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During the recent gamescom 2017 convention Blizzard finally unveiled the first of many cinematic shorts planned for the relatively near future. Unlike the previous cinematics that focused primarily on action, the recent Rise and Shine short was more about exploring Mei as a character and giving everyone a good look at what exactly keeps her going despite the odds being stacked against her.
If you're wondering how exactly that story was created, and why the Overwatch developers felt it was even worthy of attention, you'll find the answers you seek in the latest "The Making of" developer diary. Have a look, its well worth the six minutes:
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[Update]: CD Projekt Red has announced that The Witcher 4 is currently being made in Unreal Engine 5!
If you asked me what I thought about The Witcher when it first launched I would've probably answered with a series of expletives. It might sound like an overreaction now, but on its release date it was a completely buggy and nigh unplayable mess. I remember picking it up on a whim, struggling for over an hour to get it to actually run, and then getting stuck on a set of stairs the moment I started playing... not exactly the best first impression.
However, despite critics and users alike panning The Witcher, CDPR did not stop patching and adding content to it. If I remember correctly it took them over a year to finally get it into a polished state, after which I finally caved in and gave it a second try, only to realize that its actually pretty damn good!
The combat was still a bit on the boring side, but the storytelling was expertly done, the characters all likable and interesting, and the whole "mature" angle used for more than a constant barrage of swear words. As such, I really have to give credit to CDPR here. Instead of backing down and quietly working on a new game, they chose to slowly but surely address just about every flaw, all of it purely because they wanted to make a quality game people would love to dive into.
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In an announcement that I must admit came as a complete surprise, Square Enix revealed that they are working on a Secret of Mana remake. However, unlike the 2D art style of the original SNES game, the new Secret of Mana will be going for a 3D look. Whether that's going to affect gameplay in any way, I'm afraid I don't know, but its certainly an interesting and somewhat strange choice on Square Enix's part.
While the announcement trailer does not feature much in-game footage, it should be enough to give you at least a general idea of what kind of style the new Secret of Mana is going for. Have a look, the gameplay clips are near the very end:
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Gwent has recently underwent a massive rework of its core mechanics. The power level of Bronze cards rose up, Round 3 finishers were slightly nerfed, and most importantly of all, Gold cards have lost their immunity which means they can now be damaged and locked like any other card. As you might expect, changes this massive quickly brought with them numerous overpowered decks, the most annoying of which belonged to the Scoia'tael.
So if you're tired of Control ST players constantly slamming your board with earthquakes, or Mulligan ST players starting the round of with 40 points, you'll be glad to hear that the most recent patch has brought in some much needed nerfs. The list is fairly small, so here are all of the balance changes:
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Ever since its release Warhammer: End Times - Vermintide has continuously been updated with new content, items and DLC, so much of it in fact that the base game has essentially been doubled at this point. However, if even all of that was not enough to sate your thirst for Skaven blood, you'll be glad to hear that the developer Fatshark has now not only announced a sequel, but also shrunk the name to a much more manageable Warhammer: Vermintide 2!
The details are currently in short supply, by which I mean there are basically none available, though the developers did release a rather puzzling little teaser trailer. You'll find it right below, but don't expect to find much in terms of revelations unless you're an expert in Skaven lore and can identify creatures based solely on their roars. Here's the video, along with the brief description that arrived with it:
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To say that live action trailers and video games have a bit of a complicated history would be one hell of an understatement. They are often planned and filmed by third-party companies that only have the vaguest of clues what the game in question is all about, which usually results in cringeworthy monstrosity that somehow manages to make the game look worse! If you need a concrete example, just go and check out the original Guild Wars 2 launch trailer. Its quite... special, but unfortunately not in a good way!
With that in mind, I hope you can now appreciate me saying that Destiny 2's live action trailer is not only the correct kind of cheesy, but also surprisingly enjoyable! So if you have two minutes to spare, and you're interested in seeing what a live action version of a "psycho rhino" might look like, you'll find the trailer right below. Have a look:
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XCOM 2's War of the Chosen expansion set out to greatly improve upon the original, while also adding a bunch of new storylines to explore, factions to befriend, and enemies to miss despite having a 99% chance to hit. I haven't had the time to play it myself due to the dozens of games releasing this week alone, but from all of the reviews I've read so far I am very happy to say it has managed to achieve exactly what it set out to do!
If you would like a good look at what exactly War of the Chosen has to offer, you'll find one of the most recent developer streams down below. Its a bit of a lengthy video, but you only really need to watch for 10 minutes to get a clear picture of what sort of gameplay War of the Chosen is aiming for. Have a gander:
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Total War: Warhammer 2 will be arriving in the near future, bringing with it four new factions to toy around with, as well as a massive new region to explore. Perhaps most importantly of all, shortly after launch Total War: Warhammer and Total War: Warhammer 2's campaign maps will be combined into one absolutely gigantic world!
Due to all of these additions I expected the system requirements for Total War: Warhammer 2 to be sky high, but I am very glad to say that not only are they reasonable, but they are pretty much exactly the same as the original's! If you're wondering what that means exactly, here's the list of system requirements and recommended settings:
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The PC version of Final Fantasy XV was announced during the recent gamescom convention, with the developers claiming its going to be far more than a simple PC port. While we obviously can't tell what the final version will play like, the list of features is quite impressive! Final Fantasy XV will come to PC with not only all of the DLC and a first-person mode, but also with support for 4K resolutions and HDR 10, as well as graphical options that can be configured to support resolutions up to a rather ridiculous 8K!
So if you're currently wondering what Final Fantasy XV might look like when all of its graphical settings are maxed out, wonder no more as the recent gameplay trailer showcases just that. Have a look, and do make sure to play the video on the highest quality settings, for obvious reasons:
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The Humble Monthly Bundle is a $12 subscription service that instantly gives you access to one game, and then a whole bunch more once the next month rolls over. Last month the featured game was Killing Floor 2, while this time around you're looking at the fairly solid Rise of the Tomb Raider.
If you've enjoyed the modern Tomb Raider reboot, but you haven't played the sequel, then I feel I can comfortably recommend you grab it for $12. Its pretty much the exact same game, though with most of the annoying elements removed in favor of smoother gameplay. Rise of the Tomb Raider is not a game that will remain in the history books as a timeless classic, but what it does offer is a dozen or so hours of highly enjoyable exploration, and for the price I would say that's more than acceptable.