check back later in the week for an interview with the makers of Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2. In the meantime, read our hands-on impressions of the game here.

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[28 Random Things I Learned From Playing]

Publisher: Square Enix

Developer: Square Enix

Release: March 3, 2020

Platform: PlayStation 4

Final Fantasy VII Remake is one of the surprise stars of this year’s E3 for me, with new information shedding light on previously unknown aspects of the game. We got a release date, a demo, a new trailer, and information about its different editions… but that’s not all. Today, I actually played it.

On the E3 show floor, we had a behind-closed-doors presentation from Final Fantasy VII Remake producer Yoshinori Kitase about the game, its scope, it's future, and the team’s goals. After that, I played the same demo Square Enix showed at its E3 event – a boss fight against a giant robotic scorpion. All of these experiences resulted in a flood of new details and impressions; in this rundown, I’ve distilled the tidbits I found most interesting during my time with Final Fantasy VII Remake.

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1. Thinking of the game as “episodic,” at least how the word normally applies to games, seems like a mistake. Square Enix confirmed what it said three years ago: each part of Final Fantasy VII Remake is a full game.

2. This isn’t a side-project; the team at Square Enix views this game as the next full numbered entry in the Final Fantasy series.

3. The team feels that Midgar represents Final Fantasy VII better than any other location.

4. The second installment of Final Fantasy VII Remake is in the planning stages.

5. The voice cast is different; Square Enix says a new generation of performers is the best way for newcomers and old fans to experience Final Fantasy VII Remake.

6. Our demos show the raid on Mako Reactor 01, which seems to be the beginning (or very near the beginning) of the game once again.

7. The map and layout of the reactor is practically the same as it was in the original version of Final Fantasy VII, except you explore it in 3D.

8. During combat, slowing down time using tactical mode gives you time to select commands. You can (but you don’t need to) assign your favorite commands to shortcuts.

9. You can lock onto your targets with R3, or slash freely with the square button.

10. You build up your limit gauge by taking damage.

11. Barret’s limit break in the demo is called “Fire in the hole,” and it’s big charged blast from his arm cannon.

12. Cloud’s Braver attack is just a regular ability now, but Cross Slash is a limit break.

13. In addition to Braver, Cloud has special attacks called Focused Thrust and Triple Slash.

14. You build up your ATB charges by landing attacks. When you’re playing, they refill pretty quickly, encouraging you to use them liberally instead of hoarding them.

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15. Using standard attacks, blocking (holding R1), and evading (pressing circle) don’t cost ATB.

16. Actions that require expending your ATB include: Using items, activating abilities, and casting spells.

17. Using magic costs MP in addition to the ATB charge.

18. In addition to their regular attacks and special abilities, each character has a unique feature mapped to the triangle button.

19. Cloud’s unique feature is switching stances; he goes between “operator mode” (standard speed and damage) and “punisher mode” (slower speed, higher damage).

20. Barret’s unique feature is “overcharge,” which is a single big shot, rather than his usual continuous fire.

21. During combat, you can swap between party members by pressing up or down on the d-pad.

22. I could not swap between characters during exploration; after battle, control reverts to Cloud.

23. Treasure chests are scattered around, and you open them with the triangle button. You can’t open them if you are engaged in battle.

24. The materia system is returning and will be similar to the one in the original game, though Square Enix wouldn’t dive into the details.

25. At least for Cloud’s sword, it appears that the equipped materia is represented cosmetically on the weapon.

26. Jessie (one Barret’s crew) gets sort of flirty with Cloud. She talks about how cute he is, and is curious about how “close” he is with Tifa.

27. The screen takes on a static-like visual and audio distortion when people mention things about Cloud’s past, like his relationship with Tifa, or his time in SOLDIER.

28. During one of these distortions, Cloud sees a single black feather falling.

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[We Saw 25 Minutes Of Avengers Gameplay – Here's What You Need To Know]

Publisher: Square Enix

Developer: Crystal Dynamics, Eidos Montreal

Release: May 15, 2020

Platform: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC

Crystal Dynamics and Eidos Montreal's Avengers game debuted at Square Enix's E3 press conference last night, and although we watched Hulk smash a tank and Iron Man rocket through the skies, we were left with more questions than answers. We heard more about the actors' feelings for each character than details about what these famed heroes can actually do on the battlefield. It turns out Crystal Dynamics was saving that information for behind-closed-doors sessions at E3. I was lucky enough to sit in on the first session this morning. Here's a breakdown of what I saw.

