According to Gearbox Software (developers behind the Borderlands franchise), Borderlands 3 wouldn’t be as good as it is right now without the development and reception of Battleborn. The information comes from an interview conducted by Metro with Gearbox Art Director Scott Kester.
One of the questions asked of Scott during the interview was regarding how long it took for Borderlands 3 to be where it is now. He responded saying that they “needed a break” and that the game inevitably wouldn’t be as well done as it is now. He went on to talk about Battleborn and said that without it, the game easily wouldn’t have been “as good as it is”. The game caused Gearbox to think differently on their development process.
To an extent, this statement actually does make sense. It’s no doubt that Battleborn wasn’t exactly regarded as a solid experience. It was riddled with many different issues and this would’ve likely made Gearbox actually do things differently. We won’t know just how good the game is until September, so we’ll have to see how that holds up.
The interview went on to talk about several other topics regarding improvements of BL3’s predecessors. It’s a read that is definitely worth your time. Borderlands 3 will release on the Epic Games Store, PS4, and Xbox One on September 13th, with Stadia and Steam releases later down the line.
A few days early, we have received news regarding the Xbox Live Games with Gold. As per usual the four available titles are all playable on Xbox One thanks to backwards compatibility.
Starting with Xbox One, you have INSIDE available from July 1st to the 31st. INSIDE is a puzzle-platforming adventure game made by the brilliant team behind Limbo. You take on the role of a kid in a heavily dystopian future trying to cheat death along with solve many puzzles. The game currently has a 93 on Metacritic and should be a must play if you haven’t tried it already.
The second Xbox One title is a lesser known title named Big Crown: Showdown, available from the 16th to the 31st. The game is an action platformer, having you and up to 3 other friends battling it out on several different worlds to see who can claim the crown. The game has received generally favorable reviews, and should be a joy for couch coop or with a few friends. Moving on to Xbox 360, you have Castlevania: Symphony of the Night available from the 1st to the 16th. Following that is Meet the Robinsons available from the 16th to the 31st. Both games are solid classic games, receiving generally positive scores.
You can find more info about these Games with Gold on their official Xbox Wire post. If you’re more into deals, you can check our post on the Deals with Gold for this week.
During Nintendo’s 79th Annual Meeting of Shareholders, president Shuntaro Furukawa responded to an inquiry about possibly expanding the Nintendo Switch Online retro library to include more recent titles in the future.
Furukawa responded by saying he has no new information to share, but he acknowledges fans that would like to play retro titles currently unavailable on the service. He said the company had been thinking about expanding their offering through Nintendo Switch Online. Here’s his full statement:
“At this place we cannot tell new information about future classic hardware among others, but we are thinking about providing an extension of the online service which is currently providing Famicom software, as well as other methods of providing them. We also recognise that there are opinions wanting to play past titles.”
Currently, the Nintendo Switch Online service only offers NES titles, ranging from original games to classic games with a twist. According to Nintendo’s last financial briefing in April of this year, over 10 million people have signed up for Nintendo Switch Online, and that number is sure to grow. By offering new titles, Nintendo could engage their members better and keep their memberships intact.
Indie developer, Bowlcut Studios, last week announced that MageQuit, their top-down area wizard brawler, will exit Steam Early Access and launch for Windows PC and Xbox One this fall. MageQuit sees up to 10 players take the stage to battle it out wizard style. With up to seven spells at their disposal and physics as their primary ally, players must find out if they have what it takes to control the elements, land a perfect game-ending blow, or else forever be cursed.
As a wizard, players are granted the enchanted glowing D20 staff, empowering them with unique elemental spells used to battle against opponents. Matches can be played with two teams, three teams, or as a free-for-all every mage for themselves brawl. Team games, however, present unique opportunities for success, such as pushing the enemy team off a cliff or a classic game of wizard hockey with the highest stakes!
Check out the newly released gameplay 101 trailer below!
The Pokémon Company held a brief presentation today about its new mobile game, Pokémon Masters, coming to iOS and Android in 2019. Here are the details:
DeNA Co., Ltd. (henceforth DeNA), in partnership with The Pokémon Company, unveiled additional information about the upcoming mobile game Pokémon Masters, which is planned to release globally on iOS and Android devices in summer 2019. In Pokémon Masters, players will embark on a new adventure to form teams of Trainers and their partner Pokémon and engage in 3-on-3 real-time battles.
