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Hogwarts Legacy Reviews Round Up

Avalanche Software’s Hogwarts Legacy is almost upon us! This week (tomorrow for early access gamers), players will be treated to the first AAA Harry Potter game in over a decade (not counting the LEGO games). The question is: does it live up to the franchise? read on for the Hogwarts Legacy reviews round up to see what critics think of it.

MP1st’s review isn’t finished just yet (it’s a massive game), we did round up the scores from reputable outlets for an easy look on how it’s faring so far in the eyes of video game critics.

Hogwarts Legacy Reviews Round Up:

MetacriticOpenCritic

IGN – 9/10

Game Rant – 4.5/5

GamesRadar – 4.5/5

PlayStation LifeStyle – 9/10

Screen Rant – 4.5/5

Attack of the Fanboy – 4.5/5

ACG – Buy

AltChar – 78/100

Echo Boomer – Recommended

FingerGuns – 9/10

Wccftech – 7/10

GGRecon – 4/5

Geek Culture – 9/10

Glitched Africa – 10/10

Impulsegamer – 4.5/5

PCGamesN – 7/10

Press Start – 9/10

Where Is the MP1st Hogwarts Legacy Review?

It’s almost done, and readers should see it very, very soon. It’s already ink to parchment, but just needs some more tuning lest we get deducted a few house points!

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Alex Co

Father, gamer, games media vet, writer of words, killer of noobs.

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The Day Before Gameplay Trailer Side by Side Comparison Shows Similarities to a Lot of Other Games

Here’s something that will surely ruffle up a few feathers: this past week, Fntastic revealed our first-ever look at The Day Before with a lengthy gameplay video. While it’s debatable whether the footage is impressive or not, there seems to be more to it than meets the eye.

It seems Fntastic has borrowed (knowingly or unknowingly) some “stuff” from other games like Call of Duty, Snowrunner and more. It’s not a 1:1 copy, but it’s similar enough that it’ll make you think.

The Day Before Comparison Shots to Other Games:

They Day Before COD Comparison 1

Aside from Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, there are also shots similar to Ubisoft’s The Division, SnowRunner, and even The Last of Us! 

Check out a side-by-side of some of the shots in motion:

I gather, some might be coincidental? Though the others are a bit more suspect since they are eerily familiar. Is this a case of Fntastic paying homage? Maybe someone on the dev team really like that particular shot and angle? 

What do you think? Is this a case of plagiarism or just a coincidence or something else? We’ve reached out to Fntastic and will update the article if we hear back.

The Day Before is set to be released this November 10 on PC.

Thanks, Chroma!

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Alex Co

Father, gamer, games media vet, writer of words, killer of noobs.

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Tekken 8 Closed Alpha Test Kicking Off in EVO Japan, Will Be Conducted in Several Locations Around the World

At the Tekken World Tour Finals event today, Bandai Namco Entertainment announced the first details for the Tekken 8 closed alpha test (CAT), which will be kicking off soon.

The info was revealed by Tekken chief Katsuhiro Harada, with the info going through a translator.  According to Harada, the first Tekken 8 closed alpha will kick off at EVO Japan 2023. Players will need to register for the Tekken 7 tournament at the event to be part of the pool that will be chosen for the closed alpha test. There will also be a special website dedicated to it that will open this month.

For those who can’t attend the EVO Japan 2023 event, don’t fret. Harada confirmed that there will be Tekken 8 closed alpha tests in the North America, Europe and other parts of the world.

More details regarding the test will be available soon, and once we know more, we’ll be sure to let our readers know.

Aside from a new trailer, Bandai Namco also showed a 35-minute video where the game’s new mechanics were shown off by Harada and discussed it changed from Tekken 7.

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Alex Co

Father, gamer, games media vet, writer of words, killer of noobs.

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New 35-Minute Tekken 8 Video Showcases Game Mechanics

Bandai Namco has revealed a new Tekken 8 video during today’s Tekken World Tour Finals 2022 event. This isn’t just any hype trailer however, as this is a 35-minute that showcases the game’s mechanics.

35-Minute New Tekken 8 Video From Tekken World Tour:

TEKKEN 8 is coming, and this new iteration of the King of the Iron Fist tournament brings in new, exciting gameplay mechanics.

Get ready for the next-gen battle with this special Gameplay Mechanics Introduction from Harada Kastuhiro and Kohei Ikeda!

00:00 – Introduction
03:10 – New Rage system
05:45 – Recovery gauge
08:50 – Heat system: overview
11:06 – Heat system: activation conditions
16:40 – Heat system: possible actions during activation
17:40 – Heat System: Heat energy meter
22:15 – Heat System: Guard damage
25:45 – Heat System: Countering Heat
28:00 – Control styles
35:13 – Conclusion

The studio talks about the gameplay changes made from previous Tekken games, such as removing Rage Drive from Tekken 7. There are also control changes made, which should make triggering certain actions easier.

Tekken 8 has no release date just yet, but it’s scheduled to be released on the PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC.

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Alex Co

Father, gamer, games media vet, writer of words, killer of noobs.

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New Tekken 8 Gameplay Trailer From World Tour Finals Features Nina Williams

At today’s Tekken World Tour Finals, Bandai Namco Entertainment released a new Tekken 8 gameplay video that features a familiar face.

We see Nina Williams dishing out some punishment while looking stylish. 

Target located. Nina Williams is back in business in #TEKKEN8!

Get your first look at the world’s deadliest assassin, back just in time for the next King of the Iron Fist tournament.

Tekken 8 has no release date just yet, but is confirmed for PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC.

Stay tuned here on MP1st for more Tekken 8 coverage!

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Alex Co

Father, gamer, games media vet, writer of words, killer of noobs.

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Dead Space Break Room Easter Egg Will Have you Singing Along With the Marker

Motive Studio didn’t just include new graphics, sound effects, side quests and other gameplay elements in the Dead Space remake, but there are also new secrets to uncover too! A new Dead Space break room Easter egg has surfaced that will have players unearth an audio log!

The break room becomes available in Chapter 4 after routing power to the ADS cannons. This is the room with the candles set up like a ritual was being performed in it. You can find the break room in the Bridge part of the Ishimura.

Image

Here’s an image on the map that points where it is:

Once there, stand inside the circle and input the following in order:

Melee, Stomp, Melee, Melee. Stomp, Melee, Stomp, Melee, Melee, Melee, Melee, Stomp

Once you’ve done this, players will get an audio log, which features some eerie music to hum by! I suggest you find and listen to it for yourself, but if you can’t, here’s what you’ll see and hear upon completing this Easter egg:

That’s about it. Creepy, no? We’re on the lookout for more Easter eggs in the game, and once we find more, we’ll let our readers know.

More Dead Space Reading:

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Alex Co

Father, gamer, games media vet, writer of words, killer of noobs.

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Report: Dragon Age: Dreadwolf Gameplay, Screenshots and Details Leak Out

While the last we heard of BioWare’s Dragon Age: Dreadwolf was on how it has hit its alpha milestone three months ago, more details regarding the action-RPG has leaked online! Short snippets of Dragon Age: Dreadwolf gameplay, screenshot and even gameplay details have been shared, and they seem to be the real dea.

Update (6/9/24): For those looking for the re-named Dragon Age: The Veilguard reveal trailer, head on over here.

