It should not come as a big surprise, but Fortnite‘s latest Marvel event was a huge success in terms of player activity and viewership. According to numbers released by developer Epic Games, some 15.3 million people were logged into the game at the same time to watch the devourer of worlds himself, Galactus, descend upon Fortnite.
That’s a new record for concurrent players, Epic said. For comparison, the Travis Scott concert inside Fortnite reached 12.3 million concurrent players.
Outside of the game, more than 3.4 million people watched the event unfold on YouTube and Twitch, Epic added.
The Galactus event lays the foundation for what will become Season 5, but it turns out you won’t be able to play any further until Season 5 begins overnight. That’s because Fortnite has been taken offline, rendering it unplayable. Booting up the game presents you with a countdown to the new season, and your only option is to exit.
The farming/life-sim genre is an increasingly crowded field these days. There is no shortage of games that offer the experience of building a small farm, raising crops and livestock, and making friends and relationships along the way. But every so often, a game in this genre comes along that really turns things on their head, taking well-worn tropes and expectations and making them feel fresh and new. Sakuna: of Rice and Ruin is such a game. It combines an in-depth rice-farming simulation with excellent 2D platforming action and a wonderful atmosphere to make a delightful, fulfilling experience.
Sakuna is a haughty, bratty harvest goddess of the old-timey Japan-inspired world of Yanato. She lives comfortably with her divine peers in the Lofty Realm away from the suffering of mortals below. When a group of hungry mortals stumble into the Lofty Realm looking for food on her watch, she discovers to her horror that they’ve destroyed the offering to the great deity Lady Kamuhitsuki. As punishment, she and the mortals are banished to the Isle of Demons, where she is tasked with cleansing the land of evil forces while eking out a meager subsistence living with her newfound companions. Now, the goddess Sakuna needs to get her hands dirty–and bond with the humans that have lived beneath her–in order to survive.
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The base gameplay of Sakuna is split into two parts: exploration and simulation. The exploration sections have you traversing 2D environments to hunt enemies, collect materials needed for combat and survival, and discover new areas for gathering. The simulation sections task Sakuna with managing the day-to-day labor involved in harvesting a rice crop needed to sustain a family. Engaging in both of these activities is necessary for progress, but you need to decide how to best invest your time. A day-and-night cycle means there’s a constant march onwards through the quite truncated seasons, which affect many things, such as when collected materials spoil, enemies’ strength, which materials can be gathered, what farmwork can be done, and so on. The need to balance activities and manage both item and time resources makes for a gameplay loop that’s interesting and challenging without being too punishing. It also allows for the gradual introduction of new elements as you progress, like additional farming tools and more exploration abilities.
But what makes Sakuna such a unique and memorable experience is just how well-made and in-depth its two core gameplay systems are. If you don’t know the first thing about cultivating and harvesting rice, you will learn a lot about just how intricate and labor-intensive the process is simply from playing Sakuna. Everything about the rice-farming process is detailed and represented in gameplay, starting from tilling the soil to finding ideal kernels, moving on to planting seedlings, managing water levels, pest control, and weeding, to the eventual harvest, threshing, and hulling, all of which Sakuna is directly involved with (and yes, you’ll have to make fertilizer the old-fashioned way, so prepare for lots of poop-scooping and waste compounding). It’s an accurate representation of the entire process and really hammers home the amount of work it takes to make a quality rice crop. And you will want to make quality crops, because the quality of the rice harvest directly impacts Sakuna’s level and stats–plus, additional food eaten during meals gives her beneficial boons during exploration.
The exploration sequences are also superbly done. Sakuna can run, jump, and use her Divine Raiment to grapple onto surfaces and past obstacles and enemies, deftly swinging around the screen to reach gathering and mining spots and hidden treasure chests filled with rare artifacts and soil additives. As you progress, these areas introduce new and interesting obstacles, like wind storms, jagged spikes, rolling rocks, and floating water platforms that require you to use your platforming skills to the fullest to reach hidden nooks and crannies.
