Teamfight Tactics, an Auto Chess spin-off from League of Legends, is having a huge month. Along with making a full debut on Android, Riot is shaking things up in the next big patch, Galaxies.
Similar to the previous re-haul, Rise of the Elements, Galaxies is replacing everything. The new set will include all-new champions, traits, skins, boards, Little Legends, and whole new mechanics. These changes have been made with the previous sets in mind, as the developers are looking to learn from each change and make every game feel a little bit different.
Each game will take place in a different galaxy and feature a randomized set of rules. These rules can be as small as changing the number of items players can buy initially, up to allowing players to purchase four-star champions on round one. How these small or big changes will affect the gameplay is completely random, with no two games playing out the same way. Players will have to decide how to play based on the rulesets and galaxy boards they are presented with at the start of each game.
New classes, traits, and boards also add to the chaos of Galaxies, with new traits on champion characters meaning that veteran players will have to consider new tactics. Some classes will also receive subclasses with this update, and champions will gain new abilities that can shake up the gameplay in a major way. Elemental hexes have also been buffed, with additional hexes being added to the game boards alongside the ones from Rise of the Elements.
Teamfight Tactics: Galaxies launches mid-March on PC with the Galaxies Pass+, a season pass that grants access to the Galaxies set. The free Galaxies Pass will feature some rewards and missions as well.
With Modern Warfare’s standalone free-to-play game, Warzone, Activision is pushing deeper into the battle royale space, and the impact for Activision could be massive. Not only that, but if successful, Warzone could potentially impact and influence the entire video game industry.
In a new video, Eddie Makuch looks into how Activision is trying to have its cake and eat it too with Warzone. Activision will continue to release big new Call of Duty games that it charges $60 for every year, on top of making even more money from Warzone (and this is to say nothing of the huge amount of money that Call of Duty: Mobile brings in every month).
But some questions remain. If Warzone sparks fire and catches on, is Activision running the risk of cannibalizing future Call of Duty games? Will Warzone’s free-to-play label change how fans view the franchise? Will Activision release a new battle royale game for the franchise’s yearly instalments? Check out the full video above to learn more about the situation.
Yokai powers are the most significant new addition to combat in Nioh 2. As a half-Yokai human known as a Shiftling, you can leverage your supernatural abilities in a couple of ways to give you an edge during the game’s toughest battles. But all of this may be confusing to you early on. After all, Nioh 2 isn’t shy about throwing a ton of tutorials your way the moment you begin.
Below we break down the essential things you need to know about Yokai powers in Nioh 2, including details about Yokai Shift forms, Spirit Cores, and Guardian Spirits. For more Nioh 2 tips, be sure to read our essential beginner’s guide. Also, be on the lookout for our Nioh 2 review in the coming days.
Yokai Shift
As to be expected, your primary Yokai ability is to turn into one! Known as the Yokai Shift, this form grants you devastating power for a limited time. It’s similar to Nioh 1’s Living Weapon form but is greatly expanded. There are three Yokai Shift forms in total–Brute, Feral, and Phantom–and the form you can become depends on the Guardian Spirit you equip.
In terms of capability, none of the Yokai Shift forms have inherent weaknesses. Instead, their abilities suit specific tastes. To quickly summarize each form’s strengths: Brute is proficient for those big on inflicting powerful melee damage, Feral is fantastic for scrappy hit-‘n-run tactics, and Phantom is for more ranged, defensive-minded Onmyo Magic players.
I chose Feral, as it works well with my twitchier Devil-May-Cry-and-Bloodborne-action-game background. So if that sounds appealing, then that Yokai Shift form may be for you. However, if you’re predominantly a heavy-weapon user in Soulsborne games, then I can see Brute’s arsenal of hard-hitting special attacks being ideal. On the other hand, Phantom is all about controlling the space between you and enemies, sporting attacks with more reach, and an ability that allows you to throw a projectile and teleport to your foe–perfect for fans of zoning in fighting games.
Guardian Spirits
At the start, you have the choice between three Guardian Spirits, which each has an associated Yokai Shift form. Your options are Makami the wolf (Brute), Ame-no-Mitori the bird (Feral), or Kagewani the shark (Phantom).
