Pokemon Go Will Let You Interact With Gyms From Farther Away

With social distancing measures in place in many parts of the world due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Pokemon Go developer Niantic has been making numerous tweaks to make the game easier to play. The studio will soon allow players to participate in Raid Battles from home, but before that option rolls out, it is temporarily letting you interact with Gyms from much farther away.

As Niantic explains in a new blog post, the studio is doubling the distance from which you can interact with Gyms, allowing you to spin Photo Discs and take part in Raid Battles while keeping a safe distance from other players. This change, however, only applies to Gyms; Niantic is not increasing the distance from which you can interact with PokeStops.

Niantic has other adjustments in the works as well. The developer says it is “working on an entirely new way to enjoy Pokemon Go Fest” this year, and it will also tweak the Adventure Sync feature so that it tracks your steps while performing indoor tasks “like cleaning your house and running on a treadmill.”

While Niantic has had to cancel numerous Pokemon Go events in March due to the pandemic, it still has a few events lined up for April. The Team Rocket Special Research story quest The Shadowy Threat Grows has been extended; you now have until the end of April to rescue Shadow Entei. Meanwhile, Alolan Exeggutor will be April’s Research Breakthrough reward, and Niantic will continue to hold its weekly Pokemon Spotlight and Mystery Bonus Hour events throughout the month.

Finally, a new Legendary, Landorus, has made its debut in the game. The Legendary Pokemon will be available in Raid Battles and as a Go Battle League reward encounter until April 21. The Mythical Pokemon Genesect is also slated to debut in EX Raids this month.

GameSpot may get a commission from retail offers.

Indivisible Will Get New Game Plus And Co-Op This Week (For Free)

In a blog post, Lab Zero announced that a new free update is coming to Indivisible, the developer’s metroidvania-inspired action platformer, on April 2. The update will add two new modes to Indivisible: new game plus and couch co-op.

Once you’ve completed Indivisible’s campaign at least once, NG+ allows you to replay the story from the very beginning with all the abilities, weapons, and incarnations you unlocked in your previous playthrough. This will allow you to discover hidden secrets much earlier in the campaign as well as access shortcuts that require late-game abilities. Enemies and bosses will be a lot stronger though.

Couch co-op mode allows you to tackle Indivisible’s campaign with up to three other players. Player 1 will always be protagonist Ajna, but the other three can take control of any of the other members of your party. While exploring, each player will be able to move independently of each other. In battle, you’ll each control your individual character in the game’s hybrid of turn-based and real-time combat.

How To Access Indivisible’s New Modes

New Game+

  • After downloading the update, if you’ve previously completed Indivisible, look for and press the “Game Clear” button
  • If it does not appear, you will need to complete the final challenge of the game and watch the credits, even if you previously completed the game
  • When prompted, save your game into one of the save slots
  • The next time you open the Load Game menu, you’ll see a new button appear in the save slot.
  • Press the button

Couch Co-Op

  • Plug in 1-3 extra controllers
  • Press an attack button

In GameSpot’s Indivisible review, Michael Higham wrote, “I want to love Indivisible unconditionally; it has so many great pieces, and it’s a special thing to feel seen. I’m happy to have a game that’s distinctly Southeast Asian, giving some earnest representation to a part of the world I belong to and one I’m even more curious about now. As a whole, it sometimes doesn’t come together; it’s missing weight to its narrative and the challenges necessary to flex its wonderful combat system. But it stands out as an RPG that’s doing something genuinely different, and it brings joy to its clever platforming with the tune of an infectious soundtrack. For all its faults, Indivisible has its heart in the right place.”

Now Playing: Indivisible | GameSpot Live

GameSpot may get a commission from retail offers.

New Nioh 2 Update Addresses Difficulty Concerns, Full Patch Notes Revealed

Developer Team Ninja has dropped a brand-new update for Nioh 2 on PlayStation 4 that makes various adjustments to the game’s difficulty in some areas. We’ve compiled the full patch notes below.

A bunch of Nioh 2 sub-missions have had their difficulty altered in order to assuage the game’s nail-biting challenges. In addition to the sub-missions, some of Nioh 2’s enemies have also been tweaked to make the experience a little more forgiving. Further, the drop rates of Smithing Texts and The Art of Combat tomes, items used to upgrade your created character and equipment, have been increased.

