Cyberpunk 2077 is a stunning game… if you’re playing it on the right systems. It’s being hailed as “the new Crysis” on PC, and you’ll need a powerful graphics card to be able to run CD Projekt Red’s latest at its highest settings. But little footage of the game was shown on console pre-release.
Now that Cyberpunk 2077 has been released, we can finally dig deeper into its console versions. In this video, we compare the game running on PlayStation 5 to the base PlayStation 4 model to see just how much difference Sony’s brand new console makes. It should be noted that the version running on PS5 is actually the PS4 version of the game, playable through backwards compatibility. A patch to upgrade the game for PlayStation 5 will be released next year.
Cyberpunk 2077 is available now on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PC, and Stadia.
Fans waited for Cyberpunk 2077 for almost a decade, and that sort of time breeds expectations. Now that the game has been out in some form or another for a few days, fans have had a chance to get to know Night City on their own terms, and their overall opinions run the gamut from ecstatic bliss to total disappointment. This fractious discourse has taken over fan communities like the game’s subreddit, and the debate continues unabated.
Many fans have pointed to Cyberpunk’s dismal performance on the PS4 and Xbox One as a particular sore spot. Some have even gone so far as to accuse CD Projekt Red of misleading advertising, or other unscrupulous behavior. In a highly-upvoted thread, Reddit user “ldillon7777” posted a PS4 trailer for the game that was released back in November, pointing out that the “gameplay trailer” presents a vision of the game with a stable framerate and impressive visual effects, both of which are not representative of the last-gen versions of the game.
“Anyone that has played the PS4 version can clearly see that this trailer is not recorded on the PS4 or on any last-gen console,” the user wrote. “This marketing makes the PS4 version look as good as the PC version. This is completely misleading and not representative of the PS4 version being advertised.”
“You see a huge box and a few seconds later it becomes a car,” wrote another PS4 player in a popular thread. “I’m too disappointed to go through. Don’t even compare to Witcher 3.”
Another top thread purports to document the number of promised features that are missing from the final product, from the inability to adjust certain aspects of your character’s appearance beyond the initial setup to lack of an aim toggle option. While many are common quality-of-life complaints shared by other games, some are uncommonly specific, such as the fact that your character cannot smoke.
It’s not uncommon for fans to complain about mundane aspects of high-profile games, or to accuse developers of “downgrading” the final game compared to its promotional materials, such as pre-release trailers. The most notorious example of this sort of claim is the Spider-Man puddle fiasco, where a fan accused developer Insomniac of “downgrading” the amount of puddles in one of the game’s environments. (Cyberpunk developer CD Projekt Red previously dealt with a similar “controversy” over a Witcher 3: Wild Hunt trailer.)
Such complaints generally ignore the messy reality of game development: that not all features can live up to their initial prototype, and that scaling a game to perform well on consumer-grade hardware like last-gen consoles almost always results in some form of compromise. However, given that sources like Digital Foundry have concluded that Cyberpunk’s performance is “unacceptable” on last-gen consoles–as well as the fact that the game is uncommonly buggy, even by open-world game standards–some of these fan complaints rise above the usual noise that accompanies most big game releases.
This criticism extends beyond the game’s shaky performance and well-documented bugs, with some fans taking aim at minute aspects of the game’s design. In another highly-upvoted thread, a Reddit user lambasted the game’s driving AI, calling it nonexistent. “There’s no AI for driving, at all, period,” the user wrote. “That’s the reason you’ve never been in a car chase in the open world, not in a mission. That’s the reason the AI stops behind you forever when you park in the middle of the road. That’s the reason people don’t peel away in a panic when you pull a gun on them in a car. The only driving ‘AI’ that the game has is predetermined paths for cars to follow along.”
On the other hand, there are several highly-upvoted threads from users who say that they’re really enjoying the game, with one referring to the complainers as a “vocal minority coming on the internet and complaining.” Humorously enough, there were so many threads with the title “am I the only one enjoying the game?” that users started posting satirical threads with similar titles, leading to yet more backlash.
Other users have taken the serious complaints of their fellow fans as an opportunity for memes and jokes. The most popular post Friday on the forum comes from a user complaining of a “concerning flaw” in the game–that the manhole covers depicted in Cyberpunk only support up to 12.5 metric tons of weight in real life, and are therefore not suited to street use. The apt top reply to that thread: “This is why people are falling through the world.”
