Resident Evil 3 won’t release until April 3, but you’ll be able to try out the game’s action-oriented horror a few weeks early. An official demo is coming to Xbox One, PS4, and PC on March 19, and a beta for the new Resident Evil Resistance game (which comes with Resident Evil 3) arrives later this month. You can check out a new trailer below.
The Resident Evil 3 demo features Jill Valentine as she tries to escape from a panicked Raccoon City which has quickly become overrun with the infected. She teams up with Carlos Oliveira as they work to save civilians, but the terrifying Nemesis monster stands in her way. If you want an extra challenge in the demo, you can find 20 Mr. Charlie statues strewn throughout the playable area.
Resident Evil 3 takes the formula established in the Resident Evil 2 remake and injects more action elements into it. Jill has a dodge-counter move for dealing with aggressive enemies, as well as explosive barrels to help her out in stick situations. However, it’s still a horror game at its core.
On March 27, the Resident Evil Resistance beta begins. It will let you play as one of four survivors or as the villainous Mastermind. You’ll either escape or be setting up enemies and traps, and only one side can come out on top. Resident Evil Resistance comes as a free bonus with all Resident Evil 3 purchases rather than as its own release, and the beta will be available until the game’s official launch.
The Resident Evil 3 demo will launch March 18 at 9 PM PT / March 19 12 AM ET on Xbox One, and one hour later on PlayStation 4 and Steam. Once it’s completed, you’ll get to see an exclusive trailer for the full game. Make sure you have a fresh pair of pants ready.
The original Trials of Mana, known in Japan as Seiken Densetsu 3, didn’t see a proper Western release until just last year, when an English translation was finally made available as part of the excellent Mana Collection. If you’re unfamiliar with the original 16-bit game, it’s one of the best games ever created for the Super Famicom, but its introduction so late into the 16-bit console’s life-cycle meant Square was better off spending its resources in ways other than localizing a massive Japanese action RPG for a Western release.
The good news is the 16-bit translation in the Mana Collection is excellent, but the better news is the modern remake absolutely hits the nail on the head. I had a chance to go hands-on with Trials of Mana during my time at PAX East and I was surprised at just how well it translated the the pixel art and chiptunes of the original into a new game. From my all-to-brief experience, the Trials of Mana remake looks like a major improvement over the 2018 Secret of Mana remake.
First off, the game is absolutely gorgeous. I chose to play the demo on Nintendo Switch and the bright, beautiful colors of the 16-bit version lost nothing in the translation to the modern era. Other demo stations had the game running on PS4 Pro, where it (unsurprisingly) looked even better. It throws off some serious Dragon Quest XI vibes, minus the Akira Toriyama character designs but with the added benefit of brighter and bolder color palettes. On Switch, the demo ran well in docked-mode (handheld play wasn’t an option). I chose to try it on Switch because I plan to play the full game on Switch, but seeing it on PS4 Pro has me second-guessing myself.
As far as comparisons to the Secret of Mana remake, Trials looks much better. Secret of Mana (the previous game in the Mana series to Trials) looked… OK. Certainly passable. But Trials of Mana Remake’s graphics are on a whole other level. Check out the slideshow below for a better look.
My one concern going into the Trials of Mana Remake was how it would handle gameplay. For the uninitiated, battles in the original take a bit of getting used to, but the learning process is quick and makes sense after only a few skirmishes. The remake battle system is even easier to understand. The Mana series is an action RPG, so battles aren’t turn-based. It’s less DQXI and more Ys VIII: battles begin when you’re in range of an enemy and you hit buttons in real-time rather than issuing a series of commands. It made sense immediately, and I found myself hacking and slashing through rabites and mushrooms with ease.
The Mana series on Super NES/Super Famicom has some of the best 16-bit chiptune music of all time, and the signature sound effects and music of Trials of Mana translates incredibly well to the modern era. There’s a soft warmth to sound effects for even the harshest actions in Mana, and the modern version retains the charm of the original, Not only is the music updated for the modern era, the sound effects have also been updated, and neither have lost any of their charm.
The hands-on demo I had a chance to experience at PAX East has me very excited for the full game. Trials of Mana Remake is scheduled to come out April 24 to PS4, Nintendo Switch and PC.