Posted by Reddit user revanchisto, check out combat and more in the gallery below, as well as a host of gameplay details. Note that this is from an early build, and shouldn’t represent the final product.

https://imgur.com/a/J2xVQlT

As for gameplay details, read on for the bulletpoints from the leaker, as well as background on the gameplay shown.

Alright, so now to what is in the video. It’s about 20 minutes of gameplay involving one segment/dungeon. The entire gameplay is set within the the Gray Warden fortress HQ of Weisshaupt. That’s what the location text literally says. Now again, the gameplay is alpha so there isn’t a whole lot of detail and there are missing textures for a lot of elements. Basically, buildings and whatnot are all modeled and textured but the skybox itself is very dark and makes it seem as though the entire fortress is underground, although it is clearly not. I suspect the skybox could contain some giant world event, similar to the Breach, they hadn’t finished.

The player character is an Elvish “Knight” Class (the character screen actually says they are a mid-level Grey Warden), they’ve got a sword and a shield. They also have two party members, another knight dude and a female dwarf rogue. I suspect both models are placeholders and they won’t actually look like they do in the final game. Darkspawn are currently attacking Weisshaupt and there are roots all over the place alongside Red Lyrium popping up here and there. Oddly, the darkspawn also apparently are infused with Red Lyrium and have Red Lyrium attacks and some have red eyes. The objective is to fight through the Darkspawn to get to the library, but as you are doing so there is also a big ass dragon attacking from above. Because, you know, it is Dragon Age. And the dragon creates occasional environmental and traversal hazards. It ends once you reach the library, close the gates, and then come face to face with the dragon. It appears you are then supposed to try and chain the dragon up, but it ends before the player completes that. There is no audio and while there are subtitles, they are mostly glitched and frozen so you can’t tell what people are saying during cutscenes or combat.

Gameplay Details:

  • Combat is completely in real-time and similar to a hack and slash. I’m told the guiding reference point was the God of War (2018), and that shows.
  • Player has their regular combo attack and then their abilities as well as a special bar which generates allowing you to pull off a special move. I don’t really understand the comparison to FF15’s wheel. It’s standard Dragon Age ability wheel.
  • There was no party control demonstrated. I think it’s a safe bet to say you will not be able to directly control your party members in the game. That said, you likely will be able to tell them to execute certain abilities. But apparently that was locked off in the Alpha.
  • The most immediate thing you noticed is that animation quality has DRASTICALLY improved. Like, for any other AAA title it’s probably not that big a deal. But we’ve never seen animation quality this good in any BioWare game. I didn’t actually play it, but I can tell it probably feels really good to control your character. No more stiff animations, it’s all very fluid and seems also very responsive.
  • Jumping has also been retained. So, rejoice if you enjoyed jumping a lot in DAI.
  • As the character was a sword and shield dude, he was able to parry attacks from enemies and follow up with counters. It’s hard to tell their exact abilities, they only had two on hotkeys along with a special. But one appears to basically be a drop kick and the other a charged sword attack. I’m not sure exactly what the special attack does.
  • The UI is similar to DAI, but this is also Alpha and UI is the last thing finalized in any game. Character has a chest slot, a helmet slot, a primary weapon slot, and a shield (secondary weapon?) slot. For accessories, one amulet slot, one belt slot, and two ring slots.
  • Oh and the player character’s hair looked glorious. I mean, it was clipping right through their helmet. But it was flowing and bouncing as they moved. Finally, no more stiff ass hair. Now, let’s hope we have more than just two black hairstyles.
  • Enemies were pretty much just variations of darkspawn, except the dragon, but again they seemed to have Red Lyrium powers.

BioWare (or EA) has not confirmed the gameplay, and as such, treat it with a grain of salt. That said, this looks to be legit. Do remember again that this is from an early build, so don’t judge what you see as the final form of whatever it is we’ll be playing once Dragon Age: Dreadwolf launches.

Source: Reddit via ResetEra

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Alex Co

Father, gamer, games media vet, writer of words, killer of noobs.

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Star Wars Jedi: Survivor Fast Travel Feature and Rideable Mounts Confirmed

If you hated backtracking in Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, then we have good news for you! Star Wars Jedi: Survivor will have a fast travel feature confirmed!

In addition to fast travelling, there will also be rideable mounts to make traversing the game’s landscapes faster. This was all confirmed by Stig Asmussen , the director of Survivor.

We will feature both fast travel and rideable creatures to help players quickly get from point A to B, and back to A. the fast-travel is point to point, and the rideable creatures offer a way to quickly negotiate between points and explore what is in between.

This is definitely good news, especially for people who loathed the backtracking aspects of Fallen Order (like me). Not only will players will be able to travel from one area to the next almost instantaneously, but the rideable creatures should help navigating levels a whole lot faster rather than just Cal and BD-1 running.

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor was recently delayed, and is now set for launch on April 28 on the PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC.

Source: GamesRadar

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Alex Co

Father, gamer, games media vet, writer of words, killer of noobs.

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Turtle Beach VelocityOne Flightstick Review – Soaring With Ease

For those who want dogfights to feel as authentic as possible, a controller won’t cut it. Since the NES era, flightsticks were already a thing, and has been around since forever. Peripheral maker Turtle Beach has a new toy for would-be fly boys and we give it a proper spin!Turtle Beach takes to the sky with its latest new gaming peripheral, the VelocityOne Flightstick. Is this the wingman you’ve been waiting for? Find out in our review!

The Build and Design

With Turtle Beach now officially taking the plunge into non-audio gaming peripherals, one of the initial concerns I’ve had is the overall build quality. While the company has been around for decades, delivering and perfecting its craft with audio headsets, they’ve only started manufacturing gaming controllers in the last few years. That’s a bit leap in a market that is otherwise flooded with many other third-party manufacturers but thinking about it, it does make sense, given the company’s long-standing reputation with gamers. 

The first of their peripherals we got to try out was the Recon Controller, which we praised for its incredible quality and performance, giving Xbox gamers an Elite-like experience at a friendly budget. Two year’s on, and I’m still using the controller on my gaming set-up with no wear and tear or noticeable stick drifting. It was an excellent first for the company that had set a favorable first impression that, despite being new, Turtle Beach knew what gamers wanted. 

Speaking of what gamers want, another rather huge surprise from the company is they are branching out even further, as Turtle Beach announced that not only would they be creating console controllers but had planned on releasing sim designed control system, the first being the VelocityOne yoke system, which soon after was followed by the VelocityOne Flightstick, a dedicated flight stick built for Xbox and PC gaming. As an Ace Combat player who has long stuck with Thrustmaster as their go-to for flight stick, I’ve finally found a worthy contender, especially for those who game mainly on Xbox. 

From a design perspective, the Turtle Beach VelocityOne Flightstick opts for simplicity and cleanliness compared to other flight sticks on the market today. It’s unified on both sides, featuring four buttons and a throttle on each, with the stick in the center and some quick-access Xbox menu buttons on the bottom. The stick also has additional buttons, bringing the count to 27 that can be programable. The buttons and the center dial have RGB lighting, and there is an OLED Flight Management Display on the very top of the stick with a d-pad stick and joystick. An audio jack is located on the bottom to allow the system’s audio to pass through a headset. 

For material, it’s mostly made of plastic, with the stick having a slightly different matted coat for better grip. It’s a beautifully designed stick. 

