Ahead of the game’s release at the end of this month, a demo for Kill la Kill The Game: IF is available now to PlayStation 4 players. The demo’s a little hefty, clocking in just shy of 8GB, but it’s totall free.
The demo will take you through the game’s first story chapter and includes a versus mode with several playable characters including protagonist Ryuko Matoi, antagonist Satsuki Kiryuin, Ira Gamagoori, and Uzu Sanageyama. Additionally, publisher PQube posted a play guide to YouTube showcasing the 3D fighter’s various mechanics. Check out the play guide below to prep yourself for battle.
We got a glimpse of Kill la Kill’s story mode in May, which seems to run in line with Trigger’s 2013 anime with a few differences. The biggest change is a switch in antagonist, going from ultimate series baddie Ragyo Kiryuin to something seemingly far more sinister.
Kill la Kill The Game: IF is set to launch on July 26 for PC, Nintendo Switch, and PlayStation 4.
During Anime Expo 2019, Studio Trigger’s Promare made its international premiere. The movie is the theatrical debut for the studio behind the hugely popular anime Kill la Kill, featuring the same director as the series, Hiroyuki Imaishi.
Promare is set in a world where a mutation has caused hundreds of people to develop pyrokinetic abilities. Labeled as the Burnish, these mutants are discriminated against by normal humans. The movie stars two protagonists: Galo, the newest member of the special firefighting team responsible for suppressing Burnish-created fires and ensuring the threats are subdued so they can be arrested, and Lio, the leader of the terrorist organization fighting for civil rights for the Burnish. Between the two, Promare is told primarily through Galo’s point-of-view, seeing him learn that the Burnish are still human beings and deserving of the same rights as everyone else.
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Promare – Official Japanese Trailer | Studio Trigger
Top New Game Releases On Switch, PS4, Xbox One, And PC This Week — July 7-13, 2019
During a group interview at Anime Expo, GameSpot asked Studio Trigger about the reasoning for telling a story mostly through the eyes of an oppressor, albeit an unwitting one. Creative director Hiromi Wakabayashi answered, “The main objective of the film wasn’t to depict an opposition between the minorities, which is the Burnish, and the majority, which is the human race. We thought it would be easier to present the story if we made Galo the actual main protagonist even though he’s on the oppressing side. He’s in the middle ground. He’s not intentionally oppressing. If we were to make Lio the main protagonist, Promare would become a story about the oppressed overcoming their oppressors and that’s not what we were trying to go for. Who Galo is is really hard to depict in real life. A lot of people have strong opinions but don’t act on them.”
“In real life, everybody’s pretty much contradicting themselves,” Promare character designer Shigeto Koyama added. “Activists want to save the earth. They want to try to keep the ozone layer. But they also want air conditioner at the same time. They want to protect the ozone layer, but they don’t want to walk and would rather use their car. A lot of them can be hypocrites. Everybody has some kind of fault in their philosophy, and Promare ends where we don’t know how Galo is going to continue on with his. That’s where the story kind of stops. That’s the same with us. What are [we each] going to do?”
Despite releasing over half a decade after Kill la Kill, Promare possesses many similarities to the 2013 series, including character design, soundtrack, and narrative themes. The origin of these similarities extends beyond both anime sharing the same director though. During the group interview, Studio Trigger revealed that production on the movie began before Kill la Kill even ended, so the ideas behind both were formulated very close together.
The major difference between Kill la Kill and Promare is the latter’s much brighter color palette which utilizes a lot more reds, oranges, and pinks. These colors were used in Promare because the movie uses so much more CG. “We knew that we were going to be incorporating heavy use of CG from the beginning, so we needed to make the designs and the colors as simple as possible,” director Imaishi said during the group interview. Promare manages to blend together traditional 2D and 3D CG animation styles better than many anime have done previously. Imaishi believes “CG will become more and more prevalent in the animation industry” going forward, ultimately normalizing a hybrid style that combines both 2D and 3D.
