Category: Games

Anyone who has played a Story of Seasons game before knows the plot of Pioneers of Olive Town: an enterprising young 20-something escapes the bustle of city life and takes over their grandfather’s old, dilapidated farm outside of a small, rural village that’s struggling to keep its inhabitants entertained. To turn things around you grow crops, raise animals, talk to the townsfolk, and repeat. Pioneers of Olive Town isn’t trying to change that, but it adds a huge amount of land to manage and crafting mechanics to work with, and that fleshes out that familiar loop into a full, pleasant take. For those of us who have been playing Stardew Valley non-stop for the last five years, it’s a much-needed refresh.

Pioneers of Olive Town is stuffed with things to do, and while the seasons pass rather slowly, I was surprised at how much I was packing into a day – as well as how much more I still wanted to do at the end of each one. At any given point you’re working toward rebuilding a structure, clearing a new segment of land, planning another excursion into one of multiple mines, saving for the purchase of a new tool upgrade, trying to finish a quest to develop the town, and trying to get the cute girl who works at the museum to come take a walk on the beach with you. It’s pretty standard stuff for the most part.

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The most dramatic differences separating Olive Town and prior Story of Seasons games are the materials and crafting systems, and the sheer scope of the farmland you have to clear. The former borrows heavily from (surprise!) Stardew Valley, teaching you new crafting recipes as you level up various skills like mining, fishing, and logging. This includes a number of recipes for machines that will convert materials into other materials, such as wood into lumber or ore into bars.

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But there are simply too many of these! Some of them even perform very similar functions, like the Maker machines that convert thread into cloth but then entirely separate ones to turn wool into, well, different cloth. Or the separate machines for converting rice and beans into powders, converting herbs into seasonings, and salt and pepper into spices. I could have done without, like, half of these machines, especially since by the time I was a few seasons in, half my farm looked like an industrial district between all the machines I had running at once and all the storage boxes I had to set up to keep all their products organized for when I would inevitably need them to build something. Story of Seasons would be much improved if growing your farm didn’t necessitate something like a fourth of each in-game day playing an entirely different management sim instead of the actual farming sim I wanted to play.

It’s a hassle to have to fuss with machines instead of all the other, far more fun bits, like exploring the enormous farm I’d inherited. As with prior games in the series, Story of Seasons starts you with a small, overgrown bit of land that you will slowly clear of trees, rocks, and grass with tools like an axe, a hammer, and a scythe. You’ll also repair dilapidated structures, like a chicken coop, using the materials you get from clearing the land (and, later, from running those materials through like 20 different machines). Early on, the stretch of land you start with seems like plenty to deal with and certainly enough space to farm in.

Then, you’ll repair the bridge.

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Crossing the bridge to the southwest of your farm reveals a plot of land twice as big, equally overgrown, and with new run-down structures of its own to repair. And there are even more sections of land beyond that. Look, the farm is just huge, okay? By the time you repair the horse stable, you’ll need the horse to get you back and forth across the stretches to do your daily chores. That means plenty of space to build and grow whatever you want, including crafting ridiculous decorations like, I kid you not, a giant topiary cow.

The size does unfortunately make it obvious that Story of Seasons is struggling to run at a steady framerate, especially when you’re running across an area with a lot of things on screen. And the farm’s scale can become time-consuming later on because puddles, weeds, and trees grow back quickly. If you want to keep the land clear, you’ll be spending a lot of time running over your entire farm hammering down unwanted sprouts. The worst offenders are puddles and even larger ponds, which appear in abundance each time it rains and require repeated, tedious use of a bucket to drain if you want your space back.

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But the size mostly works in its favor, as you’ll need all that space for your hundred or so converter machines, but also for crop growing and animal grazing. And it’s just fun to explore these new areas too, because each new section you unlock includes new forageable items, new materials for building, new buildings to remodel. Plus, each season brings new adorable roaming animals that you can eventually tame and add to your barn and coop. A highlight of my entire playthrough was unlocking new areas, discovering the embarrassment of riches waiting for me within, and delighting even seasons later in new roaming animals like a goofy brown cow and the dumbest, cutest-looking rabbit I’ve ever seen, ready to be tamed.

It’s a good thing the days in Pioneers of Olive Town are long, because tending to your farm is only half the job and there really is just piles to do each day. Olive Town itself is sizable and will grow with new shops and activities as you complete quests for the town’s mayor. For example, you’ll unlock a salon with a wide array of customization options that will grow even more over time. Delightfully, all options are available to every character, regardless of your gender selection.

Olive Town’s residents may not seem like much when you initially speak to them. Most of them will make similar comments about whatever event is nearest on the calendar – so, anticipating the Pet Derby for a few days, then discussing the results of the Pet Derby for the next several days after. It’s unfortunate that the everyday dialogue is so bland, because the cutscenes are where characters really get to shine. There’s clearly been a lot of love put into both the original writing and the localization of some of these scenes, as well as a willingness to lean in and be goofy and tongue-in-cheek on the regular.

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The solid writing extends to the cast of five bachelors and bachelorettes, all of whom have numerous charming interactions with you as you increase their affection toward you with gifts and conversation. The bachelorettes are a bit more diverse in appearances and personalities than the bachelors, but the good news is that if the gents aren’t wooing you effectively you can date the women just as easily, regardless of which gender you’re playing as. Thank the Harvest Goddess that Marvelous did away with “friendship ceremonies” after the remake of Friends of Mineral Town made being as gay as you like a standard for the series.

Microsoft is allegedly in talks to purchase Discord, the gaming-focused chat software, for over $10 billion USD.

