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The genre of “Action-RPG” is a big umbrella that covers everything from soulslikes to first-person stealth-action games like Deus Ex to isometric RPGs like Diablo, and many more. But even within that wide spectrum, there’s nothing quite like Scarlet Nexus – a game that combines inspirations from fast-paced character-action games of the Devil May Cry and Bayonetta school with epic JRPGs the likes of the Persona and “Tales of” series. It’s a surprisingly ambitious undertaking, and perhaps even more surprising is that Scarlet Nexus hits far more often than it misses.

So when I say that Scarlet Nexus is an action RPG, calling it that doesn’t really paint the full picture of what it’s about. Its moment-to-moment gameplay is a straight-up action game, through and through, like something you’d expect out of Platinum Games – its completely linear levels are structured so that you’re basically just moving from one closed-off battle to another while combat is fast, flashy, and reflex-driven.

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But the key difference between this and Platinum’s style is that Scarlet Nexus is just as focused on its story, worldbuilding, and character development as it is on combat; perhaps even more so in some regards. First off, it’s split up into two separate 20-hour campaigns that each follow the story of one of the two main characters: Yuito and Kasane. While their journeys do overlap from time to time these are, for all intents and purposes, two distinct and equally essential campaigns that you can play in either order, and completing them both is required to get a full understanding of Scarlet Nexus’s story.

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And it’s a story worth experiencing – one which takes place in a fascinating world where the vast majority of the population are gifted with powers of the mind. City streets are colored with augmented-reality advertisements, people are able to send messages directly to each others’ brains, and those with exceptional combat abilities are drafted into a Special Forces-like organization called the OSF (Others Suppression Force) to do battle against otherworldly monstrosities known as “Others.”

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Both Yuito and Kasane begin as newly minted members of the OSF and are placed onto two different platoons, each with their own squadmates and leaders; from that starting point, their journeys branch out in ways that have each character experiencing one side of a dense and complex plot full of conspiracies, ulterior motives, and surprising twists. Bandai Namco does an outstanding job of posing questions in one character’s playthrough and then answering them in the other by providing added context that better explains what led to certain events in ways that lead to some really satisfying pay-offs.

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While the overarching story is great, what really makes Scarlet Nexus special is the amount of care taken to develop its large supporting cast of eight characters who join Yuito and Kasane’s parties. After most big missions, you’re brought back to your hideout for a “stand-by phase” that gives you an opportunity to converse with your teammates, give them gifts (which they amusingly occasionally play with,) and trigger “bond episodes” that allow you to increase your bond level with each one. This is nothing super new to fans of the Mass Effect or Persona series, but what’s interesting about the way it’s handled here in Scarlet Nexus is that the bond episodes are very often tied to what’s happening in the main story, are entirely different depending on which campaign you’re playing, and are not always about improving a relationship. Sometimes the interactions in these bond episodes are outright hostile, but the important thing is that you always learn something about the character and why they act the way they do, or something that better explains the actions they just took in the main story.

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Even though most of the characters in Scarlet Nexus do fall into very tropey anime archetypes (the childhood friend/romantic interest, the snooty elitist brat, the shy and soft-spoken girl, and so on) these bond episodes do a wonderful job of developing them, to a point where they wind up becoming more than just their tropes. By the end, even the ones that I rolled my eyes at initially – like the aforementioned snooty elitist prick, Shiden – became characters that I grew to really care about. 

While these scenes are rewards unto themselves, increasing your bond with a party member will also improve their special powers and open up more opportunities for them to help you in battle. That’s a nice extra incentive that also ties into the idea that your relationships with these characters are growing stronger. 

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The story is also helped by wonderful performances in both English and Japanese, with the ability to choose whichever one strikes your fancy from the main menu. While it would’ve been nice to have more animated cutscenes as opposed to the static storyboard animatics, it’s an understandable compromise considering the sheer mountain of dialogue there is in Scarlet Nexus. 

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Psy-Kicking Some Ass

Scarlet Nexus’ biggest hurdle to overcome as a straight-up action game with a 40-hour, RPG-like story is making its combat engaging throughout that epic length. Remember, most character-action games only have to plan out around 10-12 hours’ worth of satisfying progression, so this is a rare thing to attempt. And while Scarlet Nexus does clear that hurdle, it definitely clips it on the way. 