Aside from dictating the Yokai Shift form you take, Guardian Spirits also yield unique Special Effects that buff your character’s stats in varying ways. For example, Makami decreases your melee attack Ki consumption, increases your final blow damage, enhances your Yokai ability damage, and improves your resistance to fire. For a full rundown of a Guardian Spirit’s special effects, hop into the respective menu in the pause screen. During the opening tutorial, you can always backpedal your choices to check out the Special Effects, as well as practice the Guardian Spirit’s Yokai Shift form abilities.
Don’t sweat the choice too much, though. You do get more Guardian Spirits the further you progress, so you’ll ultimately find one that suits you even better. And the more you get, the more Yokai Shift forms you’ll have at your disposal, so you’re not locked into one form for the rest of the game. Though it’s worth considering the impact of choosing the bird Guardian Spirit, Ame-no-Mitori early on.
Yokai Burst Counter
While the abilities of the three Yokai Shift forms subtly vary, they all share one core essential: Yokai Burst. When timed correctly, this technique can interrupt and counter special enemy attacks imbued with red energy, leaving them open to attack. The timing varies withn the enemy, but try to execute it just as its attack is about to hit.
It’s also worth noting that the Yokai Shift form you choose has its own unique Yokai Burst maneuver and timing. Brute form has a backhand attack that covers a small space in front of you, Feral form has a rush attack/quick dash maneuver, and Phantom puts up a shield in a stationary defensive position. Whichever Yokai Shift form you choose, make sure to practice using it often against the different enemy types.
Yokai Burst is a significant pillar of Nioh 2’s combat and can quickly turn the tide of a tough encounter when used correctly. Be mindful that the maneuver consumes Anima energy–the purple gauge below your Ki–so avoid unnecessarily spamming it.
Soul Cores
Aside from Yokai Shift, your Yokai powers also manifest in Soul Cores. Special items collected from bosses and powerful enemy Yokai, Soul Cores grant you powerful attack abilities. You can equip up to two at a time, so long as you have enough capacity to attune it to your Guardian Spirit. Each has a unique attack attached; for example, the Enki Soul Core quickly turns you into the monkey Yokai as you throw a spear at an enemy.
Soul Cores consume a lot of Anima energy when performed, so try to be smart about when you choose to unleash them in battle. Steadily deliver damage, and you should earn another Soul Core use in no time. Soul Core abilities are recommended in the Dark Realm, where you’re Ki regeneration is handicapped, and your Anima recharges faster.
When you obtain any Soul Core, prioritize returning to a nearby Shrine to purify it, as you can lose any in your possession if you die and fail to retrieve your Guardian Spirit grave. It’s possible to collect multiple Soul Cores of the same type, which you can fuse at a shrine to increase the potency of its Special Effects. Like most things in Nioh 2, it’s always good to consolidate, so make sure to use Soul Fusion often to improve your Soul Core power. Otherwise, you can use Resting Rites to dispose of any unwanted duplicates cluttering your inventory.
In Conclusion
Yokai powers seem overwhelming at first, but with enough time and practice, they’ll naturally become a part of your attack repertoire. You’re encouraged to use them frequently, so make sure they are front of mind at all times, especially during a tough encounter. If you’d like to practice using your Yokai powers, I highly suggest jumping into the Training Ground from the Starting Point on the world map. There you can transform and remain in Yokai Shift form to get the hang of its attacks and abilities without worrying about a time-limit.
And with that, I’ve imparted all of my Yokai power wisdom to you. Now, go! Let the legend come back to life!
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A new game focused on learning other languages, Trancelation, releases for Switch on March 13. It’s an arcade-style title that gamifies the learning process, and publisher Baltoro Games has given early adopters a few incentives to purchase the game.
Nintendo Life is reporting that if you grab the game on Switch before March 16, you’ll be able to download an extra four games for free. They’re not the most high-profile games on the system, but they’ll be yours to keep. The four games up for grabs at Freecell Solitaire Deluxe, Pizza Bar Tycoon, 2048 Battles, and Flowlines VS.
While Trancelation carries an RRP of $10, it will be discounted by 30% at launch, costing $7. So that’s $7 for five games–we haven’t reviewed any of them, but if you want to bulk out your Switch collection, it could be a good deal.