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Over the next week, we will be posting featuresforwhat we’ve nominated to be thebest games of 2020. Then, on December 17, we willcrownone of the nominees as GameSpot’s Best Game of 2020, so join us as we celebrate these 10 games on the road to the big announcement.Be sure to check out our other end-of-the-year coverage collected in ourBest Games of 2020 hub.
It’s become cliche at this point to remark on Animal Crossing: New Horizons‘ fortuitous timing, how it arrived at exactly the right moment to ease us through the first few, uncertain months of a world-changing pandemic. And yet, it’s impossible to view the game without also looking at the circumstances surrounding its release. More than any other title that launched this year, Animal Crossing felt like a panacea to 2020. Just as the COVID-19 virus began surging uncontrollably and forced many parts of the world into lockdown, suddenly shattering daily norms and routines that we had all taken for granted, here came this wholesome, candy-colored bit of escapism–this digital playpen where your next-door neighbor is a fitness-minded penguin and your biggest concern is whether the sofa you just purchased matches the rest of the decor in your living room.
Given these circumstances, it’s easy to see why Animal Crossing became such an immediate, inescapable hit, particularly during the first half of the year. As an unprecedented pandemic upended our collective sense of normalcy, the game offered a welcome bit of respite, a chance to socialize with friends virtually and revel in the mundanity of daily life that was now being denied to us. Of course, this in itself is hardly novel; many other games also serve as a virtual social space where you can hang out and pass time with friends. But what made Animal Crossing hit differently is its emphasis on the smaller, unceremonious aspects of daily activities: the joy of checking out what new items are in stock at the store; the small thrill of seeing town hall swap out its fall decorations for Christmas lights; the satisfaction of reeling in a new type of fish not yet on display in the museum.
What gives these little moments their resonance is the same thing that has set Animal Crossing apart from other life sims since the series’ inception: its real-time clock. Animal Crossing unfolds according to the date and time set in your system, so it follows a much more measured rhythm than other games, even within its genre. Days and seasons pass in the game just as they do in real life, while stores open and close at specific hours. Pop into your village at 10 PM, for instance, and you’ll miss your chance to peruse that day’s wares, forcing you to come back the next day (unless you don’t have any scruples about setting your system’s clock back).
New Horizons is a warm hug of a game that has helped many a player find digital refuge from the relentless torrent of this year’s woes.
This deliberate pace extends into how slowly the game metes out its features. When you first arrive on your island, you’ll find no amenities beyond Tom Nook’s makeshift resident services tent. As you return each day, however, your island home will gradually blossom; new villagers will move in and new facilities will slowly open up, which in turn will give you access to a richer array of things to do and see. In a time when many video games are all too eager to indulge in instant gratification, the boldest thing a game can ask you to do is wait–and as Animal Crossing illustrates, there’s value in taking things day by day.
What truly elevates New Horizons are all the smart ways it builds upon the series’ formula. While past games have always offered some degree of customization, New Horizons is the first to give you free rein over every decision. Not only can you now place furniture and other items outdoors, but you can also handpick the exact spot where other villagers move in and even edit the very landscape itself. New Horizons is the first Animal Crossing game to truly embrace customization, presenting players with a veritable canvas that they can color however they please. This makes the experience much more personal and rewarding, and watching your island home gradually develop into a proper village feels immensely gratifying in a way few other games can replicate.
Customization isn’t the only area where New Horizons improves upon its predecessors. Nintendo has made numerous other tweaks and refinements to the gameplay, both large and small. The ability to dig up and replant trees, for instance, is a welcome boon, as is the increased inventory space you have in your pockets and at your house. Tying these disparate elements together are the new crafting and Nook Miles systems. The former lets you fashion furniture, clothing, and other items out of the various materials you can gather around your island, while the latter doles out reward points for all kinds of actions, from chatting up a certain number of villagers each day to even getting stung by wasps. Thanks to these systems, every item in the game–even seemingly useless ones like weeds and trash that you can fish up out of the river–and every action you take has a purpose, feeding back into a satisfying gameplay loop.
More than anything, though, what makes New Horizons a special game is its irresistible charm. Watching a villager plop down in front of a tree to read a book or break out into a spontaneous song in the town plaza–these little moments are endlessly endearing and never cease to put a smile on your face. New Horizons is a warm hug of a game that has helped many a player find digital refuge from the relentless torrent of this year’s woes. There have been many excellent games over the past 12 months, but none of them will be as inextricably associated with 2020 as New Horizons.
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The Expanse Season 5 arrives December 16. Here are some teases direct from the cast and creators.