The 25-minute demo isn't the first level in the game, but it is one of the first, beginning with the Avengers celebrating the opening of their West Coast headquarters in San Francisco. Does this imply an East Coast headquarters exists? Possibly the one from Spider-Man? I asked Crystal Dynamics' head of studio Scot Amos if this game is a part of the same world as Insomniac's Spider-Man, and he gave me an answer that didn't say much.

“I'll say that we're all Marvel,” Amos says with a smile. “When we talk about universes or Earths or anything like that, that actually is something that Marvel is very much – they keep us honest, I'll put it that way. Bill Rosemann at Marvel, his job is to help make sure that all of these worlds play nice with each other. What we're explicitly saying is that this is Marvel’s Avengers, this is our world. This is what we're going to focus on. That’s what we're going to talk about today.”

As the new headquarters is being celebrated at a ceremony attended by the Avengers, tragedy strikes, and the city is suddenly under attack by an army of soldiers, all of them wearing masks with skulls on them. The Golden Gate Bridge is rocked by a series of explosions, and Iron Man and Thor are dispatched to investigate. When the duo reaches the bridge, control is handed to Thor. I didn't get to play the demo, but we were told it was a live gameplay presentation manned by someone from Crystal Dynamics. The first move in the game is Thor smashing to the ground, an action handled by a quick-time event in which the player must hit the triangle button. A few enemies with guns emerge from the debris and around upended cars. Thor engages them with his hammer, swinging it wildly, sometimes alternating who he is attacking. The combat here looks similar to the circular dances from Rocksteady's Arkham games, but we didn't see the player lock on to any particular target or a counter meter come up once.

Thor controlled the flow of the battle. After smashing an enemy in the skull with his hammer, he grabbed him by the leg and slammed him to the ground. Periodically, Thor would electrify his weapon with lightning to perform more powerful attacks, including spinning it around his wrist quickly to rev it up for more damage. Some of his hammer hits would send enemies flying a good 100 feet into the distance. I asked Amos if the Avengers were killing enemies, and he said they handled each threat with the appropriate degree of force. These enemies probably didn't live.

As Thor knocked cars out of the way and smashed through concrete blocks in his path, Iron Man would occasionally show up overhead to rain down rockets and take out targets in the background. Thor can throw his hammer and use it to pin an enemy against a wall. He can leave that foe pinned there and engage other enemies with his fists, then retrieve the hammer when he wants. Much like Kratos’ axe in God of War, the hammer will damage enemies in its path when it returns to the God of Thunder. Thor’s special abilities, like the throw, are mapped to R1 and L1 and are on cooldown menus. He can also perform a powerful crowd-control move that can take out anyone standing in his way (at least all of the grunts). This move calls down lightning blasts, shockwaves, and has a much longer cooldown than the other moves.

After the first battle, which felt arena-like given the somewhat small space (this is the case for all of the battles in the demo too), Thor helped a civilian by lifting up a steel container. This is a quick-time event that asks the player to hit the square button.

The combat certainly delivers the power fantasy of being Thor, but looks a bit rough at this point in development. Many of the hammer hits didn't deliver much in terms of impact. Some of Thor's animations were also a bit clunky. The variety in moves was nice to see, but it just didn't look quite right.

After failing to stop Thor from advancing across the bridge, the enemy forces try something new: They call in troops with jet packs. Without breaking a beat, control transitions to Iron Man, who rockets along the bridge after them. Tony uses his hand beams to deal with these pesky threats. This sequence is a bit like Star Fox, in which the player is dodging environmental hazards while engaging the aerial foes. This short battle gives way to another arena where Iron Man battles roughly 10 enemies at a time. He can hover in the air and use his arc reactor to send down powerful, concentrated blast onto enemies, or drop down to engage in fisticuffs (he can still use his tech too). Again, the combat for Iron Man appears to be a bit clunky.

The flow of storytelling and gameplay is reminiscent of the first mission in Marvel’s Spider-Man, in that we see detailed cutscenes that show enemies arriving, the Avengers discussing their next plan of attack, and transitions between playable characters. There's a lot of story being told in short sequences.

The next Avenger up to bat is Hulk, who we first see as Bruce Banner on a Quinjet with Black Widow. Bruce takes off his glasses, visually shows us he’s getting angry, and then leaps off of the back as the big, green monster.