Xbox Series X is due out this holiday season, and as usual, the new console will launch with a redesigned Xbox controller. This time the controller sports a few new features like a Share button, but otherwise sticks closely to the existing Xbox One design. Senior designer Ryan Whitaker explained some of the decision-making on the Xbox blog.
The new controller has made subtle changes to the ergonomics to fit a wider range of hand sizes, especially smaller ones. Whitaker said the goal was to fit the hands of an average 8-year-old, with rounded bumpers and parts of the triggers, without impacting those with bigger hands. Similarly, the d-pad has been changed to represent a hybrid of the traditional cross design and the dish design, to help suit comfort styles for both. Part of this came from feedback from users playing with the Elite controller, which has swappable d-pad.
Microsoft also expects the controller to be the touchstone between games on various devices–PC, console, Android, and iOS. That’s yet another indication that the company is planning to take a broader approach in the next generation. And to that end, controllers from each generation will be both backwards- and forward-compatible, so you can use your existing Xbox One controller on the Series X, or vice-versa.
Though Xbox Series X is targeting a 2020 release, it’s unclear right now Microsoft will roll out its presentations on the upcoming console. E3 2020 looked to be the big showcase, but it’s been canceled due to coronavirus concerns. Xbox is planning a digital event this year, but details on timing haven’t been shared yet. Still, Microsoft has been sharing more details from time to time, most recently giving a full specs breakdown and a detailed look at the quick resume and fast loading features.
Japanese students are using Minecraft to enjoy their school graduation virtually, in spite of a coronavirus lockdown.
Japanese schools have been closed for over two weeks due to COVID-19 and, with the Japanese school year ending in March, it’s meant many students won’t have their graduation ceremonies, according to SoraNews24.
However, graduates from one elementary school found they could use Minecraft to create their own ceremony. Without any school or parental oversight, kids designed their own assembly hall, and gathered on a server to play out their graduation online.
SoraNews24 translated the following tweets as: “They spent all day online together playing games and laughing. I’m glad they all had fun,” and “The assembly hall is also really well made.”
Minecraft continues to be a great platform for people to let their imagination run free in all sorts of ways. This is just another example of how it’s more than a game for people all around the world.
If you’re stuck at home and are running out of games to play already, Nintendo has you covered. The latest Nintendo Indie World Showcase stream is coming tomorrow, and it’s bringing plenty of information on upcoming Switch games.
Steaming on March 17 at 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET, the Indie World Showcase will last approximately 20 minutes. Nintendo isn’t detailing exactly what to expect during the video, but these events tend to feature rapid-fire announcements from acclaimed indie developers. We’re likely to hear about ports of existing indie games from other systems as well as all-new Switch exclusives.
Nintendo Direct Livestream Start Time
PT: March 17, 10 AM
ET: March 17, 1 PM
GMT: March 17, 5 PM
AET: March 18, 4 AM
During the Indie World Showcase back in December, Nintendo revealed Sports Story, which is a sequel to the acclaimed RPG Golf Story. We also got our first look at Axiom Verge 2, in development by original creator Tom Happ for a Fall 2020 release.
Nintendo could be hoping its presentation satiates fans until Animal Crossing: New Horizons launches March 20. Because the coronavirus has kept many people at home over the last few days and it shows no signs of slowing down, players are calling on Nintendo to release the game early, and a petition is up to more than 14,000 signatures already.
We don’t expect Nintendo to launch the game early, but there is a chance at least a few of the games announced during the Indie World Showcase will be released right after it ends. This sort of surprise is a staple of Nintendo presentations and it would help to make the wait a little easier.
The Witcher is the latest high-profile TV show to be affected by the coronavirus outbreak. It has been announced that production on Season 2 of the popular Netflix fantasy series has been suspended.
As reported by Deadline, The Witcher is the first major TV production that shoots in the UK to close down. Season 2 was in production at Arborfield Studios, 40 miles from London. A source on the production team told Deadline, “We have made the decision, effective immediately, to pause production for two weeks during this difficult time. This will allow everyone the time to make informed decisions about how to move forward.”