Take the treasured bond between Trainer and Pokémon to the next level in an all-new location—the island of Pasio—where Trainers from every Pokémon region gather to compete Pokémon Masters takes place on the island of Pasio, where the rules of battle are different and the treasured bond between Trainer and Pokémon is taken to the next level with sync pairs—the combination of a Trainer and their partner Pokémon. For the very first time in a Pokémon game, Trainers and their partner Pokémon from every Pokémon region will come together to form sync pairs. Players can team up with duos such as Korrina & Lucario, Brendan & Treecko, Clair & Kingdra, and many more. With all sorts of Trainers on Pasio, there are sure to be some exciting and unexpected encounters in this new story. At launch, there will be 65 sync pairs to recruit in Pokémon Masters, with additional sync pairs to come following the game’s release. Form a team of three sync pairs, and battle to become champion of the Pokémon Masters League In Pokémon Masters, players will explore Pasio to meet various Trainers and make new friends while progressing through the story. Once a player has made friends with other sync pairs, they can recruit those friends to form a team of three sync pairs (meaning three Trainers and their three partner Pokémon) and battle AI (artificial intelligence) opponents to become champion of the prestigious Pokémon Masters League tournament. Command a team of Pokémon and Trainers in 3-on-3, real-time battles in this strategy and battling game
Pokémon Masters introduces a new way to battle in the Pokémon world. Players will command a squad of three sync pairs in real-time team battles and release a barrage of moves—all while the AI opponent unleashes theirs at the same time. For the very first time in a Pokémon game, players can also direct Trainers in battle to use moves and healing items to increase a Pokémon’s stats. In addition to standard moves, players can occasionally deploy sync moves—powerful attacks performed by specific sync pairs. Players will need to ration their move gauge, which refills over time, to deploy the best moves at the most opportune times to lead their squad to victory. “The Pokémon brand has captured the imagination of the world, and we are honored to create the newest Pokémon adventure for mobile devices with Pokémon Masters,” said Isao Moriyasu, CEO of DeNA. “We look forward to sharing new ways to battle when the game releases.” “For years, fans have created enduring memories engaging with their favorite Pokémon characters throughout the Pokémon video game series,” said Tsunekazu Ishihara, president and CEO of The Pokémon Company. “With DeNA’s development expertise, we’re excited to bring together past and present Trainers and their partner Pokémon in a unique gaming experience that will delight fans around the world.”
Pokémon Masters will be available worldwide as a free-to-start game with in-app purchases on compatible iOS and Android devices, with release planned for summer 2019. The game will be available in English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, and Traditional Chinese.
Revealed back at E3 in 2018, it appears that Night Call is finally getting in our hands next month on July 17th coming to Xbox One and PC via Steam. For more information about the game, head over to the official Night Call website.
A NEW KIND OF NARRATIVE & NOIRE GAME
You are a taxi driver. Paris is your city and you know every corner of it.
Your shift starts when the night is dark and ends when the city wakes up. You work hard to pay back your car, your taxi license, and your bills.
At night, passengers hop in your taxi. Sometimes you talk to them, sometimes they talk to you. You are not only a driver; for some people you are a priest, a confident, and a friend. You like this routine.
Everything changes when the police reveals that the recent murders shattering your city are connected. As their investigation is stalling, they ask everyone to keep their eyes peeled.
You want to do more. Because the victims were all clients of your taxi company. Because you are the last person to see the most recent victim alive…
You begin to investigate with your only advantage: on your backseat, people talk, open up, share secrets. So listen to your passengers, collect clues, and stop the killer.
Developer – Frogwares
Publisher – Bigben Interactive
Release date – June 27th, 2019
Platforms – PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC
Reviewed on – PC
Review code provided – Yes
The fictional world of Oakmont, Massachusetts is a secluded fishing town, very opposed to newcomers and making sure it stays well hidden from the outside world. This all combined with a mysterious flood that has put half the town underwater makes for quite the mysterious place. To make matters worse, conspiracies and cults are common place for residents. This is the setting for The Sinking City, a Lovecraftian detective horror game. You play as a man named Charles Reed. Charles is an ex-navy sailor from the first world war turned private eye who is a newcomer to Oakmont. You arrive with stories of strange visions that can only be described as utter horror. Your job is to get answers, so you’ve left the big city of Boston and come here, believing that you’ll get answers. You’re hired to find an expedition, as a member is believed to have the answer to the visions.