The Hulk is visibly the most polished character in the game so far, and legitimately looks fun to play, as he seems to have an affinity for picking up enemies. Hulk can grab an enemy and use the hapless soldier as a weapon to swat at other foes. He can also pick up two enemies at once, then slam them together to take both out. As the bridge begins to collapse, Hulk bounces from one small combat zone to the next through. The player has a hand in this mobility, and must complete surprising (and short) platforming sequences. In one area Hulk may just need to leap a good 50 feet into the air to reach a distant platform (which he can slam down on to smash every foe on it). In another section, he may be required to wall run, but not like you would expect. While the surface looks like something someone would run along with their feet, Hulk just grabs it, bends the steel a little, then pushes off of it to reach an adjacent wall or surface.

He can of course clap his hands to send enemies flying, and even yells “Hulk, smash!” Again, the Hulk looks like he's going to be a lot of fun to play as. His animations are the best in the game, and I love that he rarely leaves any bodies on the battlefield. Most are thrown or kicked to who knows where.

Captain America is the next character thrown into the spotlight. He’s not on the bridge and is instead on the Avengers’ helicarrier, which is hovering over the water. He realizes something in the bay is pulling the ship down and could result in the city being destroyed. Cap’s fight begins on the helicarrier's command deck. While using his fists and feet in combos to deal with threats within reach, he mostly uses the shield to keep enemies at bay. He can raise it up and run forward like a ram, or throw it. Before tossing his iconic shield (which has a larger star on it than we've seen before), he can charge it up with what appears to be electricity to really make it sing. He catches the shield automatically, but in one moment, he kicked it back at a second foe for a combo that took out two enemies at once. I’m guessing this is a timed button press. R1 is for his shield throw.

Cap’s special attack is charging the shield up (which emits a glow of red energy), then slamming it to the ground for a shockwave blast. After the bridge battle, he learns that this mysterious enemy group plans to detonate a Sonic Bomb on the bridge.

We then see that Taskmaster is one of the people responsible for the attack. Taskmaster’s design looks a bit different than what we just saw in Insomniac’s Spider-Man, but he is equipped with stolen gear, including an energy shield, so that could explain why it's different.

Black Widow is quick to track him down; again handled through a fast-paced platforming sequence along a crumbling part of the bridge. As she races up to confront Taskmaster, we see Iron Man catch a falling truck off to the left. The amount of chaos unfolding at any given time is impressive; explosions are everywhere.

When Widow reaches Taskmaster, we get a small taste of how boss battles may be handled. She dodge-rolls out of the way from his jetpack-powered dives, and eventually latches onto him for a wild flight through the bridge's steel beams filled with rapid quick-time button presses. When they reach the top of the bridge, Widow pulls out her guns and fires at her foe, dealing small bits of damage. The gunplay is all handled in third-person. Since Taskmaster has photographic reflexes, she doesn’t want to engage at close range, and the guns do the trick. Widow eventually lowers his guard and activates a cloak that turns her invisible. She goes in for the kill, charging up her right wrist with electricity before smacking him in the face.

The demo concludes with the helicarrier plunging into the bay and the screen fading to black. This level is one of many single-player-only levels that gives each hero screen time. It's linear and doesn't offer much room for maneuvering. Amos says other missions will open up, but didn't say if that meant open world or just larger environments to explore. The structure of the game is quite different in that it will tell multiple stories at once, one designed specifically for single-player and others that can be experienced through four-player co-op.

“We have a bespoke single-player campaign that is designed to be one of those single-player experiences where you bounce between the different heroes,” Amos clarifies. “You get just a piece of them. That acts like the beginning of the game. This is just to get the world up and running. As you go through that bespoke campaign, there will be missions that are tailored for certain heroes. They all string together in a full arc, but you’re effectively unlocking those heroes. And then we have a much broader world where we're going to play with this other story arc or this other mission path, that opens up to whatever heroes [the player] has. All that content, that's out there for co-op is also playable single-player. We have made this massive world where we’re going to keep adding more missions and more regions and more superheroes. I can play 99 percent of that single-player, but there are also pieces that we encourage you to go play in multiplayer, and that actually do further the story. Then you can go back to that single-player campaign when you want to. We’re trying to thread that very, very delicate tightrope of a bespoke campaign, and lots of branching missions and stories that are all still tied to the narrative and the individual hero narratives, and then you have co-op stuff that will be added past that.”

