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Back at E3 2019, Nintendo ended its Direct live stream with the surprise announcement that The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild would receive a sequel. Since then, any information on the sequel has been kept tightly under wraps, as Nintendo isn’t ready yet to divulge any new details on the game. In a brief update regarding progress on Breath of the Wild 2, Legend of Zelda series producer Eiji Aonuma asked fans to wait “a bit longer.”

“Regarding the sequel, in order to make the vast world you enjoyed exploring in the original game even more impressive, the team is working hard on its development so you’ll have to wait a bit longer before we can provide more updates,” Aonuma said at the beginning of the Hyrule Warriors reveal video.

Breath of the Wild had received downloadable content after it launched, and shortly after the reveal of the sequel, Aonuma explained that the development team simply had “too many ideas” for original content that would be better utilized in a standalone sequel.

“When we released the DLC for Breath of the Wild, we realized that this is a great way to add more elements to the same world. But when it comes down to technical things, DLC is pretty much data–you’re adding data to a preexisting title,” Aonuma said. “And so when we wanted to add bigger changes, DLC is not enough, and that’s why we thought maybe a sequel would be a good fit.”

“Initially we were thinking of just DLC ideas, but then we had a lot of ideas and we said, ‘This is too many ideas, let’s just make one new game and start from scratch.'”

Nintendo does have a Legend of Zelda spin-off arriving soon, in the form of Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity. Developed by Koei Tecmo, Age of Calamity is a prequel set 100 years before Breath of the Wild.

Much like other Koei Tecmo games that are inspired by Dynasty Warriors, players will be able to take control of Link, Zelda, and Hyrule champions Mipha, Revali, Daruk, and Urbosa as they face off against hordes of enemies that Calamity Ganon has unleashed.

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity will launch exclusively for Nintendo Switch on November 20.

While Nintendo continues to work on The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild sequel, Zelda fans itching to get back to Hyrule can pick up a new game this November. Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity releases November 20 on Nintendo Switch. It’s the second game in the Hyrule Warriors spin-off series, but it will actually tell a story that will be of great interest to Breath of the Wild fans. If that sounds up your alley, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity is available to preorder now for $60.

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, as the title suggests, deals with the lead-up to the Great Calamity. As those who played Breath of the Wild know, Ganon changed the foundation of Hyrule 100 years before Link awakens in Breath of the Wild. Age of Calamity will dive into the events that led to that fateful turn for Hyrule.

As a Hyrule Warriors game, you can expect it to be far more action-oriented than mainline Zelda games. If you played the original Hyrule Warriors or Fire Emblem Warriors, you’ll know what to expect here. These crossover games use Dynasty Warriors’ hack-and-slash combat as a foundation with flashy combos and droves of enemies to defeat. While there will be tons of action, there will also be some environmental puzzles to solve across Hyrule.

Nintendo has revealed a bunch of characters you’ll get to play as in Age of Calamity, including Link, Zelda, and the four Champions from Breath of the Wild (Mipha, Daruk, Revali, and Urbosa). Based on the cover art, it also seems that you might be able to play as a tiny Guardian, which sounds pretty cool. Over the course of the story, you’ll unlock new weapons and skills for your heroes. You can also buy items in shops and craft new ones.

Nintendo will re-release the four Champion Amiibo on November 20 as well. It’s safe to say they will interact with the game in some way, though it’s unclear at this time what they will do. You can expect each of the four–Mipha, Daruk, Revali, and Urbosa–to cost $16 each.

A new Zelda spin-off is coming to Nintendo Switch this November, Nintendo has announced. Titled Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, the game is another Dynasty Warriors-style Zelda adventure developed by Koei Tecmo, and it serves as a prequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

Set 100 years before the events of the Switch launch title, Age of Calamity chronicles the Great Calamity that devastated Hyrule as it unfolded. As in the previous Hyrule Warriors, the game will feature multiple playable characters, each with a unique play style. Players will be able to take control of Link, Zelda, and the four champions of Hyrule–Mipha, Revali, Daruk, and Urbosa–and cut through waves of Ganon’s minions. Along with the aforementioned characters, a small Guardian can be seen among the heroes in the game’s official key art, suggesting it could be playable as well.

In addition to over-the-top battles, Age of Calamity incorporates traditional Zelda elements like puzzles. Players will need to use the Sheikah Slate and other skills to overcome these and other environmental obstacles. Nintendo also says the game features “a robust story that depicts the events, relationships and dramatic moments of the Great Calamity in captivating detail.”

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity is not the Breath of the Wild sequel that was announced back in June 2019. Development on that game is still progressing, series producer Eiji Aonuma confirmed in a video message, although he noted that fans will have to “wait a bit longer” for news about it.

“We mentioned in the June 2019 Nintendo Direct presentation that we had started development on the sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild,” Aonuma said. “Many people around the world are still playing Breath of the Wild, so I’d like to thank all of you from the bottom of my heart. Regarding the sequel, in order to make the vast world you enjoyed exploring in the original game even more impressive, the team is working hard on its development, so you’ll have to wait a bit longer before we can provide more updates.”