The update also makes a number of quality-of-life adjustments. These include fixing duplication item problems, addressing Yokai Realms and status effects that would not dispel, tweaking skills that would not activate, ironing out other bugs, and much more.

We awarded the action-RPG an 8/10 in our Nioh 2 review, saying, “Though it sometimes feels like a curse as you play, it is a testament that Nioh 2 successfully grabs and holds your complete attention so close for so long.” With its already punishing difficulty, we don’t recommend starting Nioh 2 with the bird guardian spirit.

Full Nioh 2 Version 1.07 Patch Notes

Adjustments

  • Adjusted the mission difficulty of the following sub-missions:
    • A Favori for the Blacksmith
    • The Greedy Hunter
    • The Sunomata Yokai Hunter
    • The Viper and the Butterfly
    • The Brothers’ Blades
    • The Burning Sky
    • Scattered Fragments
    • Calling on the Fire God
    • The Dream’s End
  • Weakened the attacks of some non-boss enemies. Previously, though the player could be above the recommended level some enemies would kill the player in one hit.
  • Weakened some attacks of Shibata Katsuie that are especially difficult to dodge.
  • Buffed the drop rate of Smithing Text and The Art of Combat.
  • Added “Difficulty” to the search condition of Random Encounters.
  • Added the “Accessories” tab to the “Tempering” menu.
  • Added a feature to initialize settings in the HDR settings.

Bug Fixes

  • Fixed an issue where the level of the shiftling skill “Devour Yokai Realm” would reset when performing a reset on other skill trees.
    • The level of “Devour Yokai Realm” and overused skill points will be fixed in this update.
  • Fixed an issue where custom active skills would remain set to an active skill slot even when a reset of the Samurai Skill tree was performed.
  • Fixed an issue in the Dojo where an acquired Tea Utensil would disappear when completing the mission.
  • Fixed an issue in the Dojo where the player could obtain duplicates of a Smithing Text if the player had not already turned in the text in question to the blacksmith.
  • Fixed an issue wherein the Kodama Bazaar the stock of the items would not increase when using a skill that would increase the maximum amount of items a player can possess.
  • Fixed an issue where twice as many items would be sold when selling items in the Storehouse.
  • Fixed an issue where a visual of certain weapons while sheathed was reversed when wearing Youngblood Cuirass.
  • Fixed an issue in the mission “Bird in A Cage” where it was not possible to give dung balls to “Ryunojo the Dung Lover.”
  • Fixed an issue in the mission “Rain Draws Near” where the player could not ring the bell.
  • Fixed an issue in the mission “A Way Out” where the Yokai Realm would not be dispelled when the boss-spawned object was destroyed.
  • Fixed an issue in the mission “The Golden Castle” where the boss would not run out of Ki and would not be knocked down at times even when certain conditions were fulfilled.
  • Fixed an issue in the multiplayer version of the mission “Strat Cats” where the mission would not end.
  • Fixed an issue in the missions “The Fire God’s Magatama” where an unobtainable blue treasure box location was placed in the compass.
  • Fixed an issue in the mission “Sharp Eyes” where the player could not get amrita when completing the mission.
  • Fixed an issue where a Biwa Boku-Boku near a shrine would activate a Bloody Grave when the player is praying at a shrine.
  • Fixed an issue where the Drenched states would not be removed when bathing in a hot spring while being Drenched.
  • Fixed an issue where a ladder could not be used when certain enemies died with poison while the player was climbing the ladder.
  • Fixed an issue where co-fighting NPCs cannot be assisted when they went down and simultaneously fell off a cliff.
  • Fixed an issue where the Custom Active Skill Setting to the Active Skill “Sword Ki” was not applied to the Active Skill “Sword of Celerity.”
  • Fixed an issue where Ki was consumed before the Active Skill “Swirling Snow” was executed.
  • Fixed an issue where equipment effects and Custom Active Skill settings according to the active skill “Deadly Spiral” were not applied.
  • Fixed an issue where the Custom Active Skill was not applied when Mystic Art “Trained Throw” is applied to the Active Skill “Piercing Hurl Shadow/Light.”
  • Fixed an issue where the Active Skill “Dgraonful II” was not applied to the Mystic Art “Trained Throw.”
  • Fixed an issue with the grapple move of the hatchets where the grab would not follow through.
  • Fixed an issue where the Custom Active Skill Setting to the Active Skill “Windswept” was not applied.
  • Fixed an issue with the switchglaive where you could perform the special switch stances “Retrobution” and Edge” without having unlocked the skills.
  • Various other minor fixes.