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At a basic level, combat is a lot of fun. Both Yuito and Kasane have the Jedi-like power of psychokinesis which allows them to telekinetically grab objects and hurl them towards enemies, but they use different weapons, and that’s enough to give them their own unique flavor in a fight. Yuito uses a sword with faster attacks and a supporting skill set that makes him better suited for close-range combat, while Kasane uses a handful of knives that she controls telekinetically. She’s a bit slower but well suited for mid-range combat, and her supporting skill set makes her a little trickier to handle than Yuito, but equally enjoyable.

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What really makes Scarlet Nexus’s combat stand out is how the telekinetic moves flow with the weapon-based attacks. At any point of a weapon combo, you can press the right trigger to immediately hop back and throw an object, then follow that with a weapon attack that brings you right back into melee range. The result of the ease of transition between the two is a really exciting and smooth mix of long-range and close-range combat. And then there are the crazy environmental interactables that you can use, like grabbing a train with your mind and causing it to crash through a crowd of enemies, taking them all out in a single go.

On top of that, you’re able to borrow the abilities of your squadmates through the Struggle Arms System (SAS), which allows you to target key weaknesses of certain enemies or take advantage of specific status ailments, like when you use Hanabi’s pyrokinesis to ignite a group of enemies that have been doused with oil. When going up against tougher enemies, you really need to put it all together by mixing in regular attacks, psychokinetic attacks, and SAS abilities that target enemy weaknesses in order to succeed, which leads to some really satisfying fights that feel like you’re firing on all cylinders. 

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The one place that Scarlet Nexus feels like it slips up on the fundamentals of combat is that targeting isn’t the greatest. I sometimes found myself swinging at air despite feeling like my attack should’ve connected, but not often enough to become more than a little frustrating.

A bigger issue is that while the combat itself is highly dynamic, with lots of different abilities and powers that can each be upgraded in meaningful ways that change how they’re used over the course of the campaign, the enemies that you fight are not. There’s just not enough variety among them to healthily sustain a game of this length, especially since so many of them are of the “lock and key” variety: once you figure out the right ability to use against them, every fight thereafter always plays out the same.

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I do wish there were more of them, but I have to at least shout out the fact that the visual design of the enemies we do have to battle against is fantastic. The Others are a fantastical mix of beauty and monstrosity, combining the organic and inorganic in wildly inventive ways that are always unsettling to look at. 

The result of the lack of mechanical variety is that by the end of Yuito’s campaign, which is punctuated by multiple hours of very similar fights against very similar enemies, I was pretty exhausted from Scarlet Nexus’ combat and was not looking forward to immediately fighting through another one of a similar length (speaking strictly from a combat perspective). Fortunately, beating one campaign allows you to carry over your progress to the other, much like a New Game+. Not having to start from zero allowed me to blast through Kasane’s combat encounters much faster and get to the story, which was what I was really interested in at that point.

Deja Vu

In contrast to the inventive enemy designs, Scarlet Nexus’ levels are very often visually drab – we see areas like a mostly empty construction yard, an abandoned subway, and a broken-down highway with nothing done to really make them feel distinct. They make up for it with some terrifically fun environmental interactables, like the aforementioned train in the underground subway, the crane in the construction yard, or the bus that you can ride along a highway, crashing through groups of Others as you go. However, once again, variety remains an issue for a game of this length. 

That’s exacerbated by the fact that you’re regularly expected to travel through the same exact parts of the same exact levels, fighting the same or very similarly placed enemies. Yuito and Kasane at least get to visit a few unique locations that the other doesn’t ever get to see, so there is some added variety between the two campaigns, but I still found myself walking through the same AR bands of yellow tape, cruising past the same group of Others, or working my way to the same rooftop far too often.

It’s been a little more than two years since the Game of Thrones finale on HBO, and it seems George R.R. Martin has had plenty of time for reflection.

In a new interview with Chicago’s PBS station, Martin admitted that that “looking back, I wish I’d stayed ahead of the books.” He talked about the large head start he had when Game of Thrones first aired in 2011, and reiterated that he never thought the show would move past the books.

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“When they began that series, I had four books already in print, and the fifth one came out just as the series was starting in 2011,” Martin said. “I had a five book head start. And these are gigantic books, as you know. I never thought they would catch up with me, but they did. They caught up with me and passed me, and, you know, that made it a little strange — because now, the show was ahead of me, and the show was going in somewhat different directions.”

