We’ve learned a little more about Marvel’s WandaVision, and how it aims to take the Marvel movie template, and turn it into 6 hour-long sitcom episodes.
A new report from EW explains that the show will cycle through homages to multiple eras of classic TV, beginning with a full black-and-white episode filmed in front of a studio audience. Set after Avengers: Endgame, Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision (Paul Bettany) are living as a married couple in the suburban town of Westview, trying to hide their powers – but before long their perfect world begins unravelling for reasons still unknown.
Kathryn Hahn plays Agnes, the couple’s nosy neighbour, and Teyonna Parris will play the grown-up Monica Rambeau (although it’s not yet clear how Rambeau will fit into the sitcom storyline). New images from the show appear to hint that there will be a pregnancy storyline of some kind, too:
Head writer Jac Schaeffer explains that, “The show is a love letter to the golden age of television. We’re paying tribute and honoring all of these incredible shows and people who came before us, [but] we’re also trying to blaze new territory.” Schaeffer and director Mat Shakman even went so far as to ask sitcom legend Dick van Dyke for advice on how to make the show authentic.
But the show will also feature the character development and action expected of MCU stories. As Parris puts it: “I was like, ‘Oh, I thought we were doing a little show,’ but no, it’s six Marvel movies packed into what they’re presenting as a sitcom.”
We already know that the show will mix classic sitcom with action movie tropes, and we’ve now heard a hint that the show will allow Scarlet Witch to show off “the full capabilities of her telekinetic powers”. Given that the character has, in the comics, rewritten the history of the Marvel universe, that could be a fairly dramatic event.
Olsen also explained that she won over Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige by discussing specific Scarlet Witch comic book stories with reference to the show, but won’t say which ones as they’d essentially be spoilers. We’ve already concluded that this show will act as the MCU’s House of M storyline based on the trailers – here’s an explanation of what that could mean.
In a video interview, Bettany sums up the show by saying that it’s an “elegantly put together puzzle piece”, adding that “as bonkers as it looks, everything make will make sense. It’s a really strong piece of writing.” We know that this show will lead directly into the events of Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness, so it appears that the mystery at the heart of the show will become a key part of the wider MCU story in its new phase.
The show has now wrapped production, and is scheduled to launch on Disney+ in December 2020 – although an exact date has not yet been set.
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Joe Skrebels is IGN’s Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to [email protected].
The next generation of gaming has officially begun. Check out our Xbox Series X review, Xbox Series S review, and PS5 review to see what we think of the new hardware. For a lot of people, a new game console calls for a new 4K HDR TV that can take advantage of all the console’s features. 1080p friends, you’re in luck, because LG CX OLED 4K TVs–IGN’s pick for the best 4K TV for next-gen gaming–is on sale for 30% off at a handful of retailers. Amazon is sweetening the deal on the 77-inch model, adding an extra $47 in savings calculated at check-out.
This is our favorite 4K TV for PS5 and Xbox Series X gaming for a whole bunch of reasons. The biggest one is that it’s among the few televisions that can handle all the features promised by the makers of the next-gen consoles.
Best 4KTV for PS5 and Xbox Series X: LG CX OLED TV Deals
The Class CX Series offers everything you need to take full advantage of PS5 and Xbox Series X. It has HDR and lightning-fast response times. It has a 120Hz refresh rate. Because individual pixels can turn all the way off, it offers true black, unlike many other TVs. It sports four HDMI 2.1 ports, which means you’ll be able to play 4K games at up to 120Hz. It also supports FreeSync and G-Sync, which should eliminate screen tearing.
Basically, this is one of the few elite TVs on the market that can check every box the PS5 and Xbox Series X has to offer. And with these sale prices, it’s cheaper than the competition.
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Chris Reed is IGN’s shopping and commerce editor. You can follow him on Twitter @_chrislreed.
