Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker, the next expansion for the Square Enix MMORPG, will launch on November 23, 2021. However, those who preorder the expansion will have early access four days ahead of launch starting on Friday, November 19. Director and producer Naoki Yoshida led the opening keynote presentation for Final Fantasy Fan Fest 2021 and detailed a slew of information for FFXIV: Endwalker including these launch dates.
There will be four different editions of FFXIV: Endwalker as well–the Collector’s Edition, the Collector’s Box, the Digital Collector’s Edition, and the Standard Edition. As expected, there will be no physical version of the game itself and all editions come with digital download codes. Whichever edition you preorder, you will be able to start playing on the November 19 early access date.
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Now Playing: FINAL FANTASY XIV ENDWALKER Full Trailer
Several details were revealed during the Fan Fest 2021 keynote, including (but not limited to) the new melee DPS job Reaper, the additional zones like Thavnair and Old Sharlayan, parts of the upcoming story dungeons, new mounts, and the next alliance raid series called Myths of the Realm. You can also see all the wild implications for the story of FFXIV Endwalker in the full intro cinematic above.
We’ll have more coverage of Final Fantasy Fan Fest 2021 throughout the weekend–stay tuned.
In true Naoki Yoshida fashion, the director and producer for Final Fantasy XIV kicked off a Fan Fest by giving the keynote presentation cosplaying as a new job featured in an upcoming expansion. For Fan Fest 2021, Yoshi-P came out in a Bloodborne-esque getup holding a huge scythe to represent the fact that players will be able to take on the new Reaper melee DPS job in Endwalker. The presentation showed off the Reaper in action with a video and with several details on how this job works.
Reapers use a scythe as their main weapon to deal most their damage from close range, and they also summon a ghostly avatar from the Void to fight alongside them. Yoshida-san explained that Reapers can temporarily channel the power of their Voidsent avatar and become a host for it–although we don’t know exactly how this will work, this will be a key gameplay mechanic for the job. As for armor and gear category, Reapers will share equipment with the Lancer/Dragoon.
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Now Playing: FINAL FANTASY XIV ENDWALKER New Reaper Class Reveal
In order to play as a Reaper in FFXIV, you’ll need to have the Endwalker expansion on your account and have one other job/class at level 70 on your character so you can initiate the required job quest–that job quest will be found in Ul’dah.
Reaper is a completely new job/class for the Final Fantasy franchise and doesn’t reference anything from previous games, other than the scythe weapon. Aesthetically, the Reaper’s glamour draws a lot of similarities to the Victorian-era gothic horror stylings of Bloodborne–and honestly, it just looks cool as hell. The villain Zenos yae Galvus was revealed to take on the role of a Reaper in the story as seen in the full Endwalker trailer.
We previously got details on the other new job coming to FFXIV: Endwalker during the February presentation, which is the Sage. In case you missed it, the Sage is a healer job that uses floating knife-guns called nouliths and barriers to buff and protect party members. There was also a segment from the February presentation that outlined how the Sage works. Key character Alphinaud assumes the role of Sage in the Endwalker story as well, and you can see him in action in the cinematic trailer.
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Final Fantasy XIV Endwalker Sage Job Class Breakdown
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Final Fantasy XIV players are thriving right now with Fan Fest 2021 kicking off and plenty of new details of the upcoming Endwalker expansion, which is set to launch on November 23 (and November 19 for those who preorder). The full intro cinematic trailer for Endwalker started the show and it contains some wild implications for where FFXIV’s story is going.
A shorter teaser version was first shown back in February this year, but this new version is the official six-minute Endwalker intro, and you can watch it below. Be warned, however–the trailer contains spoilers for those who are not caught up to at least the end of the 5.3 story content.
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This full version starts similarly with the Warrior of Light walking on the moon, then showing Alisaie fighting beastly creatures on their home planet as the Warrior of Light and Alphinaud–who’s sporting the new Sage healer job–come in to join her fight.
