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Developer Team Ninja has dropped a new update for the PS4 samurai Soul-like Nioh 2 that “primarily focuse[s] on Yokai abilities.” We’ve compiled the full patch notes below.

The update makes a number of adjustments to Nioh 2’s various Soul Cores. Many of these tweaks make the Yokai abilities easier to execute, cause them to do more damage and produce more hits, decrease startup and recovery time, increase drop rates, and more. Team Ninja said these alterations should provide “a more balanced and well-rounded experience for the player.”

In addition to adjusting the Yokai abilities, Team Ninja also tweaked some of Nioh 2’s mechanics to make them a little more forgiving. These include increasing the success window of the Ki Pulse, adjusting a bunch of different weapon skills, fixing a host of issues related to Yokai Shift and the Blacksmith, and more.

Elsewhere in the patch, Team Ninja addressed a variety of bugs that continue to plague Nioh 2. Weapons such as hatchets should gain element buffs, the Ki Pulse should trigger after activating certain skills, various “minor bugs” should be ironed out, and much more.

We awarded the game an 8/10 in our Nioh 2 review, saying, “Though it sometimes feels like a curse as you play, it is a testament that Nioh 2 successfully grabs and holds your complete attention so close for so long.”

Nioh 2 Version 1.08 Update Patch Notes (April 10)

Adjustment of Yokai Abilities

Adjustments focused mainly on abilities that felt underpowered and/or ineffective in order to achieve a more balanced and well-rounded experience for the player.

• Gyuki Soul Core: It is now easier to hit with this attack.
• Kasha Soul Core: Increased damage and reduced Anima consumption.
• Daidara Bocchi Soul Core: Can now hit directly across from where it appears.
• Shuten Doji Soul Core: Shortened the recovery and made it easier to hit with.
• Magatsu Warrior Soul Core: Shortened the recovery and increased the damage output.
• Toxic Slime Soul Core/Umi-bozu Soul Core: Shortened the recovery and increased the rate of attack.
• Gaki Soul Core: Improved the amount of Amrita produced with the bite attack.
• Yamanbe Soul Core: Improved the startup speed and buffed the duration.
• Tesso Soul Core: Increase the number of hits.
• Karasu Tengu Soul Core: Shortened the recovery and increase the damage output.
• Mitsume Yazura Soul Core: Made it easier to hit with this attack.
• Rokurokubi Soul Core: Increase the number of hits.
• Aberrant Soldier Soul Core: Shortened the recovery.
• Kodama Soul Core: Increase the drop rate of elixir when the attack hits.
• Gozuki Soul Core: Adjusted the usage cost. Now causes the opponent yokai to flinch when hit.
• One-eyed Oni Soul Core: Made it easier to hit with this attack. Adjusted Ki damage and Anima consumption.
• Yotsu-no-Kami Soul Core: Adjusted the number of times the attack ricochets off of terrain and Anima usage.
• Otakemaru Soul Core/Karakasa Umbrella Soul Core: Decreased damage to the following bosses and objects:
  • Gyuki
  • Lady Osakabe
  • Daidara Bocchi
  • Shard

