No More Heroes 3 – Rank 5 Boss Fight Guide

SPOILER WARNING: Be careful! No More Heroes 3 is a game filled with surprises, and sometimes boss fights don’t always go as expected. In other words, we recommend not reading the boss strategy until you’ve actually started fighting the boss to avoid spoiling some of the game’s best moments!

Midori Midorikawa is quite the odd duck. She greets you with a long rambling self-introduction, has two “talking” hands, controls elemental powers, and has decided that, before you fight her, you’re going to have to trudge your way through a first-person schoolhouse-turned-hellhouse. Creepy? Very. Weird? Oh hell yes. Difficult? Hmmm, maybe not quite so much as some of your previous fights. Below, you can find out how to defeat Midori Midorikawa. For more guides, be sure to check out our No More Heroes 3 beginner’s tips.

How To Defeat Midori Midorikawa

From the start, carefully follow the glowing green orb through the structure. It will take you up a flight of stairs and, eventually, it will phase through a set of double doors that you can’t open. From here, you can go either left or right. To the right is a restroom with a save point and a warp back to the motel. If you go left, you’ll encounter several open classrooms, some of which contain an enemy fight inside. Should you go all the way down the left hall, you’ll loop back to the right side of the hall where the restroom is.

The key to opening the double doors is to go inside all of the classrooms, see if enemies attack, and then kill them all. Once you clear all of these encounters, the double doors will open and let you progress to actual one-on-one combat with Midori.

When you get to these double doors, you'll want to head left.
When you get to these double doors, you’ll want to head left.

When you actually get to fight Midori herself, you’ve got one hell of an advantage–a fully armored Travis! While you can’t use any sushi items or Death Glove skills in Full Green Mode, you likely won’t even need to because this thing’s an absolute beast. Most of the face-button controls are the same, though you can now hover by holding down the B button, and the dodge-roll has turned into a boosted sprint. The big changes are on the L and R buttons: L will activate your missile volley (same as the skill you get from suiting up after getting all 7s on the Slash Reel), while R performs an incredibly powerful Tiger Attack–think the Death Kick, but even better. These take a while to recharge after use, however!

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Midori is primarily a ranged fighter who tries to keep you at a distance with lasers and projectiles. The key is to find an opening to get in and deal damage. She’ll use the power of wind and fire to keep you at bay, targeting you with massive fire lasers, whipping up a miniature tornado to blast off at you, or summoning multiple fireballs to bounce around the arena. Many of her attacks are straightforward to dodge, but her sheer speed can make her hard to catch up to. The bigger threats are the floor hazards left behind by her bouncing fireball attack and aerial fireball attacks, which linger on the ground for a very long time and can tick off Travis’s life should you carelessly zoom into them. And, lest you think she’s just a ranged fighter, she can surprise you with a slashing close-range counterattack when you’ve closed the gap, so stay on your toes.

When she’s down to half of her life, she’ll start using a new attack where she’ll fire numerous wind or fire blades around her body in a wide radius. The “tell” is when she hovers in the air, and a white or flaming circle forms around her. You can easily avoid these by jumping and hovering until the attack ends.

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Even if you find yourself having trouble getting in, if you can stall long enough to have your L and R attacks recharge, you can rely on those to deal a lot of damage to Midori. Keep an eye out for hazards, and this fight should be fairly simple.

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Peacock’s Vampire Academy Reveals Cast and Fresh Details

Peacock has revealed the 10 series regulars for its upcoming Vampire Academy show. It also revealed new details about the series based on the young adult novels of the same name written by Richelle Mead.

Vampire Academy is centered on exactly what the name implies, an academy for fledgling vampires, and it will be filled with romance, friendship, death, sex, scandal, drama, and more.

“St. Vladimir’s Academy isn’t just any boarding school — It’s a hidden place where vampire royals are educated and half-human teens train to protect them from the savage ‘Strigoi’ vampires who would like to see them destroyed,” Peacock’s description for the series reads. “In a world of privilege and glamour, two young women’s friendship transcends their strikingly different classes as they prepare to complete their education and enter royal vampire society.”

The description continues and says Vampire Academy combines the “elegance of aristocratic romance” with the “supernatural thrills” found in the vampire genre.

Alongside these new Vampire Academy details, Peacock also revealed 10 of the series regulars:

  • Sisi Stringer (Mortal Kombat) has been cast to play Rose Hathaway, a vampire-human hybrid known as a Dhampir, who is fiery, outspoken, the strongest fighter in her class, and always ready to jump into action.