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is a meaty RPG thatoffers sprawling quests, a huge map, and a, frankly, intimidating-looking skill tree. It’s possible to be overwhelmed when you boot the game up, but don’t worry, we’ve got you covered with some early-game tips to help you get the most out of your time as a Viking raider.
In the video above, we tell you which collectables to be on the lookout for, how to find the best abilities for Eivor, and, crucially, how to find a wolf to join you in battle and a cat for your longship. If you’re stuck looking for a certain yellow longship, we have the answer to that too (but we put a spoiler warning on it, don’t worry). We also point out some side activities that you won’t want to miss, such as flyting aka Viking rap battles. Yes, you read that right.
For more on Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, make sure to check out our review, as well as our video comparing visuals and load times between the Xbox Series X and Xbox One X versions of the game.
There’s an endearing earnestness to the world of monster trucks that has the capacity to turn any onlooker into a chuckling, five-year-old child. A purity of purpose, perhaps – if that’s not too weird of a phrase to apply to five-ton, 1500-horsepower, methanol-fuelled rigs that are regularly shaped like cartoon dogs and sharks. Giant, impractical, single-seaters exclusively designed to jump around, squish stuff, and… make people smile. It’s the motorsport equivalent of a kaiju movie.
Monster Truck Championship does a decent job of capturing this world – or, at least, an unlicensed, off-brand facsimile of it. The graphics are pretty rough at times and it’s lean on content, but Monster Truck Championship successfully fuses the over-the-top madness of monster trucks with an accessible, simulation-style approach that makes both the driving experience and pulling off wild stunts quite satisfying.
The first and most crucial piece of the puzzle in any racing game is the handling, and the good news is that it’s actually really good here. Teyon – the Polish team behind 2019’s Terminator: Resistance and 2014’s Rambo: The Video Game – has done well despite a distinct lack of racing games in its back catalogue. The trucks have an excellent sense of bulk, particularly as they squat back on three wheels during drifts, or slap off the ground after landing from huge air.
[poilib element=”quoteBox” parameters=”excerpt=The%20trucks%20have%20an%20excellent%20sense%20of%20bulk%2C%20particularly%20as%20they%20squat%20back%20on%20three%20wheels%20during%20drifts.”]The independent rear-wheel steering – controlled by the right stick – also adds a whole new dimension to the driving, and it’s essential to master it. It’s not just crucial to get your immense truck to make tight turns and perform aggressive donuts, it’s equally handy as a way to reduce the angle of a sketchy drift, or hastily correct a bad landing. The fact that these vehicles are so unlike the light, low, and nimble racing cars that star in most other motorsport sims makes for a fun and interesting change of pace.
If you miss this you’d better be dead, or in jail
If Monster Truck Championship resembles any other contemporary racing game, it’d be Wreckfest – although not simply because destruction derbies and monster truck rallies share the same sort of spiritual link with Anytown, USA. It’s actually more superficial than that; in fact, scrolling through the menus I’d forgive you for assuming the two games shared a publisher. But they don’t and, as such, the general presentation is a little too derivative.
Progression is pretty plain, as well. Monster Truck Championship spreads its action across three championship tiers, each featuring 10 main events. Unfortunately, there’s not really any difference in the pomp and pageantry associated with any of the leagues; it’s all packed crowds, fireworks, and major stadiums from your debut event. Running events in the “Major League” doesn’t really feel any different from your initial events in the ostensibly entry-level “National League”, especially when you’re returning to the same cities and competing on the same courses. The atmosphere of these major stadium spectaculars may have been more impressive if I’d started my career wowing more modest crowds in small-town showgrounds or local fairs. As it stands, it’s all a bit one-note.
Monster Truck Championship features two types of racing – conventional circuit racing, and drag racing. The racing is fine but it gets a little clumsy when the trucks are too close to each other and a little boring when they’re too spread out. It’s also hampered by utterly broken timing; it’s never clear how far in front you are because the times fluctuate seemingly at random. The drag racing is probably my pick here. They’re not simple, straight-line dashes; rather, they’re tricky and technical 10-to 15-second sprints against an opponent tackling a separate albeit mirrored version of the same course. Drag racing rewards quick reaction times and skilful truck control and I found it quite addictive.