Promare is scheduled to release publicly in US theaters on September 17. In GameSpot Universe’s Promare review, I wrote, “Promare’s plot does stumble, most notably when it comes to how it builds its world and fleshes out the main cast, but it takes enough cues from what made Kill la Kill such a hit to then go out and tell its own take on why discrimination is bad and why everyone should learn to love their fellow person. Galo’s origin story of becoming a firefighting superhero is framed with over-the-top action pieces, comedy, and well-timed pieces of music, and though he delivers an incredible finishing blow in the epic final battle, it’s his evolving rivalry with Lio that gives the movie its satisfying ending.”
Ebay is holding a sale to compete with Amazon’s Prime Day, and it isn’t being shy about the comparison. The “Ebay Crash Sale” will take place on July 15–and the deals will get even better if Amazon happens to crash during its big sale date.
Ebay states plainly that the sale is named after Amazon’s tech troubles last year, and that additional deals will activate if the competition crashes. The Ebay advertisement promises deals on Apple, Samsung, Garmin, Dyson, and more. The company also promised additional discounts going up daily as part of its “Hot Deals for Hot Days” sale lasting through July 22. You can find the daily discounts on Ebay’s Deals page.
Some of today’s deals include Sea of Thieves for $22, a Halo 5 Guardians controller for $63, and an Apple iPad Air for $620. Many of Ebay’s sale items include free shipping and returns with no membership needed–another distinction it touts with Amazon Prime Day.
“Ebay is primed to deliver exactly what shoppers want during this year’s crash (sale),” said Ebay Americas COO Jay Hanson in a statement. “July has become a massive shopping season, and our summer sales include blockbuster deals that will not disappoint.”
Official Description: Based on The New York Times bestselling comic by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson, The Boys is a fun and irreverent take on what happens when superheroes—who are as popular as celebrities, as influential as politicians, and as revered as Gods—abuse their superpowers rather than use them for good. It’s the powerless against the superpowerful as The Boys embark on a heroic quest to expose the truth about The Seven and Vought—the multi-billion-dollar conglomerate that manages these superheroes and covers up all of their dirty secrets. The series stars Karl Urban, Jack Quaid, Antony Starr, Erin Moriarty, Dominique McElligott, Jessie T. Usher, Laz Alonso, Chace Crawford, Tomer Capon, Karen Fukuhara, and Elisabeth Shue. The Boys is executive produced by Eric Kripke, Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, James Weaver, Neal H. Moritz, Pavun Shetty, and Ori Marmur, as well as Ken Levin and Jason Netter. Panelists include: Karl Urban, Jack Quaid, Antony Starr, Erin Moriarty, Laz Alonso, Chace Crawford, Tomer Capon, Karen Fukuhara; executive producer Eric Kripke, Seth Rogen, Jessie T. Usher, Elisabeth Shue, moderated by Aisha Tyler. Premiering July 26 on Amazon Prime Video, the eight-episode Amazon Original series is co-produced by Amazon Prime Video and Sony Pictures Television Studios with Point Grey Pictures, Kripke Enterprises, and Original Film.
What to expect: Footage from the show, possibly lots of swearing.
Ahead of Tales of Arise, the long-running Tales RPG series continues this year in Tales of Crestoria. The theme of this Tales game is sin and crime, featuring a roster of characters who are all considered the villains of their world.
In Tales of Crestoria, you play as Kanata, who lives in a world where everyone must wear a vision orb. Via vision orbs, citizens are judged by their peers with final judgment for a crime decided by popular vote. When Kanata commits a crime to save Misella, a girl he loves, and she, in turn, commits one to save him, they are each issued the harsh label of transgressor. They escape punishment and then run into the man known as the world’s most infamous transgressor, who advises them that they can either own their sin or let it own them. Through sin, the two discover a power greater than they’ve ever known, one that could change the world.
Tales of Crestoria is scheduled to come to mobile devices in 2019.
The hotly-anticipated Shenmue III going Epic exclusive has caused a stir amongst PC Kickstarter backers. Developer Ys Net provided an update on the switch, but the studio is still assuaging concerns. Refunds are now being offered to Kickstarter backers who choose to rescind their investment, and Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney confirmed the company will take responsibility to avoid impacting Shenmue III’s development budget.
