Guilty Gear Strive Confirms Two More Returning Characters

Guilty Gear Strive has a new trailer, and it brings with it two more characters. The latest characters shown off are, in Guilty Gear lore, a couple–Millia Rage and Zato-1. Millia still attacks with her hair, while Zato-1 can summon up shadows to fight for him.

The trailer shows off how these two characters fit into the Guilty Gear Strive art style, and how their moves have been adapted into the new game. Long-time fans of the series will likely see some familiar attacks in here.

You can watch them both in action below.

Millia and Zato-1 are not scheduled to appear in the game’s upcoming closed beta, which will begin on April 16.

Guilty Gear Strive is coming to PlayStation 4 and arcades later in 2020. The other fighters confirmed for the game so far are Sol Badguy, Ky Kiske, May, Faust, Potempkin, Chipp Zanuff, and Axl Low.

GameSpot may get a commission from retail offers.

New Dauntless Update Adds Volcanoes And Lava Monsters

Dauntless’s latest update is available now, adding a brand new Escalation quest that features the game’s biggest Behemoth yet.

The free-to-play game is often compared to Monster Hunter, with a focus on building epic loot from materials dropped by the epic beasts you can hunt. The newest update adds fiery versions of some of the game’s existing Behemoths, as well as a brand new monster as the boss of the gauntlet-like Escalation quest.

The update also adds new legendary weapons, armor and amps, as well as a new Hunt Pass called Searing Talons with even more exclusive gear. The Hunt Pass adds extra bonuses for players who pay for the Elite upgrade, as well as offering the ability to pay to skip through the levels for easier loot.

Scorched Earth is the game’s first big update since developers Phoenix Labs were acquired by Singapore gaming giant Garena, the company behind mobile battle royale game Free Fire.

Dauntless is available for free on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch, with its PC version available on the Epic Game Store. A mobile version is also in the works.

Now Playing: Dauntless Intro Cinematics And Hunt Tutorial Full Gameplay

GameSpot may get a commission from retail offers.

Journey Dev Talks About The Need For Less Predatory Microtransactions

Thatgamecompany’s latest game Sky: Children of Light is, like many games in the crowded mobile market, built on a free-to-play model designed to be sustained by microtransactions. In an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, studio co-founder Jenova Chen has talked about the delicate balance needed to support an ongoing game financially without its in-game purchases feeling too predatory.

Since its inception, Thatgamecompany’s games have bucked industry trends by focusing on interaction and exploration in a market flooded with action and combat. Their latest mobile game Sky: Children of Light, currently available for iOS, is no different despite its new business model.

Chen says that when they were researching other freemium business models, microtransactions were often built around conflict and competition. “The more I played these games, the more I felt like the developer was like an arms dealer,” he told GamesIndustry.biz. “They’re selling weapons for whoever wants to pay to win. The conflict is what drives spending. That’s definitely something I don’t want to associate with.”

Instead of leaning into these systems, or using the gambling-like gacha model, Chen says they instead leaned into the social aspect of the game–helping not only provide a different type of value to microtransactions, but also to keep players engaged in between new content drops from the developers.

“Everyone understands if we just continue to produce content, like a premium game, the player will always consume it faster than you’re making it. So we shifted our strategy to focus on how we could build a park where people who love this type of game can find a social space,” he said. “What keeps the players around is the other players, not the game.”

In line with this philosophy, the in-game economy was instead built around gifting and giving, encouraging social connections between players–though in testing Thatgamecompany soon discovered it was necessary to give players the ability to be at least a little selfish. “When everything is about giving, people start to do quid pro quo and sometimes when you gift something to someone and that person doesn’t return the favour, you get angry because you’re expecting it to return.”

By re-introducing some “selfish” purchases, however, this transactional impulse was balanced out.

The full interview has plenty of other insights into the development of Sky, and how the same design theories that were used in Thatgamecompany’s other games were implemented into the mobile title.

Sky: Children of the Light is available for iOS, and will be out on Nintendo Switch in Summer 2020. Pre-registration is available on Android while PC and console versions are in the works.

GameSpot’s review called Sky “an ambitious evolution of thatgamecompany’s previous endeavors without straying too far away from what has made them special.” Read our full review here.

Now Playing: Sky: Children Of Light – iPhone X Gameplay

GameSpot may get a commission from retail offers.

Sony Removes Mario Creation From PS4 Game Dreams After Nintendo Complains

If you’ve logged into the Dreamervse in the PlayStation 4 game Dreams, you’ve undoubtedly come across levels that are made with characters and IP owned by various game companies beyond Sony.

