Fire Emblem: Three Houses asks a lot of you. Every piece, from battle to friendships to training your units, must be managed both individually and as part of a whole. It can be intimidating, but when it all clicks together, it really clicks. Mastering the art of thoughtful lesson planning as a professor improves your performance on the battlefield, where success relies on calculated teamwork and deft execution. Cultivating relationships during battle in turn draws you closer to each of the characters, who you then want to invest even more time into in the classroom. Every piece feeds into the next in a rewarding, engrossing loop where you get lost in the whole experience, not just in the minutiae.
Three Houses casts you as a mercenary who, while out on a mission with their father, runs into a group of teens under attack. After a brief introduction and battle tutorial–which you shouldn’t need, since you’re apparently already an established mercenary, but we’ll go with it–you learn that they are students at Garreg Mach monastery. Each of them leads one of the school’s three houses: Black Eagles, Blue Lions, or Golden Deer. At the behest of the church’s archbishop, who definitely gives off nefarious vibes but is also a gentle mom figure, you end up becoming a professor and must choose which of the houses to lead. There is a lot of mystery to the setup, with consistent hints that something is not quite right, and it’s easy to get absorbed in trying to figure out what the archbishop and various other shady figures are up to.
Your main role as professor is to instruct your students in matters of combat and prepare them for story battles at the end of each month. Battles in Three Houses feature the same turn-based, tactical combat at the heart of the series, albeit with some changes. The classic weapon triangle is downplayed quite a bit in favor of Combat Arts, which have been altered somewhat from their introduction in Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia. Combat Arts are attacks tied to a weapon type and can boost a unit’s attack power at the expense of weapon durability; some are effective against specific enemy types, like armored units. You can also unlock skills outside of Combat Arts that grant you better stats with certain weapons, like a heftier boost for using an axe against a lance user, similar to the old weapon triangle. It’s the same complexity the series is known for but less abstracted, making it a bit easier to strategize without sacrificing depth.
One of the big combat additions is battalions, mini armies you can equip that provide various benefits to a unit during battle. They also give you a new type of attack called a Gambit, which varies based on the type of battalion–magic-focused, brute force, and so on–and stuns the enemies it hits. Gambits are limited-use and can be incredibly powerful against the right enemies. You can increase a Gambit’s effectiveness even further if one or more of your other units are within attack range of the target, a tried-and-true Fire Emblem concept that applies to all kinds of attacks. There’s also an anime-style splash screen as you attack that shows each character involved in the Gambit looking fierce, which adds a nice bit of drama.
How much you use Combat Arts and Gambits depends on what difficulty you’re on. On Normal difficulty, well-trained units will likely be able to dispatch most enemies in one or two hits without the help of Combat Arts or Gambits. On Hard, however, enemies hit harder and withstand your attacks better. You have to think much more carefully about unit placement, the best time to use a Gambit and take advantage of its stun effect, and how many Combat Arts you can fire off before your weapon breaks. This is where things get exciting; after a few turns of cautious setup, you (hopefully) get to knock out tons of enemies as your plans fall into place.
Some of the early-game and optional battle maps are open spaces that don’t require you to think too hard, especially on Normal. But the story battles throughout feature a variety of map layouts–from pirate ships to what appears to be a lava-filled cavern–that challenge you to consider where your units need to be, both in the next turn and several turns down the line. Many of them have different routes, enemies coming at you from multiple angles, optional treasure to chase, and other quirks that require you to split your party up or change their equipped classes to suit the situation. Thieves, for instance, can open chests and doors without a key, while flying units don’t take damage from ground that’s on fire.
The depth of strategy in these elements really shines on Hard difficulty, but especially so when coupled with Divine Pulse, another limited-use ability. Divine Pulse allows you to rewind time in order to redo all or part of the battle, usually if one of your units dies. Rewinding with Divine Pulse shows just how important unit placement and attack choice can be, as even a slight change can make or break the encounter. It’s also just a nice quality-of-life feature if you play on Classic mode, in which units who die in battle are lost forever and can’t fight or train anymore. You might still soft reset from time to time, but it’s great to be able to rectify a mistake right away and get a shot of instant gratification for a job well re-done.