When compared to say a, Thrustmasters’ T.16000M, everything is placed on a single controller, rather than having a throttle and other functionality on one controller and the flight stick on another. Flightstick veterans may take a bit getting used to it, but not much as it’s clear that the single controller and compact design that the VelocityOne offers is more geared towards accessibility, which does show as this is perhaps the most accessible and most comfortable flight stick I’ve ever used.

Everything is within finger reach, and in terms of function, all the buttons can be customized. Anyone using a flight stick is probably well familiar with customization, though this being an officially licensed Xbox controller, some games will natively detect the set-up versus the tinkering that may be required on PC. Couple that with the simple and clean design of the stick, and this should be an easy pairing for any Xbox gamer out there looking to up their flight game without the needed complexity of other sticks. 

Now, I will note that there are mounting threads on the button of the VelocityOne Flightstick, but understandable that not everyone may want to mount it. This is the advantage of being a one-controller set-up, as it allows you to rest the other hand on the throttle to prevent the stick from lifting off its surface. 

Looking at the throttles, the VelocityOne comes with two built-in, one of the top left and the other top right. While they do the job they’re intended for, I found them too small and toy-like compared to the rest of the build. The levers also have little to no feedback outside of locking in when full up or down positions are reached. I would have loved to see just a tiny amount of resistance when moving back and forth.

Going back to the stick, there’s an adjustable hand rest on the side of it. That means you can use the rest whether you’re left or right-handed, as the rest is double-sided with a reversible bracket that can fit on either side. That’s not a standard feature you see in flight sticks, and honestly, it’s a brilliantly designed one, as it allows you to adjust the height and the orientation.

At the base of the stick is a large giant dial that clicks on the left and right sides to control the FMD (flight management display.) It has a stiff/sticky feel to it that I can’t say I would prefer over something more traditional like a d-pad or dedicated buttons. The FMD, although a bit gimmicky, is a nice touch. I love the retro-looking text it has and all the display information it can provide, as well as haptics, wheel, rudders, and other adjustment features it sports. 

Outside of some minor complaints, overall, I am impressed with the build quality of the VelocityOne Flightstick. Despite essentially being a large slab of plastic, it feels well thought out and built in every aspect you would hope for. It’s solid and sturdy, with enough weight to it to help keep it in place, and the design offers ease of use and comfort, unlike any other flightstick I’ve ever used before. 

All Wings Report In

So how does the VelocityOne Flightstick perform in actual games? Well, very well, as noted, because Xbox officially licenses the stick, you’ll get native support in some games like Microsoft Flight Sim and Star Wars Squadron. Though a flight game like Microsoft Flight Sim is better used with the VelocityOne Flight Universal Control System since it’s a complete set-up. Still, for an experience more akin to an arcade style of play, the VelocityOne Flightstick works great on Flight Sim, especially with the fighter jets. 

Moving on, I wanted to see how this stick would work with something more action-packed, and what better games than Ace Combat and Star Wars Squadron? For Ace Combat, the flight stick did need some button mapping, but once I figured it out, it truly delivered a pilot-like experience you’d expect from a flight stick.

On the other hand, Star Wars Squadron is the perfect showcase, especially for those who can play it in VR on a PC. The level of immersion you get from a VR environment and pairing it with a control system akin to what the in-game characters use is beyond anything I would have expected. Because the VelocityOne is so simplistic in its design and button layout, I didn’t have to worry about removing my headset during gameplay to look at which buttons I may need to press since everything was accessible. Using the flight stick to aim and move around was buttery smooth, with the slight haptics providing good feedback. It’s my favorite use of the flight stick so far, and trust me, the experience is like no other when you combine VR with the VelocityOne.

For No Man’s Sky, it was a bit trickier since the game isn’t entirely set in an air/space craft like Star Wars, but you could make it work with some tinkering. Project Wingman is another VR supported title I tried out, which is significantly faster-paced than Star Wars. Again, there was some remapping we had to do, but luckily the VelocityOne allowed these custom mappings to be saved as a profile for ease of access when switching games. Like Squadron, Project Wingman felt like an absolute dream to play in VR with the VelocityOne Flightstick. 

Soaring through the skies and performing all kinds of maneuver has never felt more better than this. 

Eyes in the Sky

Turtle Beach impresses once again with its first foray into the flight stick market. While PC gamers may have better alternatives to choose from, given the platform’s vast array of support, for the everyday Xbox players out there, I highly recommend Turtle Beach VelocityOne Flightstick. At $129.99, it sits competitively with other flight sticks, but it’s in features and accessibility that truly make this a top choice for Xbox gamers. 

Pros:

  • Beautiful, compact, and unified design that promotes accessibility. 
  • Durable build quality despite being made entirely of plastic.
  • Easy plug and play on Xbox with native support in some of the biggest titles. 
  • OLED Flight Management Display – It’s a gimmick, but I love it. 
  • Easy to use companion app for Xbox gamers to unlock its full potential. 
  • Perfect pairing for VR supported games such as Star Wars Squadron on PC.

Cons:

  • Throttles are small and feel cheap, with sliders having little to no feedback/resistance. 
  • Wheel dial could be improved on or changed for an alternative. 

Specs:

  • Connections – USB-C to USB-A Connection –  Xbox Series X|S & Xbox One, Windows 10/11
  • Xbox Software Compatibility – Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 and via Compatibility Mode for Xbox, Star Wars Squadrons, Elite Dangerous, and War Thunder. Not compatible with Xbox Cloud streaming.
  • PC Software Compatibility – Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020, Elite Dangerous, Ace Combat DCS World, X-Plane 11 & 12, War Thunder, Everspace 2 and Star Citizen
  • Input Connectivity PC & Xbox – 10ft/3M USB-A to USB-C Cable
  • Mobile Companion App – Turtle Beach® Flightstick Companion App for additional product features & customization. Available for iOS and Android.
  • Mounting Options – Secure Rubber feet, or pre-drilled holes for use with VelocityOne™ Stand and other flight simulation stands.
  • VelocityOne™ Rudder Compatibility – When using VelocityOne™ Flightstick* with the VelocityOne™ Rudder in Compatibility Mode on Xbox with Star Wars Squadrons, Elite Dangerous, and War Thunder the rudder pedal toe brake function will not work.*Please contact Turtle Beach customer support for a complimentary USB-C cable for use with the VelocityOne Flightstick on Xbox.
  • Product Weight (G/Lbs.) – 820/1.81
  • Product Dimensions (Mm/In) – 164.1 x 216.84 x 230.47 / 6.46” x 8.54” x 9.07”

The publisher provided hardware for review purposes. Equipment tested on a desktop PC and Xbox Series. You can read SP1st and MP1st’s review and scoring policy right here.

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James Lara

A gamer at heart, James has been working for MP1st for the last decade to do exactly what he loves, writing about video games and having fun doing it. Growing up in the 90's gaming has been in his DNA since the days of NES. One day he hopes to develop his own game.

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Dead Space Remake Devs Explain Lack of 180 Quick Turn, Mod Support Not Planned & More Details Revealed

While Motive Studio’s Dead Space remake introduces a host of new story and gameplay-related features, there is one thing that players might be missing — and that’s a 180-degree quick turn button! Wondering why a feature that’s usually found in other survival-horror games wasn’t implemented? Read on for Motive’s explanation alongside a host of other new info.

This question and a lot of other ones were answered by the Dead Space remake devs over at Motive Studio in a recent Reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything). Motive also confirmed that for now, no mod support is planned for the game as well.