Ori and the Blind Forest was a delight in 2015–a tough-as-nails combination of a metroidvania structure and Meat Boy-like demands with a surprising amount of heartfelt heft. Five years later, Moon Studios’ followup, Ori and the Will of the Wisps, is every bit as graceful and lovely as its predecessor, even if some of the emotional beats and exploration feel a little less novel the second time around.
Will of the Wisps picks up almost immediately where Blind Forest left off, with Ori’s patchwork family unit welcoming a new member, the owlet Ku. The family is happy and loving, but Ku wants to fly and Ori wants to help her. Soon the two are swept off in a gale to a new forest deep with rot, which begins the adventure in earnest.
Because this setting is disconnected from the one in Blind Forest, the geography is new, yet familiar. The painterly imagery is comforting, especially in the opening hours as you explore similar biomes. They’re beautifully rendered again, but a little samey if you’ve played the first game. After a while, Will of the Wisps opens up to more varied locales, like an almost pitch-black spider’s den or a windswept desert. The theme throughout the story is the encroachment of the Decay, a creeping evil that overtook this neighboring forest after its own magical life tree withered. But if it’s meant to be ugly, you wouldn’t know it from many of the lush backgrounds–especially in the case of a vibrant underwater section. Ori is often swallowed up by these sweeping environments, emphasizing just how small the little forest spirit is compared to their massive surroundings.
Ori’s suite of acrobatic moves makes delving into new areas a thrilling treat. Exploration becomes especially engaging as you unlock more abilities and become increasingly adept. Some of them are lifted directly from the first game, which can be disappointing next to the excitement of discovering a shiny new ability. Still, those old standbys still work well and make the improvisational leaps and bounds feel as great as ever.
The picturesque vistas seem to be pushing the hardware hard, however. Playing on an Xbox One X, I encountered visual glitches like screen freezes on a semi-regular basis, and the map would stutter. Usually these were a simple nuisance, but once in a while it would come mid-leap and throw off my sense of momentum and direction. A day-one patch significantly reduced the freezing and fixed the map issue altogether.
While Ori is ostensibly a metroidvania, Will of the Wisps is less focused on exploration and backtracking than is typical for the genre. Your objectives are usually clear, straight lines, and shortcuts littered throughout the environments get you back to the main path quickly. Most of the wanderlust comes in the form of plentiful sidequests, like delivering a message or finding a knick-knack for a critter. There’s even a trading chain. Eventually you open up a hub area that can be built into a small community for the forest denizens. These upgrades are largely cosmetic, so it’s mostly a visual showcase of having collected the specialized items used for it. The sidequests are almost entirely optional. I was glad for the freedom to pursue the critical path without artificial barriers, but I also plan to go back and plumb the depths simply to spend more time in the world.
The reduced emphasis on exploration seems to have been replaced by a major expansion of combat. Rather than the passing nuisance of the occasional enemy, Will of the Wisps introduces myriad threats that are a near-constant presence. Thankfully, the combat system has been overhauled to match the elegance of the platforming. The story progress provides a sword and bow, with other optional weapons for purchase, and you can map any combat moves to X, Y, or B. The combat does take some getting used to, though, in part because it’s built to work in conjunction with Ori’s nimble moves. While I felt awkward and imprecise in combat at the start, slashing my sword wildly at even the mildest of monsters, my comfort level grew as I gained new platforming skills. Around the mid-game I realized I had become adept at stringing together platforming and combat skills, air-dashing and bounding between threats with balletic rhythm and barely touching the ground until the screen had been cleared.
That level of finesse is necessary, because Ori and the Will of the Wisps introduces a series of massive boss battles, each more complex than anything in Blind Forest. Their attack patterns are often signaled by barely perceptible tells. Most of the time, the boss fills up a significant portion of the interactable foreground, and even more of the background–but this can make it frustratingly difficult to tell what is and isn’t vulnerable to your attacks, or what parts will do crash damage. This all makes defeating them feel like a relief and accomplishment, though sometimes more of the former than the latter.
Likewise, tension-filled escape sequences dot the map, requiring almost perfect precision and execution of your tool set to survive a gauntlet of threats. The game offers occasional checkpoints in these sections, as well as a more generous checkpointing feature around the overworld.
