Category: Games

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Pokemon Sword And Shield “Twilight Wings” Anime Short Is Just Lovely

A lot of Pokemon fiction focuses on kids who want to be the very best (like no one ever was), but the world of stadium Pokemon competitions as shown in Pokemon Sword and Shield means there must be plenty of fans in the Galar region too. A new Pokemon anime short focuses on one such fan, with a sweet and wholesome tone that just warms your heart.

The short focuses on John, a little boy who has spent years of his life in hospitals. When he hears that Chairman Rose is paying a visit to the medical center, he sees an opportunity to pursue his dream: to watch a match with the Champion, Leon, in a real stadium. The short is only about six minutes long, so you’ll have to watch to find out what happens.

The short is part of a seven-part series called Twilight Wings, focused on the residents of the Galar region. That seems to suggest that the series as a whole might not focus on John alone, but the stories of other Galar residents could intertwine with his as it goes on. New episodes will be released monthly.

Meanwhile, we recently learned that Pokemon Sword and Shield will be getting large-scale expansions with new territories, new characters, and lots of new monsters to collect. The first, the Isle of Armor, will launch in June. The second, Crown Tundra, will follow this fall. A free update gives you a small taste of the expansions, and more updates are set to add old Pokemon into the game.

Now Playing: Pokemon Sword And Shield – Expansion Pass Announcement Trailer

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Get Stardew Valley And 6 Other Games For $10 In New Humble Bundle

Humble’s latest bundle benefits Sweet Farm, a non-profit animal sanctuary, so it makes sense that it would bundle Stardew Valley, a game where you can raise and care for animals, with a bunch of other great titles about nature and critters. The Humble Sweet Farm Bundle combines Stardew Valley with six other PC games for $10.

As usual, Humble is offering different game tiers depending on how much you want to pay. Paying $1 or more gets you Niche: a genetics survival game, MagiCat, and Evergarden, while paying more than the average ($7.20 USD at time of publishing) adds Equilinox, Ultimate Chicken Horse, and Samorost 3. Pay $10 or more, and you’ll get Stardew Valley as well. All buyers will also get the soundtracks for Niche and MagiCat.

Once you choose how much you want to pay, you can choose where you want it to go by dividing it between the game publishers, Sweet Farm, and a tip for Humble.

Stardew Valley received a massive patch back in December that fixed a ton of bugs and added some new features, including a late-game movie theater, new 14-heart events for spouses, and fish-breeding ponds, in addition to clothes tailoring and dyeing, new clothing and items, and much more.

In addition to the latest bundle, Humble is hosting a new winter sale, with deals on The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Game of the Year Edition for $15, Control for $40.19, and Astroneer for $19.49. More of last year’s best games are also discounted, including Resident Evil 2 and Devil May Cry 5 for $19.79 each, Metro Exodus for $20, and Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night for $28. You can check out all of the games on sale at Humble.

Humble Sweet Farm Bundle tiers

Pay $1 or more

Pay more than the average ($7.20 at publishing)

Pay $10 or more

Now Playing: Stardew Valley Will Make You A Happier Person

New Shenmue 3 DLC Adds In More Playable Characters, Special Battle Event

After nearly two decades following Shenmue II‘s 2001 release, the series focusing on the adventures of a young martial artist seeking revenge finally saw its return to action with Shenmue III. While the game has an assortment of tasks to distract yourself with, the developers have plans for a new DLC to add in even more to do.

As the first post-launch update for the Shenmue series, the upcoming Battle Rally DLC will add in a new event for Ryo and his friends to take part in. Releasing on January 21 for $8 (players who own the collector’s edition will get it as a free-update) the event is a competitive combat race, which puts places the protagonist in ancient relay race where he’ll have to maintain a steady pace against his opponents. Along the way, he’ll face off against foes in hand-to-hand combat to progress to the next part of the race.

While Ryo spends much of the game on his own, tracking down clues and engaging in interesting side-activities, he won’t go it alone in this new event. Joining him is Wei Zhen, a new character introduced in Shenmue III, and Wuying Ren, a returning character from the original sequel. For the first time in the series, you’ll be able to play as other characters aside from Ryo. As it’s a relay race, you’ll eventually need to switch off between different partners. When you shift over to Ren or Wei Zhen, you’ll be able to utilize their unique skills in combat, setting them apart from Ryo’s familiar style.