Sweeney took to Twitter to deliver the statement, saying in a tweet, “Epic is funding the cost of all Kickstarter refunds resulting from Shenmue III’s move to the Epic Games store.” He notes that this decision is to ensure Ys Net’s development budget remains unaffected by refunds.
Epic is funding the cost of all Kickstarter refunds resulting from Shenmue III’s move to the Epic Games store, so that refunds won’t reduce Ys Net’s development funding. https://t.co/mSGdbzYPJ5
In a follow-up tweet, Sweeney said that when any other game goes Epic exclusive after offering rewards on separate PC platforms, “We’ll either coordinate with colleagues at the other stores to ensure key availability in advance, or guarantee refunds at announcement time.” It’s worth noting that Sweeney is talking specifically about crowdfunded projects here.
The options available for Shenmue III Kickstarter backers include a PC physical package, a digital Epic Games Store game key, a PS4 disc, or a PSN code voucher. The PC physical version doesn’t actually contain the game on the disc, though; instead it comes with an Epic Games Store installer and a digital Epic Games Store game key. The Steam version will be made available to those who opt for it but will be delivered “one year later.”
Week 9’s challenges are now live in Fortnite, giving you another chance to level your Battle Pass up and unlock more Season 9 rewards. Each task you clear will reward you with Battle Stars, but if you manage to finish all seven from a given week, you’ll also complete one of this season’s Utopia challenges, which will unlock a special loading screen that leads you to a free item hidden somewhere around the game’s map.
Every odd-numbered Utopia challenge you complete will give you a chance to find a hidden Battle Star, which will level your Battle Pass up by one full tier when collected. Sure enough, that’s the reward that awaits if you complete nine weeks’ worth of Season 9 challenges. But first, you’ll need to find it. Fortunately, this week’s Battle Star is fairly easy to locate.
Once you’ve completed enough challenges, you’ll unlock the loading screen pictured below. This one shows off Brite Bomber, wearing her beachwear from the ongoing 14 Days of Summer event, in a skate park. Look closely at the bottom right of the image, however, and you’ll see a drawing of a Battle Star scrawled onto the ramp. That’s the clue that’ll lead you to the item.
The Battle Star is depicted above a car that’s surrounded by velvet ropes, and there happens to be just such a car inside Mega Mall, so that’s where you’ll need to go to collect it. Make your way to the area and the car will be easy to spot; walk in through the main entrance, then go into the room to the left of the fountain. Once you find the car, the Battle Star will appear above it when you approach, just as pictured. Collect it and finish the match to level your Battle Pass up. If you need more help finding it, we’ve marked the Battle Star’s location on the map below; you can also watch us collect it in the video at the top of this guide.
Battle Stars aren’t the only bonus you can collect for completing Utopia challenges. Each even-numbered one you clear will lead you to a free Fortbyte. Those can be picked up by anyone who has a Season 9 Battle Pass, whether or not you’ve actually completed their corresponding mission. However, you’ll only be able to find these free Battle Stars if you’ve finished the requisite challenges; they won’t appear in the game otherwise, so you can’t simply go to the right location and expect to find them if you haven’t done the necessary work.
Have you run out of things to watch on your streaming services? Aside from weekly Netflix releases, services like Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, and Shudder are putting out new content almost every single day. This week, there are a few selections that may be up your alley.
Over on Amazon, you can look forward to these movies. On Sunday, the 2017 courtroom drama Marshall arrived. It stars Chadwick Boseman as Thurgood Marshall, who was the first African-American Supreme Court Justice. The movie follows Marshall’s early career as a lawyer for the NAACP. It was directed by Reginald Hudlin, who had an amazing run as the writer on the Marvel Comics series Black Panther.
Headed to Hulu this Friday is the Casey Affleck mystery drama Gone Baby Gone. Directed by Ben Affleck, the movie is about detectives from Boston who are investigating the kidnapping of a young girl. However, as they get deeper into the crime, things become more and more complicated.
And over on Shudder, AMC’s horror-themed streaming service, you can check out Stake Land and Stake Land II, which both land Monday. Both movies take place in a dystopian future where the government has collapsed and a vampiric plague has swept the nation. The first film follows a hunter and his protégé’s journey to Canada, now called New Eden. The sequel follows the protégé as he finds himself in America’s Badlands.