Battling, of course, is only one part of life at the monastery. The backbone of Three Houses is the monthly school calendar, and if you like organizing things, planning ahead, or school in general, this can be the most engrossing part. On Sundays, you have free time you can spend in one of four ways: exploring the monastery, participating in side battles, holding a seminar to improve your students’ skills, or simply taking the day off. Mondays are for instruction, which consists of selecting students from a list and choosing a few of their skills to boost. The rest of the week goes by automatically, with a sprite of the professor running along the calendar and stopping occasionally for random events or story cutscenes. It sounds a bit hands-off, but there’s a lot to think about as it is, and the week-by-week rather than day-by-day structure keeps things moving and ensures you never have to wait too long to progress in any area.
The predictable structure of each month–and the fact that you can see the full month’s schedule with events listed ahead of time–gives you the foundation to make effective plans. All that time management can definitely be overwhelming, at least at first. You have to keep tabs on your students’ skills and study goals, your own skills, everyone’s inventory, and various other meters and menus while planning for the lessons and battles to come. But you’re treated to a near-constant stream of positive reinforcement as those meters fill up week by week and your students improve their skills. You’re always moving toward the next thing: the next level up, the next skill you need to develop, the next month and what may unfold.
To complement this, your activities when exploring the monastery (as well as how many battles you can participate in, if you choose to battle on your day off) are limited by activity points. You get more as your “professor level” increases, which means you have to balance activities that boost your professor level with ones that help your students grow. Activity points also ensure that the month continues at a healthy pace, preventing you from lingering on any one Sunday for too long. Seminars and rest days just eat up the whole day without consideration for activity points, which can break up the more involved weeks and provide their own benefits.
How you choose to spend your time also comes down to how motivated your students are to learn. Each of your students has a motivation gauge that’s drained when you instruct them, and they can’t be instructed again until you interact with them and get their motivation back up. You can do this most effectively when exploring the monastery–where you get to talk to different characters, give them gifts, and share bonding time with them–whereas battle only rarely increases motivation levels. While you can skip a lot of the school life bits and even automate instruction, you won’t get the best results. You’re directly at a disadvantage in combat if you don’t make time for your students, which is by design.
Like all recent Fire Emblem games, keeping you invested in your units and their relationships is the glue that binds the whole experience together. It’s incredibly effective in Three Houses, where your direct involvement in nearly all aspects of a unit’s growth trajectory gives you a special stake in their success. After spending time and effort to help a character achieve their full potential, you’re not just satisfied when they win a fight–you’re proud. And the more you invest in someone–both emotionally and through months of lesson plans and instruction–the more cautious you’ll be about putting them in harm’s way, and the more you’ll work to come up with a solid battle strategy.
Considering you’re a teacher, it’s good rather than disappointing that there’s almost no romance to speak of. Some students are flirty, but mainly, you’re fostering camaraderie rather than playing matchmaker or romancing them yourself. As you unlock new support levels with different characters–both by interacting with them at the monastery and by using teamwork in battles–you get cutscenes that flesh them out more. Some are charming, lighthearted conversations between two friends, while many of them give you insight into more serious matters–a father forcing his daughter into marriage, discrimination within the monastery, the dark reason behind someone’s lofty ambitions. For the most part, each support conversation is just a piece of who a character is, and as you slowly build support levels over time, you begin to uncover the full picture of each person. As a result, learning more about each of the characters and their place in the monastery is as much a reward for progress as the level bars that tick forever upward as you go.
Every NPC is fully voiced in both English and Japanese, which brings a lot of life to the brief support conversations. Disappointingly, though, the professor is silent. They do have a voice–they’ll occasionally say a line when leveling up or improving a skill–but in cutscenes and when talking to students and faculty, they just nod or shake their head flatly. There are brief dialogue options during conversations, but where they could give way to a full, subtitled sentence or two from the professor, you’re just left with the other character’s reaction. Characters do, however, refer to the professor’s personality and how they come across throughout the game, which is odd considering they mostly nod at things. This puts distance between you and the characters you’re bonding with, and it’s a missed opportunity in a game where the protagonist has an otherwise set look, personality, and backstory.
It’s not hard to like a lot of the characters, though. They draw you in with anime archetypes–the ladies’ man, the bratty prince, the clumsy but well-meaning girl–and surprise you with much more nuance under the surface. Some of the funniest scenes early on involve Bernadetta, a shut-in with extreme reactions to normal social situations, but her inner life is a lot darker and more complicated than those early conversations let on. You might discover a character you thought was a jerk is actually one of your favorites or slowly stop using a less-than-favorite character in battle. You also have the option of having tea with someone, during which you have to choose conversation topics according to what you know about them, dating sim-style. Knowing what topics they’ll like is actually a lot harder than it sounds, and successfully talking to a favorite character–even if the tea setup can be a little awkward in practice–is a small victory.