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity launches exclusively for Nintendo Switch on November 20. Pre-orders for the game are now live on the Nintendo Switch eShop and at other retailers. Those who pre-order the game digitally will receive an exclusive bonus weapon: the Lucky Ladle.

Nintendo has announced Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, a new game set 100 years before The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and it will be released on Switch on November 20, 2020.

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity will allow players to learn more about Zelda, the four Champions – Mipha, Revali, Urbosa, and Daruk – the King of Hyrule, and more through “dramatic cutscenes as they try to save the kingdom from Calamity.”

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This new game, which is being developed by Koei Tecmo and will let players experience the Great Calamity referenced in Breath of the Wild for themselves, will have “Link, Zelda, and more use their distinct abilities” to take down everything from “barbaric Bokoblins to towering Lynels.”

In addition to Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity supporting local, 2-player co-op, it will also challenge players to solve environmental puzzles, unlock weapons and skills, craft with gathered materials, visit shops to obtain items, and use the power of the Sheikah Slate.

If you choose to pre-order Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, you will receive the Lucky Ladle as an in-game bonus weapon for Link.

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in 2014, Nintendo released the original Hyrule Warriors, a Musou-style game similar to the Dynasty Warriors franchise, and it featured many characters and enemies from the long history of The Legend of Zelda series. It was released on Switch in 2018 and, in our review of Hyrule Warriors, we said it “Surprisingly, Hyrule Warriors does a good job of tying together the combat of Dynasty Warriors and the revered characters and lore of the Legend of Zelda series in a way that makes me feel powerful in a world I love. Character customization adds unique flavor to the simple combat, and the satisfying weapons, rewards, and story make it a fun alternative to the typically serious Zelda games.”

Eiji Aonuma, producer on the Legend of Zelda series, did mention that fans looking for new updates on Breath of the Wild 2 will have to “wait a bit longer,” so hopefully this new experience will make that wait a little easier.

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Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

If you think announcing a next-gen console in the middle of the night due to leaks is wild, just imagine what else we have cooking… 😉 https://t.co/mredAtbxB4

— Marty Hess (@martyhess) September 8, 2020

Second Extinction is Robert Muldoon’s dream game. Jurassic Park’s resident dino wrangler would probably love nothing more than to shoulder a heavy automatic weapon and go HAM on all of the dinosaurs who ate him. But I digress… Second Extinction, in fact, plays somewhat like a PvE Evolve with some Dino Crisis thrown in there to boot – it’s three of you on a giant map trying to accomplish a mission and extract safely from an Earth that’s been overrun by prehistoric beasts. But instead of another player controlling a giant, evolving monster, you and your two friends will battle literally hundreds of super dinosaurs who have zero intention of relinquishing control over the planet. It’s an arcade-y shooter akin to a popcorn film, meaning it’s a good time with friends that’s fun, but whose long-term viability remains to be seen.

I know that Evolve is a tainted word for a lot of people in the gaming community, but its gameplay itself was never the problem, and so I hope you’ll forgive the comparison. Like Evolve, you choose a character class, a loadout, and finally an insertion point into a particular region. You won’t know exactly where the mission objective is; you’ll only have a few points on the map that are suspected leads. And different areas have different threat levels, too, so choosing where to drop into this dino crisis is crucial; if you end up choosing poorly, you’ll have to traverse a whole lot of map – and shoot a whole bunch more angry dinosaurs – to get where you need to go.

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And once you land on the surface, it won’t be long before the action starts. The large, evil lizards will come from all directions. Each class has a primary weapon and a secondary, and ammo is scarce. Or at least, it was when I played as Rosy, the heavy who packs a giant minigun that chews through bullets. Thankfully, anyone in your party can call down equipment and/or ammo reinforcements at any time to restock not just your guns but your grenades and health kits too. You’ve each also got a special ability that’s on a cooldown. With Rosy, I chose an air strike, thinking it would be useful. And boy would I be proven right. But we’ll get to that.

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But the real fun comes from the random encounters. You might come to a cave. Clear it out and there might be some extra rewards – rewards, by the way, which you’ll use towards weapon upgrades later for your next match. You might also run into a big angry T-rex along the way, who is only vulnerable in a glowing white sac under its neck. It takes a lot of time to kill, and that’s assuming all three players have (wisely) decided to stick together. The other, smaller dinosaurs don’t politely stop attacking while the T-rex runs rampant, of course, so you’ll have your hands full. But bringing that beast down – with the help of Rosy’s air strike ability – felt incredibly satisfying.