The other events are destruction, which is pretty self-explanatory, and freestyle, which is classic, stunt-centric monster truck mayhem and the highlight of the game for me. This is where Monster Truck Championship becomes Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater in a truck, and the amount of different stunts and combos you can execute is surprisingly robust. Somersaults, backflips, wheelies – all kinds of wild stunts are accommodated by the physics here.
[poilib element=”quoteBox” parameters=”excerpt=There%E2%80%99s%20a%20surprising%20amount%20of%20scenery%20pop-in%20on%20the%20race%20tracks%20and%20the%20dirt%20and%20dust%20effects%20aren%E2%80%99t%20going%20to%20knock%20any%20socks%20off%20in%202020.”]Just know that it’s not especially pretty – there’s a surprising amount of scenery pop-in on the race tracks and the dirt and dust effects aren’t going to knock any socks off in 2020. Truck detail is largely fine, although the entirely static flags are a dud inclusion – they look quite awful frozen rigid as your truck blazes around the arenas. There’s a decent array of truck bodies but only really a handful of pre-set monikers and themes, which is a shame considering there’s no editor to give your truck a custom name.
Yakuza: Like a Dragon is a game full of surprises for new players and series veterans alike, but one thing is a constant: The game only really begins when you are free to explore the city at your leisure. The game starts you off in Tokyo’s Kamurocho district (a common location across all Yakuza games) for the first two chapters, but don’t get too comfortable here–it’s basically a big tutorial for learning the basics of combat and exploration. Come Chapter 3, you’ll be dumped in Yokohama’s Isezaki Ijincho region, where the bulk of the game will take place, and in Chapter 4, you’ll become free to explore this sprawling map in full.
But it’s rough: Hero Kasuga Ichiban has barely any money or possessions to his name and needs to work his way up from rock bottom. To help you tackle the opening sections of Yakuza: Like a Dragon, we’ve compiled some tips on how to better make money, get around, and obtain the resources you need to fight some of the more challenging battles that lie ahead.
Just because the battles are turn-based doesn’t mean you won’t be delivering some serious and painful beatdowns! Since your skills are limited early on, you’ll mostly be reliant on the skills of your team’s default jobs, but you should still pay attention when an enemy’s weakness is indicated. There are three types of physical attacks (bash, slash, and pierce) and three types of “magic” damage (fire, water, and electric), and enemies can have a combination of resistances and weaknesses to all of these. Pay attention to the properties of your attacks, and once you find an enemy’s weakness, use similar techniques to hammer away at their health!
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Also, when an enemy is downed, follow up on your next turn with a normal attack as soon as you can! If you wait too long–even just stalling at the command menu–they might get up. Downed enemies cannot counter and will always take critical damage. However, if you use a skill attack on a foe, you won’t get the damage bonus, so it’s best to use skills to get knockdowns, then use normal attacks on downed foes to follow up. (It saves on MP, too!)
Finally, if your character is standing far away from an enemy and you have more than one foe on field, it’s best to use skills to attack them rather than normal strikes — you run the risk of having your target’s buddies interrupt your attack with a counter otherwise. If you’re dealing with a particularly large group of combatants, consider using some AOE skills (indicated by an in-menu target description as “Enemy Area”) to take them down. AOE skills do the most damage when targeting a character who is closely surrounded by his comrades.
Open Up The Pawnshop ASAP
Chapter 4 sees most of Ijincho open up to you, and while exploring is great, you can’t do too much without some yen in your pocket. There are some solid ways to get extra scratch–we’ll get to those in a bit–but they’ll require you to unlock Benten Pawn, which you can find in the commercial district.
Benten Pawn is a great place to sell your unwanted and valuable items for some extra scratch.
