Devolver Digital reveals that its “Supermax Open World Survival”, SCUM, is coming to Steam Early Access in August 2018.
Monthly Archives: June 2018
Babylon’s Fall: Teaser Trailer (E3 2018)
Coming from Platinum Games and Square Enix, is a compelling, gorgeous new title: Babylon’s Fall. Coming to Playstation 4 and Steam, it was announced at E3 2018.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider: One with the Jungle Gameplay Reveal (E3 2018)
It’s time to take a look at how Lara will survive the jungle and the various tombs she will raid in Shadow of the Tomb Raider. Can she stop a Mayan Apocalypse?
Just Cause 4: Gameplay Showcase (E3 2018)
The most ambitious Just Cause is coming in Just Cause 4. Today we have a peek at the massive features and gameplay improvements that are on the way.
FINAL FANTASY XIV x MONSTER HUNTER: WORLD Collaboration Teaser Trailer
Final Fantasy XIV is about to meet some colossal new monsters in the FFXIV x Monster Hunter: World collaboration! Coming this summer.
Dragon Quest XI – The Legend of the Luminary (E3 2018)
The next addition to the legendary Dragon Quest franchise is coming – Dragon Quest XI, Legend of the Luminary! The Pre-order is available in limited quantities from the Square Enix Online Store, and includes the following:
- The “Edition of Light” version of the game for the PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system*
- Including Supplicant, an accessory with the power to restore magic points, Healer, an accessory with the power to restore hit points, and 3 Seeds of Skill, a consumable item which confer a players extra skill points.
- Companion Compendium – a 128-page hardback art book featuring concept art and famed artist Akira Toriyama’s early designs
- Symphonic Suite – a 2-disc set featuring orchestrated versions of in-game music
- The Map of Erdrea – a 20”x15” cloth map
- A Collectible Steelbook® Case
- Bonus Digital Content – including Pep Pop, a drink that immediately peps up all active allies, and 15 more Seeds of Skill, which confer players extra skill points.**
Divinity: Original Sin 2 – PS4/Xbox One (E3 2018)
Divinity: Original Sin 2 is on the way to both PS4 and Xbox One on August 31st, 2018! The exceptional turn-based RPG is coming to console.
Bethesda E3 2018 Presentation Recap
By Terris Harned (NWOrpheus)
Ever since their spectacle of a stream on Twitch.tv on May 29th, we’ve been “Standing By” for some big reveals from Bethesda. Speculation ran rampant on what exactly “Fallout 76” would have in store for us. Everything from a Rust-like survival game to a Battle Royale had been theorized after our first brief teaser, showing us Vault 76. The first real look at the next Fallout installment came not during the Bethesda conference, but at Microsoft’s. Be that as it may, Bethesda gave us plenty to talk about during their own show, which followed a video prompt on Twitch and YouTube, and of course, a pre-show. We’ve also got Elder Scrolls and Fallout coverage, but this article is just for the rest of the amazing Bethesda spread, including the announcement of an all new franchise that Todd Howard described as “Epic.”
The pre-show reminded us of some of the previous E3 showcases, including Doom, Fallout Shelter and ESO Unlimited. Bethesda wasn’t above using attractive nerdy girls or puppies to try to make an emotional bond with their audience. Nor could they resist mentioning some of their favorite Nintendo Switch ports (cough Skyrim cough). This was followed by a montage of Bethesda games; Evil Within 2, Dishonored: Death of the Outsider, and… Skyrim VR.
They wrapped up the pre-show by replaying the Teaser for Fallout 76 and promising that they had a lot more to reveal during the showcase. They did not disappoint. In case you missed it the first couple hundred times it’s been shared around the internet over the past couple weeks, we’ve got you covered.
The showcase was hosted by Bethesda’s Global VP, Pete Hines, whose stage presence lit up an excited crowd. Bethesda dedicated this year’s presentation to “Create”, and nodded to the creative contributions of the players in their franchises.
Hines began by taking a couple digs at Wal-Mart Canada, who dropped the ball and leaked information of the forthcoming Rage sequel by placing a listing for the game on their website.
Next, Andrew W.K. took stage with a performance of “Ready to Die”, the backdrop to the trailer for Rage 2. Sorry Bethesda, but if the audience’s reactions didn’t tell you that whoever had this bright idea should be sacked, then I’ll do it. While this wasn’t the worst part of the show… wait, yes it was. Please don’t do it again.
CLICK AT YOUR OWN RISK. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED
After the uh, “performance”, there was an endearingly awkward scene with Tim Willits of id software (Doom, Quake, Rage) and Magnus Nedfors of Avalance Studios (Just Cause 1-3).