Each house’s campaign feels distinct but not so different that one seems way better than the other. Every house has a mix of personalities and skills, and they all have their own advantages and disadvantages. Students from different houses can form friendships with each other, too, and you can eventually recruit students from other houses to join yours. Rather than being repetitive, on a second playthrough, recruiting gives you access to different relationship combinations; you can see a different side to a character through a different set of support conversations. And while the overall setup of the game is largely the same across the three houses, each has its own web of B plots, and the second half of the game will look very different depending on who you’re with and the choices you’ve made.
The first half concerns the church, its secrets, and the fact that the professor knows very little about their own identity. As the basic loop of each month pulls you forward, so too does the promise of learning the truth about something, whether it’s why the archbishop wanted you to be a teacher in the first place or who a suspicious masked individual is. These threads remain pretty open, though, at least after one and a quarter playthroughs. You get different details in each route, and so far it’s been a long process to piece everything together.
Learning more about each of the characters and their place in the monastery is as much a reward for progress as the level bars that tick forever upward as you go.
After a five-year time skip, you enter the “war phase” of the game. While the structure of the game is the same–you even instruct your units, since you still need to train for battle–the focus shifts to the house-specific stories. They involve a lot of hard decisions, with old friends becoming enemies, people you wish you didn’t have to kill, and students who’ve changed either in spite or because of your guidance. Late-game battles are especially challenging, with higher stakes and multi-lane layouts that require a lot of forethought. Success in these battles is incredibly rewarding, as you’re seeing dozens of hours of investment in your students reach a crescendo, but they’re bittersweet in context.
When all was said and done, all I could think about was starting another playthrough. I was curious about the mysteries left unsolved, of course, but I also hoped to undo my mistakes. There were characters I didn’t talk to enough, students I didn’t recruit, and far more effective ways to train my units. A second playthrough treads familiar ground in the beginning, but after learning and growing so much in the first, it feels fresh, too. That speaks to Three Houses’ mechanical complexity and depth as well as the connections it fosters with its characters–and whether you’re managing inventories or battlefields, it’s the kind of game that’s hard to put down, even when it’s over.
Season 10 of Fortnite is just around the corner, but in the meantime, the game’s second birthday event is now underway. Alongside the event comes a handful of challenges, each of which will unlock a new birthday-themed reward when completed, with a special birthday cake pickaxe awaiting those who finish all of the tasks.
There are four birthday challenges to complete in total, most of which are self-explanatory and can be cleared fairly easily simply by playing the game as normal. The one that may give you a bit of trouble, however, is to dance in front of different birthday cakes. A similar challenge was featured as part of last year’s birthday event, but these cakes are hidden in different locations, which may pose a problem if you don’t know where to look. Fortunately, we’ve put together a handy map and guide to help you find the birthday cake locations.
Where Are The Birthday Cake Locations?
You need to dance in front of 10 birthday cakes in total in order to complete this challenge, and they’re scattered all across Fortnite’s island. Fortunately, once you know where to look, the cakes should be easy enough to spot, as they’ll be surrounded by balloons. We’ve put together a map of the birthday cake locations below:
How To Complete The Challenge
Once you know where to look for the birthday cakes, completing this challenge is simply a matter of going to the right location and then busting a move in front of the confection. If you’re low on health, you can also grab a slice of cake to recover; not only will it help replenish your health and shield, it’ll count toward your progress in a separate birthday challenge, allowing you to kill two birds with one stone.
Unlike some other challenges of this nature, which allow you to revisit the same locations in different matches and still make progress toward completing the task, you’ll need to visit 10 different cakes in order to clear this challenge. If you need a visual walkthrough, you can watch us complete the challenge in the video at the top of this guide.
Fortnite Birthday Celebration Challenges
Play matches (10) — Wrap
Dance in front of different Birthday Cakes (10) — B-day Beats music track
Outlast Opponents (500) — Spray
Gain health or shield from Birthday Cake (50) — Banner
Reward: Birthday Cake harvesting tool (after completing all four challenges)
At some point in the past few weeks, some of us at the office were spitballing about when we thought the ludicrous new crustacean-themed battle game Fight Crab might come out.While we don’t know for sure (though their website alleges it will be some time by the end of the month), it got us thinking: this game, while undeniably awesome, is also undeniably silly and sort of dumb. But that’s not a bad thing – in fact, it reminded us that some of our favorite games aren’t much smarter.