From the start of the game, you can tell that the artists at developer Frogwares were hard at work designing the world and characters. The scenery and each of the characters is designed in quite a distinct way that helps set the tone. A lot of the characters are dressed in more dark colors to represent the dark tone, and the world reflects that which can prove to set the tone well. Even the music matches this, giving off that dark tone while also being quite reflective of how the music was at that time. This all weaves well together with the few cutscenes present. These offer some jaw dropping scenery that make the strange visions take shape.
In terms of gameplay, I found that the detective side of things was definitely one of the game’s strongest (if not the strongest) mechanics that really makes it stand out. You go through the crime scenes, picking out bits and pieces that help build the bigger picture of what really occurred. You then go through a dimensional portal which lets you view what really happened at the crime scene. It really kept me engaged and wanting to find out the next piece of the puzzle in the grander story. The resource management aspect (despite not my favorite game mechanic) was definitely a nice touch to the game and made me have to think differently during each encounter.
The cases (main missions) played out well for the first half of the game. They featured some really cool challenges to face and intriguing places to explore. Some of the cases would have choices for you to deduce near the conclusion. This often had you in a moral dilemma deciding right from wrong. There weren’t many where I didn’t take a minute or two in between dialogue to decide what action I should take. Needless to say, the choices presented to you were very well crafted.
Through those cases, there were a lot of themes that connected to real life. There’s one group in the game called the Innsmouthers who are humans but have fish like characteristics. They’re heavily seen as lower by the other characters of society, and I think they went into this perfectly. They even explored the idea of the KKK being in the game which is an extent I wasn’t expecting. While obviously the idea is horrifying considering history, it’s nice to have that connection to real life. That combined with all the other connections (and seclusion factor) makes you think about the idea of a real life scenario like this.
The game on the surface really is something to be appreciated and had me into it from the get-go. Unfortunately, diving deeper really does expose the prominent issues with the game as a whole. Traversing through the open world, the atmosphere really begins to lose its uniqueness and feel repetitive. The color palette chosen doesn’t help this either, with discolored fog making the already similar structures look identical. With so much potential in front of Frogwares, I’m surprised they ignored that opportunity.
They do appear to have tried to remedy this, with some areas having their own distinct architecture along with fast travel. That style change though only takes its true effect in two areas with one being the size of two. It feels that more work should have been done to really set each location apart, along with toning down of the fog’s saturation. As for fast travel, you can only go between certain points which adds on to the troubles of walking. Free fast travel to any of the aforementioned locations would’ve gone a long way.
When it came to missions, I found that the first half felt great and varied. Later on this kind of variance wasn’t really kept and started to make the game feel much slower. It was a loop of finding a person dead or alive, and discovering why or doing them a favor (minus the final case). It’s quite a shame too, because I found myself invested in the story prior to that point.
As far as mechanics go, I found that a lot of them (excluding the aforementioned ones) weren’t used to the effect I had been hoping for. There should be many uses for your camera to capture evidence, but it was only used one time. Along with that, the insanity meter very rarely caused much concern for me. Having the camera come into play more often would’ve made the detective aspect outstanding. That, combined with the insanity meter being more effective would’ve helped a lot.
Overall, The Sinking City is an awesome looking game with a lot of potential. That, combined with an awesome detective mechanic really gives a lot to go off of. Unfortunately though, the game is hindered by a dull open world, repetitive missions, and under-utilized mechanics. If you can pass through it’s poor qualities though, there are some truly great moments to be had. The Sinking City is available tomorrow on PC, PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch for $59.99.
Nintendo and PlatinumGames look to have a winner coming on the Switch this August. Astral Chain has been a long anticipated game since it’s announcement back in March of this year.
It looks like PlatinumGames truly wants to capitalize on that hype. In an interview with IGN Benelux, director Takisha Taura said the game has no DLC planned, however if it sells well it does have plans to become a trilogy. Twitter user Moox has translated his full remarks:
“Currently, there are no plans to publish extra content for Astral Chain. That is different for the game’s story. We’re making the game as a trilogy, and this is the first part of that trilogy. If this game sells well, we might see how the story of the series continues.”
It looks like Taura has every intention of continuing the story with two more games. It’ll be up to fans to show how much they want to see future games in this series!
