Author: Trafficblast

The developers of Call of Duty: Warzone have made another change to the battle royale game that you might not have immediately noticed. Amos Hodge, the creative director at co-developer Raven Software, revealed on Twitter that passengers in vehicles can now use kill streaks.

This is a small but potentially useful change, giving squads another level of strategy to deploy on the battlefield against other teams.

This is just the latest tweak for Warzone, as Hodge previously announced that big armored trucks have been removed from the battle royale game to help even out the vehicle meta. Looking ahead, the developer is planning some changes to money drop rates to help offer more consistency.

In other Warzone news, the Trios battle royale mode is returning this week in a playlist update. The mode was removed when the shotgun/sniper variant came online recently.

Kelsey Beachum, the narrative designer for Outer Wilds, has a new job–she now works for Obsidian, the developer of The Outer Worlds. Yes, we’ve had to triple-check to make sure we’re getting that right.

Beachem, whose work on Outer Wilds was pivotal in it being declared one of the best games of 2019, has not said what game she’ll be working on at Obsidian, but considering that Microsoft wants to turn The Outer Worlds into a franchise, it’s likely that a sequel is being planned.

If you’re still mixing up these two game names, by the way, Beachum has a pair of handing mnemonic phrases for you.

Both games are available now on Xbox Game Pass, as well as PS4 and PC.

Trials of Mana, an extensive 3D remake of the third game in the Mana series, is nearly upon us. In a new interview with Gematsu, producers Shinichi Tatsuke and Masaru Oyamada have given us some further insight into what to expect from the game, including its length and why co-op was cut.

The game, which will use the same characters and story as the original SNES release (which only recently made it to the west as part of the Collection of Mana on Switch), doesn’t feature co-op like the original did. According to Tatsuke, this is because the new third-person camera is used “to enhance the feeling of being immersed in the world,” and couch co-op would ruin that.

“We also considered online multiplayer mode, but in order to do that, we would have had to incorporate additional elements specifically to make it enjoyable for online as well,” he said, explaining that the game is better for focusing on being a single-player experience.

Tatsuke also says that a run-through of the game will take “about 25 to 30 hours,” but because you get to pick your party at the beginning, and there are decisions you can make that impact the storyline, there will be incentive to play through more than once. There are also no plans for DLC, he announced.

Asked about the series’ future, Oyamada said that he’d like to see more Mana games releasing. “Of course, we are considering how we can make that happen,” he said. “But first, I would love to hear what everyone thinks after playing Trials of Mana and what they are looking forward to from the Mana series.”

The full interview is worth a look if you’re anticipating the game, especially if you enjoyed the demo. Trials of Mana will release on Switch, PS4, and PC on April 24.

Thor and X-Men: First Class writer Ashley Edward Miller has come aboard to write the new TV show adaptation of the video game Myst, according to Deadline. Specifically, Miller is writing the pilot and will be the showrunner for the project.

Miller also wrote episodes of Black Sails, Fringe, and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.

As announced previously, Myst’s co-creator Rand Miller and his brother Ryan Miller are producing the TV show, which is being made at the entertainment studio Village Roadshow. Robyn Miller, who co-founded Myst developer Cyan with Rand, is apparently not involved with the show.

Village Roadshow has big plans for Myst, as the company wants to leverage the wider Myst universe to create not only TV shows–scripted and unscripted–but also movies, according to Deadline.

The Myst TV show was announced back in 2014, so it’s been a very long time coming. The show was originally set up at Warcraft and Dead Rising movie studio Legendary before shifting to Village Roadshow.

The original Myst was released back in 1993 and featured one of the earliest attempts to create a photorealistic game–in the process, helping to boost the popularity of CDs, which were still new at the time. In the game, players explored an island that was home to portals to other worlds. Puzzles were scattered throughout the island and these worlds, as were books that contained pleas from a pair of brothers to be set free.

There is no word yet on when the Myst TV show will start production or who will star in it.

After 23 years, the remake of Final Fantasy VII is bringing one of gaming’s most beloved RPGs back to the forefront of discussion. Fans are excited, but if you’ve never played FFVII–or, possibly, any Final Fantasy–you might be wondering what all the hoopla is about when it comes to a guy named Cloud, a woman named Aerith, a dog named Red XIII, and any number of other weird items, elements, and places surrounding the game. Final Fantasy VII is a classic, but if you missed the boat 23 years ago, the situation around the remake might be confusing you.

There are a lot of details for a newcomer to get lost in, outside of FFVII’s dense story and worldbuilding, like how it’s only the first episode of a larger story and how it makes a lot of changes to the original. If everything from the hype to the scope of Final Fantasy VII Remake have you confused, we’re here to help. Here’s everything you need to know, and why you should care.

Final Fantasy VII Is A Classic For A Reason

First and foremost, you want to understand why FFVII is so beloved among so many fans. Part of the explanation is the moment of its release: in 1997, FFVII hit the original PlayStation at the perfect moment. It was a game with a huge, rich story and interesting characters at a moment when storytelling in console games was rarely the focus. It mainstreamed the RPGs of Square Enix (Squaresoft at the time) for a big swathe of players who had never seen or heard of them before.