But this island is a demonic stronghold teeming with enemies, so Sakuna will often have to put up a fight using her farming implements and Raiment to smack some enemies around. And when we say “smack them around,” we mean it; Sakuna’s combat has a very fun physics system that lets you launch, juggle, and fling enemies around with combinations of normal, special, and Raiment attacks. For example, with a mighty swing of her plough, Sakuna can send one enemy flying into a big group of foes like a bowling ball knocking down pins. Using her Raiment she can grab a large downed enemy and smash them into a wall of spikes or flying enemies. To follow-up, she can then smack a target a few more times with basic combos before they hit the ground, hopefully eliminating them entirely.
Pulling off these big combat plays is a ton of fun, and sending enemies crashing into each other for big damage never stops feeling satisfying. Plus, as Sakuna’s skills on the farm improve, she also learns new combat skills that can be equipped and independently strengthened, giving you a growing supply of fresh moves to add to your fighting repertoire. While the big enemy groups and high-health, high-damage bosses might be intimidating to players who aren’t a deft hand at action games, Sakuna is quite merciful on this front as losing all of your health simply resets you back to when you first entered the area. And if things are simply too hard for you, you can opt to focus more on the rice-farming part of the game instead since the next crop you harvest will also raise Sakuna’s stats, making exploration a fair bit easier.
Great gameplay would be enough to warrant a recommendation, but Sakuna’s visual style and overall pleasant mood gives the game a warmth and beauty that really helps it stand out from the crowd. The visuals evoke a fantasy historical Japan that is filled with awe-inspiring beauty–I would frequently find myself sitting in my rice field at night, staring up at the starry sky as the wind blew through the trees, or admiring the detail of raindrops splashing on water bubbles as I went to explore in the midst of a storm. The story and characters also add greatly to Sakuna’s charm, as this ragtag group of peasants-and-divine-beings grows into a close family that helps each other out. Listening to dinner conversations where foreign missionary woman Myrthe describes her hardships as a trial from God, or Tauemon describing his upbringing and misadventures adds a lot of life and connection to these characters.
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That isn’t to say that Sakuna is flawless, however. As in any game where you have separate, very distinct gameplay styles, finding a balance between them can be tough at times, and Sakuna doesn’t always succeed in that regard. There will be times when a bunch of new areas open up that you want to explore, but you’re restricted by the necessity to tend to the farm’s needs at a particular season. Likewise, there will be times like mid-winter when there’s not much to do on the farm, which is a more ideal time for exploration–though because gathering items change with seasons, what you get from exploring in winter might not be what you want for your farming and tool-making endeavors. And sometimes you just have to wait for things to happen on the farm while there isn’t anything particularly interesting going on in exploration, either–perhaps you’re stymied on a tough area you want to get a stat boost to help clear–and you just have to replay old areas and kill time gathering random stuff until the harvest comes due. The worst is when the clock creeps up on you; enemies gain a massive strength boost at night, so seeing the sun set just as you’re on the cusp of clearing a stage mission or reaching the exit can be a massive bummer, as can having half your spoils get spoiled.
Even if it’s a little rough around the edges, Sakuna is a genuine gem. Its rewarding and engaging sim gameplay, exciting freeform combat, and just the way it feels like a warm and comforting experience while you play it are what makes it one of the best life-sim style games to release in quite some time. Whether you’re big into action, simulation, or both, Sakuna’s journey of redemption is one well worth taking.
December is officially here, which means we’re quickly coming up on the end of 2020. That doesn’t mean there are no new games to look forward to before the year wraps up, however. Although this month is fairly light in terms of new releases, there are still some notable games coming to PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC, Switch, and last-gen consoles over the next few weeks.
Undoubtedly the biggest release is CD Projekt Red’s highly anticipated (and long-delayed) Cyberpunk 2077, but it’s not the only notable game coming out this month. Life Is Strange developer Dontnod is releasing its surreal thriller Twin Mirror at the start of the month, while Ubisoft’s Breath of the Wild-inspired epic Immortals Fenyx Rising arrives on December 3.
There are also some exciting retro releases out this month. Nintendo is officially localizing the very first Fire Emblem game, Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon & the Blade of Light, for Switch on December 4, and Square Enix is bringing the first three Final Fantasy Legend games to the hybrid console later this month in Collection of SaGa.
Those are only a few of the games coming out this month. You can see the biggest game releases of December 2020 for each platform below, and be sure to stick with GameSpot as we begin to set our sights on 2021 and all the exciting games coming in the year ahead.