  • Daniela Nieves (Sex Appeal, Five Points) will play Lissa Dragomir, a Royal Moroi vampire who is the heir apparent to Princess Vasilisa Dragomire and a carefree, kind-hearted, princess uninterested in the politics of her family’s royal court.

  • Kieron Moore (Masters of the Air, Sex Education) has been cast to play Dimitri Belikov, the model of a Dhampir guardian who is lethal, disciplined, discreet, and committed to his role as a bodyguard to the ruling Moroi vampires.

  • Andre Dae Kim (Degrassi, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds) will play Christian Ozera, a Royal Moroi vampire who is intelligent, thoughtful, and a pariah of the academy as a result of his parent’s unforgivable societal sins.
  • J. August Richards (Angel, Generation) has been cast to play Victor Dashkov, a noble Moroi vampire with a heart of gold who is a well-regarded advisor, loyalist, and political strategist to the Moroi dignitaries.

  • Anita-Joy Uwajeh (West End’s Cyrano de Bergerac, King Lear) will play Tatiana Vogel, a Moroi vampire and political underdog plotting to slowly take the royal court by storm.
  • Mia McKenna-Bruce (West End’s Billy Elliot The Musical, The Dumping Ground) has been cast to play Mia Karp, a St. Vladimir’s Academy student who is witty, cutting, ruthless, and someone who’s not a member of royalty with big plans to eventually become someone in the royal court.
  • Rhian Blundell (Torchwood: Believe, Doctor Who: The Dread of Night) will play Meredith, a smart Dhampir who’s described as a keen observer, excellent strategist, and valuable asset.

  • Jonetta Kaiser (Tales, Breakwater) has been cast to play Sonya Karp, a quiet, careful, and odd Moroi vampire who sits on the fringe of society void of any royal blood.

  • Andrew Liner (Grown-ish) will play Mason Ashford, a charming, loyal, and popular guardian-in-training who is Rose’s main competition to become the best guardian out there.

Peacock also revealed that Julie Plec, the director of The Vampire Diaries, The Originals, and Legacies, will serve as the showrunner for the first season of Vampire Academy, and she’ll write and direct some episodes too. Marguerite MacIntyre will executive produce the series alongside Plec, Emily Cummins, Don Murphy, Susan Montford, Deepak Nayar, and Jillian DeFrehn.

Other directors include Billie Woodruff, Luis Prieto, Jesse Warn, Erica Dunton, and Geoff Shotz. A release date for Vampire Academy has not yet been revealed.

Wesley LeBlanc is a freelance news writer and guide maker for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @LeBlancWes.

World Of Warcraft Patch Will Add Fan-Requested Features, Remove More Developer References

After months of player feedback that seemed to largely fall on deaf ears, Blizzard is set to bring about some major changes to many of World of Warcraft Shadowlands’ biggest systems in the game’s next patch, which will include the removal of a controversial feature that has long been a source of player complaints along with changes for in-game references to numerous former developers.

As outlined in a statement by the WoW development team, Blizzard will be making some significant quality-of-life changes to Shadowlands in patch 9.1.5, many of which are direct responses to feedback many players have had since Shadowlands launched.

Now Playing: World of Warcraft: Shadowlands: Chains of Domination Trailer | BlizzCon 2021

“Over the past few weeks since we shared an update, the WoW team has been focused on the immediate future–both for our people and workplace, and what’s next for players too,” the WoW team writes. “As a part of that, the entire team came together to ask: What are the biggest things we’re hearing that are getting in the way of your fun, and what are the most impactful changes we could make to WoW today to fix that?”

As stated by Shadowlands game director Ion Hazzikostas on Twitter, many of the changes coming in the next patch are tailored around making the lives of “alt” characters easier. For the unfamiliar, an alt is any secondary character a player may play after having already done the majority of the game’s content on a primary, or “main,” character. It’s a list of changes that include adding new ranks of heirloom items, the ability to skip Covenant campaigns on alts after completing them with another character, the ability to skip the expansion’s introductory Maw questline for alts, the ability to level in Torghast, and more. According to Hazzikostas, even more alt friendly changes, such as being able to transfer a Shadowlands-only currency called Anima between main and alt characters, could be coming in the future as well.

Big changes that players have long asked for are also coming to the game’s Covenant system, including the widely disliked Conduit Energy system. Blizzard is removing Conduit Energy completely, writing in a forum post that the system did not play out as the developer had hoped.

“We should have heeded community feedback and taken a different direction a year ago,” the post reads. “A majority of players largely ignore the system and are unaffected by it, while the minority who want to engage in multiple content types competitively feel constrained by it. Overall, that adds up to a negative experience. Conduit Energy isn’t really making the game better in any appreciable way, so we’re removing the system entirely.”