The theme song shifts to a big Heavensward callback, then transitions to a new scene with Estinien and his dragon companion Vritra fighting off an army of succubus-like creatures. This looks to be one of the new zones, and it’s made of up of islands floating in the sky (which was teased later in the keynote presentation).
With a big Stormblood leitmotif, the cinematic then goes to a familiar scene with villain Fandaniel looking over a burning map in a creepy, bio-organic underground dungeon (which could be related to the nature of Hydaelyn), and going up an elevator to see his partner-in-crime, Zenos yae Galvus, sitting on a throne watching the world burn.
Another new scene shows Urianger meeting with Thancred in Thavnair’s Radz-at-Han city-state, a zone that’ll be added with Endwalker. Urianger is as clairvoyant about damning information, implying the world is doomed.
The following scene contains a significant reveal for a new zone that long-time players have been awaiting–Old Sharlayan is shown as a massive, beautiful, and almost too-good-to-be-true paradise surrounded by clear water, lush vegetation, and pristine architecture. Sharlayans are known to be incredible scholars, and deep within its libraries, you see G’raha Tia revealing that he’s uncovered secrets about the nature of their realm. Meanwhile, Y’shtola meets with the Sharlayan council to warn them of the impending calamity, but known to be isolationists, the council leader (whose identity has not been fully revealed yet) says that they’ll be fine, refusing to help the fight.
The cinematic returns to villains Fandaniel and Zenos watching the world burn and looking up to the moon, which also reveals that Zenos has been revamped as a Scythe-wielding Reaper, the new playable melee DPS job coming to Endwalker. As the camera zooms into the moon’s reflection in Zenos’ eye, it cuts to the Warrior of Light on the moon fending off a massive sandworm-like creature before revealing the canon job change to Paladin while overlooking the home planet.
As expected, Endwalker seems to be tying together all story threads throughout FFXIV’s lifespan, which makes sense given that this is the end of the Hydaelyn-Zodiark story arc that’s been ongoing since the start of the game. You can hear it in the samples and leitmotifs in the Endwalker theme song, and you can see it in the characters and how they’ve evolved. This is a rather simple breakdown of the Endwalker cinematic and there is definitely more to parse that could reveal more details about the events surround the expansion’s story. If you noticed something yourself, let us know in the comments below.
Edge of Tomorrow threw Tom Cruise into an action-packed time loop with Emily Blunt’s formidable soldier Rita, and it resonated with fans. Rumors of a sequel have swirled for years since the 2014 film, but it may not be in the cards, Blunt said in a new interview with Entertainment Weekly.
A sequel was in full-on production in 2019 according to EW, but Blunt said that she doesn’t know if a sequel could happen in light of current world conditions. It was far enough along, though, that she even read a script for it.
“That was an amazing script,” Blunt said. “But I just don’t know what the future holds for it, I did read a script that was in really great shape, but it’s just a matter of if that can even happen now. I don’t have a straight answer on that one.”
Based on a Japanese novel called All You Need is Kill, Edge of Tomorrow cast Cruise as United States Major William Cage, a public relations officer who had never seen combat. Early in the film, he’s thrown into battle against aliens alongside Blunt’s character, where things quickly break bad. Cage comes into contact with alien blood and gets trapped in a time loop, and he enlists Rita for help over and over to defeat the alien forces and escape the time loop.
Both Famicom Detective Club games, The Missing Heir and The Girl Who Stands Behind, are now available on Nintendo Switch. Both games are remakes of the original Famicom Detective Club games released exclusively in Japan in 1988 and 1989. You can also check out our gameplay footage of the first game, The Missing Heir, here on GameSpot.
Mobile versions of console or PC titles used to carry the stigma of being poor cousins, but as games like Fortnite and Genshin Impact have shown, it’s possible for mobile games to be just as good as their console counterparts. At first glance, NBA 2K21 Arcade Edition seems like it will follow suit; the game looks very impressive, the action runs smoothly, and every NBA team (with full rosters) is available from the start. I thought I’d have all I need to enjoy some great NBA action wherever I went, but the more I played the more I realized what I thought would be a deep experience was instead very shallow.