It certainly sounds like an interesting update for the game, which helps to flesh out the village’s history. Something is fascinating about getting to revisit a game that seems quite symbolic of a particular era of gaming, which sought to grow a bit further while being confined to specific design philosophies. With a new round of updates coming, it’ll be interesting to see how Shenmue III continues to evolve from here.

In GameSpot’s full review, writer Heidi Kemps spoke about the game’s struggles to maintain the essence of the original within a more modern gaming landscape. “Shenmue III has its moments. It delivers on the promise of creating interesting and engaging new environments for Ryo and friends to explore and play around in. Yet, I can’t help but think that the game’s dogged determination to retain the same “feel” of its Dreamcast ancestors at any cost hurts it immensely.”

Now Playing: Shenmue III Sparring and Training Gameplay

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What Pokemon Can Learn From Temtem

Temtem, an upcoming MMO inspired by Pokemon, is still very much a work-in-progress. In its current state, there are still balance issues to be fixed, facades of buildings that need filling out, and more work to do to get the game fully up and running. But already, Temtem has revealed some clever twists on the Pokemon formula–and more than just letting you battle alongside friends.

Like every core Pokemon game, in Temtem, you start with a titular creature and head out on a journey to battle and collect more of them. In the recent closed alpha, I was able to join up with a friend almost immediately after getting my first Temtem, and it was seamless and easy to explore and battle together in real-time (though we used Discord for voice chat). The sheer novelty of doing Pokemon-style double battles alongside another human player, rather than controlling both creatures on the field yourself, was exciting–it’s something that Pokemon players have wanted for some time, and it’s one of the big features that Temtem offers as a direct competitor.

And Temtem handles it well, too, in terms of battling. Most Temtem battles are 2v2, as opposed to Pokemon, which largely has you in one-on-one situations during the story. You have a six-Temtem party of your own, and in a co-op battle, you each can use only the first three Temtem from that party with one in battle each at a time. You get to coordinate with your buddy as to what Temtem you want in your combined party, any strategy ideas, and then how you execute each turn–in short, it gets you engaged in teamwork. You can also switch out one of your Temtem during battle in favor of your friend’s, though they’ll control both monsters at once.

Some Temtem have moves that really capitalize on this coordination. While Pokemon have support moves that can boost each other in double battles, there are currently no moves in Pokemon that get a boost just because of who your partner is. In Temtem, however, some moves have “synergy” effects when the right Temtem is in battle with you. For example, there’s one move called Urushiol that gets a power and effect boost if your partner is a Toxic type. While you could use synergy by yourself, it was fun to both discover these kinds of moves and execute on a strategy with a friend.

Temtem still needs to be balanced further, but so far, it is also way harder than any recent Pokemon game, even when you’re playing with someone else. Part of that is certainly because I don’t yet know what all the Temtem are, how their types work, or any of the intricacies of the game, but we were really on the verge of death around halfway through Temtem’s equivalent of Route 1. Understanding synergy (or any of the type matchups, even) was not advanced but essential knowledge even in the beginning, which was a refreshing challenge.

The main downside to co-op, like in any game that has a non-zero amount of dialogue, is that it’s hard to coordinate when you’re chatting and when you’re reading. I ended up clicking through quite a bit of dialogue just so my friend wouldn’t get bored waiting for me, and we barely explored the towns or talked to NPCs. It made me wish that Temtem had strayed from Pokemon’s formula significantly here, since running around the tall grass and battling in co-op works well, at least in concept.

So yes, it would be awesome to battle alongside a friend in Pokemon. But more than that, I would love to see Pokemon adopt Temtem’s synergy mechanic, which could potentially add a fresh dimension to competitive Pokemon battles that doesn’t rely on going bigger and stronger–like Dynamax and even Z-Moves and Mega Evolutions before it. Double battles are my favorite format, and I also just love to see Temtem embracing it as the default, while adding a bit more challenge to suit the depth of strategy that doubles affords. Whether Temtem can fully capture my heart the way Pokemon has remains to be seen.

Temtem is scheduled to release in Early Access on Steam on January 21, 2020.

Fortnite 11.40 Update Out Now, Here Are The Patch Notes

Fortnite developer Epic Games has rolled out a new patch for the hit battle royale game. Update v11.40 is now live across all platforms and introduces a new way to upgrade certain weapons called “sidegrading.”