IGN’s Favorite Dumb-But-Awesome Games
Check out the slideshow above for some of our favorite dumb-but-awesome games, or scroll through the entire list below.
I Am Bread
In I Am Bread, you are bread, and your mission is to become toast. Literally – it’s all about traversing a hazardous kitchen, apartment, or other mundane room as a slice of bread to get to a toaster and cook yourself.
The premise is silly as hell and it’s frustratingly, stupidly hard, but it also had me laughing so hard I teared up. Funny, because I had the same exact reaction to Bossa Studios’ other wacky game, Surgeon Simulator.
– Casey DeFreitas, Editor
This game was an absolute turd, so bad in fact that it was one of the first games to be approved for the PS Classic, the first mini-console desgined to showcase all of the worst titles in the history of an otherwise beloved system.
It was also the first and only 3D fighting game available for the system at launch (a couple months before Tekken and a couple years before Soul Blade would be released), so you better believe there were quite a few of us early adopters out there wasting hours mastering a game that would never really achieve widespread popularity. Even though I definitely know better in retrospect, I still can’t help but to remember my time with BAT fondly.
– Jeremy Azevedo, Head of Gaming Video
Blitzball
Final Fantasy X was a game about love, parenthood, responsibility, adulthood, and playing underwater basket-rugby with lots of dudes in big shorts. At least, it was for me. I am acutely aware that Blitzball, X’s take on the traditional all-consuming Final Fantasy side-game, is objectively bad. It’s slow, predictable and has, generously, about 4 animations in total. And I played it for dozens of hours, sculpting the perfect team of dudes in big shorts and winning everything I could. It was a chance for a distraction from the sad fact that Tidus’ dad had become an apocalyptic whale, and by god, I took that chance. I love it.
– Joe Skrebels, UK Deputy Editor
Blake Stone: Aliens of Gold
In my house, my dad didn’t let me play Doom. He let me play Blake Stone: Aliens of Gold while he played Doom. Blake Stone: Aliens of Gold is kind of like Doom, but it’s also not Doom. Doom came out the week after this game and ruined my life. Thanks, Doom.
– Ronny Barrier, Video Producer
Sneak King
Who’d have thought that one of the most memorable games of the last generation would have been a marketing stunt? Sneak King took my love of stealth games, and slapped it on the grill with my love of burgers to make a delicious, greasy, surprisingly unbroken adventure starring America’s only acceptable monarch, the Burger King. May his charbroiled reign last a thousand sneaky, greasy years.
– Jon Ryan, Senior Editor
Uno (Xbox Live Arcade)
When this game came out, I got way too into becoming the greatest Uno player of all time. I will never forget the lack of moderation on the pictures for my competitors leading each game of Uno to basically become a proxy for chat roulette. A unique time in gaming.
– Tate Fiebing, Product Manager
Roundabout
Expecting an FMV comedy romp, I was not expecting to be dumped into what is arguably the most absurd puzzle/platformer/racing game I’ve ever played. Yes, it also has FMV. Beginning with frustration and utter confusion as I tried to learn how to control my continually-rotating cab quickly gave way to howls of laughter as I crashed and exploded again and again, and I became obsessed with trying to top my previous high scores for each level. If I’d been playing by myself, I might not have found it quite as funny – but with friends, this game is comedic gold.
– Ginger Smith, Product Manager
Almost every single licensed NES game (not made by Capcom)
If it existed in the 80s, there was an NES game based on it. It didn’t matter if the underlying IP was rated R, or what the story might be, or if the developers had ever seen the movie or show it was based on.
This was before the internet and by the time you were suckered into buying the game, that was it, you were stuck with it. Rambo, Total Recall, TMNT, Bart vs The Space Mutants, A Nightmare on Elm Street, X-Men, Goonies, Karate Kid, Terminator 2, Friday the 13th, Night Rider, Airwolf, Bill & Ted, if you can remember it, there was probably an NES game based on it and it was almost definitely shit. But you’d play the hell out of it because you wanted to believe it was like the thing you loved, and because you had to justify the expense of a new game tape to yourself and your family. Unless it was made by Capcom (like Ducktails or Little Nemo), in which case it was, of course, bitchin’.