Now Playing: Nioh 2 Video Review

GameSpot may get a commission from retail offers.

Incredible Bundle Offers 40+ PC Games For $30, Funds COVID-19 Relief Efforts

Humble Bundle is known for its awesome packages of games, comics, and other forms of entertainment and software, and now the company has kicked off a bundle to help with COVID-19 relief efforts. For $30, you get 44 games, over 20 books and comics, and more. All of the money goes towards charities and organizations that are working to fight COVID-19 and save lives.

Some of the games featured in the bundle include Into the Breach, Undertale, and Hollow Knight as well as The Witness and Superhot. Many of the games are from indie developers, though the bundle also has AAA-developed games like Darksiders: Warmastered Edition, Darksiders II: Deathinitive Edition, and Sniper Elite III among others. On top of all this, you get a one-month subscription to Humble Choice, which gives its subscribers a free allotment of Steam games every month.

The COVID-19 response bundle also features some great comics, including volumes of Saga, The Boys, and Spawn as well as Locke & Key and Robert Kirkman’s Oblivion Song. Volume One of Fairy Tail: Happy’s Heroic Adventure is also included as is a Humble Bundle-exclusive one-shot Army of Darkness comic. The bundle also has some sci-fi and self-help books that help with controlling emotions and stress relief.

Humble Bundle’s Conquer COVID-19 bundle is available until April 7. You may want to buy it sooner than later, however, as one of the games only has a limited number of Steam keys. 2D action-zombie game Zombotron has about 80,000 Steam keys remaining at the time of publishing.

If you’re interested in more, check out all of the free games you can claim right now and keep forever. In related news, Ubisoft is the latest company to offer free video game giveaways during the pandemic. The company plans to roll out several offers throughout April to help people stay at home in these uncertain times.

Humble Bundle’s Conquer COVID-19 bundle

Games:

  • Into the Breach
  • Undertale
  • Hollow Knight
  • Wizard of Legend
  • Totally Accurate Battle Simulator
  • The Witness
  • Superhot
  • Tilt Brush
  • Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham
  • Killing Floor 2
  • Fahrenheit: Indigo Prophecy Remastered
  • Darksiders: Warmastered Edition
  • Darksiders II: Deathinitive Edition
  • Sniper Elite III
  • This Is The Police
  • The Jackbox Party Pack 2
  • Stick Fight: The Game
  • Brothers – A Tale of Two Sons
  • Party Hard
  • Worms Revolution
  • Europa Universalis IV
  • Tropico 4
  • Gnog
  • Broken Age
  • Brutal Legend
  • Psychonauts
  • Pac-Man Championship Edition 2
  • Pikuniku
  • World of Goo
  • Super Hexagon
  • VVVVVV
  • Hacknet
  • A Mortician’s Tale
  • A Good Snowman Is Hard To Build
  • Magicka
  • Rebuild 3: Gangs of Deadville
  • Agents of Mayhem
  • Ducati – 90th Anniversary
  • Speed Brawl
  • Hiveswap: Act 1
  • Alien Spidy
  • Stealth Inc. 2: A Game of Clones
  • LostWinds
  • Zombotron

Movies:

  • Double Fine Adventure documentary

Books:

  • Starfinder: Pact Worlds campaign setting
  • The Art of Captivating Conversation
  • Journeys Through Time And Space
  • Coping Skills
  • The Mood Elevator (also comes with audiobook)
  • Prisoners Of Our Thoughts (also comes with audiobook)
  • Mindfulness For Kids
  • Automate the Boring Stuff with Python
  • Crosswords of Wisdom Vol. 1
  • Crosswords of Wisdom Vol. 2
  • Animal Kind

Comics:

  • Locke & Key, volume 1
  • Fairy Tail: Happy’s Heroic Adventure, volume 1
  • Army of Darkness: one-shot Humble Bundle exclusive
  • Red Sonja: Petitioning the Queen
  • The Boys, volume 1
  • Oblivion Song, volume 1
  • Saga, volume 1
  • Spawn Origins, volume 1
  • Undiscovered Country, issue 1
  • Criminal, volume 1
  • Nowhere Men, volume 1
  • Lumberjanes: The Infernal Compass

Software:

Music Maker EDM Edition

Now Playing: The Witness – Video Review

GameSpot may get a commission from retail offers.