Thanks to this new feature, you can now modify the Assault Rifle into the Heavy Assault Rifle at upgrade machines in non-competitive playlists. Additionally, Epic has reduced the amount of material it costs to upgrade weapons, while the Flint-Knock Pistol, Shockwave Grenade, and Impulse Grenade have all been added to the Battle Lab.

On top of that, update 11.40 resolves a handful of bugs and other issues in the game. Among other things, Star Wars Achievements display again on the Legacy timeline, and a bug preventing the “visit different bus stops in a single match” challenge from properly tracking progress for certain bus stops has been fixed. You can see the full patch notes, courtesy of Epic’s website, below.

Beyond the v11.40 update, Epic has also announced a new line of skins for the game called the Icon Series, the first of which is based on popular Fortnite streamer Ninja. The skin will be added to Fortnite’s in-game shop on January 16 alongside a Ninja’s Edge Back Bling, Ninja Style Emote, and Dual Katanas Pickaxe.

Season 1 of Fortnite Chapter 2 runs until February 6, so there’s still some time to complete any weekly challenges from this season that you may not have gotten around to. If you need help clearing them, you can find maps and guides for the trickier ones in our Fortnite Chapter 2 challenges roundup.

Fortnite: Battle Royale v11.40 Patch Notes

  • Introducing Sidegrading: the Heavy Assault Rifle returns.
    • In non-competitive playlists, you can now use Upgrade Machines to “Sidegrade” your Assault Rifle into a Heavy Assault Rifle.
  • Reduced material costs for upgrading weapons at Upgrade Machines.
  • Added the following items to Battle Lab:
    • Flint-Knock Pistol (Common and Uncommon)
    • Shockwave Grenade
    • Impulse Grenade
  • The iPad Pro (2018 release) now supports 120 FPS.
  • Clickable thumbstick buttons (L3 and R3) are now usable on supported iOS controllers.

Bug fixes

  • Players’ Star Wars Achievements have returned to the Legacy timeline.
  • Resolved an issue involving the “F” key not enabling proper movement after direction was remapped to it.
  • Resolved an issue involving editing quickly causing players to remain in Edit mode.
  • Falling into a Hideout no longer causes the Bolt-Action Sniper Rifle’s crosshairs to disappear.
  • Resolved an issue involving the “Visit different bus stops in a single match” Remedy vs. Toxin Challenge not tracking progress for some bus stops.
  • The Spectrum Contrail again changes colors while in motion.
  • Continued to make improvements regarding FPS drops and hitching on mobile devices.
  • Resolved an issue involving mobile players getting stuck in a loop on the Select Fire Mode screen.
  • Resolved an issue involving console players being unable to progress through the gifting process if they did not have Two-Factor Authentication enabled.

Now Playing: Fortnite Update Adds Ninja Skin & “Sidegrading” – GS News Update

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Apex Legends’ Gibraltar Is The Third Character To Get A Unique Revival Animation

Respawn recently released a new update for Apex Legends that implemented several bug fixes and gameplay changes–some of which even hint at upcoming Season 4 content. Among the changes are a few buffs for Gibraltar, one of which allows him to revive teammates more quickly while inside his Dome Shield. The new passive affects more than just gameplay, however, it gives Gibraltar a whole new revival animation.

Noticed by Reddit user Diamantdavid, the new animation reflects the seemingly never-ending positivity that Gibraltar brings to the Apex Games. While outside his shield, Gibraltar will still perform the same revival animation as most of the other legends. However, when inside it, he now reaches down and quickly lifts up his squadmate with one hand, plants them on their feet, and with a hearty laugh gives them a strong pat on the back to send them on their way.

This makes Gibraltar the third legend to have a unique revival animation, the first being Lifeline and the second being Wattson–the former calls in her D.O.C. drone to put up a shield while reviving and the latter uses her Interception Pylon to shock her teammates back onto their feet. Like Lifeline, Gibraltar’s new animation is tied to his gameplay, operating as a visual cue for all nearby players that a quick revive is happening. Though it’s unique, Wattson’s revival is no faster or slower than the other legends; it’s purely cosmetic.

Apex Legends is currently in the midst of a Season 3: Meltdown limited-time event called Grand Soirée Arcade. Continuing until January 28, Grand Soirée Arcade adds seven new modes to Respawn’s battle royale and several new legendary skins to buy in the in-game store. Meltdown is scheduled to end on February 4. Apex Legends is available for Xbox One, PS4, and PC.