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Second Extinction is heading into Early Access in October, and while it’s fun, it definitely still needs work. My biggest complaint so far is that bullets don’t really feel very impactful. You just point at the dinosaurs and hold the trigger down until the targeting reticle turns red (or, in the case of my minigun, the gun overheats). The enemies don’t convey much of a sense of damage being taken. I’m also a bit concerned about the long tail on this thing. Yes, you collect resources during matches that lead to upgrade tokens (which themselves can be rearranged to change your play style), but it remains to be seen if Second Extinction will be able to offer enough outside of its enjoyable core gameplay loop. Here’s hoping the development team at Systemic Reaction brings out its game’s fullest potential over time.

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Ryan McCaffrey is IGN’s Executive Editor of Previews. Follow him on Twitter at @DMC_Ryan, catch him on Unlocked, and drop-ship him Taylor Ham sandwiches from New Jersey whenever possible.

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If you somehow missed the news last week, Nintendo surprised us all with the official announcement of Super Mario 3D All-Stars, a collection of the first 3 Super Mario 3D games: Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine, and Super Mario Galaxy.

All three games in one package is sweet enough, but there’s more. To celebrate 35 years of Mario-y goodness, Nintendo is also releasing a limited edition set of collectible, enamel Mario pins. You can’t just run out and buy them, either. Well, that’s not totally, true, some of the designs have been released before, but to get the full Super Mario Bros. pin set, you need to complete Mario missions. The good news is the missions are pretty easy to complete, and if you’ve already preordered Super Mario 3D All-Stars, you’re 1/6th of the way.

How to Get the Super Mario Bros. Pin Set

The first thing you need to do is have a Nintendo account. If you don’t have one, it’s pretty standard stuff, but to make progress in the missions, you’ll need to both have an account and be logged in when you visit the websites and use the Mario Kart app. Also, on the missions page, make sure you click over to the “Missions” tab (default is the “Rewards” tab).

After you’re logged in, there are several steps to secure your pin set, but there’s no order in which you have to complete them. The most time-sensitive of the missions is to race in the Super Mario Kart tour in the Mario Kart app for either iOS or Android. That tour unlocks at 2:00 AM ET on September 9 and runs through September 23 at 1:59 AM. If you don’t have the app, the good news is it’s free and it’s actually pretty fun. Run through the first cup to get yourself ready for the Super Mario Kart tour, and you’re quite literally off to the races.

The rest of the steps are a cinch: go ahead and visit SuperMario35.com and boom: you’ve completed a mission.

After that, take the Super Mario quiz to flex your knowledge of 35 years of Mario. There’s an “Easy” and a “Hard” quiz, but if you’re reading this article, you almost certainly won’t have any problems with the harder version (it’s not that hard).

You also need to download a “This Is My Mario” image. To find yours, go to the History section of the Mario page, scroll down below the video to the timeline between the two warp pipes. From there, select your favorite, scroll down a bit more and you’ll see a candy-red “This Is My Mario!” button below the screenshot from whichever game you decided on. Click that bad-boy and you’ve completed another mission.

 

Now go and visit the Super Mario 3D All-Stars music player page to complete your next mission. If you’re unaware, 3D All-Stars comes with a music player, so you can listen to over 150 tracks from Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine and Super Mario Galaxy. The sample page has just 6 tracks, two from each game, but they’re delightful none the less. Once you’ve listened to the music, you’ve completed the mission.

The next mission requires you to have Mario Kart installed on a mobile device and you need to be logged in with your Nintendo Account. Simply race in the Super Mario Kart tour, which opens up tonight. Again, this is the most time-sensitive of all the missions, because the tour ends on September 23.

Finally, you’ll need to have purchased a copy of Super Mario 3D All-Stars and claim your Gold Points on your Switch before March 31. According to Nintendo, “this mission will not be processed or marked as complete until the game’s launch day,” which is September 18.

Where to Preorder Super Mario 3D All-Stars

You can preorder your copy of Super Mario 3D All-Stars from the following retailers:

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Super Mario Bros. Pin Set Missions, TL;DR Edition

Here are the required steps to complete all the missions to earn the Super Mario Bros. pin set:

• Have, and be logged into, your Nintendo account while doing the missions
• Visit SuperMario35.com before December 22, 2020
• Take the Super Mario quiz before March 31, 2021
• Download your “This Is My Mario!” image before March 31, 2021
• Visit the Super Mario 3D All-Stars page and listen to the music player before March 31, 2021
• Race in the Super Mario Kart tour on the Mario Kart mobile app before September 22, 2020
• Buy a copy of Super Mario 3D-All Stars and claiming your Gold Points on your Switch before March 31, 2021

What Is the Time Limit for the Super Mario Pin Set?

All the missions, with two exceptions, need to be completed before March 31. You’ll need to visit SuperMario35.com BEFORE December 22, and participate in the Super Mario Kart tour BEFORE September 22.

I’ve Done the Super Mario Pin Missions, But They’re Not Showing Up as Completed

You absolutely need to ensure you’re logged into your Nintendo account, and it will have to be the same across all three platforms. In other words, you need to use the same account on your Switch you use on the website, and you need to link the Mario Kart app to the same Nintendo account, as well. This is crucial! If you’re not logged in when you do the missions, your progress doesn’t count.