The Expanse is one of the best sci-fi shows on TV, and it manages to do something that many adaptations can’t: It keeps fans guessing. Even those who have read the books don’t know exactly what’s going to happen in each new season, thanks to the ways the show has blended disparate novels into cohesive stories, expanded certain characters’ storylines because they worked so well on TV, and even pulled from other sources besides the novels.
As a result, even the most diehard Expanse fans don’t know exactly what’s going to happen in the upcoming Season 5. The show is, of course, based on the series Leviathan Wakes by James S. A. Corey, a pseudonym for collaborative authors Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck. Season 5 will certainly include plot from Nemesis Games, and fans have speculated that it will dip into the following novel, Babylon’s Ashes, as well.
Beyond those guesses, we don’t know for sure what’s coming in Season 5. But we did get a chance to ask the show’s cast and creators during a set visit in Toronto last year, and Amazon has finally lifted the embargo on the tidbits we received. Let’s get into it.
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Spotlight on Marco Inaros
One of the most exciting storylines coming to the forefront in Season 5 is the story of Marco Inaros. Marco is an extremist Belter leader and Naomi’s former lover, as well as the father of their child, who she hasn’t seen in years. This has been hinted at and mentioned throughout the four previous seasons, and it’s in the spotlight in Season 5.
“Obviously Marco is a big deal,” said series co-author Ty Franck. “We laid in the first hints of him in Season 1 when Naomi tells Fred that she has somebody she wants to find. It’s cool that we got far enough into the show, and thanks to Amazon, that we’re able to do the seasons where that’s going to pay off. It’s nice to pay off the things that you foreshadow. We’ve always been playing a long game.”
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Marco and Naomi’s relationship
Marco is one of the main “villains” for Season 5, but we’ll likely meet him through Naomi’s point of view, and they have a complicated history.
“It’s a gargantuan element of Noami’s backstory,” said showrunner and executive producer Naren Shankar. “We have touched on it, we’ve hinted at it, but this is the first time you meet this person.” Shankar continued that Episodes 4 and 5 of Season 5 will explore their past relationship in a unique way. “You get Marco telling it to Drummer, and then you get Naomi telling it to Lucia,” he said. “We don’t show an objective flashback of their life together, because that’s not what’s important. What’s important is people’s memories of the situation. Both of those stories can be true to the person saying it. Whose side of it do you pick?”
Dominique Tipper, who plays Naomi, said she’s excited to explore this element of her character’s backstory. “It’s a full circle thing for my character,” she said. “It’s rare you get to do all this work with backstories and past, and then you meet the thing that all the backstory and past has been about and been based on. I’m not sure where we go after this. I’m sure our brilliant writers have much in store. But, for me it’s like, that’s it. That’s what you kind of want and hope for.”
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Splitting up the crew
Season 5 will split the characters up more than ever before, and the crew of the Rocinante will be scattered to separate corners of the galaxy. Franck said this is a direct result of adapting book 5, Nemesis Games, to the small screen. “Book 5 in the book series, we always called it the axle on which the series spins,” Franck said. “It’s the first book where we take our core crew and split them up and make them all point of view characters and give them their own storylines separate from the Roci and the big story. Getting to do that on the show is very exciting.”
In Season 5, Amos will travel home to Baltimore on Earth, Naomi will reunite with her son and deal with Marco Inaros as she reconnects with her roots as a Belter, Alex and Bobby will return to Mars, and more. However, “obviously, they’re all seeing different pieces of the same larger story,” Franck explained.
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Naomi’s planet problem
In Season 4, Naomi discovered that, having grown up and lived in artificial environments all her life, she can’t actually survive for long on the surface of a real planet. Going forward on the show, more people are going to discover that problem. “What happens to her in Season 4 becomes a tale of what’s going to happen to a lot of people going forward,” Franck said. “We see her land on a planet and be unable to live there; there are now 1,300 worlds on which a lot of people like Naomi will never be able to live. What happens to those people? Are they the forgotten people of that future, and what are they going to do about it? That becomes a major theme going forward in the show.”
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Straight from the source
Like basically any adaptation ever, The Expanse has diverged from the books in various ways. But Franck said that showrunner and executive producer Naren Shankar knows full well where the story is going, and has all along. “Obviously we only have one more book to write, and we outlined it years ago, so [co-author Daniel Abraham and I] have known what that last book is for a long time,” Franck explained. “But we’ve been very open with Naren, our showrunner. Daniel and I work very closely with Naren on the show, and he’s known where all of this is going for quite some time, and we’ve tried to lay a lot of that in. We were laying in hints about [Season 4] and even Season 5 in Season 1, because he knew where we were going and wanted to put those little details in there.”
