Month: June 2018

What Would a God of War Set in West African or Aztec Mythologies Be Like?

With 2018’s God Of War, Kratos and his son Atreus have stepped out of the shadow of Mount Olympus, and into the wilds of Midgard. They’ve been exploring the fabled worlds of Norse mythology, fighting drooling Nordic beasties and making sense of ancient stories about gods and monsters. See why Jonathon Dornbush called it a ‘Masterpiece’ in IGN’s God of War review here.

However, taking Kratos from the Mediterranean to Germanic regions is more than a matter of swapping wine for mead and chains for an axe. It’s a fundamental tonal shift that tells us far more about the world of God of War than it does about Kratos himself.

Continue reading…

Preacher: Season 3 Has a Strong Start

Warning: Full spoilers for the episode below.

As far as comic book shows go, Preacher has so far proven to be a pretty loose adaptation of the source material. Certain moments might be ripped straight from the comics, but the strange journey of Jesse Custer and friends has veered in some wildly different directions over the past two years. But for the most part, that’s been to the show’s benefit. And that fast and loose approach will no doubt come in handy for Season 3. The series is finally tackling the events of “All in the Family,” one of the best and most unsettling chapters of the comic. But as great as that story is, it doesn’t exactly seem like ideal fodder for a ten-episode season. It’s a good thing that “Angelville” shows no sign that Preacher is going to start playing by the rules now.

Continue reading…

WTF Happened in the Westworld Finale?

This review contains spoilers for the Westworld Season 2 finale, “The Passenger.” Check out the video above as we try (perhaps unsuccessfully) to explain the ending.

However you felt about Westworld’s Season 1 finale and how predictable it may or may not have been (depending on how far down the Reddit rabbit hole you fell over the course of last season), it was clear that showrunners Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy had carefully laid out the breadcrumbs to explain every reveal, making sure that the show always adhered to its own internal logic.

I have no doubt that Season 2 was just as meticulously plotted, but this season’s insistence on maintaining a nonlinear narrative – plus several more dueling timelines – resulted in a story that seemed unnecessarily complicated, if not purposefully incomprehensible, in places – and that was especially true of “The Passenger.”

Continue reading…

Ni No Kuni 2 Update Adds New Items And Difficulties

If you needed an excuse to hop back into Ni No Kuni 2: Revenant Kingdom, its latest update may be the perfect one. The update, which is available now on PS4 and PC, fixes bugs, adds new rare loot items, and introduces two new difficulty options.

Bandai Namco detailed the patch notes in a Facebook post. “It’s been a few weeks since the release of Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom and we’ve been reading your feedback online,” the post reads. “We’d like to thank the community for their support!” All the patch notes are listed below.

PS4 & PC improvements

  • Improved the game stability
  • Added a shortcut for “Save” in the main menu
  • Added special icon on the message that appears before the battle with tainted monsters
  • Added region names on the map menu when zoomed out
  • Made “Lock/Unlock settings” for users to lock/unlock the equipment when changing them at the main menu
  • Changed the color of skirmish flag effect when the battle is cleared
  • Changed the timing of the pose during the victory screen when the battle is finished
  • Added help comment for citizen rank up and save
  • Fixed the bug during the side quest 051 “Trainee Priestess Speio” where quest will not proceed even when the magic “Rejuvenate” is learned
  • Fixed the bug caused by the order of the actions during Chapter 6, the factory floors.
  • Fixed other minor bugs

PC-specific improvements

  • Improved camera movements when a PC mouse is used
  • Fixed the screen blackout when [CapsLock] key and [Q] key is pressed at the same time during the full-screen mode
  • Fixed the drop of framerate when 2 monitor screens are used

The patch also adds new rare item drops, which goes hand in hand with its new difficulty options. Hard and Extreme difficulty modes have been added to make battles longer and more rewarding. Playing on these harder difficulties increases the quality of equipment and rare item drops.

The mode that players have been playing on thus far is now just Normal mode. If you’re looking to hop on a different difficulty, you won’t have to start over. The new difficulties can be accessed by starting a new game, or heading into the options menu mid-game.

Since now’s the perfect time to continue or get started, make sure to look over our guides to managing your country and our Ni No Kuni 2 beginner’s tips. You can also check out our full thoughts on the game in our Ni No Kuni 2: Revenant Kingdom review.

E3 2018: Anthem Is BioWare’s Whole New World

Anthem is a smorgasbord of water cooler moments. At least, that’s how I felt when we were invited to BioWare Edmonton to spend a day with the development team, learning as much as we could about Anthem. I’ll be honest, I know pieces of what Anthem is going to become when it’s finally finished and released on February 22, 2019 for Xbox One, PS4, and PC. But like everyone outside of BioWare, the whole that all those parts amount to is still something of a mystery.

But here’s what I know. Anthem is an incredible buffet of stuff you know and love from the past decades of games and movies, realized in this cryptic, shared-world shooter. It’s part Iron Man, I thought, as I jetted around and barrel-rolled in a super-powered rig with the kind of locomotion that would make Insomniac Games (Sunset Overdrive, Marvel’s Spider-Man) give a knowing nod of approval. It’s part Halo — a science-fantasy story about “the Gods” who started the planet and disappeared, leaving their mystifying and errant construction tools lying around to the welfare and woe of the inhabitants.

Continue reading…