One popular gaming franchise that is getting a lot of attention inside Dreams is Mario, and Nintendo is reportedly not very thrilled with its franchise being used in this manner. Creator Piece of Craft wrote on Twitter (via GoNintendo) that Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe recent contacted them with a message from Nintendo stating its objection to the use of Mario in Dreams.

As you can see in the image below, Piece of Craft’s creation has been removed from Dreams on the basis that it “contains copyrighted material.” Plenty of other Mario levels inside Dreams remain online and available, however, including “Super Mario Infinity,” which you can see at the bottom of the page.

Mario is just one of many copyrighted franchises that exists in Dreams right now. These kind of takedown notices are likely to continue as company’s take notice and take action.

Dreams is much more than a game. It’s a suite of robust game-making tools that have spawned countless fascinating and impressive creations.

For what it’s worth, Dreams developed Media Molecule plainly and openly stated before launch that players who made levels based on copyrighted materials should expect their creations to be removed.

GameSpot’s Dreams review scored the PS4-exclusive a 9/10. “It’s a stunning achievement that encourages limitless creative expression, a place where people can come together, collaborate, and explore each other’s imaginations,” reviewer Richard Wakeling said.

Now Playing: Dreams Video Review

GameSpot may get a commission from retail offers.

Walking Dead Boss Says THAT Character’s ‘Story Isn’t Done’

Warning: Spoilers for The Walking Dead episode “What We Become” follow…

[poilib element=”accentDivider”]

With tonight’s Walking Dead episode “What We Become” marking star Danai Gurira’s final appearance on the series as Michonne (as she and the character head off into the Rick Grimes movie trilogy), both Gurira and Walking Dead Chief Content Officer Scott M. Gimple appeared on AMC’s Talking Dead after show to discuss the episode and Michonne’s surreal “Sliding Doors”-style exit.

Despite her character not dying, and living on to exist in a different Walking Dead property, Gurira was still, understandably, emotional about this episode. “It’s overwhelming, in a sense, to have walked on this journey with this amazing character and this amazing family, the Walking Dead family out there in Georgia, for all these years.”

“[The episode] was an insane mind trip in so many ways,” Gurira said, though she was hesitant to give this alternate Michonne a label. “I don’t know if I’d call her evil, but she made a different choice at a pivotal moment. And there’s this crazy aspect of how this one choice can send you on entirely different path.”

Gimple then spoke about what he and the writers wanted to convey with Michonne’s final chapter on the show. “At the end of the day, we wanted to give an idea of what the point of the whole thing was,” he shared. “The whole journey. And she enters the story by helping someone. She chose to stop and turn and help a stranger. Over the course of seven seasons she changed. She became vulnerable. She opened up. Now, in this episode, she has a lead on Rick, which is earth-shaking. It changes everything. She has to go. And even as she does that she crosses people who need help. And we see that’s who she really is now. Even though she’s on the most important journey of her life.”

[widget path=”global/article/imagegallery” parameters=”albumSlug=the-best-and-worst-walking-dead-time-jumps&captions=true”]

Michonne as Negan’s Enforcer

Gurira was asked about recreating several moments from the show’s past, including the infamous Negan lineup. “[Michonne] could have chosen to let Andrea die. She was in this moment where she was very disconnected from her humanity. Just one little knock on her heart got through her armor and she saved Andrea and everything changed. But she could have done what we watched in this episode. I found that very chilling. One choice compounds upon itself. And the very idea that she ends up with Negan felt plausible.”

“Just the aspect of being aligned with Negan, I think that alone was freaky,” she said. “[Jeffrey Dean Morgan] and I had this bizarrely good time but you’re just still freaked out that you’re doing that as an actor. But it was all plausible. The idea that there was a part of her, if she’d gone a different way, that made their connection plausible. It was a chilling thing. We spent a lot of time shooting that lineup scene originally. That scene was deeply traumatic, you know, losing Glenn and losing Abraham, and so to recreate it and to be on the other side of it…we set it up in the exact same place, the RV was behind us, and there was Negan with the bat. Everything was very chillingly the same as that night except I was batting on the other side. It was deeply trippy.”

[widget path=”global/article/imagegallery” parameters=”albumSlug=the-walking-dead-what-we-become-photos&captions=true”]

What’s Next for Michonne

While Michonne’s move to the Rick movies hasn’t been made official, it’s one of the worst kept Walking Dead secrets at this point. And Gimple, while not being able to say anything outright, certainly teased as much.