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Consequences
Shankar said one of the main themes of Season 5 will be consequences. “I think Season 5 is really a reckoning,” he said. “It’s about, I think, thematically, the sins of the past coming back to haunt you…reaping what you sow–that’s what we put on our big board in the room, was that you reap what you sow. And that is about personally, emotionally, and also politically and historically. That is really what’s going to happen in Season 5.”
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The Churn
We got some further hints about Amos’s story, which will be based largely on The Churn, a novella set in the Expanse universe that focused on Amos’s backstory. Wes Chatham, who plays Amos, said he re-reads it every time he needs to get back into character. “That’s kind of like the foundation that I’ve built off of,” Chatham said. “It’s like, if this happened to me, how would this manifest? What would this look like into the future? And so this season is The Churn. It is going back and visiting that.”
Shankar elaborated. “There have been hints about where Amos came from, what his backstory was on Earth–they’ve been dropped very, very carefully and occasionally,” the showrunner said. “I think you’re really going to get a much better sense of who he was and where he came from and how it happened. And that’s really–if you guys have read the novellas, The Churn is a wonderful novella.”
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Seeing the danger
The Expanse is certainly an ensemble show, but if it does have a main character, it’s Holden (Steven Strait), particularly after Thomas Jane’s character Miller’s death in Season 2. Among all the characters, Holden has the most knowledge of the protomolecule, and thus, of the larger dangers that humanity faces. “The only other person who personally experienced the genocide in the beginning of the series is gone, and [Holden] has seen the entire history of this ancient civilization occur and die in a split second in his mind, and he sees the danger out there,” Strait said. “It’s a danger that no one else can see…Holden is the one always within the macro story structure who keeps his eye on the ball of what is the predominant, primary concern.”
Franck agreed: “Holden is always seeing a big picture nobody else seems to see. That’s sort of his story arc, right? He’s always the one banging on the table going, ‘Guys, why are you fighting over the little stuff? The big stuff is right over there.’ We’re going to keep doing that with him.”
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Returning to Mars
Lastly, in Season 5, the series’ two most prominent Martian characters, Alex and Bobby, will team up on their home planet together. Cas Anvar, who plays Alex, spoke to his arc, discussing how the pillars of his character–his identity as a proud Martian, a family man, and a pilot–will largely crumble around him in the upcoming episodes. “Mars is not the Mars–the proud, noble terraforming vision–that he was expecting,” Anvar said. “Everything that holds his identity together unravels. And in order for him to survive, he has to figure out who he is without any of those things. And that’s exciting.”
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Disclosure: ViacomCBS is GameSpot’s parent company
Among Us players can unlock a special Twitch logo pet cosmetic if they link their Twitch account to the game by December 18. Among Us pets usually have to be purchased, but this one is the first that InnerSloth is giving out for free.
You’ll need to open up Among Us, click the settings icon, and then choose the “Data” tab in order to link your Twitch account. Once you click that you’ll need to log into your Twitch profile to officially link the two accounts. Once you’re logged in, click authorize to allow Twitch Among Us drops. You’ll need to then watch 30 minutes of the Among Us Twitch Rivals events in order to unlock the pet.
There are events you can watch on December 11, 14, and 18. The full schedule can be found right here. This is only possible on the PC version of Among Us, but an update for mobile players should let them link their Twitch accounts soon.
InnerSloth revealed a new Among Us map on December 10 at The Game Awards. The map, coming in early 2021, is set aboard a floating airship and will be completely free. It gives you a choice of which room to start in among other new features like ladders, new tasks, and more.
Among Us also took home a couple of trophies at The Game Awards, despite having launched in 2018. The murder mystery game won Best Mobile Game and Best Multiplayer Game, beating out titles like Animal Crossing: New Horizons and Genshin Impact.
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A new Super Smash Bros. Melee documentary series is premiering on Twitch today. The series, titled Metagame, follows the lives and careers of five of the best players in the world.
The eight-part series will premiere today at 2 PM PT / 5 PM ET on Metagame’s official Twitch channel. The first three episodes will air today, followed by the second three episodes on Saturday and then the final two on Sunday. The stream will take place at the same time each day. Plans for a VOD release will come after the premiere, according to the documentaries creator.