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HBO’s The Plot Against America Reimagines WWII With Fascist Leader As President

HBO has a new limited-series coming this March that rewrites history. The Plot Against America focuses on the political rise of Charles Lindbergh, dragging America towards fascism, based on the book of the same name by Philip Roth.

Revealed at the TCA winter press tour, the six-part limited series is created by David Simon and Ed Burns, the minds behind HBO’s The Wire and Generation Kill. The Plot Against America “imagines an alternate American history during World War II, told through the eyes of a working-class Jewish family in New Jersey as they endure the political rise of Charles Lindbergh, an aviator-hero and xenophobic populist, who captures the presidency and turns the nation toward fascism,” according the synopsis from a recent press release.

The series stars Zoe Kazan (The Deuce), Morgan Spector (Boardwalk Empire), Winona Ryder (Stranger Things), John Turturro (Tranformers), Anthony Boyle (The Lost City of Z), Azhy Robertson (Marriage Story), and Caleb Malis. Ben Cole will be in a supporting role, playing Charles Lindbergh.

Credit: HBO, photography by Michele K. ShortCredit: HBO, photography by Michele K. ShortGallery image 1Gallery image 2Gallery image 3

“As one of our greatest novelists, Philip Roth was generally more known for narratives that went directly to the human heart and the human condition,” says Simon, who was able to meet with Roth once to discuss the project before the novelist’s death in 2018. “But with ‘Plot,’ he delivered an emotionally moving political tract about our country taking a dry run at totalitarianism and intolerance. That it was published in 2004 makes it no less prescient a document at this moment in time. Roth was warning us that it can happen here. And it can.”

Burns and Simon will write the series, with Minkie Spiro (Downton Abbey) serving as director Episodes 1-3. Thomas Schlamme (The West Wing) will direct the final three parts of the series.

The Plot Against America comes to HBO on March 16 at 9 PM ET/PT.

More from the TCA winter press tour:

New Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order Update Unlocks Orange Lightsaber Color For All

Respawn has released a new update for Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. The update addresses a few bugs and implements several gameplay improvements, but is mostly aimed at unlocking limited-time pre-order cosmetics for all players.

Those that pre-ordered Fallen Order received a special orange lightsaber blade color, as well as two hilts for Cal’s lightsaber–the Mygeeto and Umbaran. Pre-ordering the game also unlocked an exclusive skin for both BD-1 and the Mantis. Now, all of that content is available for players, regardless of whether they pre-ordered the game or not.

The remainder of the update addresses certain in-game bugs, such as implementing a fix for the glitch that allowed you to use the Photomode camera to explode rockets. That’s probably the big one, but there are a few smaller fixes as well–including improvements to language translations and collision. You can read through all the changes in the full patch notes, which are listed below.

In GameSpot’s Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order review, Phil Hornshaw wrote, “[Especially] as it wears on, Fallen Order becomes perhaps the strongest conception of what playing as a Jedi Knight ought to really be like. It’s true that Fallen Order borrows liberally from other action games, but those elements work together with Respawn’s combat and environment design, and a story that finds humanity in the Force and in its characters, to hone in on what makes the world of Star Wars worthy of revisiting again and again. Even with some rough edges, Fallen Order represents one of the most compelling game additions to the Star Wars franchise in years.”

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order January 15 Update Patch Notes

Fixes & Improvements

  • We’ve fixed an issue where Bounty Hunters would sometimes get stuck in Zeffo.
  • Not only was the Photomode camera able to explode rockets, it could interact with trigger volumes within the levels that could potentially break the game. We’ve fixed this to ensure that you can continue playing the game after using Photomode. Unfortunately, this also means that rockets will be unaffected by the camera moving forward.
  • There was a bug that was causing one of the elevators in the last level to have a tendency of disappearing. It should now be present at all times.
  • We’ve improved collision on Ilum.
  • Our language translations have been updated.
  • There was an issue where some text was overlapping in Photomode for specific screen ratios. That has been fixed.
  • The Albino Wyyyschokk tactical guide entry wasn’t appearing for all users, this should now be fixed.
  • We’ve fixed Gorgara having a tendency to disappear at specific times on Dathomir.