Adjustments

• Increased the drop rate of several Soul Cores:
  • Umi-bozu
  • Toxic Slime
  • Infernal Oni-bi
  • Maelstrom Oni-bi
  • Thunderstorm Oni-bi
  • Karakasa Umbrella
  • Flying Bolt
• Adjusted the enemies in the training mission “Training Ground” to get stronger as the mission progresses.
• Adjusted tutorial missions “Basic Actions” and Yokai Shift Control: Brute/Feral/Phantom” to always sync with the player’s level.
• Increased the damage of the Katana skill “True and Through” at max charge.
• Adjusted Spear skill “Rainbow Ruse” so that it can be customized.
• Increased the success window of Kill Pulse and damage output when the Spear skill “Triple Threat” is successful.
• Adjusted the Spear skill “Bracing Breeze” to make it easier to follow-up after a successful counter by shortening the recovery.
• Fixed an issue where the following skills could not be customized to give elemental effects: Axe Skill – “Bear’s Bane.”
• Fixed an issue where the following skills could not be customized to give elemental effects: Tonfo Skill – “Storm of Strikes,” “Sweeping Kick.”
• Improved the timing of when the Samurai skill “Flux” can be executed after Tonfa skills “Demon Dance Heaven/Man/Earth.”
• Attacks that can be triggered by the Switchglaive Mystic Arts now hit sooner and their power has been increased.
• Shortened the usage time of techniques that give positive effects to the player (such as forbidden fire talisman) in Onmyo Magic Mystic Arts “Awakening.”
• Made adjustments so that Ninjutsu-related effects (such as Life Drain (Ninjutsu Hit)) will occur when using the “Gunpowder Bomb” and “Shrapnel Bomb.”
• Made an alteration so that there is a moment of transformation which maintains buffs and debuffs when the player transforms into their Yokai form via the special effect “Critical Yokai Shift (Dark Realm).”
• Fixed an issue with “Azai Nagamasa’s” behavior.
• Adjusted the line of sight when holding a ranged weapon to make it easier to use.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed an issue with the active skills “Piercing Hurl” and “Dual Hurl” where the special effects “Skill Damage + %” were not being properly reflected once upgrade to (Shadow/Light).
• Fixed an issue where some hatchet attacks do not gain element buffs.
• Fixed an issue with the Kusarigama skill “Serpent Strike.” When hitting certain enemies, it could not trigger Ki Pulse.
• Fixed an issue where the Switchglaive skill “The Path of Three” was too easy to accidentally activate.
• Fixed an issue with the Kusarigama skill “Water Drop” could not trigger a Ki Pulse.
• Fixed an issue where the follow-up attack of the Spear skill “Chidori” may go through the opponent.
• Fixed an issue where the following Customized skills would not take effect:
  • Dual Swords Skill – Ultimate Sign of the Cross
  • Spear Skill – Flying Monkey II: after the first hit
  • Kusarigama Skill – Water Drop, Second Wind
  • Switchglaive Skill – Infinite Retribution II
• Adjusted the “Ki Pulse Man” effect so that it no longer disappears when entering poisonous bogs or tainted waters.
• Fixed an issue in the Shifting skill “Refulgent Strike” that caused Amrita to be gained instead of the Amrita gauge.
• Fixed an issue where the special effects of “Enemy’s damage over time” and “Enemy’s received damage over time” existed separately and were not calculated together, so the two have been merged.
• Fixed an issue where in some cases Yokai abilities were mistakenly showing the effects for unarmed attack power as well.
• Fixed an issue where the attack power of Yokai abilities while unarmed were very low.
• Fixed an issue where the attack power of the Yokai abilities would not syn with the player’s level.
• Fixed an issue where Soul Coul Kamaitachi would not reliably hit properly.
• Fixed an issue where some yokai would float up and become stuck after being hit by guardian spirit “Genbu.”
• Fixed a problem where the player could not Yokai Shift Grapple some yokai when they are downed by a Burst Counter.
• Fixed an issue in the “Soul Match” option of the “Blacksmith,” if a transferable soul core was chosen as a material, a separate candidate could not be chosen for the finished item.
• Fixed an issue with the “Soul Match” option of the “Blacksmith” when a ranged weapon was chosen as a base, a different weapon type would show up as a material.
• Fixed an issue where the damage dealt by a visitor was still visible even after setting it to “Hide” in the option “Damage display – others.”
• Fixed an issue where players could not buy “Transformation” in the “Tea Room” if their saved data has been deleted, even if all conditions were met.
• Various other minor fixes.

WarnerMedia is poised to launch its long-awaited HBO Max streaming service in May 2020, but it’ll be short one piece of exclusive content. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the Friends reunion special has been delayed indefinitely due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

THR reports that filming was scheduled to take place on March 23 and 24. While we already knew filming on the special had been delayed, this is the first confirmation it won’t be ready in time for the launch of HBO Max.