When you first walk by this location a little ways into Chapter 4, a cutscene plays where you’ll notice that the store’s entrance is completely blocked by garbage. Come back to the same location a bit later and you’ll see another cutscene, followed by a battle. From this point on, Benten Pawn will be open for business. This will be your hub to sell unwanted and valuable items for a good chunk of the game and is indispensable during the early chapters. You can get some basic gear there, too, which will be useful for the big-time battles near the end of Chapters 4, 5, and most of 6.
Focus on Substories for Early-Game Funds
Most of the low-level punks you’ll be pummeling around at this point in the game don’t reward you much in terms of money, which makes finding alternative means of earning scratch important. While you can scrounge up some change (and occasionally a valuable item to pawn) by “treasure hunting” around vending machines and garbage piles, the most valuable rewards in Chapter 4 come from the handful of substories that are available to discover and complete. In particular, the “Baby Don’t Cry” substory (which becomes available near Otohime Land after completing the mandatory Poundmates substory mid-chapter) rewards you with 20,000 yen in funds–enough for a nice weapon and some additional armor, which you’ll need in order to progress.
Go Bug Hunting!
If you’ve done a bunch of Chapter 4’s available substories but still need some money, why not take a walk in the park? Hamakita park in the northeast part of the map is filled with big, grassy fields where you can find and collect insects. Some of these bugs are surprisingly valuable, too–particularly beetles and scorpions, which can sell for upwards of 1,000 yen each at the pawnshop. A few creepy crawlers you trade in can fund the purchase of an additional piece of basic gear!
Yes, there are scorpions in this park.
If you need a little more spending money, bug collecting can be an easy way to line your pockets. (You can also claim bugs as trade-in prizes from playing the Can Quest minigame, if you prefer.) Just be careful, because Hamakita Park has some high-level enemies roaming around–either do your best to avoid them or run for the hills if you do get into a fight.
Grab Some Basic Gear
Most of the game’s weapon and armor shops will be available starting from Chapter 4, but you’ll find prices in several of them to be way out of your league. For now, stick with getting weapons and armor from Love Magic, Benten Pawn, and Hustle Boutique. The gear is affordable and will help immensely during the climactic battles in this chapter–and even a bit into the next couple of major encounters. You’ll need to be geared up before beginning chapter 4’s climactic battle, so make sure you’re decked out!
Be sure to keep your party outfitted with the proper gear.
Chapter 5: The Hero Everyone Needs
Towards the beginning of Chapter 5, you’ll learn about the Part-Time Hero service, where you can do item-collection and rescue quests to earn items and money. Doing these missions can help bolster your funds significantly at this point. The SOS quests are particularly valuable, as they offer upwards of 10,000 yen and provide rewards immediately rather than having to report to an agent. Most of the fights you’ll get into during these SOS rescues aren’t much harder than your standard encounters, though you may run into a particularly tank-y foe every once in a while, so don’t engage them unprepared.
The SOS quests are particularly valuable, as they offer upwards of 10,000 yen and provide rewards immediately rather than having to report to an agent.
The business management mini-game opens up during this chapter as well. It’s very time-consuming but can yield a lot of additional funds if you’re willing to put the main story on hold for a while. However, as the game progresses and more substories and recruits appear on the streets, the more potential employees and investment opportunities you’ll have, so you might want to wait a couple more chapters before really digging into it.
Start Accumulating Taxi Fast Travel Locations
Taxis act as fast-travel in Yakuza: Like a Dragon–once you’ve used a taxi, you can warp to that point on the map from any other taxi. However, each taxi ride costs 730 yen, meaning that it can be tough to start registering taxi locations in Chapter 4, where the money is tighter. Funds become a bit more readily available come Chapter 5, so wait until then before you start creating your fast-travel taxi network around Ijincho–you’ll be using it plenty later on!
It’s best to wait until Chapter 5 to start establishing your fast-travel network around Ijincho.