“I can say this: Both Rick Grimes and Andy Lincoln would not give up those boots very easily,” he said. “There’s the etching. There’s a Japanese phrase there. There’s Michonne, and there looks to be a more current Judith than perhaps Rick…yeah, there you go. Is he alive? Is he dead? What’s the situation. Those are clues that there’s a whole story unfolding somewhere.”

When Michonne saw those boots, she confronted a part of herself that she had to bury long ago. “[Seeing Rick’s boots] feeds something inside of her that she’s tried to keep down for many years, that she put aside for the good of everyone around her,” Gurira said. “It was an awesome thing for me to see Michonne get back. To get connected to him again to have some of her hunches start to be validated.”

“[Rick leaving] was last year for us, as viewers of The Walking Dead, but for Michonne it’s been years,” Gimple added. “To see this, it just pulls her through time. It’s a whole other world.”

“Her story isn’t done,” Gimple concluded. “And the thing we were so happy to find, thematically, was we were able to conclude the character. Michonne is the person who would help those people at the end, even though she has no idea who they are. And they have this weird fashion sense. And she has a lead on Rick. And we see this group, this organized, nomadic, strong-looking group. And she’s going to them on behalf of these other people. Something’s going on here. It was great to see the character fulfill her arc in the story while also opening up a whole other story while on the road to a story we want to know more about, which is Rick.”

[ignvideo url=”https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/11/25/the-walking-dead-world-beyond-trailer”]

[poilib element=”accentDivider”]

Matt Fowler is a writer for IGN and a member of the Television Critics Association. Follow him on Twitter at @TheMattFowler and Facebook at Facebook.com/MattBFowler.

Batwoman: Season 1, Episode 16 Review

Warning: this review contains full spoilers for Batwoman: Season 1, Episode 16. If you need a refresher on where we left off, here’s our review for Season 1, Episode 15.

[poilib element=”accentDivider”]

They say a hero is only as compelling as their archenemy. That’s certainly been true for Batwoman in the Arrowverse. This series only really seems to thrive when Alice is handled with an appropriate amount of depth, which hasn’t always been the case. But potholes aside, the series has by and large seen dramatic improvement on the Alice front ever since Crisis on Infinite Earths. “Through the Looking-Glass” continues that trend, proving once again that Alice works best when she’s less an outright villain and more a distorted reflection of her twin sister.

The lines between the two are more blurred than ever, with this episode exploring the fallout of Kate’s little act of manslaughter. Initially, it doesn’t seem as though Episode 16 is really going to take advantage of that twist, with Alice playing the usual “betray her family and scamper off into the night” card once again. Thankfully, it’s not long before the plot kicks back into gear as Alice discovers her entire gang slaughtered and realizes Kate is her only hope. We can probably assume that’s the handiwork of Mabel Cartwright, but whatever the case, that killer is a problem for another day.

[widget path=”global/article/imagegallery” parameters=”albumSlug=batwoman-through-the-looking-glass-photos&captions=true”]

Once the Kane sisters are reunited, this episode does take advantage of their evolving dynamic and Kate’s difficult emotional journey. Crisis: Part 2 continues to cast a long shadow over the series. Without ever having to overtly reference that episode’s Kate/Bruce reunion, we know exactly what’s going through Kate’s mind as she grapples with a line crossed and the fear she’s doomed to become the unrepentant killer Alice and Evil Bruce are. Maybe it’s just in the family genes?

Once again, the series proves that Alice works better as an agent of chaos whose goals occasionally align with those of her sister, rather than a straightforward villain. There’s plenty of good sibling drama to be found her, but also a welcome dose of humor and even a little low-key bonding time. This has been a common refrain in recent reviews, but Rachel Skarsten’s performance really benefits from the opportunities to play Alice as a multifaceted character who isn’t constantly putting on a scenery-chewing persona.

All of this culminates nicely in the raid on Arkham Asylum. The fight scenes are entertaining, if a bit hindered by the same lighting and visibility problem that’s plagued so many Arrow episodes. Through it all, there’s the nagging question of why Kate is willing to go so far to help her sister when it means turning two hardened, mentally unstable criminals out in the world. The answer is very satisfying. Alice winds up being hoisted on her own petard for a change, and the result is another deeply heartfelt, traumatic moment between the two sisters. They seem forever doomed to be driven apart whenever there’s a hope of reconciliation.