If you’ve not yet secured a preorder for either of the next-gen consoles, be sure to check out our handy preorder guides for Xbox Series X and PS5.
Twin Mirror (PS4, Xbox One, PC) — December 1
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Twin Mirror – Release Date Gameplay Trailer
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Dontnod, the studio behind the acclaimed Life Is Strange series, is embracing the surreal with its next venture, Twin Mirror–a Twin Peaks-inspired detective thriller starring investigative journalist Sam Higgs. Sam returns to his hometown of Basswood, West Virginia to attend his close friend’s funeral only to find that things aren’t as they seem, and it’s up to players to explore both the real world and Sam’s “mind palace” to gather clues and discover the truth.
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Immortals: Fenyx Rising (PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X, Xbox One, PC, Switch) — December 3
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Immortals Fenyx Rising Reveal Trailer
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The game formerly known as Gods & Monsters, Immortals: Fenyx Rising is an open-world epic steeped in Greek mythology. As the eponymous Fenyx, players will explore the sprawling Golden Isles–all of which is open right from the start of the adventure–and rescue four gods from Typhon. Ubisoft has plenty of post-launch support planned for the game as well, including three DLC expansions, one of which is based on Chinese mythology.
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Cyberpunk 2077 (PS4, Xbox One, PC) — December 10
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Cyberpunk 2077 — Official Overview Gameplay Trailer
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Cyberpunk 2077 has been a long time coming, suffering multiple delays this year, but it appears it’ll be well worth the wait. CD Projekt Red’s latest RPG looks every bit as deep and engrossing as The Witcher 3, taking players deep into the underbelly of Night City, where they’ll be trying to make a name for themselves as a mercenary. A free next-gen upgrade for the game will be released next year, while its full-fledged multiplayer component won’t arrive until 2022 at the earliest.
The products discussed here were independently chosen by our editors. GameSpot may get a share of the revenue if you buy anything featured on our site.
With Mortal Kombat 11 still going strong, fans of the franchise are likely looking forward to the upcoming movie. However, with cinemas struggling amid the COVID-19 pandemic and Warner Bros. currently planning to launch tentpole film Wonder Woman 1984 on HBO Max alongside a global cinema rollout, there’s been reason to think Mortal Kombat might go straight to streaming, too.
However, in a new report by Variety, it’s been suggested that while numerous Warner Bros. titles will launch on HBO Max in the future, Mortal Kombat is not expected to be one of them. Variety suggests that films like Judas and the Black Messiah, The Little Things, and Tom & Jerry will likely release on HBO Max alongside a cinema release, but Mortal Kombat will not.
“The studio also considered taking the same route with “Mortal Kombat, an adaptation of the popular video game, but expect to delay the film’s theatrical debut instead,” the report says. The film was expected to land on January 15, 2021, but has been knocked back to an indefinite later date.
Mortal Kombat is one of a few major adaptations of games coming to cinemas in the future. Monster Hunter is due to release on Christmas day, while the Resident Evil movie series is getting a reboot. Sonic the Hedgehog is also getting a sequel.
Fans of the 1995 film, meanwhile, can now download a skin pack for Mortal Kombat 11 that adds the voices and likenesses of actors from that movie.
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As the 2016 election approached and passed, President Obama was very quiet about the Republican nominee and eventual President-Elect Donald Trump, and that silence lasted throughout President Trump’s presidency. It’s only been in recent months that President Obama began to actively criticize the Trump administration. Apparently, though, the gloves are now off; the Obamas’ Higher Ground Productions is reportedly pairing with comedian Adam Conover to produce a comedy series about the transition to the Trump administration.
Adam Conover, best known for the TruTV series Adam Ruins Everything, will produce a sketch comedy series for streaming on Netflix that is “based on the chaotic transition of power when Donald Trump became president in 2016.” The show is titled The G Word with Adam Conover, and is reportedly inspired by the Michael Lewis book The Fifth Risk. The book “takes us into the engine rooms of a government under attack by its leaders through willful ignorance and greed,” according to its synopsis, and “vividly unspools the consequences if the people given control over our government have no idea how it works.”