From the sounds of it, players will likely select these missions from a map. If you just to play single player, it sounds like other Avengers will be A.I. controlled in the missions designed for co-op. If your friends aren't around, you can find other players through matchmaking. As you play as specific heroes, they will level up and you can select which skills they earn. New gear can be obtained as drops from enemies and as story rewards. We perhaps already got a taste of an alternate costumes in the trailer, which showed Iron Man decked out in white armor.

"Every hero has their own skill tree," Amos says. "They have a mix-and-match of skills that you level up through the game, when you invest in those heroes, we give you the chance to say how you customize your character skill tree. So we'll talk more details about that later, but that idea of your Widow can be different than my Widow; customizing looks, customizing skill trees, and customizing gear as well. We have gear that's per hero, and you'll be able to go out and find all it. You can say, 'Hey, you have a completely different set of stuff than i do."

Amos didn’t answer many of our questions (including if four people could all be the Hulk), and instead wanted the demo to speak for itself. While the game looks a little rough at this point, the scale of this experience cannot be denied. The amount of action unfolding at once is impressive, and I really want to see just how much damage Hulk can deal. We unfortunately have to wait until next year to see how the game turns out. Avengers is currently slated to launch on May 15 for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PC, and Stadia.

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[Nintendo Shows Off Zelda: Link's Awakening Gameplay With Eiji Aonuma]

Click here to watch embedded media

Publisher: Nintendo

Release: September 20, 2019

Rating: Everyone

Platform: Switch

Nintendo is using its Treehouse Live stream to show off extended looks at its upcoming games, one of which was The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening for Switch. The stream shows off about 30 minutes of gameplay, shows off familiar locations and dungeons from the original game, and discusses its unique art style.

You can also see a collection of new Link's Awakening screens in the gallery below. The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening is coming to Switch on September 20.

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[Pokémon Sword And Shield's Developers Exhibit The Open-World Wild Area]

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Publisher: The Pokemon Company, Nintendo

Developer: Game Freak

Release: Late 2019

Platform: Switch

As Nintendo's Treehouse live show continues, we're getting more details on its upcoming games. Among these games was Pokémon Sword and Shield, the mainline series' first foray into console experiences.

Junichi Masuda and Shigeru Ohmori of Game Freak appeared on the Treehouse, along with adorable plushes of the games' starters, and they played through a segment of the upcoming game(s). You can watch the full video above for more details, but it features the Wild Area and a Pokémon battle with a Dynamaxed Pokémon.

Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield launches for Nintendo Switch on November 15, 2019.

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[Here's A Bunch Of Adorable Art]

Publisher: Nintendo

Release: September 20, 2019

Rating: Everyone

Platform: Switch

Along with releasing a new trailer, a bunch of new gameplay, and revealing that you can make your own dungeons in The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening for Switch, Nintendo also released a bunch of adorable art for the game. The game's general aesthetic has been divisive for some, but I think we can all agree at the very least, that it's very, very cute.

Check out the gallery below for renders of many of the game's characters, items, and more.

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[Nintendo Shows Off 27 Minutes Of Animal Crossing: New Horizons]

Publisher: Nintendo

Developer: Nintendo

Release: March 20, 2020

Platform: Switch

Click here to watch embedded media

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is one of Nintendo's biggest games at E3 this year, and it just showed off some more details about the game during its Treehouse live segment.

In the segment, it showed off how you can play both local and online co-op, and how you can now place items throughout your entire island, not just your home. There are plenty more details shown in the video, which you can see above.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons releases on Nintendo Switch March 20, 2020.

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[Keanu Reeves Is More Than A Cameo In Cyberpunk 2077]

Publisher: CD Projekt Red

Developer: CD Projekt Red

Release: TBD

Rating: Rating Pending

Platform: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC

CD Projekt Red won over the E3 crowd at the Microsoft Press Conference by bringing actor Keanu Reeves on stage to announce his involvement in the project. It’s been one of the most talked about moments from the show so far. While we saw Reeves’ likeness in the game in a brief scene, we didn’t get much more on his role or the extent of it in the game. Today at E3, I was able to get more clarity on his involvement, and it’s much more than a cameo.