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All six main cast members from the iconic sitcom – Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer – had signed on to appear alongside series creators David Crane and Marta Kauffman for an unscripted reunion special. Unfortunately, like a great many productions across Hollywood, filming abruptly shut down due to the novel coronavirus.

At this point there’s no clear timetable for when filming might resume. THR’s sources say the special won’t be filmed remotely online, and indicate filming will still take place on NBC’s Stage 24 on the Warner Bros. lot once production resumes.

“As was previously reported, production is delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This means that the special will not be available on the streamer on Day 1 of launch. But it is coming!” HBO Max said in a statement. “The cast and producers are all very excited to go into production, as this will be the first time since the show ended that the whole cast will be together, and on the original sets to reminisce. There are loads of great surprises in store and lots of rare behind-the-scenes footage they are eager to share. We will keep you informed as plans solidify and once we have a firm premiere date.”

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Word of a possible Friends reunion first surfaced in November 2019, with Warners officially confirming the project in February 2020. Each cast member is reportedly earning between $2.5 and $3 million for appearing in the special.

The good news is that, even without the Friends reunion, HBO Max will have plenty of content to offer subscribers when it launches in May. Launch exclusives will include Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker movie, all 22 seasons of South Park and the first three seasons of Rick and Morty. For the time being, HBO won’t prevent users from sharing passwords with their friends.

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Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.

Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot has been on sale often since its January release on PS4, Xbox One, and PC, but we’ve never seen it for less than $40. If you haven’t scooped up the open-world action-RPG based on the incredibly popular anime, Amazon is selling the PS4 and Xbox One versions for just $35 right now.

It’s important to note that neither version will ship right away. Amazon estimates that both will be back in stock on April 22. Still, you can order now for something to look forward to. Plus, it’s unlikely this price will hold for long, and we imagine it might sell out, too.

Kakarot retells practically all of the major story sagas that have played out in the DBZ anime and manga over the years. Essentially, the story is accessible for both longtime fans and newcomers. The game earned a 7/10 in GameSpot’s Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot review.

Spring game sales

“Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot’s modern, semi-open approach to telling the saga of DBZ–despite some minor issues–is a good one. Zooming around the environments and seeing the world up close is a blast, and it’s great being able to interact with so many fun DBZ characters and see stories that usually get passed over for game adaptations,” critic Heidi Kemps wrote.

Now’s a great time to pick up Kakarot. Bandai Namco recently revealed the first piece of DLC, A New Power Awakens – Part 1, which dives into Dragon Ball Super territory. The New Power Awakens arc comes with Kakarot’s Season Pass, which is available for $25.

Final Fantasy 7 Remake has finally launched, following a years-long wait that was preceded by still more years of rumors and fan wishes. Now that the day has arrived, other companies are giving congrats and well-wishes to the new RPG from Square Enix via social media.

One of the coolest tributes has to be from the official Doom account, which shared a piece of crossover art modeled after the iconic image of Cloud standing in front of Shinra headquarters. Not to be outdone, the restaurant chain Arby’s made Cloud’s motorcycle and buster sword out of its fast food boxes.

On a more serious note, the PlayStation account shared a short video featuring lead producer Yoshinori Kitase. Kitase explains some of the thinking that went into the Remake and how he reenvisioned key scenes from the original.

The game received a 10/10 in GameSpot’s Final Fantasy 7 Remake review, joining the rare company of 10s in GameSpot history. If you’re just starting to crack open your copy, read some essential things the game doesn’t tell you, materia load-out tips, and much more in our full list of Final Fantasy 7 guides.

Check out some of our favorite social media reactions below, and let us know in the comments if you’ve spotted any more.

Apple TV+ has announced that it will be offering a collection of its original series for free for a limited time.