As reported by Bloomberg, these discussions appear to be early as there is no imminent deal on the horizon. Furthermore, one source said that, despite these talks, Discord may be more likely to go public than sell itself.

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While Microsoft is one of potential suitors, Discord has also been in discussions with Epic Games and Amazon.

VentureBeat first reported that Discord, the company with roughly 140 million monthly userrs that recently raised $100 million at a $7 billion valuation, was exploring a sale worth more than $10 billion.

Discord was said to be the one who reached out to Microsoft to gauge interest in a potential sale and that Xbox head Phil Spencer has been part of these chats. While purely speculation, it’s important to consider how beneficial having a service like Discord could be for the future of communication on the Xbox platform.

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Xbox and Discord have worked together in the past, as Xbox owners have had the ability to link their Discord accounts to see what their friends are doing.

This acquisition, if it does happen, would bolster Microsoft’s continuing plans to make gaming as easy and accessible for all. It’s strategy is focused on offering its games, especially via Xbox Game Pass, on consoles, PC, and mobile, and having Discord integration could make communicating across all these platforms a much smoother process.

Owning Discord would only strengthen the value of the Xbox brand, which recently completed its $7.5 billion acquisition of ZeniMax Media, the parent company of developers like Bethesda, Arkane, id Software, and more.

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Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to [email protected].

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

Rocket League Season 3 is set to begin on April 7. Ahead of its start, you can catch a first look at what’s coming in Season 3 by jumping into Fortnite for one of its three upcoming music concerts.

On March 26 and 27, Fortnite’s Party Royale Main Stage will host three Kaskade concerts. At the end of each concert, the Rocket League Season 3 trailer will play, detailing what’s coming to the game in April. The concert times are listed below.

Fortnite’s Party Royale Kaskade Concerts

• March 26 at 5 PM PT / 8 PM ET
• March 27 at 6 AM PT / 9 AM ET
• March 27 at 11 AM PT / 2 PM ET

Ahead of the start of Season 3, the Fortnite-themed Llama-Rama event is returning to Rocket League. Llama-Rama will begin on March 25 at 9 AM PT / 12 PM ET and continue until April 9 at 2 PM PT / 4 PM ET.

The event will add six in-game challenges to Rocket League. Completing five of them will unlock rewards in both Rocket League and Fortnite. The sixth challenge will only net you a Rocket League reward. All six challenges are listed below.

Rocket League Llama-Rama Event Challenges

• Challenge 1: Beyonder
  • Description: Play three online matches
  • Fortnite Reward: Battle Ball Spray
  • Rocket League Reward: Topper – DJ Yonder
• Challenge 2: More Llama Bell
  • Description: Get 500 total points in online matches
  • Fortnite Reward: Llama-Rama Loading Screen
  • Rocket League Reward: Player Anthem – Llama Bell
• Challenge 3: Over Yonder
  • Description: Get five Goals, Assists, or Saves in online matches
  • Fortnite Reward: Everybody Dance! Lobby Track
  • Rocket League Reward: Octane Decal – DJ Yonder
• Challenge 4: Umbrella Royale
  • Description: Get five Clears and Centers in online matches
  • Fortnite Reward: Zooming Wrap
  • Rocket League Reward: Wheels – Umbrella Royale
• Challenge 5: Extra Ordinary
  • Description: Play one online match in any of the Extra Modes playlists
  • Fortnite Reward: Turbo Ball! Back Bling
  • Rocket League Reward: Player Title – Extra Ordinary
• Challenge 6: Winning Is Everything
  • Description: Win 10 online matches (Repeatable)
  • Rocket League Reward: 20,000 XP

Rocket League is available for Xbox Series X|S, PS5, Xbox One, PS4, PC, and Switch.

Exciting news! Netflix is developing a live action film AND follow-up anime series based on Keanu Reeves’ BRZRKR, a brutally epic saga about an immortal warrior’s 80,000 year fight through the ages. Reeves will produce and star in the film, and voice the anime. pic.twitter.com/RVWEuBCXTJ

— NX (@NXOnNetflix) March 22, 2021

Respawn has added a new Survival Slot Button option to the settings in Apex Legends. This means that controller users can now go back to using the d-pad to inspect their weapon.

In the Chaos Theory update, Respawn added a brand-new item to Apex Legends: the heat shield. Alongside the mobile respawn beacon, this item goes into a new slot in your in-match inventory, which is called the survival slot.

When first added, this slot was automatically mapped to the d-pad input previously used for weapon and heirloom inspection. Folks on mouse and keyboard could easily remap the inspection prompt to another key or mouse button, but folks on controllers only have so many buttons. So weapon and heirloom inspection was remapped to the quip wheel.

So this meant that unless you had a controller with extra paddles to work with, the addition of the survival slot removed your ability to easily admire your firearm or heirloom in the middle of a match. Not terribly important in a battle royale, mind you, but it was a fun pastime while hiding in the corner or a way to show off to the team you just killed when they’re spectating you.

However, now with the new option, folks on controllers can choose whether they want the d-pad input to access the survival slot or the inspection prompt. When the option is turned off, you’ll have to manually open your inventory in order to use heat shields or mobile respawn beacons, similar to what you used to have to do for ultimate accelerants. But when the option is turned off, you can once again use the d-pad to inspect your weapon or heirloom.

The trade-off, of course, is that quickly pressing the d-pad instead of pausing to open your menu is easier to do while moving–which is key for a fast-paced game like Apex Legends. If you like being able to quickly call down mobile respawn beacons while sliding into cover or tossing out a heat shield while outrunning an enemy squad, then keeping the Survival Slot Button option turned on is the way to go.