Dead Space 180 Quick Turn Explanation, and Full AMA:

Here are the Motive devs who participated in the AMA:

Roman – Creative Director

Philippe – Senior Producer, worked with an amazing team to bring DS back, aligning production and creative!

Mike – Art Director, in charge of the overall artistic vision for the remake. He also worked on Dead Space 2 as the Art Director years ago!

Eric – Game Director, managed the game design team in order to define all of the gameplay systems and ensure their quality. (i.e., AI, weapons, ingredients, progression, etc.)

Jo – Senior Game Writer, wrote the game script and the characters!

D-Rob – Technical Director, worked with the rest of the team to ensure that our technical endeavors would serve the creative vision of the project. He also worked on defining our tech strategy for some key pillars of the game, for example: interconnected ship, Intensity Director, Peeling/Dismemberment system, and more.

Oli – Audio Director, responsible for project level audio vision and realization. Work with the audio team and collaborated with a cross-disciplinary team.

Now on to the actual questions! Grab a drink, as this is one long read.

Q: Any changes you wanted to make, but decided against It, either from lack of resources or after deciding It would be too much? I personally enjoyed every change whole team made, made not sure how It will go, but It was In spirit of original. And thanks to nods for Extraction, Comics and other games, as fan invested In spin offs i love when they’re referenced.

A: At the begining we wanted to add quick 180 turn to Isaac. But we decided to not do that cause it was breaking the combat loop of Dead Space. The core combat loop is about a scary and almost unstoppable threat coming at you. If you can turn around and flee to fast it changes a lot the experience of the fight. So we ended not doing that.
We are all fans of Dead Space, and not just the first game. And one of our goal was to try make DS1 “”acknowledge”” more the rest of the dead space universe. – Roman

Q: Will we be getting more peng?

A: There’s always Peng. – Jo

Q: Did you consider bringing in enemy types from the sequels like the pukers or stalkers

Similarly did you ever consider using weapons like the javelin gun?

Why did you have to scare me like that in chapter 7?

A: Since we had to rebuild everything, our focus was really on the roster set of the original game and adapt them to the Remake. We had to see how the creatures in ZeroG would behave, improve certain creatures like the Twitchers…

On weapons, we wanted to make sure that all weapons had a purpose and especially revisit the Alt Weapons to make them more interesting.

Only in Chapter 7? Hope there was plenty more! 😛 Which jump scare got you the most in the mining? – Phil

Q:I have two questions: First, was there ever any thoughts or discussions of bringing back any other original voice actors besides Gunner and Tanya? With no disrespect to the new VAs, I was hoping to see Peter Mensah and Keith Szarabajka return because they gave such great, memorable performances in the original.

Second, how did y’all decide on the marketing strategy/transparency of the development process with the community? Frankly I was pretty amazed with how open and honest y’all were and how much footage/development processes y’all discussed with the community. It definitely paid off, at least for me because due to all that transparency I pre-ordered and was confident in the quality of the game.

A: There’s a couple of reasons for this. First, we wanted to show to the community how much love and passion the dev team had for the game. Motive decided to pitch for this game because we had people that really wanted to make it and there were fans asking for it. Because of that, EA gave the greenlight. We aimed at reassuring people and say: “Hey, we got this, we really don’t want to f*** it up!”.

And this brings me to the second point. We reeeaaaaally didn’t want to f*** this up. This is why we made a community council early on, to get feedback on what we were trying to make in paper design and in early iteration. This is why we made livestreams and had team members going through pretty much every feedback, seeing what was great and the things that weren’t as high quality as what people would’ve liked. This way, we were able to make adjustments based on feedback that we agreed with!

– Jo/Phil/Roman

Dead Space Remake Gameplay

Q: I had a few questions, which chapter of the game was your favorite and what Necromorph type did you guys enjoy making the most, thank you and have a great day 😀

A: The Chapter 09 in the Valor is a pretty unique experience that we all enjoyed. The ship is really unique both visually but also in the type of enemies you encounter.

A small detail is that the Valor ship is a buit tilted on one side, giving an awkward feeling that everything is a bit off. It is a small detail but we had to make all our system work at that angle. Adding to all of this is also the fact that it is the only chapter you cannot revisit, once completed you cannot go back in it, making it even more unique. – Eric

Q: Any plans for giving us mod support for the game?

A: While this is a great idea, it’s not something we have planned at this time.

Q: What was the biggest challenge in redoing the game? Since you’ve had to remake it fully, I wonder if there’s anything you were not expecting to be harder than it actually was.

One of the things I’ve loved more is the fact that all weapons are useful. I can’t stress this enough, it’s very hard for a game to make it so different weapons feel useful at all times, and you guys pulled it off. How did you reconceptualize their utility?

I just LOVED the Deluxe edition suits. I know there were no plans for DLC ahead of launch, but seeing the game’s reception, would you be open to do some cosmetic packs? I think a lot of people would enjoy more suits for more playthoughs!

A: One of the challenges of doing the remake was having a good undesrtanding of all the content of the original game. Some enemies have very unique and rare behaviors (for example a Twitcher can feign death when you shoot at him), knowing all of this content and the reason why it exist took some time, and in some places we did not expected so much complexity and precision to details.

To balance each weapons of the game we have integrated data tracking elements to verify the usage of each weapon and adjusted their parameters and ammo loot drop rates in order to make them all efficient and useful. Our weapon did also did a great job in enhancing the alternate fire in order to create unique strategies for player. – Eric

Q: What were the developmental challenges with making the ship more fully connected and attempting to integrate the director system into the game?

A: Making the ship interconnected forced us to revise the entire logic of the architecture of the ship and add connections that were missing.

The intensity director was also a challenge, as adding a systemic element mixed with more scripted moments needed to feel natural. We wanted to avoid having the intensity director feeling too predictable or too annoying. It need to be present but not overly so. Iterating on it until we found a good balance was a hard task until one day it felt just right. At this point we knew we had something interesting. – Eric

dead

Q: What was your favorite section of the ship to design and frame?

A: Hydroponic jungle sound ambiences (Oli)

Really liked what was done with the Crew Quarters, as far as rework for the mission and narrative (Phil)
I really liked and hated the Hangar. This section was so difficult to get to run to perfection. Almost everything is thrown in there. But once we got there, it’s a really cool accomplishment. Also, I love the space of it and the different gameplay beats. (DRob)

It was nice to weave Cross more tightly into the story of Hydroponics, and explore more of her journey. I also love how our designers reworked the ADS cannons in CH04. (Jo)

Q: How did you decide to change the way Impossible mode worked from the original to its status in the remake – where’s it’s comparable to a variation of Hardcore mode from the sequels, but without further gameplay changes?

Do you perhaps plan to add another difficulty level in a future update that makes the gameplay harder without resorting to the save limitation, like the old version of Impossible mode in the original game or Zealot mode in DS2? This is a stretch but I may as well try asking since it’s the only problem I have with the game currently given all the info we got about the remake. I would be happy just to know why you decided to change the difficulty settings they way you did.

A: We wanted to have some unique content in the New Game + and encourage players to revisit the ship with the addition of a few mechanics (marker fragments and harder enemy variation). New Game + was important for us to maintain in the game and we wanted to add our unique twist into it.

Also adding side missions and secrets in the game unlocked by security clearance adds an incentive to replay the game if you missed some of them.
Currently, we do not plan to add any new dffculty modes. – Eric

Q: Will you add a Necromorph Dating simulator? Thanks!