Players who reach a high enough Renown rank will also be able to switch freely between Covenants. That change is particularly significant, as Blizzard at the outset of Shadowlands made a big deal out of how major a choice a player’s chosen Covenant would be, going as far as to punish players who decided to later swap to a different Covenant. With patch 9.1.5, players will be able to change Covenants to their hearts’ content with no penalty whatsoever, allowing for more experimentation with different Covenant abilities without feeling locked in to a certain path.

All of that is coming in addition to a host of other changes, like the addition of new character creation options far earlier than expected, Legendary item recycling, Legion timewalking dungeons, streamlined unlock requirements for many of the game’s Allied Races, and more.

Not outlined in Blizzard’s official statements is the news, via PC Gamer, that the patch will see the removal of references to former Blizzard developers Jesse McCree, Luis Barriga, and Jon LeCraft, all of who have recently departed Blizzard following allegations in a state of California lawsuit accusing Blizzard of fostering a culture of harassment and discrimination towards women. The Overwatch character sharing McCree’s name will also be changed in the future, and Blizzard has already removed references in WoW to former game director Alex Afrasiabi. Blizzard did outline in its development update that the patch will bring better visibility in terms of in-game reporting alongside more serious penalties for those who break the game’s code of conduct. A public test realm for 9.1.5 where players will be able to see all the changes first hand is set to release later this week.

The upcoming changes almost sound too good to be true for much of the community, and may be too little, too late for some. More than a few of WoW’s biggest content creators and streamers have recently stepped away from the game, at least in part thanks to Blizzard’s lack of communication with the community, while others have left following news of the lawsuit’s allegations. Those content creators who haven’t quit the game entirely have at the very least diversified their content to include rival MMOs like Square Enix’s Final Fantasy XIV or Amazon’s upcoming New World.

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The Evolution of Halo’s Magnum in PvP

In this video, Persia takes a trip through memory lane by revisiting every Halo to take a closer look at how the Magnum has evolved throughout the last two decades in PvP. From Halo: Combat Evolved to Halo Infinite, the Magnum goes through quite the rollercoaster of changes and tweaks. After the Halo Infinite Technical Preview, there is a little more insight on where the newest iteration of the Magnum is heading and how it stands against its predecessors.

Persia also talks about other various factors like the scopeless days of the Magnum in Halo 2 and Halo 3 courtesy of dual-wielding and even how other mechanics in titles such as Halo 4’s removal of the descope hindered the Magnum’s overall performance. It can be interesting to see how the Magnum had to adjust to every new idea introduced to the series with each new title.

Halo Infinite releases is set to release during the 2021 Holiday Season but you can play future technical previews by signing up for the Halo Insider program on HaloWaypoint.com

Dead Space Remake Livestream On Tuesday: How To Watch And What To Expect

EA will reveal more details on Motive Studio’s new Dead Space remake as part of a livestream event on Tuesday. It’s expected to provide a “very early look” at the new game, though whether or not we’ll see any gameplay remains to be seen. In any case, here’s a rundown of how to watch the event, when it starts, and what we’re expecting to see.

How To Watch The Dead Space Livestream

The Dead Space remake livestream begins Tuesday, August 31 at 10 AM PT on Twitch, and you can see more start times for other regions below.

Start Times:

  • 10 AM PT
  • 1 PM ET
  • 6 PM BST
  • 3 AM AEST (Wednesday, September 1)

You can watch the event through Motive’s Twitch channel. This will be the developer’s first video on the streaming site.

What To Expect From The Dead Space Livestream

EA said in a social media post, “The passionate team at Motive Studio are bringing you in for a very early look at the development of Dead Space.”

The wording here suggests the presentation won’t be the type of showcase that could be expected closer to a game’s release, which makes sense given the Dead Space remake isn’t expected to release until the end of 2022 at the soonest. The wording “very early look at the development” of the new Dead Space also suggests this will be more of a behind-the-scenes briefing.

In a note to media, EA said the broadcast will show off an “early development build” of the new Dead Space game. Senior producer Philippe Ducharme and creative director Roman Campos-Oriola will appear on the stream to discuss their vision for the game. “Special guests” from the Dead Space community will appear, too. EA has been working with what’s called the Dead Space Community Council, a team of fans who have been consulting with EA.

“It’s important to note that the build that will be shown in the livestream is an early prototype of the game and not final in any capacity; it is meant to illustrate Motive’s vision of Dead Space in motion for the community,” a spokesperson for EA said.

The new Dead Space is not a reboot or a remaster. It is a remake where “everything” has been re-built from the ground up, running on a new engine, Frostbite. EA says the new remake will be “respectful” of the original.