– Jeremy Azevedo
You Have To Burn The Rope
YHTBTR is a 30sec game with a great 2min end credits song. It’s not very difficult. The game literally tells you what to do right in the title. You could argue this isn’t even a game and instead is more of a music player with an interactive play button. No matter how you look at it, YHTBTR is definitely a “dumb” game but to this day is still one of my favorite time-wasters.
– Isaiah Smith, Software Engineer
50 Cent: Blood on the Sand
After G-Unit performs a sold-out show in an ambiguous Middle Eastern country, they’re outraged to learn the concert promoter can’t pay them in cash. Instead, he offers them a jewel-encrusted skull, which is immediately stolen by a beautiful ninja woman. 50 Cent, Tony Yayo, Lloyd Banks, and DJ Whoo Kid chase after her, which proves easier said than done because there are terrorists everywhere and they have to fight the terrorists.
Because this is a video game, new weapons and skills can be unlocked, but because this a 50 Cent video game, so can new swearwords. 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand is dumb as all hell, and way better that is has any right to be. It is a tragedy and an atrocity that it never got a follow-up where G-Unit goes to outer space or back in time.
– Max Scoville, Executive Mailroom Clerk
Chrome Dino
When you go offline…and you’re really bored…watchu gonna play? Chrome Dino! No, but seriously, Chrome Dino has saved me from complete boredom so many times over the years. From dodging pterodactyl and cacti to watching the world change from day to night and back again, Chrome Dino is a surprisingly addictive game that lives in the most unlikely of places. I still play it sometimes to this day when the internet goes out…
– Isaiah Smith
Cool Spot
A video game tie-in to promote Sprite’s bastard stepchild 7-Up, Cool Spot is profoundly dumb in theory, but actually quite fun to play. You play as the eponymous spot – 7-Up’s mascot in the United States – as he traverses through various generic ‘90s platforming levels, rescuing other Spots and collecting points. Strangely competent despite the relentless product placement.
– Lucy O’Brien, Executive Editor
Get On Top (Sportsfriends)
The awkard wrestling game where rounds last 2 or 3 seconds. Many laughs were had and bets decided from wierd round boys slamming eachothers heads into the ground by wiggling around in QWOP-like motions. Existed as a hidden mini game in Sportsfriends and on the best selling console of all time: Ouya.
– Drake Wempe Software Engineer
Dong Dong Never Die
One of the weirdest fighting games ever made, DDND is a Doujin (Fan-Made Indie Game) game from China made in Fighter Maker. It plays a little bit like the old King of Fighters series, but the game looks like you took the weirdest characters out of Kung Fu Hustle and put them in a digitized 2d fighter. You’ll laugh at how absurd each character and their attacks are, but actually get a kick out of the fighting engine too. The game is free on PC, so you can take a shot of using your Mian Hua Tang against Super Mario without spending a penny.
– Aaron Smith Sr. Mgr.of AdOps
Metal Arms: Glitch In The System
A long-forgotten game for GameCube that was in many ways ahead of it’s time. Quirky storytelling that reminds me of borderlands. A bunch of bizzare weapons that could be upgraded and customized.
A final boss fight that was utter insanity as you’re almost literally fighting a building. A ton of fun to play and even gave itself an arena to do PvP with. Sadly in spite of having all of the elements of other great games it never really caught on.
– Eric Becking Lead Engineer
What are some of your favorite games that make you go “this sucks, I love it?” Let us know in the comments!
It’s been a decade since the first Zombieland movie premiered and in October, fans will be able to get a second helping when Zombieland: Double Tap hits theaters–with the four principal stars returning. The first trailer for the sequel has arrived, catching viewers up on what Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg), Wichita (Emma Stone), Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson), and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin) have been up to in the last year. It’s about what you’d expect.
In the first look at the movie, the gang arrives in Washington to take up residence in the White House for Christmas, with Tallahassee joking he could have been a good president. It’s also hinted that this is the first time the group has been on the road in some time, though it’s unclear where they were settled before. For those who haven’t seen the movie in some time, we last saw this quartet in California, after they escaped a theme park overrun by zombies.
The trailer also introduces a few new characters. Madison (Zoey Deutsch) enters the picture and seems very ill-equipped to survive a zombie apocalypse, unlike gun-toting Nevada (Rosario Dawson), while Little Rock runs off with Berkeley (Avon Jogia), a new boy she met. Then there are the doppelgangers. It’s unclear just how big a role they’ll play in the movie, but the trailer briefly shows characters very similar to Tallahassee and Columbus, played respectively by Luke Wilson and Thomas Middleditch.