Starting today, April 10, 2020, you will be able to stream eight Apple originals via the Apple TV+ app which is available on iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, iPod touch, Mac, select Samsung and LG smart TVs, and Amazon Fire TV and Roku devices. Check out the list of free shows in the list below:

• The Elephant Queen – The narrative follows Athena, a majestic elephant matriarch, who leads her family across an unforgiving, yet cinematic natural landscape made up of grasslands and woodlands, dotted with seasonal waterholes.
• Little America – From Lee Eisenberg and executive producers Kumail Nanjiani, Emily V. Gordon and Alan Yang, Little America is an anthology series featuring eight funny, romantic, heartfelt, inspiring and surprising true stories of immigrants in America, when they’re more relevant now than ever.
• Servant (check out our review) – A psychological thriller from M. Night Shyamalan that follows a Philadelphia couple in mourning after an unspeakable tragedy creates a rift in their marriage and opens the door for a mysterious force to enter their home.
• For All Mankind (check out our review) – For All Mankind presents an aspirational world where NASA astronauts, engineers, and their families find themselves in the center of extraordinary events seen through the prism of an alternate history timeline — a world in which the USSR beats the US to the moon.

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• Dickinson (check out our review) – Dickinson, starring Oscar nominee Hailee Steinfeld and created by Alena Smith, audaciously explores the constraints of society, gender, and family from the perspective of rebellious young poet Emily Dickinson.
• Helpsters – A new live-action pre-school series from the makers of Sesame Street. Join Cody and the Helpsters – a team of vibrant monsters who love to solve problems. Whether it’s planning a party, climbing a mountain or mastering a magic trick, the Helpsters can figure anything out — because everything starts with a plan.
• Ghostwriter – A re-imagining of Sesame Workshops’ 1992 series. Each episode story arc is grouped around literature, featuring classics and new works commissioned from popular authors like D.J. MacHale and Kwame Alexander.
• Snoopy in Space – Blast off with Snoopy in a series of 12 animated shorts featuring Charlie Brown and the beloved Peanuts gang. Snoopy fulfills his dreams and embarks on his next big adventure: becoming a NASA astronaut. Joined by Charlie Brown and the rest of the Peanuts gang, Snoopy takes command of the International Space Station and explores the moon and beyond.

For more on Apple TV+, be sure to check out our review of the streaming service and some of its new series, like the video-game inspired comedy Mythic Quest and the moody crime-drama, Truth Be Told.

And in other streaming news, we also reviewed every Quibi show and movie at launch in the gallery below:

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David Griffin still watches DuckTales in his pajamas with a cereal bowl in hand. He’s also the TV Editor for IGN. Say hi on Twitter.

Before you reach the last act of Final Fantasy 7 Remake, you’ll find a load of side-quests to complete in Chapter 14. Unlike earlier quests, these ones are a little tougher to figure out, with the people you need to talk to and the locations you need to visit being a lot less obvious than they have been in the past. For the “Secret Medicine” side-quest, you actually need to access a second quest to find everything you need.

We’ve run down where to find all three ingredients for the “Secret Medicine” quest, so you can complete it quickly and efficiently to get one of the better quest rewards in the game. Here’s everything you need to know.

Check out our Final Fantasy 7 Remake guide rundown for everything else you need to know about FF7 Remake!

Secret Medicine Side-Quest Guide

Talk to the doctor across from the community center, who will send you to find herbs to make medicine. You need three items, but the first is easy: drop by the Moogle Emporium in the Kids’ Hideout to purchase the Moogle Mortar key item.

Your second ingredient is located in the church where Cloud and Aerith first met. Head to the train station north and west of the Sector 5 Central District, then follow the path north to the church. Grab the Medicinal Flower key item growing there on the ground.

Finally, head to Evergreen Park and talk to Wymer to get the Subterranean Menace quest, which will take you to the underground lab. There, you’ll have to fight the Behemoth Type 0 miniboss.

Type 0 Behemoth Boss Fight

Crawl down through the underground passage in Evergreen Park to reach the lab. You’ll need to fight your way through it to get to the Behemoth Type 0 boss at the far end. There are some tough fights in here, including a Wrath Hound like the one you dealt with in a sidequest back in Episode 3, but nothing you haven’t faced before.

The Behemoth is a different question. This giant monster is powerful, dangerous, and quick. Make sure you’re fully healed before you slip through the door marked with the Shinra caution tape to fight it. First and foremost, try to stay away from the beast’s head; it’ll swipe at you with its claws, slam the ground to stagger your characters, and thrash them with its horns for big damage. You also generally want to try to keep away from it after you get in close for melee hits, as the Behemoth will occasionally spin in circles to slam everybody who’s nearby.