Upgrade Your Gear At Romance Workshop
Adachi will introduce you to Romance Workshop during Chapter 5. Here, you can upgrade the potency of certain weapons and gear using the materials you’ve gathered. It’s nice to be able to give your gear some little boosts–however, before you spend the money and materials to do so, you should check to make sure that the upgraded piece will actually outperform anything else you might have equipped or sitting around in your inventory. Also, you can craft several weapon and armor items outright at the workshop, including some extremely potent weapons for jobs that open up during Chapter 5. You might be surprised at how cheap a high-quality crafted weapon can be.
Should You Change Jobs?
You’ll be able to change the jobs of your characters starting around the middle of Chapter 5. While getting a new set of abilities for your team is a fun prospect, keep in mind that all of the new jobs start from level 1 and often require new gear to be purchased. You’ll need to do quite a few battles before the jobs you’d swap to offer as many combat abilities as the ones you’ve been using from the outset, so a bit of grinding for experience is in order.
It’s also worth keeping in mind that the end of Chapter 5 and most of Chapter 6 features a string of challenging battles and dungeon areas that you can’t exit from until they’re done. If your new jobs aren’t properly leveled, you could be in for a very rough time. It may be worth waiting a bit before changing if you’re comfortable with the default team–and also because more job options open up at level 20 and with teammate bonds.
One class change we can recommend at this point is putting Saeko in the Idol job. Idol is a fantastic support class with great healing skills and the ability to lock down enemies with the charm status ailment. It’s also easy to obtain gear to enhance damage and status-affliction odds for the Idol. This job will be useful right away and only get better over time, plus Saeko won’t suffer from the switch-over as much as the other party members at this point.
Raise Your Party Bond Levels ASAP
From Chapter 5 onward, you have a four-person party, and you’ll be earning a lot more bond points for your crew from eating out, fighting battles, playing mini-games, and engaging in party conversations. However, in order to “uncap” each bond level, you’ll need to go back to the Survive bar and have a conversation with your teammate once your bond points reach a certain threshold. If you don’t do this ASAP, bond points that could go toward building another level will simply go to waste, so it’s best to hightail it to the bar when you see your buddies’ bond gauges stuck at the lock.
To “uncap” a party member’s bond level, you’ll need to go back to the Survive bar and have a conversation with them once your bond points reach a certain threshold.
Adachi and Saeko can both be leveled up to level 5–the maximum–fairly quickly this way. Once they are at max level, new tag-team skills will open up for both of them, giving you more options in battle. Namba, unfortunately, can’t be advanced past level 2 until a certain story event, but you may as well advance your other two teammates as far as you can early on.
Be Prepared For Chapter 6
The end of Chapter 5 begins when you leave through Jinnai Station for the second time. This will begin a very long stretch where you will have several challenging fights alongside a very lengthy dungeon crawl. You won’t be able to return to town for a while once events are in motion, so be sure you’re adequately geared and stocked up before you buy that train ticket. (And maybe make an extra save file, too!)
Mortal Kombat 11 is coming to PS5 and Xbox Series X/S along with Kombat Pack 2, featuring Rain, Milenna, and Rambo. Now Netherealm has announced that from November 17, when the next-gen upgrade hits for current system owners, all Xbox and PlayStation players will be able to fight each other regardless of what console (or konsole, if you prefer) they’re on.
On this date, they promise, Kross Play becomes “Kross Generation”. This means that if you own the game on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, or Xbox One, you will be able to fight against players on all of these other systems. Kasual matches and “designated online rooms” will allow for total cross-console, cross-generation fights.
This feature will not be available for the PC and Switch versions, unfortunately.
On Nov 17, Krossplay will become Kross Generation for Playstation & Xbox players. Toggle the feature in settings to play Casual matches w/ players on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series XIS, & Xbox One, as well as in designated Online Rooms. This feature will not be available on Switch or PC. pic.twitter.com/kDWMz5mUG9
The retail version of Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate won’t be out until January, but the game will be available digitally from November 17. If you own the game on the previous system within the same console family, you can upgrade for free–but you’ll still need to buy any DLC you don’t have.