Based on this small look, Double Tap looks to be even more of the same mix of humor and horror as the first film, as this wildly dysfunctional family simply tries to survive together. Zombieland: Double Tap hits theaters on October 18, just in time for Halloween.
Over the past eight months or so that the Epic Games Store has been in business, the PC game retailer has slowly ramped up its offering of free games for its users, first giving away a game every two weeks and then transitioning to a weekly giveaway. Now, it appears Epic is testing the waters of giving away two free games on a weekly basis, if the offerings this week and next are any indications of its future plans. From now through August 2, you can claim Moonlighter and This War of Mine for free at the Epic Store; then, on August 2, the pair will be replaced by another duo of freebies: Alan Wake and For Honor.
As a reminder, once you claim any of Epic’s free games, they’re yours to keep forever. To claim them, you’ll have to first create a free Epic account, if you don’t already have one.
This War of Mine
If you enjoy dark survival-themed games that require life-and-death decisions influenced by your own morals, definitely check out This War of Mine, which was developed by the same team behind Frostpunk. The game puts you in the shoes of a group of civilians struggling to survive in a war-torn city. Scavenging for resources like food and medicine is crucial, and along the way, player-controlled characters will run into other NPC survivors, whom you can choose to kill or help out. Epic seems to be giving away the Anniversary Edition, which adds new characters, new locations, and an entirely new ending to the game.
Then there’s Moonlighter, a very different sort of game that you’ll like if you’re into action RPGs with rogue-lite elements. Primarily, you’ll manage your shop in Rynoka Village, controlling inventory, setting prices, recruiting assistants, and upgrading the shop. You can also upgrade other aspects of the town, adding things like a blacksmith or potion-maker to produce items that are helpful for the dungeon portion of the game. Your character can access various worlds through otherworldly gates, where they will fight hordes of enemies and gather profitable loot, resources, and more. As you progress in the game, you can craft new armor and weapons and even enchant existing equipment.
On the topic of PC game deals: Don’t miss out on Green Man Gaming’s huge summer sale going on right now with over 2,000 PC games and DLC marked down. If you like This War of Mine and haven’t played Frostpunk, the latter is on sale for $13.50. Plus, get Resident Evil 2 for $35.63, Monster Hunter World for $27, Civilization VI for $13.20, and more.
QuakeCon begins this weekend, and it promises to be a hell of a show. This will be the “Year of Doom,” both to celebrate the groundbreaking FPS classic’s 25th anniversary and to look ahead to the coming release of Doom Eternal. A series of panels include a few looks at Doom, along with fellow Bethesda-published games Fallout 76 and Elder Scrolls Online.
GameSpot will be streaming the show as it all goes down, so make sure to bookmark this page and check back to watch the panels live. The first livestreams will begin on Friday, July 26 with even more on Saturday, July 27.
QuakeCon will once again take place in Dallas, TX. Panels include a keynote featuring Doom Eternal, two separate panels on the impact and influence of Doom, and panels featuring Fallout 76 and Elder Scrolls Online. Those latter two are ongoing live games, so we may get a first look at upcoming updates and expansions. Check below for the full schedule.
Friday, July 26th
QuakeCon Keynote featuring Doom Eternal – 11 AM CT (12 PM ET / 9 AM PT)
Influence of Doom Panel – 12 PM CT (1 PM ET / 10 AM PT)
Saturday, July 27th
Fallout 76 Panel – 10 AM CT (11 AM ET / 8 AM PT)
Knee Deep in Doom panel – 11 AM CT (12 PM ET / 9 AM PT)
Elder Scrolls Online Panel – 2 PM CT (3 PM ET / 11 AM PT)
By now, you’ve burned through a lot of July offerings from the numerous streaming services, including Season 3 of Stranger Things on Netflix. However, it’s almost August, and Amazon Prime Video revealed what new content it’s bringing to the service for August, which includes an original series that had a large presence at Comic-Con.
At the end of the month, on August 30, Season 1 of the Amazon Prime original Carnival Row comes to the service. At this year’s Comic-Con, there were plenty of ads and parties that involved the new series in some fashion. The series stars Orlando Bloom and Cara Delevingne and takes place in a fantasy world inhabited by both humans and mythological creatures. These beasts aren’t free, however, and they’re forbidden to live their lives or love anyone. A string of murders by a monster causes the city the show takes place in to delve into chaos as the peace treaty between humans and creatures collapses.