This follows Netflix’s decision last week to suspend production on all of its US and Canada-based movies and shows, including Stranger Things. As Deadline notes, productions outside of the US are being assessed on a case-by-case basis.
In addition, a variety of this year’s big upcoming movies have had their releases pushed back or cancelled. The Bond movie No Time To Die and Fast & Furious 9 will now release in November 2020 and April 2021 respectively, while A Quiet Place: Part 2 and Mulan are yet to be given new release dates.
There’s only so much you can do every day in Animal Crossing. Part of the fun of its real-time clock is going to bed wondering what you might wake up to in the morning–how your town might change, who might move in, what special visitor might be there tomorrow. So far, I’ve played Animal Crossing: New Horizons for 80 hours over 17 days, and that anticipation hasn’t yet gone away. While I’ve spent a lot of time developing my island so far, I still feel as if there’s plenty left for me to do and see–there’s a lot in New Horizons to occupy your time with.
Unlike in previous games, you’re not moving to a lived-in town in New Horizons; the island is completely empty when you and two animals arrive as part of Tom Nook’s “getaway package,” save for the tiny airport. There’s no store or museum, all three of you live in tents, and Tom Nook himself operates out of a tent that he shares with his adorable nephews, Timmy and Tommy. Tom Nook clearly expected this whole thing to be a bit more glamorous (or at least popular), and in typical Tom Nook fashion, one of his first actions is to put you to work collecting tree branches and fruit to make a fire pit and drinks for a welcome party.
The party serves as an introduction to the resource-gathering aspect of New Horizons’ new crafting system, but it’s also the first of many endearing moments with the animals. In their high-pitched, sped-up way of talking, their chit-chat centers around friendship and helping one another on the island. One of my villagers played a tambourine, shifting back and forth to his own beat while smiling, while the other sipped juice by the fire. Tommy, the more precious of the Nookling duo, stood by the tent, holding a small flag that seemed to be part of his welcome getup. It feels like a proper community from the start, despite the small population size and total lack of amenities on the island.
The first few days are all about establishing the basics of any other Animal Crossing town, like the museum and Timmy and Tommy’s store, and this sets the stage for crafting. In addition to catching fish and bugs and picking fruit to make money, you also have to spend a good chunk of time at the start gathering resources to craft the furniture requested of you (and, in one case, to build a whole building). Because I wanted to unlock and upgrade things as quickly as possible, I spent hours each day for the first three or four days running around picking weeds, chopping trees for wood, shaking the same trees for branches, hitting rocks for clay, stone, and iron, and selling whatever I couldn’t use to craft for some extra Bells.
It was a bit overwhelming to do all that in the name of fast-tracking my island progression, but generally, crafting fits neatly into Animal Crossing’s established daily chores loop. The act of gathering resources happens simultaneously with the other things I want to do each day–I shake my trees because two of them per day drop furniture instead of fruit or branches, and the branches I do get are a bonus in my search–and actually makes those tasks more lucrative than they were in previous games. Now that I’m past the first few days, I no longer have to go out of my way to get the resources I need to craft the furniture, tools, and other assorted items I want.
You start out with an assortment of crafting recipes, and you can get new ones in a variety of ways that, like resource-gathering, are a natural extension of the existing Animal Crossing formula. You can buy some of them, find new ones most days washed up on the beach (in message bottles with letters attached, of course), or get them from your neighbors, among other methods. Finding a new recipe is an exciting reward for going about your day, because crafting goes beyond furniture and tools–I’ve found some surprising and creative recipes using ingredients I didn’t expect, like a giant teddy bear you can craft using regular teddy bears you might buy from Timmy and Tommy’s store.
Complementing all of this is the Nook Miles program, which is based on real-life travel rewards points. Nook Miles are a separate currency you can use to buy special items and abilities, like new hairstyles and colors you can switch to at a mirror–you can even use Nook Miles to pay off your first loan and get a real house. You get Nook Miles for doing all sorts of things, from getting stung by a wasp to catching 100 fish in a row without failing once. You can even get Nook Miles for shaking furniture from trees, which makes it the third reward for doing something I wanted to do for only the first reward.