For starters, he actually plays a digital ghost that’s haunting your mind, appearing at your side throughout the game. “Keanu’s Johnny actually has a huge role in our game, says quest director Mateusz Tomasqkiewicz during our one-on-one interview. “This is like a supporting protagonist. He is present throughout most of the game.”

For those not in the know, the character Johnny Silverhand played a big role in Mike Pondsmith’s Cyberpunk 2020, which CD Projekt's game is inspired from. “He’s a man of conviction. He is a rocker boy, so he was a famous celebrity, but at the same time, he fights the system. He doesn’t like corporations. He stands against the oppression," Tomasqkiewicz explains.

Due to his crucial role in Pondsmith’s work, the team wanted to make sure they did the character justice. “This is one of the reasons we cast Keanu for this role because we knew we had to get this right. This is such a huge character for the setting,” Tomasqkiewicz says. “Keanu has a long history with movies, and his characters stand for something, and we felt he would be a natural pick.

Reeves is no stranger to futuristic settings, starring in movies like The Matrix and Johnny Mnemonic, which meant he also offered plenty of input during his recording sessions. “We’re very open to working with the actors and giving them space for interpretation and guidelines, and Keanu was very open to this. He had his own ideas about the character. It’s really cool to work with someone as experienced as Keanu and see the direction that he would take the character.”

Stay tuned for more coming on Cyberpunk 2077 later today. 

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[Nintendo's Gives Us New Story Trailer For Fire Emblem: Three Houses]

Publisher: Nintendo

Release: July 26, 2019

Platform: Switch

Click here to watch embedded media

Though we already had a release date of July 26 of this year, there was still plenty Nintendo left out for Fire Emblem fans until E3. Today at during its Direct presentation, it brought forward a new story trailer and a bunch of screenshots. 

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For more on what's been confirmed on Fire Emblem: Three Houses, check out Javy's feature here.

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[Here Are All Of The E3 2019 Screenshots]

Publisher: CD Projekt Red

Developer: CD Projekt Red

Release: TBD

Rating: Rating Pending

Platform: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC

In a deja vu repeat from E3 2018, it looks like CD Projekt Red's Cyberpunk 2077 might end up being one of, if not the, biggest game or E3 2019. Along with releasing a trailer (with Keanu Reeves in it), CD Projekt has also released a collection of new screenshots.

The first batch of screens are brand new.

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This batch of screens represent high-quality stills from the footage shown on Microsoft's stage.

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We'll have a whole lot more from Cyberpunk 2077 on the site as we speak with its developers and learn more, so keep an eye out.

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[Playing Co-Op With War And Strife]

Publisher: THQ Nordic

Developer: Airship Syndicate

Release: 2019

Platform: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, PC

Right before E3, THQ Nordic announced that Airship Syndicate (a studio co-founded by original Darksiders artist Joe Madureira) is developing a Darksiders prequel spin-off, subtitled Genesis. We offered some hands-on impressions of Strife, who is playable for the first time, but now we can talk about two other interesting aspect of Genesis teased in the announcement trailer: The co-op, and War as a playable character.

Genesis can be played online, with one player controlling War and the other Strife. That’s how we played it when we visited Airship Syndicate’s studio in Texas, but split-screen will also be on option, with each character getting their own half of the screen.

War plays surprisingly similar to how he does in the original Darksiders, which was an intentional goal from the beginning of development. His design hasn’t changed too much, outside of some adjustments made to account for the new camera perspective, and he is voiced by Liam O'Brien, who has performed War for each of his appearances, even his quick cameo in Darksiders 3.

Along with being able to swing his sword, Chaoseater, for typical combos, War also has access to his Wrath moves, like the one that makes an explosion of swords erupt from the ground. He can also take on his Chaos Form after building up a meter, and it is executed with the same combination of shoulder buttons from his original appearance. You may be viewing him from a new overhead perspective in Genesis, but by most accounts, War feels like he did in the first Darksiders. “We definitely wanted War as an anchor to feel like, ‘Hey, if you’ve played Darksiders 1, he should feel like that when you’re fighting,’” says design director Steve Maduiera (Joe Maduiera’s brother).

Strife and War have specific, defined roles when working together. Strife is good at staying back and picking off enemies with his guns, but War is the brawler who is good at clearing swarms, as as he has wide attacks that can manage groups. Co-op won’t be drop-in/drop-out, but you will be able to change the team dynamic and even switch to playing alone at assorted checkpoints throughout each level.