NBA 2K21 Arcade is the annual basketball franchise’s first appearance in Apple Arcade, and it features three main modes: Play Now, MyCareer, and Black Top. The game does a great job of bringing the impressive visuals of the NBA 2K games to iOS, with player models here looking pretty close to their real-life counterparts.
The Play Now feature is straightforward: pick two teams and play a game. The short amount of time it takes from booting the game up to playing a game is impressive, only lasting as long as it takes you to pick teams. But actually playing a game is where things get tricky, with the game’s on-screen touch controls being too sensitive at best and non-functional at worst.
Moving a player uses a virtual stick on the left of the screen, but this same stick also controls your player’s speed–a slight push will result in a jog, but extending the stick all the way in one direction will make your player run. In the console versions of this game, running requires an extra button press–this means that in this mobile version, you always run the risk of accidentally gassing your players within a single quarter if you’re not paying attention. Avoiding the run function is difficult too, as it cannot be turned off, and the difference between jogging and running is very slight on a touch screen. Fatigue can be turned off, which keeps your players from being too tired, but it still doesn’t fix the “run vs. sprint” issue.
These problems are even more apparent on defense, as trying to track your assigned player to guard becomes an exercise in frustration. The constant struggle in trying to avoid sprinting means your player will erratically move around the court, giving the opponent an easy lane to the basket. Clunky and awkward are not words you want to hear about something as basic as “moving down the court in a basketball game,” yet that’s the case on both sides of the ball in NBA 2K21 Arcade.
Ball controls are similarly imprecise, but passing and shooting at least benefit from being mapped to specific buttons. You can also shoot using a separate virtual stick on the right of the screen, but like the movement stick, it’s very touchy and doesn’t always operate the way it should. This leads to many frustrating moments, such as when a player crashes the basket and stops in his tracks, doing nothing instead of shooting the ball. These control issues are alleviated by connecting a Bluetooth controller to your mobile device (if you have one available). The PS5 DualSense controller I connected to my iPhone immediately made this mobile version of 2K feel more like the console version, with players running smoothly and buttons working as they should. There is an obvious problem despite this, however; it defeats the purpose of being a “mobile game.” Carrying a bulky controller around with my phone takes all the novelty out of the mobile gaming experience, and if a controller is the best way to play a mobile game then that’s a big issue.
Out of the three game modes NBA 2K21 offers, Black Top impresses the most with its streetball, first-to-21 approach. The camera angle in Black Top shifts from a static camera showing the action from left to right to a behind-the-back angle, switching sides so the team with the ball always has its back to the camera. This small change makes a big difference in how the game is played, giving you better vision across the court when approaching the basket. The first-to-21 point structure works great too, adding a schoolyard tension to NBA 2K21 that is refreshing and fun.
MyCareer, conversely, is the most disappointing of the three modes as it barely emulates the MyCareer experience found on consoles. The mobile version lets you create a character, play two “practice games” against other players on the team you choose to play on, and then you’re straight into the NBA season. Comparing this with MyCareer on console is probably a little unfair, with the console version featuring a full campaign that follows a player from high school all the way to the pros. But when the only difference between MyCareer and the Play Now mode in NBA 2K21 Arcade Edition is the ability to create character and play two games in a quiet arena, it is certainly a shallow, unfulfilling mode.
Those practice games shine a direct spotlight on just how barebones NBA 2K21 Arcade Edition is. You play these practice games in empty arenas, and because there are no fans, there’s no crowd noise to distract you from the fact that audio lines are repeatedly used. Any time either team brings the ball up the court, a single voice track of players yelling occurs, and it’s always the same words in the same voices–with “HERE WE GO! GET IT GOIN’!” being the most recognizable of these repeated phrases. It’s super annoying.
While the players on the court look good on the phone, the occasional errant movement or visual glitch breaks immersion fast
You’ll also see lots of repeated or clunky player animations. For example, in my three-on-three practice game I drew a foul and was sent to the free-throw line. I made the first free throw, and my player gave high-fives to the players behind him. The problem was, because this was three-on-three, there were no players there to receive the high fives. My player slapped the air and didn’t miss a beat, which suffice it to say looked really strange as it played out.