The sprawling bosses and climactic escapes are ways to express a larger, more operatic feel for Will of the Wisps. Blind Forest was a humble little game that told an intimate, relatable fable. Wisps has a grander, sweeping scope, and in the process it loses some of that intimacy. It still has moments with emotional heft, both exhilarating and heartbreaking, and Moon Studios still has a way of expressing an incredible degree of wordless emotion with subtle moments of body language.
The story in Will of the Wisps is often darker, and even its touching moments are more bittersweet. The chief antagonist, an owl named Shriek, is similar to the first game’s Kuro in having suffered a tragedy in the past. But how the story addresses that tragedy is significantly sadder, and stands as a moment of haunting animation that will stay with me more than any other single image from the game. Even the moments of finality that end the story, while appropriately heroic and hopeful, are tinged with quiet sadness and inevitability–the sense that everything ends.
That finality could signal that this is the last Ori game, a farewell to the fantastical world and memorable characters that made Moon Studios such a standout developer from its very first effort. If that is the case, you could hardly ask for a better send-off. Ori and the Will of the Wisps is a remarkable synthesis of artful design and beautiful moments.
Call of Duty’s new battle royale game, Warzone, is out now. As expected, the game’s developers–Infinity Ward and Raven Software–plan to support the game for some time to come.
Publisher Activision said in a press release that the developers have a “ton of content plans and live events” to come for Warzone. These new offerings aim to to “keep fans guessing and ready to experience new thrills.”
Warzone and Modern Warfare share the same Battle Pass and microtransaction offerings, but it’s unclear if Warzone will receive different content and updates in the future separate from Modern Warfare. That would seem likely, but nothing is confirmed at this point.
Warzone is a squads-only battle royale game, though if you select “don’t fill” at the menu screen, you can drop in solo–this is a bad idea, however. In other news, Infinity Ward has reduced the player count requirement to start a Warzone match, which should help you find games more quickly.
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One of the most important deaths in the Batman mythos, the death of second Robin Jason Todd in #428, almost didn’t happen. In 1988, in the lead-up to Jason Todd’s death, readers were able to vote on whether or not the divisive character should survive a beating from the Joker (followed by the explosion of the building he was in), and the fans ultimately voted for his death.
Now, Polygon has gotten an exclusive look at the original alternate pages that were created in case the poll had swung the other way, revealing how Batman would have handled Jason Todd’s survival. If Todd had survived the Death in the Family arc, as it turns out, DC still had a way to keep him off the pages for the foreseeable future.
Head to Polygon to see the pages that were not printed. In them, a jubilant Batman discovers that Todd is alive, but badly hurt. Batman quickly removes his costume and wraps him in a towel so as to hide his identity as they go to the hospital. In a single later panel, Bruce visits Jason in the hospital–he’s in a coma, and Bruce says that it’s up to “the boy’s own recuperative powers” whether or not he pulls through.
This essentially means that the comics could have continued on, as they did, with Jason Todd’s survival not affecting the course of the arcs that followed until D.C. decided to wake him from his coma. That’s not what happened, however, and instead Todd died.
DC received 10,614 calls about Jason Todd’s fate, with the decision to kill him coming down to a margin of 72 votes. Todd would famously return in 2005 as the Red Hood, having been revived by Superboy-Prime altering reality (which is to say, some comic book nonsense).
Batman will return to cinema screens in 2021, seemingly without Robin, in Matt Reeves’ The Batman. Here’s our first look at the new Batmobile.
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According to Dylan Gafner, Community Manager at Bungie, the latest content expansion for Destiny 2, Season of the Worthy, will only add a single new ritual weapon to the game. The new ritual weapon can become unlockable once Iron Banner returns to the activity rotation.
Season of the Worthy contains a single ritual weapon, reserved for the Iron Banner. You’ll learn more about this reward before the first Iron Banner of the season.
Season of the Worthy runs from March 10 to June 9, with all new story elements, activities,and plenty of loot to earn.
Along with the ritual weapon in Iron Banner, Trials of Osiris will also have some higher tier rewards. Players who can make it through multiple rounds of competitive play without losing a match–considered one of the hardest things to achieve in Destiny 2–will be rewarded with high-tier loot. Players without the Season Pass will still be able to compete in Trials if they are at power level 960 or higher.
Season of the Worthy is out now for Season Pass holders on PS4, Xbox One, and PC. You can purchase the Season Pass in the Eververse store in-game.