“It’s being fully rebuilt in Frostbite,” Campos-Oriola said. “With all new assets, new character models, new environments–even though we’re basing those on the original designs. There are new parts, new props, new collision models, and so on. We’re rebuilding everything from scratch, but we’re keeping the same story and the same structure.”

While you wait for the new Dead Space, you can play Dead Space 1-3, along with the spin-off Ignition, right now on Xbox Game Pass and EA Play. The new Dead Space game won’t have any microtransactions.

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Jungle Cruise 2 In The Works With The Rock And Emily Blunt Returning

Disney’s Jungle Cruise movie is getting a sequel, with stars Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Emily Blunt set to reprise their roles as Frank Wolff and Dr. Lily Houghton, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Writer Michael Green is also coming back to write the sequel, while director Jaume Collet-Serra is expected to return. Producers John Davis, John Fox, Beau Flynn, Dany Garcia, and Hiram Garcia are back as producers, with Scott Sheldon returning as executive producer.

Jungle Cruise made more than $187 million globally at the box office, including $100 million in the US alone–these are big, impressive numbers for a pandemic-era film. As such, it’s not a big surprise that Disney is going ahead with a sequel. The movie also made $30 million through Disney+ with Premier Access over its first three days.

Another positive force for Jungle Cruise is its very impressive A- CinemaScore rating. The movie also has a 92% fresh score on Rotten Tomatoes. All of these factors likely contributed to Disney’s decision to go ahead with a sequel, not to mention that The Rock and Emily Blunt are major Hollywood stars who are capable of selling movies consistently.

Like Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean movie series, Jungle Cruise is based on the Disney Parks ride of the same name. The ride at Disneyland recently reopened with changes themed around removing some racially insensitive sequences.

Hades Wins Big at Inaugural Global Game Industry Awards

It’s almost time to start thinking about Game of the Year awards for 2021, but one organization is still highlighting the best in gaming from last year, 2020.

The International Game Developers Association has revealed its winners for the inaugural Global Game Industry Awards. The categories included art, writing, engineering and technology, audio, and more.

The big winner was Supergiant Games’ Hades, which took home nine awards, including voice acting, 2D animation, and representation. Ori and the Will of the Wisps, Ghost of Tsushima, Half-Life: Alyx, and The Last of Us Part II also won multiple awards.

You can check out a full list of the winners below:

Art

  • 2D Animation – Supergiant Games’ Hades
  • 2D Character Design – Supergiant Games’ Hades
  • 2D Environment Art – Moon Studios’ Ori and the Will of the Wisps
  • 3D Animation – Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us Part II
  • 3D Character Art – CD Projekt RED’s Cyberpunk 2077
  • 3D Environment Art – Sucker Punch’s Ghost of Tsushima
  • Cinematography – Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us Part II
  • UI Art – Supergiant Games’ Hades
  • Visual Effects – Nolla Games’ Noita

Audio

  • Music Composition – iD Software’s DOOM Eternal
  • Sound Design – Sucker Punch’s Ghost of Tsushima
  • Voice Acting – Supergiant Games’ Hades

Design

  • Accessibility Innovation – Ubisoft Montreal’s Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
  • Gameplay Design – Mediatonic’s Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout
  • Level Design – Valve Corporation’s Half-Life: Alyx
  • Serious Game Design – Dry Cactus’ Polybridge 2
  • Systems Design – Supergiant Games’ Hades
  • UI/UX – Supergiant Games’ Hades
  • Engineering and Technology
  • Achievements in New Technology – Valve Corporation’s Half-Life: Alyx
  • Artificial Intelligence – Ubisoft Montreal’s Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
  • Audio Technology – Sucker Punch’s Ghost of Tsushima
  • Engine Technology – Epic Games’ Unreal Engine 4
  • Gameplay Technology – Valve Corporation’s Half-Life: Alyx
  • Graphics Technology – Nolla Games’ Noita
  • Networking Technology – Asobo Studios’ Microsoft Flight Simulator
  • Systems Technology – Ubisoft Toronto’s Watch Dogs: Legion

Support

  • Community Management – Innersloth’s Among Us
  • Customer Support – Mediatonic’s Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout
  • Marketing – Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass
  • Production/Management – Insomniac
  • Quality Assurance – iD Software’s DOOM Eternal
  • Research & Analytics – Asobo Studios’ Microsoft Flight Simulator

Writing and Narrative

  • Dialogue – Supergiant Games’ Hades
  • Narrative Design – Supergiant Games’ Hades
  • Story – Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us Part II
  • World Building – Sucker Punch’s Ghost of Tsushima

Miscellaneous

  • Representation – Supergiant Games’ Hades
  • Upcoming Indie – Kinetic Games
  • Diversity and Inclusivity – Microsoft

Last year, Hades won IGN’s Game of the Year award. The roguelike was widely recognized as one of the best games of 2020, taking home the top prize at multiple shows, including the Game Developer Choice Awards, and the SXSW Gaming Awards.