Some of the big feature reveals for Rage 2 included utilizing Avalanche studio’s open world talent to enhance Rage’s gameplay. Brief mentions were made of the guns and the vehicles featured in the game before the gameplay trailer featuring Walker. A ranger with super powers. From.. Texas maybe? Despite itself, the trailer for Rage 2 looks like it offers some incredibly fun gameplay, if nothing terribly innovative.
Down the road a bit, Bethesda showed us a gory tableau that could only mean one thing: DOOM. In this case, Doom Eternal. Marty Stratton & Hugo Martin staggered through their presentation, offering few details, but lots of thanks. Thankfully, we’re expected to see more about Doom Eternal at QuakeCon in August. Make sure to check back with us for that coverage!
Joshua Boyle, Community Manager for Quake Champions stepped up next, talking about QuakeCon and esports, claiming to be the progenitors of competitive digital gaming. Quake Champions seems to be trying to keep itself accessible to a wide audience of player types, serious and casual. The early access for Quake Champions is being opened to the public for trial. If you download this week you can play for free through the early access, even after the trial closes.
Arcane studios started off by thanking their fanbase in a video, that also announced the rollout of a free update for Prey offering 3 new modes: Story Mode, Survival Mode, and the begged for New Game+. A DLC was also announced: Mooncrash. This DLC seems to create a sort of randomizer/roguelike functionality for the game, making hazards, enemies, and loot all change up each playthrough. After the video the Arcane studio reps also share word of a new PvP mode for Prey which basically amounts to deadly hide and go seek. 1 player must find and defeat 5 others, who take the role of mimics, blending in with their environment.
Next we heard from Jerk Gustafsson and Jens Mathies from Machine Games who shared that Wolfenstein II The New Colossus is coming to the Nintendo Switch on June 29th.
The next project in the franchise fast forwards the setting to 1980 in Paris, France: Wolfenstein: Youngblood. A Co-op game featuring BJ’s twin daughters who follow in their Father’s footsteps, kicking Nazi ass up the street and back. If you haven’t been waiting half your life for a Wolfenstein game with a Co-op mode, I don’t even want to know you anymore. THIS Wolfenstein game with a Co-op mode looks amazing. Vive la résistance!
Thankfully, Phil Hines came back to the stage next. As cute as the awkwardness of some of the previous presenters was, I was starting to feel like the chaperone at a dance for pre-teens. Phil stepped it up by mentioning Bethesda’s strides into VR, with Doom, Skyrim, and Fallout 4. Tonight he announced that two more of the Bethesda IPs were entering virtual reality: Prey, and Wolfenstein. Prey’s hide-and-seek-like Typhon Hunter will be VR compatible, and Wolfenstein: Cyberpilot will be a standalone offering in which you play as a hacker who infiltrates Nazi war machines and turns them against their former masters. One more step on the path to, quoting Phil Hines, “bring our message of FUCK NAZIS to every platform possible.” His words, not mine (But I love them, and him for them!) Attendees of E3 even had the chance to try the VR games out on the main floor, but the rest of us will have to wait a while longer.
The majority of the next 45 minutes was so awesome that it caused a disruption in the space time continuum, and had to be made into a separate article. You can find that here.
In the meantime, we’ll fast forward to where Todd Howard tells us of Bethesda’s plans to release an all new single player game in the company’s first entirely original franchise in 25 years: Starfield. Little information was given for the title beyond involving space, being epic, and having the folks at Bethesda pretty excited. I have to admit, I’ve been saying they’re long overdue for an original concept for a while now, and am pretty eager to see what the future holds.
Outside of what we’ve got for Elder Scrolls news and Fallout 76, that pretty much sums up the Bethesda E3 2018 offering. Despite some of the awkward presentations, several of the games have me hyped, with startling graphics, and Bethesda’s continuing dedication to push technology into the next generation. QuakeCon in August should give us some more juicy tidbits, but until then, you’ll just have to hold onto your BFG9000. In the meantime, stop by our forums at https://www.onrpg.com/boards/ and tell us what you think of Bethesda’s E3 offerings, or anything else that might be on your mind!
Bethesda E3 2018: Elder Scrolls Recap
By Terris Harned (NWOrpheus)
While Todd Howard might have stolen the show with his Fallout 76 presentation during the Bethesda segment of the 2018 E3 convention, the Elder Scrolls franchise also had some interesting showings. In case you missed it, do make sure to watch the self-deprecating video that Howard started off his presentation with, to get you in the Elder Scrolls mood.
Several people took the stage to discuss various parts of the Elder Scrolls franchise coming up. Howard himself wrapped his segment by presenting us with an interesting offering: “The Elder Scrolls: Blades”. In Blades, you’ll take the role of a member of one of the Empire’s top agents in an organization sharing the titular name. Formerly exiled from your home, you return there to find it destroyed. In Blades’ “town” mode, you’ll be tasked with rebuilding the town. This responsibility comes with perks, however, as you’ll get to shape the appearance of your town. As you progress along the path of rebuilding new NPCs will appear, offering new quests, and new building options will become available. There will also be a procedurally generated/rogue-like mode called “Abyss” where a player can fight against an endless dungeon to see how far they can make it. You’ll also be able to enter the arena and engage in player-vs-player combat.