NBA 2K21 Arcade Edition tries to bring the NBA 2K experience to mobile, but it throws the ball out of bounds more than it sinks the open jumper. While the players on the court look good on the phone, the occasional errant movement or visual glitch breaks immersion fast. The repeated audio cues are annoying, the limited mode selection limits the game’s longevity, and the touch controls are a detriment. There’s a solid NBA game here if you use a controller, but there are so many frustrating elements around it that it’s better for everyone to not enter this NBA Draft.
Both Famicom Detective Club games, The Missing Heir and The Girl Who Stands Behind, are now available on Nintendo Switch. Both games are remakes of the original Famicom Detective Club games released exclusively in Japan in 1988 and 1989. You can also check out our gameplay footage of the second game, The Girl Who Stands Behind, here on GameSpot.
InXile Entertainment gave us a hint at what possibly may be the studio’s next game. The Xbox Twitter account tweeted out, “What kind of game should I play next?” as an attempt to engage with its audience. However, InXile replied to the tweet, saying “Pulled NEW + FPS + RPG.”
No other information was revealed, but we do know that InXile was looking to fill positions to work on a first-person RPG with Unreal Engine 5 back in January. However, the new bit of information here is that it will be a shooter game.
This project is currently in development, and seems to have started after InXile’s acquisition into Xbox Game Studios in 2018. So whatever the studio’s new game is, it will most likely be exclusive to devices that support Microsoft’s ecosystem such as Xbox and PC.
InXile Entertainment is known for its more top-down CRPG games like Wasteland 3 and Torment: Tides of Numenera, so the studio going in the direction of a FPS RPG is definitely interesting. As for when we’ll see any sort of glimpse of this game publicly, that’s up in the air. Microsoft is participating in E3 2021, so there might be a chance that the project will be shown there.
Marvel Studios is finally going big on TV. One of the series further out on the horizon is Marvel Studios’ Secret Invasion. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the thriller now has its directors.
Thomas Bezucha (Let Him Go) and Ali Selim (The Looming Tower) will helm the series. Samuel L. Jackson and Ben Mendelsohn will reprise their roles as Nick Fury and the shape-shifting Skrull called Talos respectively. Recent casting news has Olivia Colman, Emilia Clarke, and Kingsley Ben-Adir joining them on screen. Kyle Bradstreet, who wrote and executive produced Mr. Robot, is writing and executive producing Secret Invasion.
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Details on Secret Invasion are very light otherwise. Marvel is keeping the plot under lock and key. In the Marvel comics, the Secret Invasion storyline revealed that Skrulls had replaced a number of superheroes in an attempt to gain control over the planet. The Skrulls we’ve met so far in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, however, have been framed as refugees. 2019’s Captain Marvel’s climax had its titular character fighting off Kree warriors so that a small group of Skrulls could get away to safety. Talos and Soren once again popped up in Spider-Man: Far From Home, where we saw them working actively with Fury. If the Skrulls are once again the ones invading, that could put Ben Mendelsohn’s Talos in an interesting predicament.
Bezucha and Selim are both relative newcomers. Both Matt Shakman (WandaVision) and Kari Skoglund (Falcon and the Winter Soldier) have over 50 directing credits to their names; Bezucha and Selim have barely a dozen between them, with years-long gaps in their resumes. It remains to be seen, of course, how that does or doesn’t affect Secret Invasion. The Russo brothers, who directed Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame were also relative newcomers, best known for work on television series Arrested Development and Community before they directed some of the most profitable movies of all time. THR says Secret Invasion begins shooting in Europe later this year, so we’re guessing we’ll see it in mid-2022 or possibly later.
In the meantime, Marvel already has Loki starting in just a few weeks on June 9, followed by its What If…? animated series this summer, and Hawkeye in the fall. Ms. Marvel is in production; shows like Moon Knight and She-Hulk have begun casting, but are still much further out.