Vanity Fair reports that The G Word will be “part documentary, part comedy sketch,” which sounds a lot like Conover’s Adam Ruins Everything series, which investigates specific topics and then explains them through a combination of cited facts and sketch comedy.
The G Word with Adam Conover begins production in early 2021. Conover will produce the show through his Fair Point production company alongside Fair Point’s Jon Cohen and Jon Wolf, along with Higher Ground’s Tonia Davis, Priya Swaminathan and former Daily Show writer Hallie Haglund.
Fortnite‘s latest Marvel event, which brought the devourer of worlds himself, Galactus, to the game, was a huge draw, but it also seemingly caused some issues.
Streaming site Twitch reported that its platform experienced a problem that led to “multiple service issues.” In some cases, this problem prevented people from accessing the site and logging in altogether.
Thankfully for Twitch users, the issues were fixed less than an hour after they were first widely reported. Twitch should be operating normally now, but as always, your mileage may vary.
The Galactus event lays the foundation for what will become Season 5, but it turns out you won’t be able to play any further until Season 5 begins overnight. That’s because Fortnite has been taken offline, rendering it unplayable. Booting up the game presents you with a countdown to the new season, and your only option is to exit.
Ever since Fortnite and Marvel teamed up, everyone expected some sort of game-altering occurrence – that Season 4 would offer more than just a battle pass filled with icon skins. And considering that Galactus’ body recently appeared in the ocean (just west of Sweaty Sands), it was apparent that he’d be the cause of whatever calamity is on the horizon.
This coming live event will send shock waves through the Fortnite universe. At least, that’s the sentiment shared by Epic; the company wants as many people as possible to join the fight tomorrow. Given the magnitude of Galactus’ appearance, we’ve compiled the necessary information in our guide below to help you do just that.
How to Watch The Fortnite Galactus Event?
The entire event took place in-game. Hopefully, if you logged-in early enough, you were able to participate. Don’t worry if you didn’t get to, though. While it was a one-time occurrence – as opposed to say, the Travis Scott concert – Stella from IGN was able to capture the entire event live. Check out the full VoD below.
The Fortnite Galactus event is a special, one-time-only event where players battle Galactus. It started with players hanging out on a helicarrier as a countdown to the event displayed on the screen. Once the event kicked off, the Marvel supervillain emerged out of the water and made his way towards the island before uttering the words, “Beware, I hunger.” Galactus then attacks the helicarrier, sending players hurtling into the sky where Iron Man shows up with a jetpack and guides players into battle. Things get really interesting when Fortnite turns into a dogfight as players form an army of Battle Buses flying through the air, shooting down drones, and… Well, I won’t ruin all of it here. Check out the full experience in the video embedded above.
At the end of the Galactus event, a countdown to chapter two, season five of Fortnite starts right before the game does down to prep for the update.
Status: Galactus defeated! Thanks for your efforts.
Fortnite is currently in a prep state for Chapter 2 – Season 5 (v15.00). Server downtime for the update begins December 2 at 12 AM ET (05:00 UTC) and is expected to run until approx. 4 AM ET (09:00 UTC). Stay tuned for updates. pic.twitter.com/yvTdmpOwx7
Fortnite’s Galactus live event took place on December 1st, 2020 at 1 AM PST/4 PM EST in-game. Since it was a one-time event, there are no other times available for players who missed it (or would like to participate in it again) to experience it.
Halo Infinite‘s road to release hasn’t exactly been smooth. Developer 343 Industries has experienced a good deal of high-level staff turnover, the game was delayed from its place as an Xbox Series X launch title, and what we have seen of the game has been underwhelming in the eyes of some in the Halo community.
Halo community director Brian Jarrard responded to these concerns on Twitter recently. He said he understands the frustration fans are feeling, because he has felt it too. He asked for patience and understanding as 343 finishes the game.
“As an avid fan of many properties (games, movies, TV, music) I 100% understand and appreciate the passion the Halo community has. I also understand the frustration when things don’t go the way you want or it feels like you’re somehow being wronged or not heard,” Jarrard said.
The developer said he feels fortunate to be able to work on a franchise as large and impactful as Halo, and with that comes a dedicated and passionate community of fans. “It’s not easy but I’d rather have people care–and even be mad–than not give a damn. Thank you,” he said.