15 Movies To Distract Your Kids So You Can Work

15 Movies To Distract Your Kids So You Can Work – GameSpot

“/>

]]>

]]>

]]>

]]>

]]>

]]>

]]>

]]>

]]>

]]>

]]>

]]>

]]>

]]>

]]>

]]>

]]>

]]>

]]>

]]>

]]>

]]>

]]>

]]>

]]>

]]>

]]>

]]>

Disclosure: ViacomCBS is GameSpot’s parent company


Missing Characters, Features, And Buildings In Animal Crossing New Horizons

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is out now on Nintendo Switch, and it introduces a ton of exciting new features to the series, from the Island Designer–which lets you edit your town’s terrain–to the ability to craft your own furniture and tools. However, there are some notable features from the series’ previous entry, Animal Crossing: New Leaf for 3DS, that seem to be missing in action.

In the video above, we take a look at some Animal Crossing staples that have been conspicuously absent in New Horizons in the month that we’ve been playing the game so far, from beloved recurring characters like Rover and Tortimer to popular facilities like Re-Tail and Brewster’s Cafe.

While we’ve yet to encounter these characters and features in New Horizons, that doesn’t necessarily mean they’ve been completely cut from the game. During the recent Nintendo Direct Mini presentation, we got a brief look at New Horizons’ first seasonal event, which will see Zipper T. Bunny visit your island for Bunny Day. Nintendo teased that an Earth Day event is also on the way later in the month, and it appears the flower-loving sloth Leif will return for that.

If you’re just getting started in New Horizons, we’ve assembled a ton of different guides to help you out, from what you should be doing every day to how to make Bells fast. We also have guides on how to unlock key buildings like Nook’s Cranny, how to add friends, and even how to crossbreed flowers.

March 2020 Board Games: New Releases, Expansions, and Kickstarters Out Now

It seems like a very long time and a whole lot of Pandemic Legacy jokes since last month’s update. But for us gamers during this difficult time, we’ve at least got a great outlet for all that indoor free time. Games are still shipping and being delivered if you want some fresh cardboard for your collection. Just please remember to wash your hands after opening the box.

As it happens, there are actually several games in the frame this month that are great for solo and family play. So it’s time to sit down, stay indoors and get your game on.

Board Game New Releases

Kung-Fu Panda: The Board Game

kung-fu-pandaKung-Fu Panda delivers exactly the kind of crazy co-operative action you’d expect from a big-name family license. Players roll dice as fast as they can, trying to collect the right symbols to defeat foes and bypass obstacles over a range of scenarios. The catch is that often, you’ll do better if you slow down and pool dice. But take it too easy and the timer will catch you before the evil Tai Lung and his goons do. A fun balance of quick thinking and tactics with tons of variety, this is a sure-fire hit for younger players.

Oriflamme

oriflamme

The lavish card art, short play time, and simple rules here belie a fun game of tactics, bluffing and being mean. Players start with identical decks of ten cards. They take turns laying them face down into a queue and deciding whether to flip them face up. Most either score points, which also accumulate on face down cards, or eliminate other cards. So unfolds a taut dance of trying to get your enemy cards into vulnerable positions while keeping yours safe. Naturally, you can lay traps and ambushes of various sorts leading to super-satisfying nasty surprises.

Shadows of Kilforth

shadows-of-kilforthMany games seek to re-create the feel of a role-playing adventure in a board game, and this sequel to Gloom Of Kilforth is the latest. It’s a veritable Swiss army knife of a game, playable solo, co-operatively and competitively so is a great candidate for play at home. Well balanced between complexity and detail, rich art supports the huge narrative potential that’s key to the game’s appeal. From heroic sagas to the rumors you’ll follow up to find fantastic treasures, every game is a fresh fantasy epic to enjoy.