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It’s the sounds of the prisoners that let you know something isn’t right. No matter how hard you struggle, the guards succeed in dragging you into the damp confines of the mysterious prison, where you’re thrown into a room with several others. The first person that approaches you greets you with a swift punch to the neck. Thankfully, despite the spray of blood and reddening of your vision, it doesn’t really hurt. But you don’t have a chance to retaliate because the first blow invited others over and now you’re enduring the onslaught of half a dozen fists, not two. There are no words of warning or explanation as to what’s happening beyond a message welcoming you to Call of Duty: Warzone‘s Gulag.
As your beating continues, you manage to sneak a peek at a few other souls staring out through barred windows. Another poor sap is thrown into The Gulag and your tormentors turn to them instead, allowing you a moment of respite to see what the others are looking at. Below you is a short hallway. Pillars are haphazardly placed throughout the space, with small piles of crumbling rubble scattered in between. It only takes a second to identify the structures as cover, the echo of bullets ricocheting off the tile clueing you into their purpose. Two soldiers are having a shootout below–both egged on by the onlookers who are pelting the duo with rocks.
In a few moments, one falls and the crowd throws out a few more rocks in the form of cheers–another body has been fed to The Gulag. Suddenly, two of your neighbors disappear, only to appear below on opposing sides. The two run at each other and once again the sounds of bullets reverberate through the air. More rocks are thrown and the mob’s horrific welcome has transitioned to yet another newbie who thought they were safe by hiding in the corner, and then another body falls dead down below. This pattern continues until it happens to be your turn.
This is The Gulag, one of four methods of respawning in Call of Duty: Warzone, a free-to-play CoD battle royale game. Getting a chance to respawn in a battle royale game isn’t a brand-new concept for the genre–Apex Legends introduced the idea in February 2019 and Fortnite quickly copied it. But The Gulag might be the best take on a respawn mechanic in a battle royale game yet.
If your first death in Warzone happens early enough in the match, you’re treated to the experience described above. You get a cutscene (which you can skip) where you’re dragged into The Gulag and then thrown into a waiting area. Here, you can mercilessly melee other players (which plenty do with seemingly sick satisfaction) or watch the 1v1 duel going on below, with the option of throwing rocks at the competitors. The Gulag only supports one duel at a time so you have to wait your turn. When it is, you and your opponent face off using identical sets of gear–the winner is respawned back into the match while the loser must wait for their teammates to earn enough in-match cash to buy them out of purgatory.
The Gulag is basically Gunfight, perhaps Modern Warfare’s most adrenaline-pumping mode. It’s fun, fast, and nerve-wracking. Winning is as much about luckily spotting your opponent first as it is skillfully finding good places to hide. It’s a satisfying activity to both watch and play while your teammates are still fighting, as opposed to just spectating your squad after you expire. Plus, it encourages you to drop hot at the start of a match–if you have bad luck and just can’t find a good weapon, you have a chance to respawn yourself if you’re gunned down. You’re not punished for your decision.
But best of all, The Gulag adds a terrifying twist to the battle royale formula. In games like Apex Legends and Fortnite, you know that once a squad is gone, they are gone for good. Without anyone left alive to keep fighting, the squad cannot respawn. Thanks to The Gulag, this is not always necessarily the case in Warzone.
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Call Of Duty: Warzone – Battle Royale Trailer
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In Warzone, wiping a squad could mean you’re safe. It could mean you have a chance to relax and go back to looting. It could mean your squad has successfully secured three kills. But it could also mean that all three of the people you just killed are being sent to The Gulag. And perhaps one of them wins. Maybe all three do. And now they’re all parachuting back into the game, with a marker letting them know where they died and where you probably still are.
Because of the threat that The Gulag creates, Warzone has something that no battle royale has, so far, managed to capture: the fear of revenge. Just because you defeat someone in Warzone, it doesn’t mean they’re out for good, so now you don’t just have to worry about a nearby squad hearing your scuffle and moving in to attack, you also have to consider the possibility of the squad you just killed ambushing you in order to reclaim the loot and cash you stole from them.
It’s a delightful wrinkle to the battle royale game formula and one I hope inspires a trend in the genre going forward. Other battle royale games don’t need a Gulag per se, but giving players an additional consideration while they continue to fight and move about the map–like that of retaliation–is a fun prospect.
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