Metagame was written and produced by Travis Beauchamp, the creator of the 2013 Super Smash Bros. documentary The Smash Brothers. It will follow Kevin “PPMD” Nanney, Adam “Armada” Lindgren, Joseph “Mango” Marquez, Jason “Mew2King” Zimmerman, and Juan “Hungrybox” Debiedma–also known as the five “Smash Gods.”
Nintendo issued a cease and desist order to organizers of The Big House, one of the most notable Super Smash Bros. tournaments, last month. The event was going to be held online due to the pandemic, with Melee matches happening through a mod called “Slippi” that gives the game stable online play. Nintendo said that it was forced to cancel the event due to organizers using “illegally copied versions of the game” although players believe the studio is against the use of the “Slippi” mod. The hashtag #FreeMelee started trending shortly after the tournament was canceled.
Nintendo canceled the livestream of a Splatoon 2 tournament after several players changed their names to some variation of the trending hashtag as well. Members of both the Splatoon and Super Smash Bros. community hope they can convince Nintendo to change their current stance on the “Slippi” mod.
In November, Disney pulled two of its 20th Century Studios releases, Free Guy and Death on the Nile, from their scheduled fall releases. The studio has now revealed new release slots for these films.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the video game comedy Free Guy, which stars Ryan Reynolds, will now hit theaters on May 21. Death on the Nile, Kenneth Branagh’s sequel to his 2018 hit Murder on the Orient Express, will now arrive on September 12, 2021, nearly a year after its original date. Another 20th Century movie, The King’s Man, has moved back a month to March 12.
There’s disappointing news for horror fans too. The Guillermo Del Toro-produced Antlers, which was scheduled for a February release, has now been pulled from the schedule. The movie was originally set to hit theaters back in April this year.
Several other high profile Disney movies have shifted dates too. Three Marvel films have moved, with Thor: Love and Thunder heading to May 26, 2022, Black Panther II to July 8, 2022, and Captain Marvel 2 to November 11, 2022. On the Star Wars side of things, a new movie titled Rogue Squadron, to be directed by Wonder Woman’s Patty Jenkins, will hit theaters on December 22, 2023.
There were lots of new Star Wars Disney+ shows announced during Disney Investor Day on December 10. These include series focused on Ahsoka, Cassian Andor, and Obi-Wan Kenobi, and a show titled Rangers of the New Republic. Check out the full lineup here.
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This week’s episode of GameSpot After Dark sees the return of Jake, which means there’s a crackdown on Yakuza chat. Instead, however, we get a whole load of Cyberpunk 2077 talk, which makes perfect sense considering it’s the biggest game of the year and it’s out now.
Joining Jake are Kallie, Lucy, and Tamoor, all of who have played the game to different extents. Jake and Kallie have played the most, the former working on video coverage before the official release and the latter being the reviewer. Lucy and Tamoor, meanwhile, have sunk a few hours into the game, having started it more recently. That means you’ll get a nice range of experiences.
On top of the Cyberpunk 2077 discussion there’s also some analysis of the recent Halo Infinite delay, what it means, and how the crew feels about it.
Even if circumstances in 2020 forced us all to be relatively stationary, it was a great year for mobile games. Amid new game consoles and the continued success of the Nintendo Switch, you could have plenty of fun with nothing more than your iOS or Android device.
The GameSpot staff decided on some of our absolute favorite mobile games of the year below. From fresh takes on classic genres to entirely new and experimental games, you can sink dozens of hours into these games from the comfort of your bed or toilet.
To see more of GameSpot’s favorite games of the year, be sure to check out our Best of 2020 hub. There you’ll find roundups of our favorite games for PlayStation, Xbox, PC, and Switch. You can also check out our top games of 2020. Each of our ten finalists will have a dedicated article describing why it stood out. Then on Thursday, December 17, we’ll reveal which one is named GameSpot’s Best Game of 2020.
Genshin Impact
The so-called “gacha” game has gotten a bad reputation, arguably deservedly. The name is defined by its monetization hooks, not the core mechanics or genre conventions. So Genshin Impact, a free-to-play gacha game that also feels like a full-fledged action RPG, gained notoriety in part for what it didn’t do. If you want, you can play all the way through the lengthy, well-crafted game without paying a cent.
But even outside of that notable difference with many other mobile games, Genshin Impact is a lovely Zelda-like in its own right. Clearly inspired by Breath of the Wild, it introduces a lush open world to explore, complete with dungeons and even a glider. Your variety of powers is expressed through the different characters who have their own weapons and elemental magicks. And adding depth to the game, swapping between them lets you stack elemental powers on top of each other for powerful combat effects.