Hero Master: An Epic Game of Epic Fails

hero-masterAt the other end of the scale, Hero Master is the opposite of epic fantasy. The adventurers in this game are neophytes, has-beens or no-hopers trying to scrape enough gold from a dungeon to earn a crust. Barge into a room and the first player gets first pick of whether to take on the monster within. If you do, be careful: you’ll need to play the right combos of attack and equipment cards to defeat it. Then be extra careful since your party members might sabotage your efforts with fumble cards. Don’t let the fun premise and art fool you: there’s lots of solid combo-and-bluff-based gameplay to enjoy.

The Isle of Cats

isle-of-catsWhat’s better than being a cat rescuer? Being a cat rescuer who has to fit their funny-shaped feline charges into a strategic grid to score points, that’s what. That’s the core of this cunning game, which combines shape-fitting and card-drafting into a pleasing package. First draft your hand of cards from the options passing around. Then play them to set up scoring opportunities and rescue the right cats from the island to fit on the rooms and over the rats on your player board. Polyomino games are enjoying a boom, and this is one of the best yet.

Stellar

stellarDespite the, erm, stellar star art and the fact you lay cards out in the shape of a telescope, this two-player card game is really an abstract. But like the best of that genre, it’s easy to learn but hard to play well. The challenge is to play your hand of cards split between that telescope and the notebook area underneath. To score you’ll need a wide variety of stellar objects in your telescope, but also sequences of cards in the notebook to gain multipliers. Placement rules mean you can’t dump cards wherever you want, resulting in a tough new puzzle every game.

New Board Game Expansions

Architects of the West Kingdom: Age of Artisans

age-of-artisansArchitects upended the rather stale worker placement genre last year with clever new twists. Extra interaction from being able to capture other player’s workers was especially fun. This new expansion spices up the formula with a new extra-useful worker, the Artisan. That, of course, means it’s also a key target for capture, so it must be used with care. Also new are options to customize your apprentices and buildings. It’s the best kind of expansion, opening up tons of new strategies without derailing what made the original great.

Star Wars Destiny: Covert Missions

covert-missionsDestiny is one of the best collectable card games around, with its custom dice element providing fast, taut gameplay. The Star Wars license is just a bonus. Sadly, then, Covert Missions is the last set of booster packs to come out before the publisher winds the series down. As befits the final expansion, it’s chock-full of iconic characters and moments from the series. Imperial and Rebel players can now build and destroy the Death Star respectively. And everyone’s favorite bounty hunter Boba Fett can now play and collect bounties on targeted characters.

New Board Games on Kickstarter

Moonshine Empire

moonshineGenerating massive pre-release buzz from convention demos, this is a fun concept for a classic economic engine game. There’s some decent depth beneath the goofy theme, using a variety of mechanics to distill, deliver, and deal illicit liquor for a fat profit. There’s even some gambling and bluffing in the vicious auction phase, plus bribery for extra player interaction. And of course, it’s also a great excuse to responsibly enjoy a few drinks as you play.

Lawyer Up

lawyer-upTwo-player asymmetric games are always interesting for the variety and replay value they provide. But Lawyer Up has the added bonus of an unusual but eminently game-able theme of courtroom drama. One player is the prosecution, the other the defense. The game proceeds through rounds of collecting — and maybe burying — evidence then using symbol matching to form chains of argument. With mechanics based loosely on card-driven historical hits like Twilight Struggle and Watergate, it’s sure to have a measure of forensic strategy.

Christopher Meloni Returning To Law And Order For A Limited Series

There’s a shortage of good news to go around these days, thanks to the global COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic, but thankfully, there’s still stuff to look forward to–namely Elliot Stabler himself, Christopher Meloni, making a triumphant return to the world of Law & Order for a limited series. THR reports that Meloni will bring Stabler back to the L&O fold with a 13-episode straight-to-series order.

Stabler was a main character for 12 seasons of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, rapidly becoming a fan favorite and cornerstone for procedural television. Unfortunately, thanks to failed contract negotiations, his reign came to an abrupt and unceremonious end when he was “retired” from the police force off-screen during the Season 13 premiere back in 2011. The sudden departure left Stabler’s many fans adrift and suffering a distinct lack of closure.