The Nook Miles system adds just enough direction if you aren’t sure what to do without being overbearing. So far, I’ve only felt the need to chase the particularly difficult Nook Miles achievements; I’ve gotten most of my Nook Miles just by doing Animal Crossing things and having a nice time, and even though I spend some every day, I still have tons to spare.
New Horizons balances all this with fantastic detail and charm as well as incredibly flexible options for customization and self-expression. This starts with your character. You can actually choose your appearance for the first time in the series, including skin color, and none of the options are locked to gender. In fact, villagers will exclusively refer to players with gender-neutral pronouns–so when a friend visits, your villagers will talk about them instead of him or her. All hairstyles and clothing options are available to anyone, and you can change your face and hair at any time. Dressing up is further improved by a dedicated outfit menu that lets you preview a full outfit rather than switching in and out of clothes until you find something you like. It has never been easier or more enjoyable to express yourself through your character’s appearance in an Animal Crossing game, and I’ve been having a ton of fun trying on goofy outfits and changing my hair to match just because.
Crafting is, naturally, a big part of customization. You can’t craft everything–some kinds of furniture are only available in the shop or found randomly–but there are entire sets of furniture that can only be crafted, and those are largely the pieces that you can further customize with different colors and finishes. At first, I crafted whatever pieces I needed but hadn’t been able to buy, like a mirror, but I ended up styling an entire room around furniture I’d crafted and customized, and it’s currently my favorite room in my house.
More importantly, you can now place furniture pretty much anywhere outside. I found a sandcastle in a tree and put it along my beach; later on I got a beach chair and a beach ball and created a whole scene on one part of the shore. I even crafted a cabin-inspired chair I would never put in my house because it fit the woodsy feel I wanted for the hills on my island, which made me realize how much use I could get out of furniture that isn’t necessarily my style. At this stage, I’ve barely decorated my island, but I already have a lot of ideas.
The same is true for Island Designer, New Horizons’ brand-new terraforming feature. I unlocked it pretty recently, and as a result I haven’t done much of it yet, but the ability to alter your island to fit your grand plans is exciting. So far, I’ve mostly used the path feature, which is a huge improvement on paths in past Animal Crossing games–they’re easy to place and impossible to remove on accident, and you can even dig into certain types of paths. I’ve made flower beds using the dirt path and a brick walkway leading from my airport to the main Resident Services building, where Tom Nook and Isabelle work, and it looks nice.
Animals will even stick to any paths you put down when walking around, which is just one of the little details that make them more lively and endearing. I often stop what I’m doing to watch a villager do their thing. Animals will drink tea or stargaze or try to catch bugs, and some of them will put on reading glasses to read books at home. You can even run into them at the museum, where they’ll comment on the exhibits. Each of these details gives dimension to villagers; I wasn’t sure if I liked Stu, for example, until stumbled upon him singing an adorable song to himself in the middle of town. I watched him for a very long time, and Flurry even walked up and watched him with me. Now they’re my two favorites.
Outside of how cute villagers can be, New Horizons is just beautiful to look at. The museum in particular blew me away; the exhibits are incredibly detailed, and walking through each of them genuinely feels like walking through a real museum. The fossil wing, for example, has lines along the floor that seem to chart evolutionary lines for different animals. Following the lines takes you from one display to the next, and at some points, the camera will even pan to get you a better view of whatever’s on display. The massively improved visuals are just the cherry on top.
After 17 days, my biggest concern is that not much has upgraded in a while. Nook’s Cranny, which usually evolves into a bigger store after around a week in previous games, still hasn’t upgraded. I have that store, the Able Sisters clothing store, and the museum; so far I haven’t met mainstays like Brewster, who runs the coffee shop, or Redd, who sells art of questionable legitimacy. I’m not sure what else there’s left to discover in terms of infrastructure, so I’ll keep playing over the next few days to see what happens.
New Horizons certainly has a slower pace than other Animal Crossing games, partially because you have to work to get things up and running on the island at the start. And while I’m impatient to discover what upgrades might be coming my way (and I need to mess around with Island Designer more), I still feel as though I’ve done a lot on my island. I’ve crafted tons of furniture, upgraded my house seven times, picked thousands of weeds, and done far too many drastic outfit changes. I’m as excited to see what random events await me each morning as I am to decorate my island and make it my own, and that’s sure to keep me coming back for the foreseeable future.