When playing co-op, you will encounter puzzles that require coordination. Playing an early level, I had to work with Steve Maduiera (he controlled Strife and I played as War) to pull a pair of levers simultaneously in order to open a door. Airship says later puzzles will be more complicated and require items that you acquire over the course of the game.

If you choose to play alone, you can switch between War and Strife with a button press and whoever is not in play will slowly recover some of their health. Puzzles are also changed when playing alone. Sometimes it’s as simple as only needing to pull a single lever instead of two, but sometimes the puzzle has a more dramatic change. In the scenario where we had to pull levers together, for example, I was able to throw a bomb at the lever normally pulled by another player, and had to time my lever pull with an explosion.

Our time with Genesis made it clear this is not Darksiders 4, but I enjoyed what I played and like seeing the direction this new offshoot is going. The action feels like Darksiders and even though the puzzles I solved were simple, I am happy to see them present here. There were only a handful of puzzles in Darksiders 3, and it was a gameplay element I missed.

For more on Darksiders Genesis, head here to read our hands-on impressions of Strife. You can also read a whole lot more in the most recent issue if the magazine, which you can read online here if you’re a subscriber and see some photos from the studio by heading here.

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[Zelda: Breath Of The Wild Sequel Shown In Nintendo Direct Teaser]

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Publisher: Nintendo

Developer: Nintendo

Release: March 3, 2017

Rating: Rating Pending

Platform: Switch, Wii U

Nintendo ended its E3 Direct conference with a big surprise: a sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. We knew a new Zelda game was in development, but getting to see a glimpse of it, and learning that it is a Breath of the Wild sequel was very unexpected. In the teaser, Link and Zelda are both exploring some kind of cave, where a demented-looking sage becomes animated, complete with red, glowing eyes. It never becomes graphic, but it's certainly unsettling in the best way.

That's all the info we currently have on the game, with no subtitle, release date, or even a release year. It'll be a while before we get more details on the game, but it's very exciting to have this game confirmed for development.

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[Trials Of Mana Remake Coming To Switch, Collection Of Mana Out Today]

Nintendo just announced that the remake of the action RPG Trials of Mana is getting a global release in early 2020, while the newly revealed Collection of Mana is going to be available later today on the Nintendo eShop. Though many have played Secret of Mana, the sequel was never released in the US. 

Expect more impressions from the Game Informer crew later in the week in our ongoing E3 2019 coverage.

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[Touring The Hotel And ScareScraper]

Release: 2019

Platform: Switch

Following its reveal in September of last year, Luigi's Mansion 3 has been an exciting addition to the slate of 2019 Switch releases. However, Nintendo has been eerily quiet on the title ever since the reveal. That changed earlier today with the Nintendo's E3 Direct presentation, as we learned all about Luigi's new abilities and the co-op mode ScareScraper. I went hands-on with 15 minutes of the story and played a round of 4-player co-op to see how the new entry in the cult-favorite series is coming along.

The story of Luigi's Mansion 3 invites Mario, Luigi, Peach, and the Toads to a beautiful and luxurious hotel. The crew is riding in a bus to the hotel when a ghost dog appears next to Luigi to deliver a message. Luigi reads the message and gives the pup a few belly rubs as the bus pulls up to the hotel. Mario and Peach excitedly run into the hotel, leaving the Toads to carry all the luggage. Red Toad, who was driving, falls down the steps. Luigi quietly walks off the bus with his own suitcase before looking up at the shimmering, golden hotel and exclaiming, "Wowee Zowee!"

Unfortunately, the hotel doesn't stay golden for long, as things take a dark turn shortly after Luigi enters. Mario, Peach, and the Toads go missing, and the elevator buttons mysteriously go missing. Of course, in true Luigi's Mansion fashion, ghosts are the reason for the mischief. Soon enough, the entire hotel is flooded with the paranormal, and it's up to Luigi to retrieve the the missing elevator keys to reach higher floors to save his friends.

