Month: February 2020

Final Fantasy XIV director and producer Naoki Yoshida and global community producer Toshio Murouchi streamed another Live Letter (in Japanese) to officially detail the game’s 5.2 update. It’s subtitled Echoes of a Fallen Star and new quests that continue the main story, additional side quests, new boss battles (including Final Fantasy VII‘s famed superboss Ruby Weapon), another story dungeon, and more tweaks to the core game.

As with other 2.x, 3.x, and 4.x patches, 5.2 keeps the story moving with additional main scenario quests that will eventually lead into the next expansion (light spoilers ahead). Based on the trailer (see below), former Garlean officer Gaius van Baelsar looks to be get more screen time. And trusty Scion allies Y’shtola and Crystal Exarch go deeper into the implications of the history and lore introduced in Shadowbringers. You’ll also see the Crystarium (main home zone in Shadowbringers) consumed in clouds and a scene where Alphinaud and others witness a Calamity-like catastrophe.

Along with the new story quests is another instanced dungeon called Anamnesis Anyder, which will work with the Trust system, letting you take AI characters to fight alongside you. The dungeon takes place in Amaurot, the final zone in the Shadowbringers expansion and seems to explore more of the Ascian people’s history.

There will be new 8-player raid content with the second chapter in the Eden’s Verse raid series that’ll be playable in both normal and savage difficulties. These also act as side stories and introduces a new character named Gaia, who you can see in action in the trailer–she was also designed by famed Square Enix dev Tetsuya Nomura. Judging from what was shown, you can expect battles agains old Primals like Garuda, Ramuh, and Ifrit. New gear will be made available as well.

FFVII and FFXIV fans alike can get hyped about a new trial called Cinder Drift which stars the infamous superboss Ruby Weapon. Yoshida-san gave a preview of the fight during the stream which showed off a few its moveset. The fight will also tie into Gauis’s backstory as Ruby Weapon looks to be another trick up the Garlean empire’s sleeve. The trial will be playable on normal and extreme difficulties.

A lot more is packed into the 5.2 update like Qitari beast tribe quests, tweaks to the fishing activity, a new weapon quest series with added lore, and extra Golden Saucer changes. And Umbrellas are now a thing as a new cosmetic for your character. Subsequent 5.21 and 5.25 updates will include an Ishgardian Restoration update for crafters and gatherers and a Resistance Weapon questline tied to the Hrothgar race. Adjustments to jobs and classes are also said to be part of the 5.2 update, but Square Enix is not detailing those changes beforehand.

For more on Square Enix’s MMORPG, be sure to read our FFXIV Shadowbringers review to see what the game is all about or watch our FFXIV Extra Life 2019 segment where we held a glamour costume contest and ran a few 24-player raids. Additional information on Patch 5.2 is available on the official Square Enix website.

Valentine’s Day is right around the corner, and Destiny 2‘s Lord Shaxx is feeling the love for all the couples populating the Tower. To celebrate, 2020’s Crimson Days event runs February 11-18. You can watch the trailer below.

Those familiar with the Valentine’s-themed event know not to expect too much from this year’s love-in. Aside from a few red petals sprinkled around the Tower, the event-exclusive bow, The Vow, returns again, while the 2v2 Crimson Doubles mode is also featured if you’re after a more intimate Crucible setting.

The Crimson Days Sparrows are one of the new items included in this year’s event. These special Sparrows come in a unique pair, with players able to ride them side-by-side. There’s also a Ghost shell, emote, and ornament included as part of the event, but these are exclusive to Destiny 2’s real-money store, Eververse. It’s unclear if the Sparrows are also exclusive to the store, or if you’ll be able to earn them by completing a quest.

It’s back. Last month Amazon had a great deal that gave Prime members $20 off the Xbox Elite Series 2 controller. It was an incredibly popular deal, so we were disappointed when it vanished without warning. But now it’s back, giving Xbox One owners (and future Xbox Series X owners) a helpful discount off one of the best controllers ever made, and our pick for the best Xbox One controller on the market.

The discount is applied at checkout, and it’s only available for Amazon Prime members. If you’re not a Prime member, you can start a free trial to take advantage of the deal. Even if you don’t want to join Prime, you’ll still save $7 on the controller, as Amazon is already selling it for less than the $180 list price.

$20 Off Xbox Elite Series 2 Controller with Amazon Prime

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• Get it at Amazon – $159 at checkout

What makes this controller worth the premium price? It has excellent build quality, for starters, with a wrap-around rubberized grip that feels great and keeps it from slipping in your hands. It works with all Xbox One consoles, and has been confirmed to work with Xbox Series X when it launches this fall.