Astral Chain hits retail August 30th exclusively on Nintendo Switch. The collector’s edition is currently sold out but you can preorder the game at Amazon, Gamestop, Walmart, Target or Best Buy below.
In a very unsurprising and somewhat expected move, Square Enix has announced that the popular Final Fantasy VII character Tifa Lockhart will be joining Final Fantasy Dissidia NT on Steam and PS4 on July 2 and 3 (depending on your time zone).
Tifa has reached more popularity recently, with a big uproar over Square Enix apparently choosing to decrease her bust size. This was, however, debunked by executive producer Tetsuya Nomura in an interview translated by Kotaku.
It’s unsure as of yet what her moveset and style will be, but a little of that can be seen in the video Square Enix posted on the official Final Fantasy Twitter.
When Team Sonic Racing first got revealed, I remember watching the trailer at least 10 times, trying to analyze the new mechanics of the game. Revealed for a Winter 2018 release, I was ready to play a new racer with Sonic & friends. However, a delay happened. The game was delayed to May 21st, 2019, and although it was disappointing, I’m very glad they decided to. Team Sonic Racing, although not perfect, is a blast, and has many elements that I really enjoyed.
Being a Team
Team Sonic Racing is all about being and working together as a team. There a total of 5 teams in Team Sonic Racing, but you can mix and match as you wish. Each of the five teams have one character representing one of three types of racers. The three kinds of racers are the speed type, power type, and the technical type. Each of these play differently and have their own type of stats that are beneficial in a race. Team Sonic Racing has implemented many very helpful moves used as a team during a race. When you are in a team race, the player on your team that is the closest to 1st place will leave a shining yellow trail behind them as they drive. The other two players can follow that trail to get a speed boost, which can be incredibly helpful if you are far from 1st. There is also the ability to requested, receive, and give items. During a race, you can drive through item boxes to get an item, and you can give that item to someone on your team if they request one and you feel like it. I found this most useful when I was close to taking the lead and needed something to get the edge on the other players. While we are on the topic of item boxes, I have to say I’m not a fan of their simplistic design. I wish they had more pop to them, as they’re quite boring. Finally, the slingshot ability. After a teammate crashes into a vehicle, object, wall, or gets hit by an object, you can drive past them to give them a big boost to their speed. This can help ensure your team the chance to get first, as you won’t get left behind because of a collision. As you and your team build up and perform your team abilities, your Team Ultimate is charged. When your Team Ultimate is activated, everyone on your team accelerates to incredible speeds, as well as gaining invincibility for a couple seconds. These team abilities are essential to Team Sonic Racing, and if you can’t perform them, you most likely will not be winning any races.
Graphics / Performance
I feel that the graphics in Team Sonic Racing are limited. They aren’t bad by all means, but they could’ve been so much better. Everything is sort of dull, and there isn’t that pop that most modern games today have. I also think the shadows and lighting are mediocre, and not up to par with some of Sumo Digital’s other games. It’s still a great experience, but they could have done so much better. Hopefully in the next installment Sumo Digital can up the graphics a lot to make everything look much better. When compared to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Team Sonic Racing is not even close graphically, which makes me think that this game could have looked a heck of a lot better. Performance is not that big of an issue in Team Sonic Racing, although it could be much better. The Nintendo Switch version runs at 720p 30FPS. The frame rate is extremely solid, and does not budge at all. Although I wish Sumo Digital could have pulled 60FPS for Switch, I’m not mad about it as the game still runs fluid and smooth. For the next installment of Sonic Racing, I hope we see more popping visuals and a higher frame rate.