And it did it with incredibly impressive visuals, using pre-rendered cutscenes and backgrounds that sold the scope of its steampunk-ish world and the emotional depth of its ideas and characters. Final Fantasy VII was a world and a story that a lot of people got lost in, perfectly positioned to leverage the visual technology of the day to make a lot of people say “whoa.” It was so impactful that it catapulted the Final Fantasy franchise into the spotlight and massively increased its popularity. That impact is still felt today, thanks to the power of Final Fantasy VII’s characters and storytelling. Though it came at exactly the right time to be a hit, FFVII endures because of more than just nostalgia–it’s one of the greatest RPGs of all time.

Final Fantasy VII Remake Expands On The Original

Though the full story has been out in the world for the last two decades, the remake isn’t just a retelling of an old game with better graphics. Square Enix has reworked and reimagined Final Fantasy VII from the ground up. It’s not just a visual upgrade–the game also fundamentally reworks the original gameplay systems of Final Fantasy VII, combining old ideas with more modern takes. Where the original FFVII was a variation on turn-based RPGs with all battle commands coming from menus, the remake is more of an action-RPG that uses bits of the original’s systems. The result is an active game where your characters run around the battlefield, executing attacks and pulling off combos, but you can slow the action to issue orders to the rest of your party, or switch characters on the fly to pull off their unique moves. The Remake has some of the feel of the original, but with a more action-packed focus.

This isn’t a straight retelling of the game’s story, either, although the major beats are the same. The Remake takes Final Fantasy VII’s story and expands it significantly, mostly by fleshing out the game’s characters, including secondary players who were part of the narrative but didn’t play an especially huge role. The Remake also does more work in world-building and adds more cutscenes, which help make the villains’ motivations clearer and put emphasis on what the protagonists are thinking and feeling. So in the Remake, you’re getting the same FFVII story, but better told.

But FFVII Remake Is Not The Entire Story

You might have heard confusing information about how much of FFVII the Final Fantasy VII Remake actually covers. It’s important to understand that no, the Remake does not include the entire original game. When it released in 1997, a FFVII playthrough clocked in at roughly 60 hours, and was divided over three game CDs. The Remake covers just a fraction of the total story–it’s maybe eight hours of the game in total, just a portion of what you experience in Disc 1 of the original. Square Enix says it’s not sure how many games the complete saga will eventually span, either.

However, the Remake isn’t just arbitrarily breaking the original into multiple games in order to charge you more for the full story. The story is expanded so much that the Remake functions as a full game unto itself, more akin to the first Mass Effect, which was one complete story but also a part of a larger trilogy. And you’re getting a lot of game for your buck–the average playthrough time for GameSpot team members has been about 40 hours. Yes, this is an episodic version of the FFVII story, but it’s also a bigger, more involved, and better-realized one.

Final Fantasy VII Remake Is A Perfect Entry Point

FFVII was such a big deal in the late 1990s that it spawned a few spin-off games, as well as a CGI movie sequel. It’s a huge, involved story, and that can be intimidating. The Remake might make you feel like you need some essential FFVII knowledge from the original game or the franchise in general.

You don’t, though. The Remake will bring you into the FFVII story as if you were playing the original back in 1997. While this version makes substantial changes, they’re not of the type that will leave you missing out on what other people experienced playing the original–they’ll mostly just enhance it. A few areas from the original game have been fleshed out in the remake, but even some of the weirdest stuff from the original Final Fantasy VII makes it into the modern version, albeit in an updated way.

The point is, you’re getting a great version of FFVII in the remake. The combat is fluid and fun while retaining its tactical sensibilities from the 1990s, but the story is a stronger version of what Final Fantasy VII was attempting to achieve two decades ago. And the presentation is just phenomenal; the visuals help make the world feel more grounded and emotionally impactful, and even the music has been modernized and reimagined to make one of gaming’s classic soundtracks into something even better.

FFVII Remake Makes A Great First Final Fantasy

Big, expansive turn-based RPGs like the elder Final Fantasy games aren’t for everyone. Their turn-based style, massive stories, and deliberate pacing meant they appealed to fans of a certain type, and if you were into more action-centric games, they probably weren’t for you. But for those who’ve always been curious about the Final Fantasy series and have never grabbed one before, FFVII Remake is a great first step.

The Remake captures what’s great about old-school Final Fantasy–deep, expansive world-building and fascinating characters driving lengthy, involved stories–with fewer of the stumbling blocks. If you were put off by dated visuals, blocky characters, turn-based battles, or an excessive amount of text to read, the Remake is the Final Fantasy for you. It’ll show you everything fans love about the franchise.

Bungie, the developer of Destiny 2, has started a new charity initiative in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, and it’s already raised a lot of money. It’s called Guardian’s Heart, and the aim is to raise money for Direct Relief, which focuses on healthcare workers around the world.

The stated goal of Direct Relief is “to improve the health and lives of people affected by poverty or emergencies–without regard to politics, religion, or ability to pay.” It aims to help healthcare workers who are at the frontline of the crisis as the global death toll passes 130,000.

Destiny 2 players can earn themselves a new emblem by making a $20 donation to the charity via Tiltify. You can see the emblem below.

So far, the campaign has raised over $450,000. Only one emblem will be given per email address, regardless of the amount donated.

“We may have to stay home, but there is a lot we can do as a community to support the heroes who are still going out into the world every day to care for the sick,” Bungie’s statement reads. “Guardians have proven to be a tremendous force for good in the world and your generosity in supporting others in the fight against COVID-19 is inspiring. Thank you.”

This is not the first fundraising effort Bungie has engaged with in 2020–they also raised over $1 million for Australian bushfire relief.