There’s only so much you can do every day in Animal Crossing. Part of the fun of its real-time clock is going to bed wondering what you might wake up to in the morning–how your town might change, who might move in, what special visitor might be there tomorrow. So far, I’ve played Animal Crossing: New Horizons for 80 hours over 17 days, and that anticipation hasn’t yet gone away. While I’ve spent a lot of time developing my island so far, I still feel as if there’s plenty left for me to do and see–there’s a lot in New Horizons to occupy your time with.
Unlike in previous games, you’re not moving to a lived-in town in New Horizons; the island is completely empty when you and two animals arrive as part of Tom Nook’s “getaway package,” save for the tiny airport. There’s no store or museum, all three of you live in tents, and Tom Nook himself operates out of a tent that he shares with his adorable nephews, Timmy and Tommy. Tom Nook clearly expected this whole thing to be a bit more glamorous (or at least popular), and in typical Tom Nook fashion, one of his first actions is to put you to work collecting tree branches and fruit to make a fire pit and drinks for a welcome party.
The party serves as an introduction to the resource-gathering aspect of New Horizons’ new crafting system, but it’s also the first of many endearing moments with the animals. In their high-pitched, sped-up way of talking, their chit-chat centers around friendship and helping one another on the island. One of my villagers played a tambourine, shifting back and forth to his own beat while smiling, while the other sipped juice by the fire. Tommy, the more precious of the Nookling duo, stood by the tent, holding a small flag that seemed to be part of his welcome getup. It feels like a proper community from the start, despite the small population size and total lack of amenities on the island.
The first few days are all about establishing the basics of any other Animal Crossing town, like the museum and Timmy and Tommy’s store, and this sets the stage for crafting. In addition to catching fish and bugs and picking fruit to make money, you also have to spend a good chunk of time at the start gathering resources to craft the furniture requested of you (and, in one case, to build a whole building). Because I wanted to unlock and upgrade things as quickly as possible, I spent hours each day for the first three or four days running around picking weeds, chopping trees for wood, shaking the same trees for branches, hitting rocks for clay, stone, and iron, and selling whatever I couldn’t use to craft for some extra Bells.
It was a bit overwhelming to do all that in the name of fast-tracking my island progression, but generally, crafting fits neatly into Animal Crossing’s established daily chores loop. The act of gathering resources happens simultaneously with the other things I want to do each day–I shake my trees because two of them per day drop furniture instead of fruit or branches, and the branches I do get are a bonus in my search–and actually makes those tasks more lucrative than they were in previous games. Now that I’m past the first few days, I no longer have to go out of my way to get the resources I need to craft the furniture, tools, and other assorted items I want.
You start out with an assortment of crafting recipes, and you can get new ones in a variety of ways that, like resource-gathering, are a natural extension of the existing Animal Crossing formula. You can buy some of them, find new ones most days washed up on the beach (in message bottles with letters attached, of course), or get them from your neighbors, among other methods. Finding a new recipe is an exciting reward for going about your day, because crafting goes beyond furniture and tools–I’ve found some surprising and creative recipes using ingredients I didn’t expect, like a giant teddy bear you can craft using regular teddy bears you might buy from Timmy and Tommy’s store.
Complementing all of this is the Nook Miles program, which is based on real-life travel rewards points. Nook Miles are a separate currency you can use to buy special items and abilities, like new hairstyles and colors you can switch to at a mirror–you can even use Nook Miles to pay off your first loan and get a real house. You get Nook Miles for doing all sorts of things, from getting stung by a wasp to catching 100 fish in a row without failing once. You can even get Nook Miles for shaking furniture from trees, which makes it the third reward for doing something I wanted to do for only the first reward.
The Nook Miles system adds just enough direction if you aren’t sure what to do without being overbearing. So far, I’ve only felt the need to chase the particularly difficult Nook Miles achievements; I’ve gotten most of my Nook Miles just by doing Animal Crossing things and having a nice time, and even though I spend some every day, I still have tons to spare.