Content

  • Pre-order content has now been unlocked for all players. This content includes:
    • Orange Lightsaber Blade Color
    • Mygeeto Campaign Lightsaber Hilt
    • Umbaran Campaign Lightsaber Hilt
    • BD-1 Skin
    • Gold Squadron Stinger Mantis Skin

Now Playing: Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order Is A Huge Step For Respawn

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Wrinkled-Face Detective Pikachu Plush Is Here To Wreck Your Heart

Against all odds, Pokemon: Detective Pikachu was one of the best films of 2019, and much of its charm comes from the incredibly realistic CGI designs that brought classic Pokemon to life on the big screen. Its spunky star, Detective Pikachu, is almost unbearably cute throughout the entire film, and now one of his cutest–and most heartbreaking–moments is immortalized in a new plush doll available on PokemonCenter.com.

Warning: Slight spoilers for Pokemon: Detective Pikachu follow!

Detective Pikachu (2019)Detective Pikachu (2019)

The Detective Pikachu Wrinkled-Face Plush, as it’s officially called, harkens back to one of the film’s most tragic moments. While escaping from a mysterious lab facility with his human companions Tim and Lucy, Pikachu is seriously hurt, but he ends up being healed by the legendary Pokemon, Mewtwo. The process triggers the partial return of his memory, which leads him to believe he betrayed his former human partner (and Tim’s father) Harry Goodman. The shame drives Pikachu away from the group, and he’s later seen wandering an empty highway alone, looking extremely forlorn, brows furrowed, and his entire face wrinkled in sadness.

Pokemon: Detective Pikachu Wrinkled-Face PlushPokemon: Detective Pikachu Wrinkled-Face PlushGallery image 1Gallery image 2Gallery image 3Gallery image 4

If you’ve always wanted to give that wrinkled-face Pikachu a hug and tell him everything will be OK, you now can, thanks to this new plush. Available for $20, the 8-inch Detective Pikachu plush recreates Pikachu’s face in all its wrinkled glory from that scene in the film. It’s part of Pokemon Center’s original Pokemon: Detective Pikachu collection. Quantities are limited, so if you need this iconic plush in your life ASAP, I’d recommend snatching him up today.

And for fans who love Detective Pikachu but don’t want to look at his sad, wrinkled face every day, there’s also a much happier-looking Detective Pikachu plush available on PokemonCenter.com, although it’s a bit more expensive at $25. Alternatively, there are official Psyduck and Ludicolo plushies available as well, if you’re into that.

Now Playing: Pokémon Detective Pikachu Movie Breakdown (Spoilers)

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Zombieland 2 Originally Had The Most Ridiculous Celebrity Cameo

It took a decade to get a sequel to Zombieland in theaters. Now, with Zombieland: Double Tap arriving on Blu-ray, 4K Ultra HD, and DVD on January 21–and available on digital now–the film’s writers are giving us some idea of what the original script looked like when it was written a decade ago. One of the biggest differences is the film initially included a massive celebrity cameo.

As those who have seen Zombieland: Double Tap know, at one point in the movie, Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson) spots a luxury RV on the side of the road that he wants to commandeer. Originally, though, it wasn’t an RV that the gang found on their travels.

“That originally was the Rolling Stones RV that was in the first draft. It was outside the Staples Center because it was set in California right after the first movie,” co-writer Rhett Reese told GameSpot. “They were looking for an RV, and it was the Rolling Stones tour bus that they went to grab.”

Of course, given that the first Zombieland killed off a beloved celebrity in Bill Murray, Double Tap didn’t stop there. “They ended up having to fight a zombified Rolling Stones. Like they had to kill Mick Jagger and all this stuff,” Reese continued. “And then Keith Richards was in the back right and they opened the door, and they thought he was a zombie too, and they killed him. And it turns out it was just Keith Richards.”

What’s bigger than killing Bill Murray? Killing the Rolling Stones, it turns out. Ultimately, the Rolling Stones–and the return to Los Angeles–never made it into the final version of the film. Luckily for fans of the franchise, though, there is another dose of Bill Murray in the sequel, as it’s revealed the zombie apocalypse started at a junket for one of his movies. If ever there was a way to kill off the Garfield franchise, it’s the end of the world.

Now, with Zombieland: Double Tap hits Blu-ray, 4K Ultra HD, and DVD on January 21 and is available on digital now.

Now Playing: Zombieland 2 Double Tap Spoiler Review & Movie Breakdown