Game Modes
There are a large variety of ways to play Team Sonic Racing. There are two main modes in Team Sonic Racing. The first main mode is Team Adventure, which is Team Sonic Racing’s story mode. Team Adventure is split up into “Chapters”. Team Adventure has both good and bad things about it. First off, let’s start with the good. Team Adventure offers players a way to play single player through levels by offering challenges to get stars that allow you to pass the level. Each level is set in a world, with different courses and challenges. There are five different types of races in Team Adventure. For example, in Chapter 1: The Mysterious Invite, Stage 1-2 is a Team Race with the challenges being Win the race as a team, finish first individually, and finish in the top three places as an individual. When you complete one challenge, you earn one of three gold stars. These serve as a sort of progress tracker, as you can see how complete the level is. The story mode has cutscenes, but they aren’t as good as I hoped. They have the voice clips of Sonic and friends over a still image. I wish we got fully animated cutscenes, but if it was due to the budget I completely understand. The second major mode in Team Sonic Racing is multiplayer. You can play local or online play, with up to 4 separate players! For local play, there are a variety of available options to choose from. Grand Prix, Exhibition, Time Trials, and Wireless Play. For Grand Prix, you can choose a Team Grand Prix or a Standard Grand Prix. There are three levels of difficulty for each, being Normal, Hard, and Expert. There are a total of 5 different Grand Prixs, each containing 4 unique tracks to race on. For exhibition races, you can also choose a Team Race or Standard Race. You can choose to race on any of the twenty one tracks Team Sonic Racing has to offer. In Time Trials, you can play on one of twenty one courses to try and get a super quick time. The game times you, and you can try to beat your record! Wireless play is good in TSR. You can choose to either create a custom lobby, or you have the option to join one. I played a couple of wireless matches and they were fantastic with no lag.
Online Play
The online play in Team Sonic Racing is great, however you have to wait a ridiculous amount of time just to get in one match. I started up online play for the first time on day 1, expecting quick wait times. However, I was treated with a 10 minute wait, and it made me question if I was the only one playing. Thankfully that is not the case, but it is not pleasant to have to sit through the ridiculously long wait times. Once you’re in a lobby though, it is smooth sailing for there. There is little to zero lag when playing online, and it’s a fantastic experience. This was totally unexpected, but I was treated to a wonderful zero lag experience. If you don’t mind waiting, I highly recommend trying online. Hopefully this will get patched in the future.
Customization
Team Sonic Racing has a wide variety of customization options for everything about your car. In order to customize your car, you have to go to the garage from the main menu. Doing so will take you to a screen with two options, customize performance parts, or customize car cosmetics. Customizing the car’s performance parts change its stats. You can equip a more powerful engine in the front to get better boost and defense, however doing so will decrease your acceleration and top speed stats. It’s all about strategy, and I’m all for it. Cosmetic customization allows you to change the color of you vehicle, and it’s cool to be able to do so. The colors available can have different effects, such as matte or metalic, so there is a ton of variety available.
Final Thoughts
Team Sonic Racing is a great racer that any racing fan should try. Although there are some issues and things that could be better, overall it is a fantastic experience and I highly recommend trying it.
To an extent, this statement actually does make sense. It’s no doubt that Battleborn wasn’t exactly regarded as a solid experience. It was riddled with many different issues and this would’ve likely made Gearbox actually do things differently. We won’t know just how good the game is until September, so we’ll have to see how that holds up.
Starting with Xbox One, you have INSIDE available from July 1st to the 31st. INSIDE is a puzzle-platforming adventure game made by the brilliant team behind Limbo. You take on the role of a kid in a heavily dystopian future trying to cheat death along with solve many puzzles. The game currently has a 93 on Metacritic and should be a must play if you haven’t tried it already.
Moving on to Xbox 360, you have Castlevania: Symphony of the Night available from the 1st to the 16th. Following that is Meet the Robinsons available from the 16th to the 31st. Both games are solid classic games, receiving generally positive scores.
From the start of the game, you can tell that the artists at developer Frogwares were hard at work designing the world and characters. The scenery and each of the characters is designed in quite a distinct way that helps set the tone. A lot of the characters are dressed in more dark colors to represent the dark tone, and the world reflects that which can prove to set the tone well. Even the music matches this, giving off that dark tone while also being quite reflective of how the music was at that time. This all weaves well together with the few cutscenes present. These offer some jaw dropping scenery that make the strange visions take shape.
The game on the surface really is something to be appreciated and had me into it from the get-go. Unfortunately, diving deeper really does expose the prominent issues with the game as a whole. Traversing through the open world, the atmosphere really begins to lose its uniqueness and feel repetitive. The color palette chosen doesn’t help this either, with discolored fog making the already similar structures look identical. With so much potential in front of Frogwares, I’m surprised they ignored that opportunity.
As far as mechanics go, I found that a lot of them (excluding the aforementioned ones) weren’t used to the effect I had been hoping for. There should be many uses for your camera to capture evidence, but it was only used one time. Along with that, the insanity meter very rarely caused much concern for me. Having the camera come into play more often would’ve made the detective aspect outstanding. That, combined with the insanity meter being more effective would’ve helped a lot.