New Horizons balances all this with fantastic detail and charm as well as incredibly flexible options for customization and self-expression. This starts with your character. You can actually choose your appearance for the first time in the series, including skin color, and none of the options are locked to gender. In fact, villagers will exclusively refer to players with gender-neutral pronouns–so when a friend visits, your villagers will talk about them instead of him or her. All hairstyles and clothing options are available to anyone, and you can change your face and hair at any time. Dressing up is further improved by a dedicated outfit menu that lets you preview a full outfit rather than switching in and out of clothes until you find something you like. It has never been easier or more enjoyable to express yourself through your character’s appearance in an Animal Crossing game, and I’ve been having a ton of fun trying on goofy outfits and changing my hair to match just because.
Crafting is, naturally, a big part of customization. You can’t craft everything–some kinds of furniture are only available in the shop or found randomly–but there are entire sets of furniture that can only be crafted, and those are largely the pieces that you can further customize with different colors and finishes. At first, I crafted whatever pieces I needed but hadn’t been able to buy, like a mirror, but I ended up styling an entire room around furniture I’d crafted and customized, and it’s currently my favorite room in my house.
More importantly, you can now place furniture pretty much anywhere outside. I found a sandcastle in a tree and put it along my beach; later on I got a beach chair and a beach ball and created a whole scene on one part of the shore. I even crafted a cabin-inspired chair I would never put in my house because it fit the woodsy feel I wanted for the hills on my island, which made me realize how much use I could get out of furniture that isn’t necessarily my style. At this stage, I’ve barely decorated my island, but I already have a lot of ideas.
The same is true for Island Designer, New Horizons’ brand-new terraforming feature. I unlocked it pretty recently, and as a result I haven’t done much of it yet, but the ability to alter your island to fit your grand plans is exciting. So far, I’ve mostly used the path feature, which is a huge improvement on paths in past Animal Crossing games–they’re easy to place and impossible to remove on accident, and you can even dig into certain types of paths. I’ve made flower beds using the dirt path and a brick walkway leading from my airport to the main Resident Services building, where Tom Nook and Isabelle work, and it looks nice.
Animals will even stick to any paths you put down when walking around, which is just one of the little details that make them more lively and endearing. I often stop what I’m doing to watch a villager do their thing. Animals will drink tea or stargaze or try to catch bugs, and some of them will put on reading glasses to read books at home. You can even run into them at the museum, where they’ll comment on the exhibits. Each of these details gives dimension to villagers; I wasn’t sure if I liked Stu, for example, until stumbled upon him singing an adorable song to himself in the middle of town. I watched him for a very long time, and Flurry even walked up and watched him with me. Now they’re my two favorites.
Outside of how cute villagers can be, New Horizons is just beautiful to look at. The museum in particular blew me away; the exhibits are incredibly detailed, and walking through each of them genuinely feels like walking through a real museum. The fossil wing, for example, has lines along the floor that seem to chart evolutionary lines for different animals. Following the lines takes you from one display to the next, and at some points, the camera will even pan to get you a better view of whatever’s on display. The massively improved visuals are just the cherry on top.
After 17 days, my biggest concern is that not much has upgraded in a while. Nook’s Cranny, which usually evolves into a bigger store after around a week in previous games, still hasn’t upgraded. I have that store, the Able Sisters clothing store, and the museum; so far I haven’t met mainstays like Brewster, who runs the coffee shop, or Redd, who sells art of questionable legitimacy. I’m not sure what else there’s left to discover in terms of infrastructure, so I’ll keep playing over the next few days to see what happens.
New Horizons certainly has a slower pace than other Animal Crossing games, partially because you have to work to get things up and running on the island at the start. And while I’m impatient to discover what upgrades might be coming my way (and I need to mess around with Island Designer more), I still feel as though I’ve done a lot on my island. I’ve crafted tons of furniture, upgraded my house seven times, picked thousands of weeds, and done far too many drastic outfit changes. I’m as excited to see what random events await me each morning as I am to decorate my island and make it my own, and that’s sure to keep me coming back for the foreseeable future.
With kids home from school, you may be looking for entertainment that will keep them occupied. Spongebob Squarepants First 100 Episodes on DVD is slashed to $21.49 (was $40), and by the time they make it through every episode, they will probably want to run it back from the beginning.