[ignvideo url=”https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/02/05/birds-of-prey-review”]

Thankfully, the Luke-centric B-plot is able to hold up its end surprisingly well. The series has been slow to flesh out Luke and transform him into something more than just another snarky Arrowverse tech dude. But with this week delving much deeper into the mystery of Lucius Fox’s death and Luke’s conflicted emotions, the character is finally getting the attention he deserves. That this comes at the same time Julia Pennyworth returns to town is just icing on the cake. This episode successfully builds an intriguing conspiracy out of Lucius’ murder and makes Luke a more critical piece of the Season 1 puzzle. Even Sophie seems to benefit from being drawn into this tangled web. In general, Batwoman is just a more interesting series thanks to these most recent two episodes.

Halo Infinite: See How They Recorded Antique Steam Engines For Sounds In The Game

The developers of Halo Infinite have shared another behind-the-scenes look at how they are capturing sounds for the game, and, like the ones before it, this latest video is a delight.

The team at 343 Industries visited the Powerland Heritage Park in Oregon to record steam engines that will serve as the inspiration for some of the sounds you’ll hear in Halo Infinite. Specifically, the steam engines will bring to life some “mechanical sounds” for Halo Infinite.

Check out the video below and try to guess what these sounds may be used for in Halo Infinite. It’s always a special treat to see these types of videos.

These are just the latest behind-the-scenes videos from 343. Earlier this year, 343 showed off how it capture Halo Infinite’s weapon and car sounds. And in 2019, the developer shared a video of a cute little pug whose snuffs and scruff sounds will be put into Halo Infinite.

Halo Infinite is a launch title for the Xbox Series X. Despite the development team now working from home, the game is expected to release this holiday alongside the next-gen console. Halo Infinite will also be released on Xbox One and PC.

GameSpot may get a commission from retail offers.

Mortal Kombat 9 Is No Longer Available On Steam

Mortal Kombat, also known as Mortal Kombat 9, is no longer available for purchase digitally on Steam. As VG247 has reported, the game’s Steam page states that the Komplete Edition–the only edition available for sale digitally–was removed from sale “at the request of the publisher.”

While it’s not entirely clear why this has happened, VG247 speculates that its removal may have something to do with the rights to Freddy Krueger, who appears as a fighter in the Komplete Edition. As reported by Bloody Disgusting, the rights to the character reverted back to Wes Craven’s estate in 2019, and thus his appearance in the game might need to be re-negotiated.

As of right now, the game is still available for digital purchase on PlayStation 3, but not on Xbox 360. It’s unclear whether this is set to change, or whether there are plans to return the game to Steam or other digital stores in the future.

Mortal Kombat 9, which served as a sort-of reboot of the series, was well-received by fans of the series, but the Mortal Kombat community (kommunity?) has largely moved on to Mortal Kombat 11.

Mortal Kombat fans have a new movie to look forward to–but they can also check out the classic 1995 film, which is coming to Netflix in April.

Now Playing: Mortal Kombat 11 Video Review

GameSpot may get a commission from retail offers.

How The Walking Dead Just Set Up Rick Grimes’ Standalone Movie

Warning: The following contains full spoilers for The Walking Dead episode “What We Become”…

[poilib element=”accentDivider”]

Season 10’s “What We Become” wound up being Walking Dead star Danai Gurira’s final appearance as Michonne on the series, as the character now heads off to become part of the Rick Grimes movie trilogy.

So how did it all play out? What happened after Michonne overpowered Kevin Carroll’s Virgil and fought through the hallucinogenic effects of the drug he dosed her with? This was The Walking Dead’s chance to set Michonne up for her next adventure, while also cluing us in a little bit as to Rick Grimes’ fate after the mystery helicopter stole him away during the first half of Season 9.

[widget path=”global/article/imagegallery” parameters=”albumSlug=the-walking-dead-what-we-become-photos&captions=true”]

Before we get into that, let’s quickly break down what we know about the group that took Rick in the first place.

What The “Three Rings” or “Three Circles” Symbol Means

The-Walking-Dead-World-Beyond-Helicopter

Six years back, in The Walking Dead’s timeline, Anne (formerly Jadis) had a deal going with a clandestine, well-armed group that had access to a helicopter. In exchange for supplies, she and her trash goblins would provide the group, which used three interlocking rings (or circles) for its symbol, with live human specimens, which she was told to classify as “A”s or “B”s (we can still only guess at their meaning). After Rick didn’t die in the bridge explosion back in Season 9’s “What Comes After,” Anne saved him by handing him over to the group, which took them both away in a chopper. Unfortunately, no one in Rick’s life knew this happened and everyone assumed he died (though Daryl spent quite a while in the woods looking for a body). Then the show jumped forward six years.