This game will be going beyond any previous concepts of ‘cross platform’ that we’ve seen before. Not only will the game be offered on PCs, tablets, phones, consoles and even virtual reality systems, but all of those platforms will be able to communicate with each other, in any of the game’s 3 modes. The real exciting part is the fact that they’re bringing amazing console level graphics to next gen mobile devices.
No release date has been give for “The Elder Scrolls: Blades”, other than Howard saying the game will arrive this fall. He did, however, give us its price: free. What sort of microtransactions might monetize this game is unknown. You can pre-register for the game as of now at playblades.com, and possibly gain early access. You can also pre-order on the AppStore or GooglePlay for Apple and Android devices respectively.
Before leaving the stage, Todd Howard also whet the appetites of the audience by giving the merest hint of a suggestion of a taste of the much desired, Elder Scrolls 6. Aside from the video, all we really know is that we probably won’t see the game until well after the next E3.
Matt Firor, president of Zenimax Online, took the stage next in order to discuss the future of “Elder Scrolls: Online”. Matt gave a nod to the incredible pool of designers and creators working at Zenimax on bringing us all ESO, then took a stab at sharing his experiences within the game as a player. Next, we heard about the successful launch of ESO’s latest expansion, Summerset, and two future content additions. A dungeon involving werewolves, as well as a story dungeon set in Blackmarsh which will expand upon the lore surrounding the Argonian race.
If CCGs are your thing, then hopefully you’ve tried and enjoy “Elder Scrolls: Legends”. If so, you’ll probably be delighted by the announcements offered by Christian Van Hoose. It appears Bethesda’s card game is getting a visual overhaul, and will be expanding its platforms from PC, mac, and mobile to also include the Nintendo Switch, XBox One, and Playstation 4. Furthermore, it seems you’ll be able to link your account to Bethesda.net and save your progress in the cloud, allowing you to access the account from any of the offered devices, and play with others on any device as well.
That’s about all we have for Elder Scrolls from Bethesda for this year, but make sure to keep an eye out for “Elder Scrolls: Online” news right here, and check back with us next year to get all the scuttlebutt about Elder Scrolls 6! In the meantime, don’t forget to see our general Bethesda overview for E3 2018, and our in depth coverage of the exciting Fallout 76!
Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise Announcement Trailer (E3 2018)
Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise is coming to North America and Europe on October 2nd, 2018. From the developer of the Yakuza franchise (Ryu ga Gotoku Studio), Hokuto no Ken: Lost Paradise is a high-octane action-adventure RPG set in the world of the Fist of the North Star manga. Kenshiro stars as you progress through an alternate universe of the original story, obliterating hordes of enemies with the Hokuto Shinken techniques. It will also boast the same ludicrous side-missions, wonderful minigames and so much more that fans of the Yakuza studio have come to know and love.
- Become the Fist of the North Star – Explore an alternate version of the Fist of the North Star canon; take control of Kenshiro as he searches for his lost love Yuria in a post-apocalyptic wasteland. For anyone unfamiliar with the original story, Lost Paradise can be enjoyed as a completely standalone experience.
- “You Are Already Dead” or “Omae wa Mou Shindeiru?” Why Not Both? – Lost Paradise features English / Japanese dual-track audio, so you can ‘ATATATA!’ in the language of your choosing.
- Master the Hokuto Shinken Style – Kenshiro’s ultimate assassination techniques, the Hokuto Shinken, are at your disposal in battle. After building up the Seven Star gauge, you can demolish enemies from the inside out with dozens of brutal and iconic Hokuto Shinken techniques, faithfully recreated from the original manga. More lethal techniques will be available as you progress through the story and battles. Keep your fists up!
- Explore a Lost Paradise and the Wasteland Surrounding It – Even Kenshiro needs the occasional break from beating up thugs. Luckily, even in the dilapidated city of Eden, there’s no shortage of engaging side missions and minigames to take part in. Use the power of Hokuto Shinken to prepare drinks at a bar, manage a struggling nightclub, customize a buggy and race through the barren desert, play retro games at the arcade or your hideout, including the original Fist of the North Star game, and more! Tired of the city? Head out into the wasteland in your buggy to collect materials and complete side missions, but be careful of hidden dangers lurking beyond the dunes!
- Extra Carnage – Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise features everything available in the original Japanese version, plus extra carnage for the localized version! For the first time, witness the full effects of Kenshiro’s brutal Hokuto Shinken on the lowlifes and thugs of the post-apocalyptic wastes.