A: Add? It’s already implemented. Didn’t you get necromorph hugs on your playthrough? – Jo

Q: Can we please get access to all the suit tiers as cosmetics as well asvbloody and sanctified versions of teirs 1-5

A: For the suits – We’re investigating the possibility. No promises. -D-Rob

Q: 1- When deciding to have Issac be voiced how hard and how much work was needed to try and make a voiced Issac work within the confines of the originals story

2-How did you decide which sections of the game needed to be reworked how was this decided think the turret section being massively overhauled

3- What goes into remaking a game from another studio from so many years ago what was the planning and pre production like on this game it must of been daunting taking on a classic game like dead space.

A: Q1. The entire script was revised, since Isaac having a voice adjusts the dynamic of the conversations (there’s essentially a new character in each discussion). There was also a lot of discussion on when he should NOT talk; we made a lot of adjustments to the lines until it felt right. (Jo)

Q2. We broke down the entire game in a beat by beat moment to analyze how it was constructed. From there, we looked at the different type of changes we wanted to bring and how they could be leveraged across the game (such as the control boards or ZeroG Nav). We also looked at reviews and comments from the original game to determine if some things were mentioned there. ADS Canons sequence was one of those which is why we deicded to take a stab at a new design for those sequences. (Phil)

Q3. With the amazing team we had, it makes it something easier to tackle! But very stressful nonetheless! (Phil)

Q: What was the thought process when deciding to remake Dead Space in the first place?

A: When we started working on the project we defined creative pillars to guide the team. The first one was to create an experience that was ‘True to the Original””. That means, create something that feels not exactly like the original experience, but like the memory you have of it. The 3 other pillars were Horror, Unbroken Immersion and Creative gameplay. Those pillars helped us define what we wanted to enhance or enrich and what we remade as is. – Roman

Q: hey! I pretty much love everything about the remake, the only thing that seemed off was the change to the aiming reticle. in the original it was a full laser sight and I think that was also an option in dead space 2 called classic aiming, so I’d just be curious if there were ever plans to have both in the remake of 1

A: Our first implementation was like in the original, but we felt that it was not comfortable enough. First, because it was moving too much on the screen. But also, it was making aiming difficult in bigger rooms because the dots were projected too far. That’s why we eventually switched to the DS2 version. – Roman

Q: If we are to get a hypothetical Dead Space 2 remake, hypothetically… Do you promise to give us a, been through some shit, grizzled, unkempt, looks like he hasnt slept in 9 days Gunnar Isaac??

A: Yes, he is very dreamy. Must be why all the necromorphs want to get close and personal to him.
Have you seen him with a beard? – D-Rob

Q: What were your biggest worries doing this remake?

A: Survival horror games rely on a precise balancing that needs to be extremely precise. You do not want to fall too far into an action-shooter game or betray the original Dead Space mold.

By changing some weapons’ alternate fire, adjusting some enemies, changing the way the loot system works, the balancing could be at risk. Only by iterating and testing it on players did we find the proper balance. For me, one of my worst nightmares would have been failing the economy, progression and difficulty of the game and betray what we loved so much about this game. – Eric

dead space remake alternative ending

Q: 1) was there anyone on the team that was too squeamish or fearful that they weren’t able to participate in development at all?

2) was there anyone who wasn’t a fan of horror titles that became a horror fan after making the game?

3) will there be a fix for the chapter 3 refueling bug? No one’s replied to my email and I don’t want to start over for a small chance it might not happen again

A: Q.2 – Me!!!! Before Dead Space, I largely prefered my enemies to die straight from headshots! But the project has opened up a new genre to me and it’s been a blast working on it. – D-Rob

Q: When making lore for this game, did you also look at dead space 2 and 3 to bring things earlier or to not contradict any information?

A: We looked primarily at DS2; the novels Martyr and Catalyst; DS Extraction, and the comics. We ended up with a lot of foreshadowing for DS2, since it’s close timeline-wise and emotionally for Isaac. But we did dip into DS3 to sprinkle in some of the lore elements that come in later. – Jo

Q: What was some of the in jokes you guys had while making the game

A: A few standout ones: Internally, we call our Art Director (Mike Yazijian) Yazilla because he keeps asking his team for MORE, always MORE.

In our first reviews of the Drag Tentacle, our LD in charge of it kept dying over and over during the review which became a running joke throughout development!

In pre-production, our Realization Director was prepping references for the Dismemberment & Peeling meeting. It gathered many people across multiple disciplines to explain what we wanted to achieve, with images of blood, gut, skin charred, etc… with the Director PASSIONELY explaining how awesome it would be, Roman with STARS in his eyes and some team members wondering if we were deranged 🙂 Epic meeting!

In our Audio (!) and Art Livestreams, we had technical issues with audio both times, where we would lose communications with our Community Council member. Both times, our team kept their cool and fixed the issue! – Phil

Q: How long did it take to redesign and 3d model the tools and weapons we get to use to hack up the enemies.

A: The first one was that we had to make the model grow and the geometry change shape in the same asset. We used a rig in Maya to make the asset grow by scaling it and aligning the two models as close as possible to each other to make them match (Human and Slasher models). – Mike

Q: How did you manage to be sure that it was actually scary since i guess you guys aren’t subject to the fear factor due to your intense knowledge of the game

A: It is true that during production, we knew every position of enemies and events that would happen. However, the intensity director added a new twist into it and surprised us even during reviews (it was always a good laugh when someone had a jump scare during a review of the game). This was a proof that the system was working and the enemy timings were great. -Eric

Q: Why does Isaac’s helmet not emit light like in the original? The pattern from his visor glows in front of the player in the original trilogy. In the remake, it seems like a pretty weak, soft glow that is only noticeable when you’re really close to a surface.

I would like to know: was this decision just an overlook? With the attention to detail the team paid towards this remake, I can’t imagine this feature wasn’t talked about and am curious if there was some limitation by the engine or a deliberate design choice for a less-lit atmosphere.

A: There is an actual light coming from the visor, but we decided to make it less intense than in other titles in the franchise. The reason is that the game is much darker, and that light, when it’s too intense, quickly turns into a constant flashlight. So we decided to tune it down and only keep it as a detail when you get close to a wall. -Eric

Q: Is there anything you would change behind your studios process for the remake? As far as the committee of hardcore fans, developer communication ect? Do you think this communication model is something that strongly contributed to the success of Dead Space Remake?

If Motive were to take Isaac anywhere for a sequel, what’re some things/tools you would want to give him? And where would you go?

A: Both the Community Council and Livestreams played a key part in how this game turned out.
We received very helpful feedback all throughout the project to help validate the direction we were taking. Brings a load of stress to do these live but it was definitely fun and worth it!
Hmm…where to take Isaac…I guess.. in Space? – Phil

Q: Flamethrower or Force Gun?

A: Eric: Very difficult question… I’d even add for myself the Ripper ricochets and Line Gun traps that are also my favorites (I still laugh a lot when placing laser traps on enemies).
If I am forced to choose I would say flamethrower… the special effects warm my heart every time I’m using it (and it is not only because it is -30 today in Montreal).
Roman: Force gun. Shooting a slasher, and seeing all the flesh and skin disappear is one of my favorites things.

Q: I NEED to know – How did Gunner react to getting to play Isaac again???