But now, nearly a decade later, there’s a chance for wrongs to be righted–and in prestige mini-series format, no less. Sure, a prestige spin-off may be an odd tonal shift for a show like SVU which is beloved for its over-the-top trope-infused cheesiness, but we’re ready and willing to accept any more Stabler content, no matter what.

What will Stabler be doing? Variety has reported that the series will follow him as he “heads up the organized crime division of the NYPD.” The series is currently eyeing Matt Olmstead as a writer and showrunner, while Dick Wolf will executive produce along with Peter Jankowski and Arthur W. Forney.

Unfortunately, thanks to the massive production shutdowns currently affecting the entertainment industry at large, it’s currently known when the show is scheduled to premiere.

New Mission From NASA Will Help Understand How the Sun’s Radiation Affects Space

NASA announced a new mission dedicated to studying massive space weather storms with tiny satellites under the SunRISE mission.

The SunRISE mission stands for, Sun Radio Interferometer Space Experiment, where NASA will use six CubeSat nanosatellites to create a large radio telescope. Each satellite is around the size of a toaster oven and will be solar powered, according to a press release from NASA announcing the mission.

NASA Cubesats
Image Credit: NASA

The goal is to launch the SunRISE mission “by no earlier than July 1, 2023” with $62.6 million toward funding the design, build, and launch. NASA originally took interest in the project as a concept study when they approved it in August 2017. This later led to an extension and interest in studying the solar storms further under principal investigator, Justin Kasper.

“We are so pleased to add a new mission to our fleet of spacecraft that help us better understand the Sun, as well as how our star influences the space environment between planets,” Nicky Fox, director of NASA’s Heliophysics Division said. “The more we know about how the Sun erupts with space weather events, the more we can mitigate their effects on spacecraft and astronauts.”

Kasper and the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory will work together in managing SunRISE to study solar radiation bursts. All six CubeSat satellites will fly within six miles of each other above the Earth’s atmosphere to create 3D maps of each particle burst.

NASA sunRISE
Image Credit: NASA

The SunRISE team proposed entering space by working with space technology company, Maxar Technologies. Each CubeSat would hitch a ride on a commercial satellite and break off once in orbit.

This entire mission and concept are possible due to NASA’s Explorers Program which focuses on providing low-cost access to space. A list of Explorer spacecraft launches as far back as 1958 are available here.

[widget path=”global/article/imagegallery” parameters=”albumSlug=the-25-best-sci-fi-movies&captions=true”]

Scientists are consistently discovering more about space, including 139 planets near our solar system and even a way to deflect asteroids if we one day need too. Astronomers also discovered a mini-moon that has been orbiting Earth for over three years.

[poilib element=”accentDivider”]

Jeffrey Lerman is a Freelance News Writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @Snakester95.

The Division 2 Releases A New Rogue Agent For Warlords Of New York Season One

The Division 2 has released another Rogue Agent as part of Warlords of New York Season One. The latest target you’re tasked with hunting down is Venus, the second of five total targets that are set to appear throughout the season.

Taking down the first four Rogue Agents will lead to the discovery of your prime target, Jupiter. To draw Venus out, you’ll need to head to Downtown East, Federal Triangle, Judiciary Square, and the Pentagon to complete missions, control points, and bounties. Once all of the objectives in each area have been cleared, you’ll receive a new bounty leading to a fight with your newest adversary.

From her profile, we learn that Venus was a doctor in the Division before turning rogue. On her way out she stole some supplies and killed the Division agents that were sent after her, so not exactly the greatest bedside manner.

Earlier this week, Ubisoft dropped a patch for The Division 2 that introduced some significant balance changes to health and damage, among a number of other fixes. You can read the full patch notes here.

The Division 2 was awarded a score of 9/10 in GameSpot’s review. Edmond Tran said, “The range of enemy types continues to keep combat encounters challenging, the equipment I earn and pick up continues to feel different, valuable, and asks me to consider new ways of play. The ravaged environments continue to intrigue, and sometimes they’re so stunning I find myself needing to take screenshots before I move on. It might not have much to say, but The Division 2 is a perpetual cycle of tension, relief, and reward that’s difficult to stay away from.”

Now Playing: Everything New in The Division 2: Warlords of New York Expansion

GameSpot may get a commission from retail offers.