For Halo Infinite specifically, Jarrard said the journey has not been without its struggles, with 2020 in particular standing out as a difficult year.
“The Infinite road hasn’t been easy. This year in particular has been incredibly challenging,” he said. “We have hundreds of developers who truly only want to make the best Halo game they possibly can. It pains all of us when the community is hurting.”
“No update is going to satisfy everyone,” he said. “We want to turn the corner as 2020 comes to an end and leave the challenges of this year behind us and look ahead to 2021. We are committed to bringing you along on this journey, we just ask for bit of patience and understanding.”
Regarding the staff turnover at 343, Xbox boss Phil Spencer explained to GameSpot recently that it’s nothing to worry about.
“I don’t have any specific concern about 343. I actually think in the long run, turnover is a healthy thing because we want people who are really motivated by the things that they’re working on,” he said.
Halo Infinite was originally set to release as a launch title for the Xbox Series X|S, but due in part to complications related to COVID-19, Microsoft pushed the game out to 2021.
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In Fortnite, players and their friends lead a group of Heroes to reclaim and rebuild a homeland that has been left empty by a mysterious darkness only known as “the Storm.”
This week’s Red Dead Online update, the now standalone online component of Red Dead Redemption 2, includes a new Legendary Bounty, a new Outlaw Pass, and a rank expansion for the Bounty Hunter role. Newly available, the Prestigious Bounty Hunter license adds 10 new ranks to the original 20 Bounty Hunter ranks. Players must already own a Bounty Hunter license to obtain the Prestigious license, which can be purchased at any Bounty Board.
Prestigious Bounty Hunters can also track down this week’s Legendary Bounty, Gene “Beau” Finley. Dressed in dapper suits, the villain stages robberies in the south and causes general criminal havoc. Finley and his gang are based in a dilapidated colonial property in Bayou Nwa. To apprehend him, you’ll need to fight your way into the base.
This week’s update also includes the fourth Outlaw Pass, a 40 Gold Bar purchase that gives players winter clothing, new gear and skill pamphlets, advanced photography enhancements, bonus cash, 30 Gold Bars, special gifts, and more. Players who buy the new Outlaw Pass will also get an extra RDO$400 and a 10 Gold Bar rebate.
Players new to the Bounty Hunter role can get an additional 5 gold bars off a Bounty Hunter license. In even more incentives, all Bounty Hunter missions will give double XP. In Free Roam and Free Roam Events, players will also receive increased XP and RDO$ rewards. “A Land of Opportunities” mission will give a bonus RDO$100, in addition to double XP. And once you make it through all 10 new Bounty Hunter ranks, you will continue to receive Bounty Hunter XP and can trade it for RDO$ and Gold rewards.
Other than new updates for the Bounty Hunter Role, new cosmetic improvements and other discounts are also available. Now you can use the Advanced Camera while on horseback and combine stubble with other beard styles, if you so choose. All Red Dead Online players who login this week will get the following rewards: 2,000 Club XP and 2,000 Bounty Hunter XP. If you’re Rank 5 or above, you’ll also receive a Treasure Map. Players Rank 10 or above get an Ability Card Upgrade of their choice.
Here’s all the discounts this week:
30% off Mustangs and Missouri Fox Trotters
30% off all Pamphlets
30% off all Melee and Thrown Weapons
40% off all Tents, Camp Themes, Camp Dogs, and the Fast Travel Post
30% off all Stable Slots
30% off all Repeaters
30% off all Pistols
30% off the Schofield Revolver
30% off all Horses
30% off all Saddles and Improved Saddles
30% off all Coats (doesn’t include Legendary Animal clothing)
30% off all Vests
40% off all Outfits including Role Outfits
As always, Red Dead Online is giving rewards to players with Prime Gaming accounts, including a free Bounty Hunter license and an award for the Trimmed Amethyst Bounty Wagon Livery. If you link your Prime Gaming account before December 21, you’ll get an additional reward for a free Breton Horse and RDO$100.
Red Dead Online recently decoupled from Red Dead Redemption 2. You can purchase Red Dead Online at a discounted price of $5 until February 15, 2021, when it will revert to its standard price of $20.