And if you do decide to spend a little–or pay with the currency that’s generated through regular play–you’re rewarded with a ton of colorful characters who all have a striking amount of variety. It’s a package that feels like it could have done well at a budget price, but instead, it stands as a model of how to do F2P hooks right.
SpellTower+
Word games are well-suited to mobile platforms, but there are countless options out there, making it a notable accomplishment to stand out. SpellTower+ builds on the foundation of its predecessor in small but clever ways that make it among the very best of the genre that you can play.
It retains the striking, minimalist look of its predecessor and combines it with a matching soundtrack–nothing too obtrusive, just catchy songs that keep the proceedings feeling light and fun (and which somehow never get old). The returning modes from the first game see some new adjustments, such as bonus tiles that provide you with new considerations in how to construct words, letting you rack up higher scores.
But the real highlights are the new assortment of modes to complement the existing offerings. Search asks you to create the best word you can using a highlighted letter on the board, while Blitz adds a timed element to the standard word-making as you’ll have to rush to avoid having the board fill up. There’s a delightful assortment of relaxed modes, more intense ones like Blitz, and daily competitions that let you see how you stack up on the leaderboards. While the free version offers plenty of fun, the premium one and its wide assortment of modes will guarantee this a place on the Home screen of word game fans.
Good Sudoku
Good Sudoku is, like SpellTower+, developed by Zach Gage, who again puts a distinct spin on an established concept. But what sets it apart from the average sudoku app that you may have tried or looked past is how Good Sudoku is intent on getting you to understand and enjoy sudoku.
It does this not just with a solid tutorial and note-taking system (though those are included as well), but with an intelligent hint system that provides you with just the right amount of help to ensure you aren’t losing the satisfaction of solving a puzzle. It also has options to do away with some of the busywork, helping to fill in squares where you’ve eliminated any other possibilities.
A huge number of puzzles are available of all difficulties, including some that require advanced techniques that are detailed in-game but that we can never hope to utilize. Still, whatever type of sudoku experience you’re looking to get–even developing an appreciation in the first place–Good Sudoku is your best option, thanks to these features and its pleasant visual style, soundtrack, and sound effects.
Song of Bloom
Song of Bloom is a brilliant puzzle game that revolves around repetition and discovery. To share much would be to spoil the joy of playing it for yourself, but at a high level, it presents you with a series of abstract images and environments to interact with, and it’s your job to find the various “exits” that allow you to unravel the narrative.
The path of your journey is initially limited, represented as a few short branches on a tree. The initial steps within leave you confused and at a loss, but as you begin to poke and prod at the possibilities, you’ll uncover secrets and pathways and the tree that serves as your hub world grows, its branches stretching further to give more life to your story. Small hints will help to nudge you in the direction you’re meant to go, but Song of Bloom leaves enough room for experimentation to ensure that each discovery you make feels earned and satisfying.
These puzzles are accompanied by an intriguing story and performance from its protagonist that will push you to keep digging through its many crevasses (though the enjoyment of solving its puzzles will ensure you keep going, too). Suffice it to say it’s an experience that makes a strong case for it being a mobile game, and it’s one that you should absolutely play for yourself.
Slay the Spire
Slay the Spire fuses roguelikes and deckbuilders to come up with something altogether new. Faced with a gauntlet of enemy encounters and the occasional rest stop, you begin with a core deck and start your journey through the spire. As you go, you’ll randomly find new cards and even get prompts to burn parts of your existing deck. The journey through Slay the Spire is one of constant refinement, finding new cards, leveling up existing ones, and removing the ones that you no longer need, as you face ever-tougher challenges and a hazardously dwindling health bar. Reaching the end is no easy feat, but even once you’ve conquered all the spire has to offer the random nature of its gameplay will tempt you to come back again and again.
In GameSpot’s Slay the Spire review, which gave it 9/10, Chris Pereira wrote, “Because starting up another run and trying something new and different is such a tantalizing prospect, experimentation is encouraged. While it’s still disappointing to fail before reaching the end, more often than not that failure can be traced back to a specific decision or series of decisions–be it an ill-advised card acquisition, the choice to upgrade a card rather than heal, or something else. You never know what the next layer of the spire will bring, but the next delightful quandary to tackle is always right around the corner.”
Ubisoft has released a new patch for Hyper Scape on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S that introduces crossplay, as well as various gameplay adjustments and quality-of-life improvements. The full patch notes for Update 2.5 are outlined below.