The Game of Thrones series officially passed the books after “Mother’s Mercy” aired in 2015, and began charting its own course from there. The following season featured a notably quicker pace as the series sought to resolve many of the plot threads left hanging in the books. It culminated in a finale that fans and critics alike found rushed and disappointing.

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Two years later, Martin still hasn’t released the Winds of Winter, though he does say that it will end in a “somewhat different direction” from the HBO show. In a blog post reacting to the original finale, Martin wrote, “How will it all end? I hear people asking. The same ending as the show? Different? Well… yes. And no. And yes. And no. And yes. And no. And yes. I am working in a very different medium than David and Dan, never forget. They had six hours for this final season. I expect these last two books of mine will fill 3000 manuscript pages between them before I’m done… and if more pages and chapters and scenes are needed, I’ll add them.”

In the meantime, Martin is contributing to games like Elden Ring and generally living his best life. He says that he’s still working on the books and that he wrote “hundreds and hundreds of pages of The Winds of Winter” in 2020, but that he won’t give a timeline for completion. He’s also working with HBO on House of the Dragon, which is set to release in early 2022.

One person’s trash is another person’s treasure, and Goodwill North Central Texas certainly demonstrated that when an employee discovered an extremely rare video game in its inventory. The organization managed to sell the game on its website for more than $10,000, with the proceeds going toward free job placement and training for underprivileged individuals.

E-commerce item processor Alex Juarez explained in a video on GoodwillNCT’s YouTube channel (via Kotaku) that he and his father had watched videos on expensive old video games, and he immediately recognized the Atari 2600 game Air Raid when he was going through the inventory.

It became the highest-selling single-piece item the organization ever had after it was put online for auction. It ran for a week, and the final price was over $10,500. What’s funny is that when Juarez is showing off the box of Atari games he found Air Raid in, you can also see E.T., which was such an infamous failure that Atari ended up burying unsold copies in New Mexico. It would be more than 30 years before those were eventually dug up for the Atari: Game Over documentary.

$10,500 sounds like a whole lot of money, but it’s far from the biggest sum ever spent on a single video game. Back in April, a sealed copy of Super Mario Bros. for the NES managed to go for $660,000, becoming the most expensive video game ever by an enormous margin.

Nintendo has released a day one update for Mario Golf: Super Rush. The version 1.1.0 patch makes a number of adjustments to the newly released golf game, including adding new lessons to Golf Adventure mode and other tweaks.

As the patch notes on Nintendo’s support website detail, the 1.1.0 update has added lessons detailing spin use and strategies for wind direction to the single-player adventure mode, Golf Adventure. Nintendo says it has also “adjusted several scenes” in that mode and added new challenges focused on shots off tee, approaches, and putting.

Beyond that, the 1.1.0 update has also made some adjustments to various other aspects of the game. Nintendo says it has “adjusted the game balance around swing inputs” when using motion controls, and the company has added an option to enable or disable Rush Events. The results screen and general text placement have been tweaked as well. You can read the full patch notes below.

Super Rush is the latest entry in the long-running Mario Golf series, and it’s earn generally positive reviews from critics. GameSpot awarded it a 7/10 in our Mario Golf: Super Rush review. “With three radically different styles of play and some seriously inventive courses, Mario Golf: Super Rush is a compellingly original sports game. Speed Golf and Battle Golf actively make you adapt to wildly different conditions while balancing technique and speediness. The button swing system still feels great, though if you desire an accurate motion-controlled golf game, this isn’t it,” critic Steven Petite wrote.

There’s more content on the way to Mario Golf: Super Rush. During its E3 2021 Nintendo Direct, Nintendo confirmed it will be releasing a regular stream of free content updates for the game following its launch. The updates will include new playable characters and courses, such as New Donk City from Super Mario Odyssey.