A: Super enthusiastic. It was so great having him on board, and he just seemed delighted to be back in the role again. Gunner’s really fun to work with. You can tell he cares about Isaac and getting the character right. – Jo

Q: What part was the most fun to work on?

A: All of the interactive elements in the game are pretty fun to build, to have a world that feels like a simulation full of interactive props that have unique properties to play with. The fan blade you can throw from a vent after breaking is a favorite of mine. Not only does it fit within the Dead Space universe, but also it works in the way you’d expect. Giving the possibility to immediately cut a necromorph’s limbs make it powerful and satisfying when you play. – Eric

Q: Hi! I’m a recent college grad 3D artist and still learning, I’d love to know how a few of the effects were done in game. My questions may contain spoilers read at your own risk.

How did the Captain Mathius transformation work?

I saw in the art of dead space video that Issac’s suit sculpt in Zbrush had a whopping 200 million polygons. Was most the modeling done in Zbrush or were hard surface elements like the plating done elsewhere? I’d love to know more about the workflow and how you optimized such a detailed mesh.

What were some unique modeling challenges Dead Space brought to the table?

A: The captain Transform sequence was a big challenge for our team! It had two complex sides to it.
The first one was that we had to make the model grow and the geometry change shape in the same asset. We used a rig in Maya to make the asset grow by scaling it and aligning the two models as close as possible to each other to make them match (Human and Slasher models)

We then created Blendshapes between two models sharing the same topology, the human (Captain Mathius) and his Necromorph model. From those two animated models, we created Dynamic Masks in Houdini to blend them in a single animated model with our desired look and export alembic data from the final result

The second step was to tear the cloth from the Captain while he was transforming.
We used Tyflow from 3DS Max to precut the clothing and simulate it with the alembic data from Houdini. Then we exported everything as alembic data to Maya and processed bones to replicate the vertex deformation to be able to send the final result to our real-time Engine (Frostbite).
All this was a huge team effort with a lot of trial and error and modifications along the way. I hope that players enjoyed the final result! – Leo (Character Artist)

Q: Were there any more ideas of scrapped side missions that maybe would flesh out lore and what happened before Isaac got there?

A: Thank you. Not really: we wanted to be very sparing with the side missions. They gave us a chance to explore stories that Isaac / the player might want to pursue, but shouldn’t clutter the crit path too much. A lot of those stories are explored in other media and we didn’t just want to tell them again; rather we wanted to pick up threads where it made sense (e.g. White’s fate at the airlock). – Jo

dead space remake launch trailer

Q: Question for Roman and/Or Phillipe and Most def Oli. How important was sound design this time around compared to other aspects yall managed to make this sound even more meatier and overall scarier compared to the og game which was already a high bar in audio design.

A: Sound design always should be the most important aspect of game development (Oli)

In a game like Dead Space, Sound Design is ESSENTIAL, it plays a key part of the immersion. I want Oli to say that it’s the most important aspect of Game Development! (Phil)

Q: Who is the absolute legend who made the Flamethrower so good?

A: Our Weapons team put a lot of effort on every weapon and making them as perfect as possible. On the flamethrower, there was a big attention to the fire special effects, as its interaction on enemies and the environment. For example, it was particularly complex to have the alternate fire work properly when shooting at walls and ceilings. – Eric

Q: Glenn Schofield is not shy about explaining how difficult making the drag tentacle was. Was that also a problem for the dev team or were you able to use mainly pre-existing things for it?

What was the most difficult thing to program if not the drag tentacle?

What do you think was the scariest thing in the game?

A: I think for us the hardest part was watching our Level Designer in charge of that section constantly die to it in reviews. – D-Rob

Q: Will you be remaking dead space 2? I would like to see dead space 4 above all else.

Are there plans to implement cutscene/vid and audio call skips to Dead Space Remake? On repeat play throughs it’s always been a hassle to have to sit through them, as good as they may be.

If you do remake dead space 2 and 3, will they still be on frostbite?

Will necromorphs always be bald due to limitations of the flesh and bone system? Some lost their resemblance to the crew due to all being bald dudes.

I like the new enhanced slashers, but will the black ones make a return? Their rotted necrotic flesh made them horrifying.

Please don’t add crafting to dead space 3 remake one day, it severely neutered Isaacs iconic weapon roster.

A: We’ve said both internally and externally that we’d be interested in continuing our work on the Dead Space franchise. Our Core group is passionate about the brand and we need to discuss what’s the right next step for us.

There’s numerous factors that need to be taken into account at a studio and company level but first, the team will take a well deserved vacation before determining what’s next. 🙂
We have an amazing team at Motive that has started working on Iron Man and you you can rest assured that it’s in great hands!

That’s so kind of you! But I did have an incredibly solid foundation of story and characters to work from. The original Dead Space writers did an amazing job. –Jo

Q: Being a remake, 1) How did you keep everything so true to the original? At times one might think ‘surely they did not remake that, they just copied it over!’. Level design, 3D assets and textures, motion capture – 2) You re-made all those from scratch?

A: It was part of our approach. We wanted to make sure that everything we did was faithful to the original OR if we made changes, it was intentional changes.

But yes…we did redo pretty much everything! – Phil

Q: Were there any major lore changes you guys considered for the remake but ultimately didn’t put in?

A: At some point we wanted to make all the Necromorphs vegetables, we even had a prototype for it (the prototype is true, but it was made for fun by someone in the team:)) – Roman

Q: How much creative control did you have for the remake? Any restrictions on things you couldn’t change but wanted to? Love the game congrats to the whole team.

A: Thank you !

We had as much control and ownership on the creative as we wanted. Our goal was from the begining to recreate an experience as faithfull as possible to the original. – Roman

Q: How did the conversation of revisiting Dead Space become to be? What was the conversation like when you reached out to Gunner about reprising his role as Isaac in the remake?

A: Conversation of remaking Dead Space went something like this at Motive.
Studio GM – Alright, Squadrons is done, what do we feel would be a good project to start?
Team – Dead Space. Yeah, Dead Space! It’s got to be Dead Space.
Studio GM – Okay, okay, any other ideas?
Team – D E A D S P A C E
Team – D E A D S P A C E
Team – D E A D S P A C E
Team – D E A D S P A C E
Team – D E A D S P A C E
Team – D E A D S P A C E
Studio GM – …
Studio GM – Okay, Make us Whole!

– D-Rob

Q: Would you ever dip your toes into a multiplayer/coop dead space game? Maybe in a spin-off game?

A: Are you trying to trick us into making DS3? – D-Rob

Q: What was your favorite part of working with Gunner Wright and the rest of the voice cast? Any favorite bloopers or situations when recording their lines?

A: Our cast is amazing. Claudia Besso, who returns as the Ishimura Computer, was incredible: she went through her script so fast that we had lots of time to play with the “haunted” computer lines that play over the tannoy. Since Gunner had to record all his lines three times (normal, fatigued, and injured) we had a lot of sessions together. One of the most fun sessions was Gunner improving the “out of ammo” lines. He used a water bottle to stand in for the weapon and just kept swearing at it over and over. – Oli / Jo

Q: Did you at one point consider adding in the Stalkers (the raptor-like clever-girl necromorphs)? I know they weren‘t in the original but I‘ve always found them really engaging and fun.

A: We really loved those enemies, especially the way they use the environment and retreat to protect themselves. Unfortunately, they come with big constraint in the way you have to build levels to emphasize their behavior. Adding them would have required special rooms from them that are wide enough to have cover and space for a good 360-degree fight. – Eric

Q: What does Gunner smell like?