But its biggest selling point is how customizable nearly every part of it is. You can adjust the tension of the thumbsticks to your liking. You can swap out the thumbsticks with standard, classic, tall, and wide-dome replacements that come in the box. Two D-pads are also included: a standard plus-shaped one, as well as a faceted one that many people think offers more precision.

On the back of the controller, you can attach four paddles that can be assigned any button for super-quick access. And shooter fans will be pleased to hear you can enable hair trigger locks to speed up your draw times.

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On top of that, you can save up to three custom profiles and one default profile for easy switching. The built-in battery lasts up to 40 hours, giving you plenty of play time between charges. And the whole thing comes in a carrying case that has slots for all of the pieces for easy transporting.

Really, this is a premium-quality controller that has plenty to offer competitive gamers, or anyone looking to maximize their advantage. And since it’s compatible with Xbox Series X, you’ll get plenty of use out of it in the future. Just make sure you grab it before the $20 discount goes away.

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Chris Reed is IGN’s shopping and commerce editor. You can follow him on Twitter @_chrislreed.

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After one year of Epic Games Store exclusivity, Metro Exodus will finally release for Steam on February 15. The Steam version had previously only been available to those who pre-ordered the game prior to the Epic Games Store exclusivity agreement.

The wider Steam release announcement was made through the game’s official Twitter page and it’s scheduled to launch at midnight ET. This will be the first time new purchases of the game have been available on Steam since launch, though updates and expansions were still available to those who had bought the game on Steam before it moved to Epic Games Store. The second expansion Sam’s Story launches on February 11.

When the initial Epic Games Store exclusivity was announced, publisher Deep Silver received backlash from players who only wanted to purchase the game on Steam.

But following release, Deep Silver’s parent company Koch Media was still pleased with its decision, with CEO Klemens Kundar saying the company was happy with Exodus’ commercial performance. Speaking to GI.biz, Epic Games Store’s head of store Steve Allison said the game manage to sell more than 2.5 times as many copies than predecessor Metro: Last Light had on steam.

Epic Games Store has scored several exclusives over the last year, with a number of them planned for Steam launch after a certain time period. Among these are Borderlands 3, Outer Wilds, Control, and The Outer Worlds.

Unlike Steam, which takes a 30 percent cut on game revenue, Epic Games Store takes only 12 percent. Game prices have also occasionally been reduced on Epic Games Store compared to other platforms, as the increased revenue sharing allows for publishers to still receive a comparable profit.

GameSpot found Metro Exodus to be a rewarding journey with excellent world building, calling it “a journey more about teh enduring relationships and ties that bind an earnest crew of survivors” than a traditional apocalyptic adventure.

It’s no secret Resident Evil 3 is one of the most anticipated games releasing in 2020. The remake of Resident Evil 2 was a breakout hit last year, and in December, Capcom revealed that a remake of Resident Evil 3 had also been in development and would release April 3 for PS4 and Xbox One. Now that we’re in February, that date isn’t too far off, and if you know Resident Evil 3 is a day-one purchase for you, you might want to take advantage of a rare pre-order discount at Amazon. [Update: Walmart is now price-matching this deal as well.]

Right now, you can secure a pre-order of Resident Evil 3 for $49.94, down from the usual list price of $50. The deal is available for both PS4 and Xbox One, and we suggest taking advantage of it ASAP in case pre-orders sell out or the discount ends unexpectedly.

With Amazon pre-orders, you aren’t charged until the item ships, so you can safely cancel your order up until a few days before the game releases. Amazon also offers a pre-order price guarantee on games, meaning that if the price drops even cheaper between now and when the item ships, you’ll be charged the lowest price that was available. The retailer is also offering release-day shipping for this purchase, so you’ll have it in your hands on April 3.

Pre-order Resident Evil 3 | $49.94 ($60)

Resident Evil 3 takes place around the same events as Resident Evil 2, except in this game, you’ll play as Jill Valentine, a former Special Tactics and Rescue Service (or S.T.A.R.S.) member trying to escape the outbreak in Raccoon City. In RE3, prepare to encounter Nemesis, a huge monster that will stalk you relentlessly throughout the game. You’ll also have to make choices throughout the game that affect Jill’s story and ending.

Resident Evil 3 isn’t the only upcoming game on sale right now at Amazon. You can also pre-order Cyberpunk 2077 for the same discounted price, along with a bunch of other game deals this week, including Pokemon Sword and Shield for $49, Devil May Cry 5 for $20, and more.

Gotham City’s own Maiden of Mayhem and recent star of her own very good DCEU film, Harley Quinn, is joining the chaos of Fortnite later today at 7PM Eastern Time, after being teased briefly yesterday.