Early on in the month, there are a few selections you might be interested in. On August 2, 300 arrives, so you can watch it again and yell, “This is Sparta,” just like you did throughout all of 2006. Also, comedian Jim Gaffigan has a new comedy special arriving on August 16 you’ll want to check out.
However, the majority of Amazon’s content arrives on August 31, when it dumps a ton of new movies onto its service. There are plenty of notable selections including Hellboy II: The Golden Army, 2014’s Godzilla, Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist, and the sci-fi classic The Fifth Element.
Check out everything coming to Amazon for August below, and make sure to see what Netflix has in store for that month as well.
New To Amazon Prime Video In August 2019
August 2
300 (2006)
This is Football S1 – Amazon Prime Original
August 7
All I See Is You (2016)
August 9
Free Meek S1 – Amazon Prime Original
Pete the Cat S1 Part 2 – Amazon Prime Original
August 12
Andy Irons: Kissed by God (2018)
August 16
Photograph (2019) – Amazon Prime Original
Jim Gaffigan: Quality Time S1 – Amazon Prime Original
August 21
A Simple Favor (2019)
August 23
Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018)
#IMomSoHard Live S1 – Amazon Prime Original
Mike E. Winfield: StepMan S1 – Amazon Prime Original
Alice Wetterlund: My Mama is a Human and So Am I S1 – Amazon Prime Original
Alonzo Bodden: Heavy Lightweight S1 – Amazon Prime Original
Fire Emblem: Three Houses marks Nintendo’s big release on Switch this summer. The latest entry in the long-running strategy RPG series maintains much of what has made the series so iconic, but it makes some significant changes too.
Three Houses puts you into a bustling school, and the titular three houses represent different factions. This gives the game a fresh tone as you navigate school life. On top of that, it lets go of the weapon triangle, a staple of the series that has given a rock-paper-scissors aspect to combat. Critics are largely regarding the changes as positive, as reflected in GameSpot’s review.
“When all was said and done, all I could think about was starting another playthrough,” wrote Kallie Plagge. “I was curious about the mysteries left unsolved, of course, but I also hoped to undo my mistakes. There were characters I didn’t talk to enough, students I didn’t recruit, and far more effective ways to train my units.”
Several other outlets have published their Fire Emblem reviews as well. We’ve gathered a sampling of them below. For even more reviews, check out GameSpot’s sister site Metacritic.
Game: Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Platform: Nintendo Switch
Developer: Nintendo
Release date: July 26
Price: $60 / £50 / $100 AUD
GameSpot — 9/10
“Mastering the art of thoughtful lesson planning as a professor improves your performance on the battlefield, where success relies on calculated teamwork and deft execution. Cultivating relationships during battle in turn draws you closer to each of the characters, who you then want to invest even more time into in the classroom. Every piece feeds into the next in a rewarding, engrossing loop where you get lost in the whole experience, not just in the minutiae.” — Kallie Plagge [Full review]
GamesRadar — 5/5
“Fire Emblem: Three Houses fully realizes a new, meaningful direction for the franchise that makes it the best it has ever been.” — Aron Garst [Full review]
Game Informer — 9.5/10
“Fire Emblem: Three Houses is ambitious, and takes more chances than previous entries in the series. The way it lets your role as professor play into both the narrative and gameplay is nothing short of fantastic. This is the most I’ve ever cared about my Fire Emblem characters, and that’s incredibly high praise.” — Kimberley Wallace [Full review]
USGamer — 4.5/5
“Fire Emblem: Three Houses soars on to Switch with a fully-realized school setting, deep character customization, and multiple full-length campaigns. While it loses momentum in the second half, it still manages to come off as a striking reinvention of the well-worn Fire Emblem formula. That makes its first real console appearance in more than a decade a triumph.” — Kat Bailey [Full review]
The Guardian — 4/5
“It all adds up to a new lease of life for one of Nintendo’s younger series, bolstered by revised combat and a gorgeous new look that endows these 3D characters with the grace and style of older games’ portrait art. By turns grandiose and silly, but always engrossing, this bubbling school soap opera is a game to spend a summer with.” — Edwin Evans-Thirlwell [Full review]
Daily Star — 3/5
“Fire Emblem: Three Houses is not a bad game–it starts off strong and for some reason systematically unpicks everything by the time you’re 30 hours in. The battle system is fairly impressive but still carries some of the flaws the series has had for the past decade, and the writing of the central cast feels like a step back compared to the 3DS series’ entries.” — Dom Peppiatt [Full review]
The Diamond Casino and Resort is a luxurious locale, found in Vinewood at the corner of Vinewood Park Drive and Mirror Park Boulevard.