The Three Rings group appeared on Fear the Walking Dead as well, which back in its fifth season was taking place at the same time as The Walking Dead’s Season 9 before six-year time jump. So operatives depicted in FTWD’s “The End of Everything” (which was the first time we saw soldiers from the group) were the same kind that were around when Rick got stolen. Fear’s Althea, played by Maggie Grace, had a run-in – and romantic interlude – with a Three Rings soldier named Isabelle. She learned that the group saw themselves as “the future” and that everything they were doing was to rebuild society – they were not living for themselves now; the big, lofty goal of saving humanity was all that mattered. Isabelle was part of Ground 17, a recon squad that acquired supplies and tech. The “Reclamation Group” were sent in when things went south, and they more than likely just wiped everything out with brute force.

[ignvideo url=”https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/11/25/the-walking-dead-world-beyond-trailer”]

In the upcoming two-season limited series The Walking Dead: World Beyond, which will now air later this year instead of April, the main characters live inside one of the “circles.” That’s right, the Three Rings represent three massive communities and the young heroes in World Beyond, who’ve grown up behind walls and barely interacted with walkers, live in one of those communities. Their adventure now lines up, time-wise, with where The Walking Dead’s timeline is now, which is about a decade into the zombocalypse. So the Three Rings group is also a bit older than when they took Rick. And actress Julia Ormond is one of the Three Ring leaders.

How Michonne’s Exit Connects to Rick

After her struggles with Virgil, who locked her up and drugged her, we see Michonne rifling through the Navy Research Facility’s supplies. There she’s stunned to find Rick’s boots. How could this be? Where did they come from? After threatening Virgil, he tells her about a ship that had washed up during the “big storm.”

Side Quest: Which “big storm” is he talking about? It could be the giant blizzard from Season 9’s finale, “The Storm,” which would make the shipwreck recent. Or it could be from the hurricane that blasted through Fear the Walking Dead in the back half of Season 4. Of course, that storm was happening in Texas and not Virginia. But… it also happened six years ago. So it’s all about what makes more sense. Was Rick on this doomed ship recently or years ago?

Anyhow, Michonne discovers a ship’s log that tracks the vessel from Virginia to a port in New Jersey. Was the boat headed there when it got jacked up? Or had it already arrived there and then got lost afterward? Either way, Michonne’s best chance of tracking Rick would be to head to that port in New Jersey.

Screen Shot 2020-03-20 at 3.34.33 PM

Then there’s the final piece of the puzzle – the phone with the doodles of Rick and…Carl? Judith? It has to be Carl, right? The height makes you think of Judith, but she and Carl basically had the same hair. And Rick wouldn’t/shouldn’t know what Judith looks like now.

But wait. What if it is Judith? What would that mean? Was someone taking pictures of them for Rick? Because the names written out next to them, in Japanese hiragana, seem to be Michonne and Judith, if we’re sounding them out phonetically. That would change A LOT. It would mean this was a recent boat trip and that Rick has been nearby for years. The biggest challenge the Rick movies will face is explaining why Rick never went back home. If he was taken overseas, then it makes sense why he’d be stuck. Hopefully, he hasn’t been kept prisoner this whole time. But if he was nearby, and had a choice, then they’ll have to come up with a huge reason why he didn’t go back.

Anyhow, there are a lot of questions. Whoever did this seemed to trace a cellphone image onto the phone itself. Perhaps in order to preserve it once the battery died. Does the three-rings group have working cellphones? Not in an online sense, of course, but in a “taking pictures” sense.  There’s a lot we don’t know here and perhaps too much to speculate about.

Screen Shot 2020-03-20 at 3.36.28 PM

In the end, Michonne winds up somewhere else. We don’t know where (might be Jersey) and we don’t know when (a month?), but we see her briefly crawl back into her early Michonne mindset as she de-jaws a couple chained walkers. But when she’s asked for help, from two strangers, she extends a hand. What do they want? Well, they want to catch up to a massive procession of people moving with horses and wagons.

The strangers, one of whom is injured, note that these fools won’t wait for them. Yup, stragglers get left behind. That sure sounds like the three-rings harshness, doesn’t it? Whoever they are, they also have each block surrounded by, presumably, soldiers, in a square, to protect the supplies and civilians in the middle. It’s a very big and organized convoy. One that Michonne hopes to join. We’ll have to see where it takes her next…

Where do you think Michonne is heading, and what do you make of the clues about Rick’s current location? Share your theories in the comments!

[poilib element=”accentDivider”]

Matt Fowler is a writer for IGN and a member of the Television Critics Association. Follow him on Twitter at @TheMattFowler and Facebook at Facebook.com/MattBFowler.