Mario Golf: Super Rush Ver. 1.1.0 Patch Notes

• Battle Golf
  • Added “Enable/Disable” for Rush Events. Selecting “Enable” will cause Rush Events to occur at fixed times during play.
• Golf Adventure (Adventure Mode)
  • Added Challenges for Shots off tee, Approaches, and Putting. The new challenges can be accepted from the Fire Bros in each area’s practice area.
  • Added lessons that teach spin use, and strategies for wind direction. The new challenges can be accepted from the Hammer Bros in each area’s practice area.
  • Adjusted several scenes encountered during the Golf Adventure mode of the game.
• Motion Controls
  • “Practice Swing” now displays on the screen when trying out practice swings.
  • Adjusted the game balance around swing inputs.
• Online and Local Wireless Play
  • Names of online opponents will now display.
  • Connection errors occurring mid-game will now display.
• General Changes
  • Adjusted the display position of text and other information displayed during play.
  • Adjusted the results screen.
  • In addition, adjustments have been made to the game balance, and issues have been fixed to make the game experience more enjoyable.

His name is Nathan Fielder, and he graduated from one of Canada’s top business schools with really good grades. The comedian who made a name for himself with Comedy Central’s Nathan For You has a new series that was just ordered by HBO called The Rehearsal.

Fielder is the only person cast for the upcoming half-hour show, according to Variety. The Rehearsal will feature Fielder guiding people’s lives: “In a world where nothing seems to ever work out as you had hoped, Nathan Fielder gives people the opportunity to rehearse for their own lives,” reads the official description.

Prior to this, Fielder’s Nathan For You ran for four seasons on Comedy Central. The series featured Fielder helping out struggling business with some out-of-the-box thinking. Once, he marketed an unappealing toy for children in a way that stated owning it would be the only way to prove you’re not a baby. He also attempted to help out cab drivers losing rides to Uber by planting sleeper cell drivers within Uber.

More recently, Fielder was the executive producer of the wildly entertaining How To With John Wilson, which aired on HBO Max late last year. The titular Wilson would give advice on topics like making small talk and cooking risotto–the latter was one of GameSpot’s favorite TV episodes of 2020.

As an actor, Fielder has appeared in numerous episodes of the sketch comedy series Kroll Show, HBO’s Tour de Pharmacy, and the movie The Disaster Artist. Fielder was also a writer on the Canadian sketch comedy series This Hour Has 22 Minutes.

Fans who were anxiously awaiting the theatrical release of the Denis Villeneuve adaptation of Dune are unfortunately going to need to be a little more patient, as Variety is reporting that it has now been pushed back to October 22. Before this latest announcement, it was previously set for October 1.

Of course, the start of October was itself the date the movie landed on following its original hopeful release in 2020. But if the pandemic and its many world-shaking impacts in entertainment has taught audiences anything, it’s to not trust that these sorts of delays are set in stone. Dune alone had its release date pushed back multiple times last year, and while there have been a few cases where release dates were pushed up–it’s gonna be hard to predict what will happen with this sci-fi epic. For what it’s worth, Dune’s shuffling was part of an announcement relating to other titles also moving around.

Dune’s cast is stacked with big names like Timothee Chalamet, Oscar Isaac, Josh Brolin, Dave Bautista, Rebecca Ferguson, Zendaya, Javier Bardem, Jason Momoa, and Stellan Skarsgard. The movie commands a lot of hype–Villeneuve previously directed the acclaimed sci-fi films Arrival and Blade Runner 2049.

While expectations and hopes are high for this interpretation of the classic 1965 Frank Herbert novel, it has also been buffeted with its share of speed bumps aside from when it will simply come out. In December, when it was announced that Dune would premiere on streaming service HBO Max, both Villeneuve and Kyle MacLachlan (star of the 1984 David Lynch adaptation) condemned the decision. Surrounding this, there is a swirling skepticism from fans of the book that all its complexity can even be adapted to the screen. We all still have many more months to wait before any of us will know for sure.

Apple TV+ has finally dropped the first official trailer for Schmigadoon, an upcoming musical series starring Keegan-Michael Key and Cecily Strong as a couple on the outs who suddenly find themselves in a magical town that looks like a musical from the 1940s, full of people singing. However, the couple is unable to leave until they find their true love. The six-episode comedy hits the streaming service on July 16.

In addition to Key and Strong, the trailer also showcases roles from Alan Cumming, Kristin Chenoweth, Aaron Tveit, Dove Cameron, Ariana DeBose, Fred Armisen, Jaime Camil, Jane Krakowski, Ann Harada, and Martin Short. The show, full of original songs and a great over-the-top premise, will certainly pack the performers to execute it expertly. Check out the trailer below and see for yourself.