Harley Quinn’s cosmetic bundle will go live on the Fortnite Item Shop. It includes her single character skin and two pickaxes, aptly named the Harley Hitter and Punchline. The items will only be available to purchase until February 17, giving you just under two weeks to pick them up.

Like other character skins, you’ll be able to level up your Harley Quinn by completing specific challenges. Completing them all will transform the default Lil Monster XoXo Harley to the Always Fantabulous Harley. Here’s what you’ll need to achieve to accomplish that:

• Place top 30 in Solo, Duos, or Squads, then top 20, then top 10.

• Hit weak points.

• Deal damage using Pickaxes.

Along with Harley Quinn, Fortnite is currently running the its Love and War limited-time event to pass the time until Season 2 finally launches later this month.

The time has come to claim the latest free PC games at the Epic Games Store, and this week brings a pair of digital board games from Asmodee Digital: Ticket to Ride and Carcassonne. Both games will be free until February 13 at 8 AM PT / 11 AM ET. The duo were originally supposed to be joined by a third game, Pandemic, but Epic changed its plans earlier this week and pushed Pandemic’s free promotion to a later date.

Ticket to Ride is a great adaptation of the 2004 strategy board game that quickly became a massive success. The game revolves around building railway routes across the world. Players draw destination cards at the start of each round and work to cover the most ground with their train cars. Ticket to Ride has online and offline multiplayer, and there’s even a single-player mode to help you hone your skills.

Carcassonne is an authentic adaptation of the 2000 tile-based board game named after the medieval French town. Players place random tiles on the board each turn, gradually building the world map piece by piece. As different areas start to take shape, players can place their seven followers on the board to earn points for completed roadways, cities, farmland, etc. Carcassonne comes with two expansions, The River and The Abbot, which add more variety to the terrain.

To claim Ticket to Ride and Carcassonne, all you need is a free Epic account. Once added to your library, Epic’s free games are yours to keep forever.

Epic has already revealed next week’s freebies, and it’ll be another two-game week. Medieval action-RPG Kingdom Come: Deliverance and stylish beat ’em up Aztez will be free starting February 13.

The Nintendo Switch Eshop added a flurry of new games this week, but the biggest involve brave knights doing battle against evil–real or imagined. Altogether the store update includes almost 30 new games–not all of which are out quite yet–giving you plenty to browse as we approach Valentine’s Day.

The headliner is the surprise release of Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales. The single-player RPG uses card battle mechanics similar to Gwent from The Witcher 3 to tell a completely new story featuring the queen Meve. The PC/PS4 version received a 9/10 in GameSpot’s review.

For a lighter tone, you might also want to check out Knights and Bikes, a cooperative action game from Double Fine. It’s the adventures of two burgeoning friends as they engage in fantasy adventures exploring a mysterious island, with that great steed of childhood: the bike. GameSpot’s review found it charming on other platforms and gave it an 8/10.

Finally, one new release that’s notable is Kunai, a fast-paced action platformer with Metroidvania elements, starring a sentient tablet with its array of ninja weaponry. Check out GameSpot’s Kunai review for more details.

Meanwhile, if you’re hunting a bargain, you can check out this week’s Eshop sales for some solid discounts. Check out the full list of new Eshop releases below.

Nintendo Eshop Switch Releases (Week of February 6)

• Akuarium
• Arcade Archives Saint Dragon
• Bridge Builder Adventure – Available Feb. 7
• Code: Realize ~Guardian of Rebirth~
• Cosmonauta – Available Feb. 11
• Crash Drive 2 – Available Feb. 7
• Elea: Paradigm Shift – Available Feb. 8
• EQQO – Available Feb. 7
• Hair Mower 3D
• Help Me Doctor – Available Feb. 10
• Just a Phrase by POWGI
• Kitty Powers’ Matchmaker – Available Feb. 7
• Knights and Bikes
• Kunai
• Marooners – Available Feb. 7
• Nerved
• Rolling Sky 2
• Rune Lord – Available Feb. 7
• SEN: Seven Eight Nine
• Shiny Ski Resort
• Super Korotama – Available Feb. 7
• The Man With The Ivory Cane
• The Town of Light: Deluxe Edition – Available Feb. 7
• The Turing Test – Available Feb. 7
• Thief Town – Available Feb. 11
• Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales
• Voxel Pirates
• Zero Zero Zero Zero – Available Feb. 7
• 夕鬼 零 Yuoni: Rises

Nintendo eShop on Nintendo 3DS:

• Quarters, Please! Vol. 2
• Tank Onslaught