Shenmue III came out on PS4 and the Epic Games Store on November 19, 2019, continuing a saga that began almost 20 years earlier on the Sega Dreamcast. Now, a year after that, players who have been waiting for the game to release on Steam will finally be able to play it.
The game, which was exclusive to Epic for a year, will come to Steam on November 19, 2020. Shenmue III’s rollout onto PC was pretty messy, with some Kickstarter backers claiming refunds instead of taking codes for Epic or waiting a year.
This means that players who backed the game’s Kickstarter and then opted to accept a Steam code instead of an Epic code will be able to play the game soon. In a new update, Ys Net reports that codes for the game and in-game rewards will be available just before release. “Applicable backers will be able to claim their codes through the ‘Downloads and Download Codes’ section of your survey,” the update says.
The game is still not available on Xbox or Switch, although Xbox One owners can purchase the first two games, both of which are available on the console.
This might not be the end for Shenmue, with director Yu Suzuki still intending to make Shenmue 4. The third game received a 5/10 from GameSpot, although many hardcore fans of the series were happy to see series hero Ryo Hazuki return.
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For the first time ever, an OLED TV has reached a price that’s within mortal reach. Best Buy has a 55″ OLED TV for $899.99. You absolutely will not find a better, less expensive OLED deal that this one. That’s not all that’s new this week. The Apple Airpods Pro have dropped yet again to a new price low. The Apple Watch SE discount has been extended to all colors. And the super popular Calvin and Hobbes hardcover box set has dropped in price only the second time this year (it’s almost sold out). Check these deals out and the rest of the top ten Black Friday deals below.
#1: Vizio 55″ 4K OLED Smartcast TV for $899.99
To see this price, you need to log into your My Best Buy Members account (free to join)
This is a HUGE discount on a recently released 2020 OLED TV. It’s a full $500 cheaper than LG’s 55″ OLED TV and the lowest price we’ve ever seen for any OLED TV. OLEDs have the best image quality out of any TV, and if price has been the only thing that’s shied you away, this will change your mind.
To see this price, you need to log into your My Best Buy Members account (free to join)
#2: Apple AirPods Pro Noise Cancelling Earphones for $194.99
This is the lowest price we’ve seen for the excellent active noise cancelling variant of the AirPods, so if you’ve somehow held out this long, now might be your time.
Eric Song is IGN’s deal curator and spends roughly 1/4 of his income on stuff he posts. Check out his latest Daily Deals Article and subscribe to his IGN Deals Newsletter.
Fans of All Elite Wrestling (AEW) have reason to celebrate as there are multiple AEW games in development.
As reported by HeelByNature, AEW’s Tony Khan confirmed that an AEW console game is in the works alongside another that will let players take the role of a general manager.
“We’re making multiple games, we’re working on more than one game” Khan stated. “We’re going to cater to different platforms, we’re going to cater to different kinds of games, and different interests. We’ll put a title out that’s a console game, that is best in class, we’re really excited about it, there’s some’s [sp] big surprises to come in 2020, I just can’t say that enough, there’s still time in 2020.”
In August 2020, AEW quietly launched a Facebook page named All Elite GM that was quickly changed to AEW Games. The following month, AEW filed the trademarks for both All Elite Wrestling General Manager and Elite GM. These were “filed for use in game software, including mobile phones, handheld computers, and mobile gaming devices.”
“We’re going to put something out that’s for those people like myself, who love putting wrestling cards together,” Khan said of the GM game. “It will allow somebody to do the job I do, be the General Manager of AEW, handbook cards.”
These comments were made prior to the launch of AEW Games on November 10, 2020, at 6pm ET on YouTube.
While it may be a little bit until you can play a AEW wrestling game, WWE 2K Battlegrounds recently released and features some of the most iconic wrestlers of all-time battling it out in an arcade-style game.
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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.