Update 2.5’s headlining feature is the addition of crossplay, which is undergoing a soft launch for the time being. Full crossplay between consoles has been enabled, meaning PlayStation and Xbox players can jump into matches together. The situation is slightly different for PC users, who can still play with console players but will be matched into the PC queue instead. This means PC users who have a team full of other console players will be playing with other PC players for now. There’s no word on when crossplay leaves this sort of early access period.
Along with crossplay comes various adjustments for Hyper Scapes’s game modes. Team Deathmatch has had its win conditions altered to lengthen matches, while Arcadium is receiving Navigation Pick-Up items. Team Deathmatch will see some improvements as well, including a more polished respawn phase, fixed scoreboard issues, and random map support.
Update 2.5 also introduces a new limited-time event called the Winter Festival. From December 15-29, players will be able to earn various holiday-themed cosmetics and rewards only available during the event, all while soaking in the snowcapped streets of Neo Arcadia.
There are plenty of bug fixes and quality-of-life improvements that are packaged inside of Update 2.5 as well, including improving the health bar to make it more visible during combat, making squadmates easier to spot, fixing issues with weapons, and stabilizing the game.
Hyper Scape Update 2.5 Patch Notes
New Features
Crossplay (Soft Launch):
Patch 2.5 finally introduces the long-awaited crossplay feature! Crossplay will enable you to play online with friends and players over different gaming systems.
For this first iteration, we will offer full crossplay between consoles, and by-invite for PC. On console, if crossplay is enabled you will be able to play freely together between Xbox and PlayStation. PC players will also be able to invite their friends on console and play with them directly, however their party will be matched into the PC queue.
Crossplay additions:
Added crossplay option in Settings -> Account, set to ON by default.
Can be disabled in-game on PS4.
Can be disabled in system settings on Xbox (Xbox Live Privacy Policy).
Cannot be disabled on PC.
Added crossplay option to initial flow for new players
Added new Social menu
“Friends List” displays all friends from Ubisoft Connect and your current platform
Allows you to invite friends from any platform to play together
Shows pending Game Invites from friends
“Block List” displays players you have blocked all communications from
“Recent Players” list shows all players from your current and previous match
New contextual player options added in Squad Menu and Social menu
The following options were added: Add Friend, Invite to Game, View Platform Profile and Block Player
Player Platform icons are now shown next to Contender names to help identify who is on your platform, any console, or PC for matchmaking
Xbox players will be able to see who has an Xbox account linked to their Ubisoft Connect account, and view their Xbox Live profile
*Important: PC joining the full crossplay pool will be coming later, once an acceptable gameplay balance solution is found. This is the first step in our effort to decrease lobby waiting time and improve the number of players in matches. Stay tuned for more official communications on future crossplay news! *
Winter Festival:
Winter is coming to Neo Arcadia in December! Between December 15-29, you will be able to enjoy the Winter Festival event, the snowy Neo Arcadia, its magical outfits, and items in the Shop.
Don’t miss out on exclusive cosmetic items and bundles, which will only be made available during this event. For more details, check out the Marketplace from the Hyper Scape HUB.
Game Modes
Team Deathmatch Improvements
Major additions:
Victory Condition was updated to give players more time to compete.
Score: The first team to reach 50 points (previously 40 points).
Timer: Team with the highest score after 12 minutes (previously 10 minutes).
Random Map support added:
Every match will now randomly pick 1 of the 3 maps (Foundry, Hillside, or Bus Depot). New maps are planned to be added to this pool in the future.
Challenges are now enabled and will progress when playing the game mode.
Interactions with Twitch Crowncast are now fully supported.
TDM Improvements and bug fixes:
Polished Respawn Phase:
The Scoreboard is now shown immediately on death.
A sound is now heard when respawning.
Polished Game Mode UI:
Teams & score display has been improved to make victory conditions more readable.
The match info now shows the number of players in the match rather than the number of squads.
Polished Scoreboard:
Updated the visuals.
Added a “Deaths” stat with a new icon.
The World Map has been removed entirely. You will now be able to see the match through the Scoreboard.
Polished End of Match flow:
Winners and losers now see their appropriate crowning ceremony.
Holograms now show the player with the most eliminations in a match.
Ultimate Grace will now announce the match intro and start.
In Twitch Crowncast, unused stats have been hidden.
Fixed an issue where players could keep fused weapons from the warmup phase if they dropped them before the start of the match.
Fixed a bug where matches would not end properly if one team quits.
The remaining team now wins.
Fixed a bug where if you died with a melee weapon you would respawn with weapons in a strange state.