In it, players can while away the hours with slot machines, gambling, horse racing, and engaging on a variety of other high-end activities. VIP Membership also unlocks a line of side and co-op missions which grant exclusive rewards, currency, and more.
By participating in various casino games and activities, players can obtain the following: GTA$ Chips
Although Chips can be obtained by regular play in casino games, they can also be purchased at a rate of 1 Chip = 1 GTA$.
NOTE: A maximum of 50,000 Chips can be purchased in each in-game day.
Spin the Lucky Wheel in the lobby for free, once a day, for a chance to win: GTA$ Clothing Items High-End Vehicles (Rotated Weekly, Featured In Lobby) Special Discounts
Standard Membership to the Diamond Casino and Resort can be purchased for GTA$500.
The Standard Membership Welcome Package includes: 5,000 Chips (One Time Bonus) Access to Special Services and Activities (Valet Parking, etc.) 1,000 Chips (Daily)
The following penthouses are available: Design Your Own ($1,500,000) Crash Pad ($1,500,000) Party Penthouse ($3,776,500) High Roller (Complete With All Addons – $6,533,500)
The Master Penthouse can be obtained by: Paying GTA$ Linking Twitch Prime to your GTA Online Social Club Account
The following optional add-ons are available for the Design Your Own penthouse at Guest Services or via phone: Lounge Area ($400,000) Media Room ($500,000) Spa Bar and Party Hub ($700,000) Private Dealer ($1,100,000) Office ($200,000) Extra Bedroom ($200,000) Garage (10-car, $800,000)
NOTE: The following additional costs will be incurred for penthouse ownership: $500 (Daily) $100 Per Addon (Daily)
The Bar and Party Hub add-ons grant access to the following Degenatron arcade games: Invade and Persuade II Street Crimes: Gang Wars Edition
Players can also customize the color scheme and design options of the Master Penthouse with items purchased (using Chips) from the Casino Store.
The Casino Store grants access to items which can be purchased with Chips. Available item types include: Clothing Accessories Artwork
Purchasing penthouses grants VIP Membership.
VIP Membership grants access to: Valet Service Champagne Service Limousine Service Aircraft Concierge Service High Limit Tables VIP Lounges Casino Work and Co-op Missions (Freemode)
Help the Cheng family protect the Diamond Casino and Resort from a hostile takeover in new coo-op missions for 2-4 players.
Complete missions to earn the following: GTA$ Chips Brand New Vehicle (Campaign Completion)
VIP Membership also grants access to The Diamond Program. Complete certain activities before Aug. 7, 2019 to earn special bonuses and increase your status. Awards will be distributed Aug. 8-13, 2019.
To obtain Silver Status: Obtain the Master Penthouse (Purchase or via Twitch Prime)
Silver Status rewards: ”She’s Loaded” Wall Art Diamond Classic Tee
To obtain Gold Status: Obtain Silver Status Complete the House Keeping mission (Co-op Mission #2)
Gold Status rewards: Exclusive Truffade Thrax Livery Truffade Tee
To obtain Platinum Status: Obtain Gold Status Complete 5 Casino Work Missions (Unlocked by calling Agatha Baker after completing Co-op Mission #1)
Platinum Status rewards: Lucky 7s Tattoo Kronos Ära Watch
To obtain Diamond Status: Obtain Platinum Status Complete All Co-op Missions
Diamond Status rewards: New Exclusive Livery (Awarded for hosting missions) Annis S80RR Supercar Exclusive Livery (Awarded for participating in host’s missions)
The following vehicles can be obtained after downloading the Diamond Casino and Resort update: Truffade Thrax ($2,325,000 – Legendary Motorsport) Enus Paragon R ($905,000 – Legendary Motorsport) Annis S80RR ($2,575,000 – Legendary Motorsport) Obey 8F Drafter ($718,000 – Legendary Motorsport) Weeny Issi Sport ($897,000 – Southern San Andreas Super Autos) Vapid Caracara 4×4 ($875,000 – Southern San Andreas Super Autos)
Host a co-op lobby, then complete all six co-op missions in a row to obtain the Enus Armored Paragon vehicle, which will appear at the docks after the requirements have been completed.