Co-created by Ken Daurio and Cinco Paul (who together wrote the screenplays for the Despicable Me trilogy), who serves as showrunner and wrote all of the original songs, Schmigadoon is also executive produced and directed by Barry Sonnenfeld (Men in Black trilogy). Lorne Michaels is also a co-executive producer. In addition to starring, Strong also produces. Schmigadoon will air weekly starting July 16 through to August 13.

During the TCA winter press tour earlier this year, Key joked that the series has been “one of the greatest acting challenges of my career” as someone who loves musicals but whose character can barely tolerate them–and must remain perplexed by the townspeople around him who are constantly speaking.

As the GOG summer sale starts to wind down, the digital storefront is ending its latest promotion with a killer deal: the Shadowrun trilogy for free.

From now until the end of the weekend, you’ll have a chance to grab the excellent trilogy of tactical RPG games, which includes 2013’s Shadowrun Returns, 2014’s Shadowrun: Dragonfall, and 2015’s Shadowrun: Hong Kong. Buying each game on its own would normally wind up costing you around $70 for the set, but you just can’t beat a 100% discount during this brief window of opportunity.

Shadowrun has a long history, dating back to the original tabletop game from 1989 that was first adapted for the SNES in 1993. A Sega Genesis game would arrive in 1994 and a Mega-CD version would arrive in 1996. 2012’s Kickstarter campaign revived the series for a new generation, with each of the two sequels building on the foundation of Shadowrun Returns by creating more detailed worlds filled with fascinating characters and lore.

If you’re looking to spend some cash on discounted games, you can also check out our best Steam Summer Sale deals for Valve’s annual festival of low-price games. The Steam Summer Sale 2021 is live from now until July 8 at 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET.

The modern-retro Atari VCS was announced with much fanfare when it first hit IndieGogo in May 2018. People were very excited to secure a preorder for the first new Atari console since the Atari Jaguar in the 1990s. On its official website, the Atari VCS is championed as “blending the best of consoles and PCs,” but in reality the system is nothing more than a watered-down combination of a console and a PC. It sets out to do some interesting things, but it doesn’t do anything unique, and it doesn’t do anything well. It definitely doesn’t justify its price tag.

Atari VCS – Design and Features

There are two different versions of the Atari VCS: the Onyx and Black Walnut variants. Black Walnut has a splash of classic woodgrain across the front, an homage to the original system’s 1980s aesthetic. Lots of electronics in the early 1980s had a panel of wood veneer, for some reason. It was a different time, but it’s a nice retro touch here. I tested an Onyx version, which is closer to the “Darth Vader” Atari 2600 variant, and as you can see from the photos, it’s an all-black device.

The case for the Atari VCS resembles the original in its shape, but lacks all the clunky switches and there’s obviously no cartridge port. It’s also much smaller than the machine to which it pays homage. I quite like the look of the Atari VCS. It’s sleek and unassuming, but resembles an original Atari console just enough to get a knowing nod of respect from my retro-addled brain.

The are four USB 3.0 ports on the Atari VCS for charging controllers or installing an operating system from a USB stick (I’ll get to that later on). Two are on the left and right sides of the front of the Atari VCS, and two more are on the rear of the unit. The two rear ports are side-by-side, and live in harmony with the Ethernet, HDMI, and power ports. 

Power is supplied by a generic power-brick rather than an internal power supply. I’m not a fan of power bricks: I much prefer when devices hide away their power supplies. It’s probably for the best, though, since an internal power supply would increase the size of the case a bit and contribute to heating.

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Speaking of heating, when I first switched on the Atari VCS with the power button on the back, I was surprised by its fan noise. I wasn’t expecting any noise and instead I got more than any of my other devices, save for my gaming PC. This was on the first start-up, ever, mind you, and the internal fans were pulling hard. I initially thought the noise would die down, but it never completely goes away. The fans are always running, sometimes quite noticeably, like the sort of fan noise you’d expect in a laptop built 5 years ago. Not at all impressed by that.