Fixed an issue where the Scoreboard did not remove players who have left the lobby.
Fixed an issue where Scoreboard was showing incorrect stats.
Fixed an issue where team member voice chat could be heard by other team members that were not in the same squad even when all squad members were muted.
Fixed an issue where players that were not in the same squad could be seen during the Crowning Ceremony screen instead of squadmates.
Fixed an issue where players with the Squad Filler option set to Off could still have other players added to their squad.
Fixed an issue where the Victory bark was playing for the losing team during the Crowning Ceremony.
Arcadium Improvements:
As previously mentioned in our previous 2.3 patch note, we’re hard at work on important improvements for the mode, some of them based on your feedback. This time we’re adding “Navigation Pick-Ups” all around Neo Arcadia to help you practice your navigational skills, with or without hacks. Some of them are easier to obtain than others so see if you can reach them all!
Item pick-ups have no effect, this is for training purposes.
Item pick-ups have been placed at the following locations:
Outside of the Throne Hall (Easy)
North West of the M.O.N.A. Landmark (Easy)
North T-LOOP Building (Medium)
The Line (Hard)
As a reminder, to access Arcadium you can go to the Play portal’s Train tab. To exit, simply open the menu and quit to the Hyper Scape HUB.
Systems
Improved Mammoth Feedback:
We’ve added feedback under the Mammoth Mark I reticle to show how many pellets have hit the target. The reticle will now display Normal hits in white and Critical hits in red.
Improved Health Bar:
The enemy health bar has been reworked to make it more readable during combat:
Better & faster health loss animation when hitting a target.
Removed the health chunk divisions to make the bar easier to read.
New color.
Improved Combat Audio Feedback:
A series of audio improvements have been made to the core combat feedback:
Improved Critical hit sound.
Improved Normal hit sound.
Improved player & team elimination confirmation sounds.
Improved Squadmate Visibility:
To make squadmates easier to spot we’ve added a color filling that matches the color of their squad widget and outline:
The color filling will appear when a squadmate is 20m away from you and will then gradually increase as the squadmate gets further.
This filling, like the outline, is not occluded and thus helps to identify your allies’ current position, even if you are separated by several buildings.
Improved Marketplace Layout:
The Marketplace’s visual layout was improved to simplify navigation in a single tab and have quick access to all offers. Players will see everything listed below in one single tab:
Daily Gift
Daily Offers
Weekly offers
Battle Pass offers
Currency offers
New Curve Settings Submenu:
We’ve regrouped advanced controller curve settings inside a new sub-menu to simplify the settings menu and prevent manipulation errors. The following settings will be found in that sub-menu:
Extra Speed (Horizontal / Vertical)
Extra Speed Delay
Extra Speed Time
Controller Dead Zones
Controller Outer Threshold
Aim Assist
Quality-Of-Life Updates
Improved Starter Pack Visibility:
We’ve added a specific screen in the Hyper Scape HUB to improve the visibility of the Starter Pack.
You will now be able to see and explore in the 3D preview the items that you may own if you purchase the pack.
Daily Gift End Of Match Notification:
At the end of a match, if a player hasn’t redeemed their Daily Gift yet, a notification will now be shown to remind players to go back to the Marketplace and claim the gift.
Bundle Improvements:
Added the “Equip” button after purchasing a bundle. You will now be able to equip the items of a bundle directly after purchase.
Bug Fixes
Game Modes:
In Arcadium, fixed an issue where eliminating a drone did not show the drone’s name in the kill feed.
Refer to the Team Deathmatch section above for numerous fixes in that mode.
Weapons:
Fixed an issue where holding the shoot button with the Skybreaker would prevent the player from reloading the weapon or shooting again.
Systems:
Fixed an issue where some in-game news would be duplicated for players who play Hyper Scape on multiple platforms.
For controllers, fixed an issue where turning the Auto-sprint setting on and moving to the front left or right would cause the screen and the character’s hands to shake violently.
For controllers, fixed an issue where turning to the left would make the character turn a lot slower than they do if they turn to the right.
On PC, fixed an issue where the game’s interface would display abnormally after a player clicked the “Find Another Match” option and switched to another screen while waiting in the Lobby.
On PC, fixed an issue where switching from Full-screen mode with a nonnative resolution to Borderless mode would cause massive FPS drops.
Crowncast:
Fixed an issue where the Leaderboard did not show the elimination leader while watching a Team Deathmatch match.
General:
Fixed multiple crashes and improved the general stability of the game.
Fixed several text and localization issues.
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