An Upgraded Arsenal

Thankfully, Luigi has a brand new Poltergust model to help him in his quest. Like its predecessors, the G-00's primary function is to suck up the various spirits Luigi encounters during his adventure. However, the Poltergust G-00 gives Luigi more ways than ever to wear down the ghosts he's trying to capture. As Luigi pulls back from the ghost he's sucking up, a meter charges. When it's fully charged, he can slam any ghosts currently in his stream into the ground and knock down its health. The G-00 can also blast out a plunger, which attaches to surfaces; you can then suck the rope into the the vacuum and rip down barriers and destroy furniture. You can also use the suction shot to rip shields out of ghosts' hands. The G-00 can also use a burst move that blows ghosts back from Luigi and gives him a little air.

In addition, Luigi can summon Gooigi, his slimy doppelganger that debuted in the 3DS port of Luigi's Mansion. While Gooigi can be controlled by a second player, you can still take advantage of Gooigi's unique abilities and attributes by simply clicking the right stick to swap control between it and Luigi. On multiple occasions, I needed to bounce between Luigi and Gooigi to progress; Gooigi can slip through bars and spikes to reach areas Luigi cannot. He can also use all Luigi's abilities, including the new Poltergust abilities. However, Gooigi cannot get wet, so while it can slip through parts Luigi cannot, anywhere that contains water requires Luigi to get through.

You often need to use these two in tandem. For example, in one puzzle, I needed to hop into an elevator as Luigi, while Gooigi rotated a windmill by expelling air; if you swap between Luigi and Gooigi while performing an action, the non-controlled character continues their action.

In Luigi's mansion, floors have distinct themes. The floor I played through featured a medieval fantasy theme, with dungeons, giant barrels, and a jousting arena. Every single room is more than meets the eye, as each area holds at least one secret. In one area, I needed to press in a patch of protruding bricks to open up a secret passage to a treasure chest.

At the end of my demo, I enter the arena and encounter a jousting ghost riding around on the field. He charges at me and plows right through poor Luigi. Thankfully, Luigi has his new Poltergust with a deployable plunger, which he can use to rip the shield right out of the jouster's hands.

You Don't Have To Go It Alone

After wrapping up the single-player portion of the demo, I transition to ScareScraper, where I join up with three other local players on their own Switches (the mode can also be played online). Each player controls a different color Luigi. The mission is to complete the objective on the floor before the timer runs out. Some floors task you with rescuing Toads, while others simply ask you to clear a floor of all ghosts. If you succeed in your mission before the timer expires, you can move on to the next floor.

Coordination is key if you want to be efficient in this mode. Thankfully, if you're not near your teammates, you can communicate messages mapped to the d-pad. With a simple press, I call my teammates to my location when I stumble upon a room full of specters.

Each floor is randomly generated, so each playthrough is different. Each floor requires you to use all your tricks to uncover the ghosts. Every player has the upgraded Poltergust G-00 model, and every character has their own Gooigi. In addition, players must be mindful of traps scattered throughout the floors, including fake doors that smash Luigi into the wall, or trap carpets that wrap up Luigi and require another co-op partner to set them free.

I enjoyed my time with both modes. The puzzles in the story mode were clever, and tearing through a floor of ScareScraper was a blast. I'm excited to see the other themes in the single-player story, and I can't wait to group up and try to improve my time in the ScareScraper mode.

Luigi's Mansion 3 hits Switch this year.

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[John Romero's New Game Is A 1920s Mafia Strategy Title]

John Romero is probably best known for his time at Id Software and Ion Storm crafting some of gaming's best (DOOM, Quake, Wolfenstein) shooters as well as some of its most infamous (Daikatana). Today, Romero revealed a new game his company, Romero Games, is making with Paradox, and it's a far cry from such shooters.

Empire Of The Sun is a "character-driven" strategy game set in 1920s Chicago. You play one of 14 district bosses vying for power in the violent time of the Prohibition. Romero Games promises a  city filled with a cast of characters you can "schmooze, coerce, seduce, threaten, or [kill] to get your way." Outside of diplomacy and bribery, Empire Of Sin will feature turn-based combat when disputes have to be settled with more than words.

We'll have more on Empire Of Sin later in the week. For more on John Romero, read all about the new Doom level collection he put together.

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[Alien: Isolation Coming To Switch This Year]

Publisher: SEGA

Developer: Creative Assembly

Release: October 7, 2014

Rating: Rating Pending

Platform: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC

Alien: Isolation is one of the most beloved survival horror experiences of the last few years, and now it's coming to Switch.

During a fast-paced reel of upcoming Switch titles, it was revealed the title is arriving on the console/handheld hybrid. No specific release date was given, but it will be out sometime in 2019.

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