A: before or after the pcap perf?

like victory! – Phil

Q: When you melee a Slasher a few times in the OG game it starts to block your melee attack, Why was this not added in the remake?

A: Slashers can block, dodge, feign death in the original. Those are part of the most advanced behaviors that not everyone noticed but add to the depth of their behavior.

Isaac melee attack is not an efficient tool to damage enemies but instead helps push them away and give you well-needed breathing space.

In order to help understand that hiting enemies with melee is not a valid fight strategy, Slasher blocks your melee attacks after a while. Not only does it make them feel like they’re reacting properly to what happens, but it also send a signal to players to change their strategy. – Eric

Q: When did development (including preproduction) start on this game?

A: We started in September 2020. Most of our dev team came from the ramp off of Star Wars Squadrons which released around that time! – Phil

Dead Space Update 1.000.003

Q: A lot of people here have most likely noticed a lot of buffs to some Necromorphs. For example, pregnants charging at full speed (way faster than in the original entries) and Brutes not covering their fronts, thus not leaving themselves open to be stasis’d for an absurdly long time.

How did the team conclude that some Necromorphs needed these buffs and what other alternatives were considered?

A: Recreating Necromorphs was not an easy task as most of them have complex behaviors, such as changing states, dodging attacks, feigning death, etc.

However, it was important for us to keep them as fun as in the original but also adding a small twist to some of them to make them feel a bit unique and still surprise players.

The Spitter is a great example of an enemy variation that was present in Dead Space 2 and that changes the pacing of fight encounters in the Remake.

Our design process for those changes was based on fun and quality of the experience for the player. One Necromorph I particularly appreciate is the Twitcher, variations here are more subtles but the speed and reaction time of this enemy are really different and make it feel even more frantic and dangerous. We didn’t changed the design of it but just tried to enhance it, make it more efficient and ultimately more fun to play with. – Eric

Q: Is there any Easter eggs or secrets you put in the game that hasn’t been discovered yet?

A: A few, but considering how fast the community has been, by the time this comes out they might have been found! – Jo

Q: Why did you decide to add an alternative ending? Were there any other ideas about it or you knew what you want from the beginning?

A: The basic idea remained the same, though we discussed a few different approaches. In one of them, Isaac lost an eye (and still kept smiling…) – Jo

Q: Why did you change Isaac original face?

A: Isaac Clarke is Gunner Wright…Gunner Wright is Isaac Clarke… it’s his face! – Phil

Q: Can one of the writers explain how Chen the Slasher made the Valor crash?

A: It wasn’t just Chen. The infection spread rapidly once he was on board. The pilots and command crew were taken out (we see the attack in the briefing room in the video call) and then an explosion sealed the Valor’s fate. – Roman & Jo

You can read our review of Dead Space right here, where we state, “Simply put: It doesn’t matter if you’ve played and finished the original Dead Space or not, Motive Studio’s remake is a perfect reimagining of the franchise. This is how remakes should be, and I’m very glad Motive nailed it. Hopefully, this means that we’ll see a Dead Space 2 remake (which is the best one in the trilogy in my opinion) announced soon.”

Source: Reddit

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Alex Co

Father, gamer, games media vet, writer of words, killer of noobs.

Home > News

Wild Hearts Trophy List Revealed; Hints at “Deeply Volatile Kemono”

The full trophy list for the upcoming monster-hunting game “Wild Hearts” is finally here, and there are quite a few to gain by playing the game. There are 49 trophies to collect, with two gold and ten silver trophies among them. Requirements range from conjuring the “karakuri” support tools to taking down “deeply volatile kemono.”

Here’s the full list of trophies:

Wild Hearts Trophy List

WILD HEARTS
Obtained all trophies
  0.00%
ULTRA RARE
Land of the Rising Sun
Successfully reached Azuma, where kemono roam free
  0.00%
ULTRA RARE
Mountain Splitter
Successfully hunted the earthbreaker that appeared along the Harugasumi Way
  0.00%
ULTRA RARE
Bonds of Enmity
Successfully hunted the deathstalker ensconced in Fuyufusagi Fort
  0.00%
ULTRA RARE
Axer of Auspice
Successfully downed Amaterasu following the attack on Minato
  0.00%
ULTRA RARE
Reincarnation Cycle Stopper
Successfully hunted the source kemono, deep inside the sacred mountain
  0.00%
ULTRA RARE
Commencing of Quests
Successfully completed your first quest for a citizen of Minato
  0.00%
ULTRA RARE
Budding Conjuror
Successfully conjured 200 basic karakuri
  0.00%
ULTRA RARE
Expert Conjuror
Successfully conjured 1000 basic karakuri
  0.00%
ULTRA RARE
Karakuri Minato
Successfully conjured 15 dragon karakuri in Minato
  0.00%
ULTRA RARE
Karakuri Trail
Successfully conjured 30 dragon karakuri along the Harugasumi Way
  0.00%
ULTRA RARE
Karakuri Isle
Successfully conjured 30 dragon karakuri on Natsukodachi Isle
  0.00%
ULTRA RARE
Canyon of Karakuri
Successfully conjured 30 dragon karakuri in Akikure Canyon
  0.00%
ULTRA RARE
Karakuri Fortress
Successfully conjured 30 dragon karakuri at Fuyufusagi Fort
  0.00%
ULTRA RARE
Fusion Conjuror
Successfully conjured a fusion karakuri 50 times
  0.00%
ULTRA RARE
Memory Rouser
Successfully awakened 20 types of karakuri
  0.00%
ULTRA RARE
Distance Devourer
Successfully traveled a distance of 10,000 m by karakuri
  0.00%
ULTRA RARE
Master of the Skies
Successfully flew 150 m with a glider
  0.00%
ULTRA RARE
Man-Machine Master
Successfully used a karakuri attack 100 times
  0.00%
ULTRA RARE
Counter Specialist
Successfully deflected 20 kemono attacks using fusion karakuri
  0.00%
ULTRA RARE
Subsistence Skills
Successfully completed your first food processing
  0.00%
ULTRA RARE
Left Arm Leverager
Successfully activated your “hunter’s arm” 30 times
  0.00%
ULTRA RARE
Kemono Hunter
Successfully finished 30 kemono
  0.00%
ULTRA RARE
Relentless Kemono Hunter
Successfully finished 300 kemono
  0.00%
ULTRA RARE
Single Minded
Successfully finished 50 kemono with a single weapon type
  0.00%
ULTRA RARE
Volatile Vocation
Successfully hunted your first deeply volatile kemono
  0.00%
ULTRA RARE
Vanquisher of the Volatile
Successfully hunted a deeply volatile kemono in all areas
  0.00%
ULTRA RARE
Mighty Marmelizer
Successfully finished a mighty kemono inside 5 minutes
  0.00%
ULTRA RARE
Flawless Crystal
Successfully finished a kemono before it could land a single attack on you
  0.00%
ULTRA RARE
Fair Means or Foul
Successfully inflicted a status ailment upon a kemono 20 times
  0.00%
ULTRA RARE
Tender Touch
Successfully petted a small kemono 30 times
  0.00%
ULTRA RARE
Snare Specialist
Successfully caught 100 creatures in the wilderness
  0.00%
ULTRA RARE
Style Seeker
Successfully dyed armor for the first time
  0.00%
ULTRA RARE
Human Believer
Reach the limits of human-path affinity by modifying armor
  0.00%
ULTRA RARE
Kemono at Heart
Reach the limits of kemono-path affinity by modifying armor
  0.00%
ULTRA RARE
Unrivaled in Arms
Successfully obtained an extremely valuable weapon
  0.00%
ULTRA RARE
Bewitched by Bathing
Successfully developed every different restorative bath
  0.00%
ULTRA RARE
Hidden History
Successfully obtained your first document
  0.00%
ULTRA RARE
Superlative View
Successfully completed all building extensions and restorations
  0.00%
ULTRA RARE
Big Spender
Spent 30,000 on goods from the store
  0.00%
ULTRA RARE
Jack of All Trades
Successfully obtained 90 seals from Nobumitsu
  0.00%
ULTRA RARE
Tsukumo Whisperer
Successfully befriended 200 tsukumo
  0.00%
ULTRA RARE
Quintessence of Form
Successfully enhanced one tsukumo form to the maximum
  0.00%
ULTRA RARE
Team Hunter
Successfully completed 20 quests online
  0.00%
ULTRA RARE
Artful Assister
Successfully provided assistance 5 times
  0.00%
ULTRA RARE
Helpful Heart
Successfully revived a fellow hunter online for the first time
  0.00%
ULTRA RARE
Charmed by the Hunt
Successfully gathered your first talisman from the wilderness
  0.00%
ULTRA RARE
Threaded Harmony
Successfully enlarged a single dragon pit as much as possible
  0.00%
ULTRA RARE
Haven Hunter
Successfully opened up all possible camps
  0.00%
ULTRA RARE