Starting up and logging in, you’re met with a navigation screen where the VCS apps live. There’s a cool Atari VCS Companion app you can install on your mobile device that lets you control the system from your smartphone. If you’ve ever used a Roku device and had to replace your lost remote with the Roku app, it’s pretty similar in functionality. It mimics the functionality of a mouse and keyboard, which is nice because some of the “apps” require a mouse and keyboard to work at all.

I put “apps” in quotes because some of them aren’t actually apps. I was surprised when I went to download the Netflix app and saw its size was measured in kilobytes. Well, it turns out it’s not an app at all. It’s a symbolic link. When you click on the “app” from the navigation page of the Atari VCS, you’re just opening up the web version of Netflix through the built-in Chrome browser. That’s why the mouse and keyboard are required. You can’t navigate it at all with a controller, other than to hop back to the main menu screen.

Atari VCS – Gaming

The Atari VCS Vault contains a decent selection of Atari 2600 and 1980s arcade classics. Some of my favorite old Atari 2600 games are here, like Yars Revenge. Then there are some weird choices, like Basic Math. There are also a LOT of sports games. I don’t even like playing sports games from 2 years ago, I definitely don’t have any nostalgia for Bowling on Atari 2600. Out of over 80 Atari 2600 games included with the VCS, 17 are straight sports games. I didn’t count all the racing games, of which there are plenty (but not Gran Prix, the one I wanted most). There are some classics on here, like Missile Command, Adventure, and a couple others, but overall it’s a weak selection.

The Arcade choices are better, with classics like Tempest, Lunar Lander and Crystal Caverns, but there are only 18 games built in. Navigation of the Atari VCS Vault is simple, with games appearing either as cabinets or cartridge boxes in a carousel presentation. I was surprised at how relatively low-res the boxes are, especially given the VCS champions its 4K capabilities. The gallery mode, which should be a nice touch for those interested in a historical look into the marketing around these old games, is downright awful. Some of the images look like they were lifted from Google Image Search at 300×400 resolution. 

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Speaking of 4K, don’t even bother. You can change the resolution in the settings to 720p, 1080p, or 4K. I don’t know why you’d want to experience Atari 2600 Asteroids in 4K, but it’s an option. Changing resolution requires a full system restart, which is annoying, and changing it back after you see how poorly it runs also requires a system restart. Seriously, at 4K everything is choppy and bogged down. The splash screens, navigating menus – all of it chugs along at an annoying rate, and that’s just the UI. 

The somewhat confusingly named Antstream Arcade is a storefront where you can buy games, most of which are retro-aesthetic and not actual retro games. This is different from the vault, where the pre-installed classic arcade games are found. This is more akin to Steam or the Google Play Store, with modern games available for purchase and download. I really enjoyed Unsung Warriors, a side-scroller with some tight controls and a cool cartoonish style, but you can play that on Steam. In fact, just play it on Steam.

Atari VCS – PC Mode

If you have a bootable thumbdrive with an operating system on it, you can use the Atari VCS’ PC Mode to turn the device into a tiny, functional PC. I don’t have a copy of Windows laying around, but I am the annoying guy who uses Linux regularly, so I made a bootable Ubuntu thumbdrive and plugged it in. Navigating to the PC Mode section of the home menu brings up a prompt telling you to insert a thumb drive and then restart the VCS. That’s it. The official instructions tell you to insert a thumb drive and then power-cycle it with the switch on the back. 

Whatever method I used, I was unable to boot my Ubuntu thumb drive. I tried two different thumb drives, all the USB ports, and even two different Windows programs to make the bootable media (Rufus, which is recommended by the manufacturer, and Universal USB Installer recommended by the Pen Drive Linux website). Nothing worked. I plugged it in and THEN powered on the VCS. Nope. Plugged it in while the VCS was on and power-cycled. Still nothing.

I tested the drive on my laptop and booted into Ubuntu without problem. I’ve seen people using the VCS online with a bootable Windows drive, so this method does work, it just doesn’t work for me and my Linux distro. I’m not a stranger to bootable media: I’ve been creating bootable CDs and pendrives since Ubuntu’s version numbers were single-digit. I’m also no stranger to Linux: at one point many years ago I had a Linux network certification I never did anything productive with. I found it pretty frustrating to follow the boot directions to the letter and still not have work. Having seen videos of people using Windows on their VCS, I know it works. It just didn’t work for me in spite of multiple attempts, and I’m very familiar with booting Linux from removable media.