Below, you’ll find everything arriving on these services for each day of the week.
Sunday, July 7
Amazon
Marshall (2017)
Hulu
The Real Housewives of Orange County: Complete Season 13 (Bravo)
Monday, July 8
Shudder
Stake Land (2010, Jim Mickle)
Stake Land II a.k.a. The Stakelander (2016, Dan Berk, Robert Olsen)
At Anime Expo 2019, AI: The Somnium Files director and writer Kotaro Uchikoshi sat down with GameSpot to talk about the upcoming mystery-driven adventure game. The title of the game, Uchikoshi explains, is actually a bit of clever wordplay and hints towards the overall theme of the story.
AI: The Somnium Files sees you play as detective Kaname Date who has an artificial eye that houses his AI companion, Aiba. Date’s eye gives him several abilities, such as X-ray vision, and Aiba provides assistance for more technical challenges. During difficult investigations, Date can use a machine called the Psync Device through Aiba, allowing them to enter the memories or dreams of suspects or witnesses. The visual representation of people’s minds is called their somnium, and solving the mental locks in the space allow Date and Aiba to travel deeper into a person’s subconscious and extract vital information. AI: The Somnium Files’ story begins with Date and Aiba trying to figure out the identity of someone who’s been gouging out people’s eyes.
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AI: The Somnium Files – Official Gameplay Trailer
Top New Game Releases On Switch, PS4, Xbox One, And PC This Week — July 7-13, 2019
The “AI” in AI: The Somnium Files is actually Japanese, making it pronounced like “eye.” In Japanese, Uchikoshi explains, “ai” means “love.” Thus AI: The Somnium Files is simultaneously in reference to the game’s themes of finding life in artificial intelligence, the importance of the human eye, figuring out one’s self (like “I”), and defining what love is. Though the game touches on all of these, it’s that last one that Uchikoshi is focusing on in this game.
“There are many different aspects of love,” Uchikoshi said. “There’s family love, two strangers loving each other, there’s love between partners, there’s love between friends, and amongst all these different types of love there are twists as well.” In AI: The Somnium Files, there are several different types of relationships that will evolve and change. Date and Aiba are partners, for example, but Date is also a sort of adoptive father to the daughter of one of his best friends. Iris, a YouTube star who’s one of the victims that loses an eye, is idolized by one of her fans, Ota, and cared for by her lonely, single mother Hitomi.
“Love is a big theme for me,” Uchikoshi joked, “because when I go home my wife treats me like dirt and makes me lick her toes, and wash the bathroom, and she makes me do everything, treats me like trash. I feel like I’m a little kid at an orphanage that just wants to be in a family that shows me love, and that’s why that ai, love, is one of the important themes for this game.”
Uchikoshi hopes players come to their own conclusions when it comes to defining the truth behind love. As such, AI: The Somnium Files has several different endings. “There is no wrong answer, the choices that you make will become the story’s reality, its truth,” he said. “What happens is, you make a choice, and it will steer you towards a certain ending, but if you make a different choice it can suddenly steer you in a completely different direction. But each of those endings is right and true, and none of it is technically wrong.” When it comes to good and bad endings, Uchikoshi clarified that it will be up to the player to define what they believe to be morally right and wrong. What someone may think is a good ending could be perceived as a bad one by someone else. Uchikoshi did not want to divulge how many endings there are in AI: The Somnium Files, but he did confirm that each one does “go in different directions.”
The choices in the story will all occur when you’re invading a character’s somnium and trying to piece together exactly what happened. When in someone’s somnium, you have exactly six minutes to solve as many mental blocks as you can, discover new evidence, and come to your own conclusion. Each action you take will cost you, so you’ll need to deduce how to overcome mental blocks as quickly as you can. You won’t fail the game if you can’t find enough evidence to make any conclusions within the six-minute time limit though, as failing to discover something will simply reset you back to the start of the somnium.
AI: The Somnium Files is scheduled to come to PS4, PC, and Nintendo Switch on September 17. If you’re looking for more info on the game, we interviewed both Uchikoshi and A-set (the virtual YouTube idol featured in AI: The Somnium Files) at GDC 2019.