If you still haven’t tried it out, Hades came to Xbox Game Pass this month, as well as PS4 and PS5.

Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN. You can find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.

Expendables 4: Megan Fox Joins the Crew As New Movie Is Confirmed

Megan Fox will be the newest member of Sylvester Stallone’s crew in The Expendables 4, which was confirmed today by Lionsgate.

Fox, who found fame in Transformers and various other Michael Bay films, has lately been having a bit of a moment. Best-known for her breakout success in Transformers, she has managed to keep busy with roles in Till Death and Night Teeth.

Fox has recently talked openly about her treatment at the hands of the media and the general abuse she suffered as a very young actress trying to make it in Hollywood, with profiles like this one spotlighting her struggles.

She joins the Expendables cast as one of the youngest members of the team. Other confirmed Expendables 4 cast members include Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren, Randy Couture, and of course, Stallone, with Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson and Tony Jaa also joining the team.

The new film will be directed by Scott Waugh, who previously worked on Need for Speed and Acts of Valor

Terry Crews will seemingly not be returning for Expendables 4. Back in 2018, Crews said he wouldn’t be returning to the action franchise after what he says was retaliation from producer Avi Lerner concerning allegations of sexual misconduct against agent Adam Venit.

FIrst released in 2010, The Expendables seeks to bring together the most notable action heroes of the 80s, 90s, and 2000s. The last new entry was released in 2014, and was the lowest-grossing film in the trilogy. Nevertheless, Stallone started teasing Expendables 4 back in 2018, revealing that the series definitely wasn’t finished.

The Expendables 4 does not yet have a release date.

Photo courtesy of Getty Images

Kat Bailey is a Senior News Editor at IGN

Netflix’s You Season 3 Release Date Revealed

Netflix has revealed the release date for the upcoming third season of its psychological thriller series You, which will arrive on October 15, 2021.

Season 3 will focus on the main character Joe Goldberg as he navigates fatherhood after finding out at the end of the previous season that his girlfriend Love Quinn was pregnant. While the new trailer does not share any footage from the upcoming season, the new trailer does reveal the gender and name of Joe’s newborn baby.

The series is based on the novel series of the same name by Caroline Kepnes, which currently consists of three books, with the author currently working on a fourth entry in the series. Though Variety reported that the upcoming season would not be an adaptation of Kepnes’ third book, You Love Me. It will instead take the story in its own direction.

You’s first season originally premiered on Lifetime and the channel would even renew the show for a second season before the show even aired. Yet, the show became more popular when it was streaming on Netflix. By December, the streaming giant announced that You was now a Netflix Original series. The second season premiered on December 26, 2019, with the series getting renewed for another season in January 2020.

Taylor is the Associate Tech Editor at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.

How to Watch Marvel’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

Next next entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, the movie continues phase four of the MCU by giving us the story of the superhero Shang-Chi, who has to face off against his crime lord father.

When Does Shang-Chi Come Out?

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings releases on Friday, September 3, 2021.

Where to Watch Shang-Chi

At release, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings will only be available to watch in theaters. Unlike Black Widow, for instance, Shang-Chi will not be available on Disney+ via Premier Access on day one.

Black Widow, the only other MCU movie to come out this year, debuted in theaters and on Disney+ with Premier Access (a $30 fee) on day one. Shang-Chi isn’t going that route.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings Trailer

When Will Shang-Chi Be Available on Disney+?

Which begs the question: when will Shang-Chi be available on Disney+? According to Disney CEO Bob Chapek, it may arrive on the streaming service 45 days after the theatrical release. That would put it on Disney+ on October 18.

Note that this date isn’t a guarantee, and there has been no official announcement as to when Shang-Chi will land on Disney+ for all subscribers. It’s also possible Disney will charge an additional fee to watch it when it does arrive on the service. We’ll update this article once Disney details its streaming release plans for Shang-Chi.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings Reception

So… is Shang-Chi any good? The movie has been getting pretty positive reviews overall so far. Our critic said, “Director Destin Daniel Cretton skillfully connects Shang-Chi’s personal stakes with the larger MCU by way of an emotionally complex villain, a stellar cast with fantastic chemistry, and incredible action sequences.” You can check out our full Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings review for more information.