Your goal in bringing down the Behemoth is to cripple first one half of its body, then the other. A good way to do this is to take over control of Barret, so you can focus fire on either its Upper Body or Lower Body with a variety of attacks, while staying out of harm’s way. Anything you throw at the Behemoth will work, although unless you put a lot of punishment on the Behemoth’s horns, avoid spells–magic will trigger counterattacks until the horns are destroyed.

It’s going to take a lot of damage to cripple one of its body parts, but when you do manage it, quickly focus up on the other body part and lay down as much damage as you can, as quick as you can. Be careful, because the Behemoth will still be capable of attacking you, even if it can’t get away from you. If you can cripple both sides, you can stagger it for some massive damage.

Repeat the process until the job is done; it’ll take a while, but if you keep on top of healing spells, you should be okay. Use your best attacks but execute either with range or hit-and-run tactics to minimize the damage you take.

Defeat it and return to the doctor to get Teluric Scriptures Vol. III as a reward, which will give you some skill points for Aerith.

Robin of Sherwood is available on Amazon Prime, Tubi, and on DVD box sets.

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Decades before Vikings and Game of Thrones there was Robin of Sherwood. This imaginative British TV series owed far more to the moody and mythic 1981 feature film Excalibur than to the vibrant and merry swashbucklers that had come to define the legendary outlaw of Nottinghamshire.

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Running from 1984-86, Robin of Sherwood was a serious retelling of the Robin Hood saga, its New Age atmosphere established off the bat by Clannad’s enchanting opening theme song. The series was shot in a you-are-there style on location in the woods of England, which lent the show a grimy realism — especially in its fight scenes — yet it also utilized mystical and pagan elements to suggest sorcery might have really existed back then. For this Robin Hood is a prophesied figure — The Hooded Man, who has come to aid the oppressed — looked over by the forest spirit Herne the Hunter.

While less polished and, by modern standards, more languidly paced than contemporary viewers might be accustomed to sitting through, Robin of Sherwood is an intriguing forerunner to medieval fare like Vikings and The Last Kingdom as well as sword & sorcery series like Game of Thrones and The Witcher. It features a fine ensemble cast with several faces that may prove familiar to genre fans, including Ray Winstone, Excalibur’s Robert Addie, Watchmen and Altered Carbon’s Matt Frewer, Lord of the Rings and Indiana Jones vet John Rhys-Davies, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show’s Richard O’Brien as a slithery pagan sorcerer.

Long before Game of Thrones made viewers accustomed to having main characters die, Robin of Sherwood did the unthinkable and — SPOILER! — killed off Robin Hood himself. Michael Praed played Robin of Loxley for the first two seasons before perishing in the final episode of Season 2. In Season 3, Herne the Hunter chose Robert of Huntingdon (Jason Connery, son of Sean) to succeed Robin as The Hooded Man. In this way, Robin of Sherwood addresses the varied accounts of Robin Hood by simply making the name a pseudonym assumed by different characters. It was a curious but effective choice that saw the second Robin Hood plagued with doubts about following such an iconic predecessor.

Robin of Sherwood never received a fourth season so the series ended with certain storylines left unresolved. But for its three-season-run Robin of Sherwood offered viewers some very cinematic television for its time, shot in a style that melded naturalism with mysticism. Robin of Sherwood wasn’t always great — not all the acting was solid and, again, its pacing may not sync with modern attention spans — but it was always distinctive and ahead of its time. It’s definitely worth discovering during these stay-at-homes times.

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• Cowboy Bebop’s Still Worth the Trip Even After 20 Years
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• Misfits Will Fill That Dysfunctional Superhero Hole in Your Heart
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Binge It! is IGN’s recommendation series. Movies, TV shows, books, comics, music… if you can binge it, we’re here to talk about it. In each installment of Binge It!, we’ll discuss a piece of content we’re passionate about — and why you should check it out.