- By Ash
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Hearthstone's Arena is currently in a very strange position. One one hand it is entirely feasible to consistently secure high wins if you're skilled enough, but on the other it's also possible to draft a completely subpar deck and then get crushed regardless of your actual decisions. With that in mind, I am beyond delighted to say that Blizzard has finally announced that they are working towards making the Arena card picking process much more consistent and strategic!
Once Patch 10.4 rolls around each Arena pick will feature three cards with a similar power level regardless of their rarity, though Legendary cards are going to be excluded from this for obvious reasons. For example, instead of having two terrible cards and a Fireball to choose from, you will have a Fireball and two other incredibly powerful cards that each fit a certain playstyle. So instead of simply picking the objectively best card, you will have to carefully consider your deck composition, your mana curve, and what exactly you really need for your strategy to work.
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After being briefly teased last weak, Guild Wars 2's (*inhale*) Living World Season 4: Episode 2 - A Bug in the System has now arrived. It has brought with it a brand new chapter in the currently ongoing story, a large and rather beautiful new map to explore, a new mastery to unlock, a variety of balance changes and cosmetics, and even a new legendary dagger to unlock.
If you're wondering what all of this looks like in-game, wonder no more as ArenaNet has recently posted a brief trailer. I would highly recommend you give it a look as it's one of the best trailers they've created in quite a while, with a special mention going to the sinister cover of "Fear Not This Night" near the end. Have a gander:
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The Division launched alongside a fair bit of criticism, a lot which was deserved as the beginning and ending portions were simply too tedious for the majority of players to enjoy. In most cases that would've been the end of the story, but Ubisoft took the time and effort needed in order to not only improve upon The Division's problems, but also add a whole bunch of new content to explore as well! It's still not my cup of tea, but even I have to admit that The Division is now an actually enjoyable game.
As such, if you ever wanted to give it a try, now would be a very good time to do so as Ubisoft is currently celebrating The Division's second anniversary and 20 million players! Naturally, that number includes all of the active and inactive accounts throughout The Division's history, but it's still a pretty darn impressive number, especially when you consider that 500,000 of those players have each spent more than 400 hours roaming NYC. Now that is some dedication!
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[Update]: NIS America has now announced that the PC version will be coming on April 16th for both Steam and GOG.
To say that the PC version of Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana has had a rough development would be the understatement of the century. It was supposed to arrive alongside the console versions back in September, but was suddenly delayed until December in order to give the developers enough time for polish and optimization. That would've been perfectly understandable, but after a lengthy period of silence the developers once again announced a delay... this time around not even giving an estimated release date!
Thankfully, it would appear that whatever issues plagued the PC version have now been resolved as the NIS President has just announced that we will finally be able to see Ys VIII on PC at some point this April. The exact release date hasn't been given just yet, but hopefully the developers didn't have April 1st in mind, because I'm not sure the Ys fans could survive that kind of an emotional rollercoaster right now.
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Before the PC port was even announced, the Final Fantasy XV developers stated that if given the chance they would take as long as necessary in order to ensure that the PC version is by far the best one. A lofty goal, but if the current Steam reviews are any judge it is one they have successfully managed to achieve!
What this means in gameplay terms is that the PC version of Final Fantasy XV comes with all of the content and patches available on the consoles (including all of the DLC), support for high-resolution graphical options and HDR 10, and naturally, the ability to play at 60 FPS and above. You can also expect to see a new dungeon set in the Insomnia City Ruins, an unlockable action-orientated mode of the Armiger, the ability to pilot your own boat, a variety of new cosmetics, and the list goes on.
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After an extremely well received Ashes of Malmouth expansion, it was only a matter of time before the Titan Quest inspired Grim Dawn would get another one. As such, it shouldn't come as much of a surprise to hear that Crate Entertainment has now announced that the second expansion "Forgotten Gods" will be coming at some point later this year.
In the Forgotten Gods expansion we will be able to journey beyond the bounds of the Erulan Empire in order to find a ruined city buried deep within the desert, a city whose secrets are best left undisturbed. Unfortunately for us, the flames of the titular Forgotten Gods will end up being rekindled, and with them a new wave of chaos and terror will spread across the land. What follows next is going to be a series of difficult battles against new enemies and bosses, as well as a whole host of new items and weapons to collect!
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The original StarCraft is perhaps one of the most impressive games ever created. Not only was it an excellent strategy game, but it also fostered a gigantic modding/map-making community and an eSports scene so large its effects are still felt in South Korea today!
With all of that in mind, I am delighted to say that StarCraft is currently celebrating an equally impressive milestone - its 20th anniversary! Rather than babble on, allow me to share with you the recently posted and extremely nostalgic Anniversary Celebration video. Have a gander:
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Life is Strange: Before the Storm is a prequel to the original game set three years before Max returned to Arcadia Bay. While Before the Storm is a pretty good game in its own right, I can understand why people were upset that Max wouldn't even make an appearance. As such, I am glad to say that the bonus episode 'Farewell' has now arrived and that it's entirely centered around Max and Chloe's relationship!
You can probably guess this from the name alone, but the Farewell bonus episode gives you a chance to experience Max and Chloe's childhood friendship, as well as Max's eventual departure from Arcadia Bay. If you're wondering what this nostalgia trip is going to look like in-game, allow me to share with you the recently posted launch trailer. Have a look, it's positively adorable:
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If you've managed to grab Total War: Warhammer and its sequel during the most recent Sega sale, you might be interested to hear that their DLCs are now all at 50% discount on Steam - the lowest they have ever been. And yes, this applies to Norsca as well, though the savage Northerners will not be available in Total War: Warhammer 2 until May.
Speaking of which, it is also important to mention that all of the DLC applies to both Total War: Warhammer 1 and 2. So if you want to play as Norsca, feel free to buy them as you'll be able to mess around with them in Total War: Warhammer 1 right now, and then just start up a new playthrough once they finally become available in Total War: Warhammer 2 as well. Not a bad deal, all things considered.
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If you ask the average Overwatch player what the most over-represented heroes in Competitive Play are, chances are you'll get answers that are mostly focused around snipers and flankers. However, according to Jeff Kaplan's latest post on the BattleNet forums, that is only half correct.
First of all, none of the snipers show up on the list at all, which is fairly self-explanatory given their niche status. Flankers such as Genji and Tracer do make an appearance, though with far greater frequency at the higher ranks. So if the always popular DPS heroes aren't at the very top, who is? Well, according to Jeff Kaplan it's the supports and tanks that hold that lofty position, namely D.Va, Moira and Mercy.