One interesting detail in the trophies is the mention of “deeply volatile kemono.” As “kemono” are what the game calls its monsters, “deeply volatile kemono” could either refer to a stronger version of an existing kemono species, or a different, more powerful species of kemono (such as Monster Hunter’s Elder Dragons).

Wild Hearts launches on February 17 this year on PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC.

Source: PSNProfiles

Carlos Perez

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Overwatch 2 Map Pools to Be Removed in Season 4 Due to Lack of Maps and Poor Player Reception

Overwatch 2’s map pool system will be removed, according to a recent article on the Blizzard website. The system will no longer be present starting Season 4, after which players will be able to play with a wider variety of maps in any given game.

The original reason for the map pool system in Overwatch 2, according to director Aaron Keller, was to allow the team to focus on a few maps at a time, but players generally didn’t receive this well. There also weren’t enough maps to actually warrant a map pool system in the first place, which is why the system is being scrapped. 

Here’s the full quote from the Blizzard article:

We aimed to provide a bit of freshness each season and concentrate the number of maps that people were playing, however player sentiment around map pools was pretty low, the map roster doesn’t have enough maps where we truly need them, and the impact they had on seasonal identity was fairly low. Additionally, the cadence for maps leaving and returning to the pool didn’t align with the time it took to make changes to the maps. Gibraltar was supposed to return in Season 4 but the playtesting and iteration we were doing for the map started calling that deadline into question. 

Still, that doesn’t mean that the map pool system is gone for good. The article mentions that it may return when more maps are added.

There’s the possibility that we bring map pools back in the far future when we have a lot more maps in the game. If we were to bring them back, they would probably rotate at a faster rate, potentially every week. If you hate this idea, set a reminder for 2 years from now and let us know!

With the announcement that map pools were going to be removed, Keller also revealed that the system did not favor one particular map over another, but the system wasn’t entirely “random” either, as it would prevent you from getting the same map and mode for a duration.

We have been looking into this based off of player reports and there is a detail of the matchmaking system that does elevate Push maps a bit. The matchmaker tries to avoid people playing the same map as well as the same game mode over a short period of time. Since Push has fewer maps than other game modes this could cause those maps to come up more frequently than game modes with more maps.

The article closed with a mention that Blizzard has changed the challenges that players grind for during events. Instead of being centered around the event game mode, more challenges will “let you play the way you prefer” but will keep event game modes alive. 

Source: Blizzard

Carlos Perez

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The Division 2 Season 11 Delayed Indefinitely

Originally set for release this February 7, Ubisoft has announced that The Division 2 Season 11: Reign of Fire has been delayed without a proper release date.

This was revealed by Ubisoft over on official The Division Twitter account where the following statement was given

Agents,

In preparation for Season 11, we began experiencing a series of delays in our localization process., consequently impacting the experience for many players around the world. Therefore, after much discussion, we have made the difficult decision to move the release of Season 11 and the livestream to a later date.

We understand this is not the update our community wants to hear, and we appreciate your ongoing support. Because of your support, it is important for us to proide the best player experience possible with this update, and releasing the scheduled February 7 date would not deliver that. We will update you on a new release date as soon as we can. In the meantime, we apologise for the inconvenience.

We look forward to sharing more information about the Season 11 stream once we have it.

/The Division 2 Development Team

Hopefully, this delay won’t be too long. Once we know more details, we’ll be sure to share it.

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Alex Co

Father, gamer, games media vet, writer of words, killer of noobs.

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EA Signs Partnership with Back-to-Back F1 World Champ Max Verstappen

EA just managed to sign a major racing icon, and it’s none other than Formula 1 back-to-back World Champion Max Verstappen. The deal will allow Verstappen to “collaborate” and “create” content across EA Sports’ portfolio, which means that his likeness may appear in EA Sports titles, ads, and other forms of media moving forward.

Verstappen posted an announcement video of the signing on his Twitter account.

Here’s what Verstappen himself had to say about the partnership.

Whether it’s playing games with my friends or staying competitive when away from the track, EA SPORTS has always been a big part of my life. EA SPORTS is an icon for so many millions of fans, and I’m proud to represent them for the 2023 season.

EA Sports & Racing Brand SVP  Andrea Hopelain also commented on the signing:

Max is a tenacious competitor and true champion who shares a deep love of games and play. As he races into Formula 1 history, we are excited to collaborate with him as one of the best athletes in the world to bring more fans together through our EA SPORTS experiences.

As part of the deal, Verstappen will be sponsored by EA Sports during the 2023 season, with the EA Sports logo to be featured on the chin of the racer’s helmet.

Carlos Perez

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Alan Wake 2 to Be Remedy Entertainment’s “Biggest Project Yet” and Will Be “Welcoming” to New Players

Upcoming survival horror sequel Alan Wake 2 is set to be Remedy Entertainment’s “biggest project yet” and is made to be “welcoming” to new players, according to statements made by Creative Director Sam Lake.

In an article by GamesRadar, Lake talked about the much-anticipated sequel to Alan Wake. After the series was revealed to be connected to Remedy’s other eerie action title, Control, Alan Wake 2 is set to expand on what’s now known as the Remedy Connected Universe, or RCU for short. Here’s what Wake had to say about Alan Wake 2’s scale:

If anything, through these years, the dream of Alan Wake 2 has grown more ambitious and more unique. A game project like this is a very complex undertaking – it’s our biggest project yet – and a lot of different things need to come together. Not only the concept itself, but the timing and the right partners as well.

Alan Wake 2 was apparently in development for years, and with a new survival horror take on the horror title, Lake hopes to give the sequel a survival horror experience unique to Remedy:

I’d love to get into those kinds of details, but we are not quite ready to reveal too much about our approach to survival horror just yet. What I will say is that we very much want to put a stake in the ground and say we are creating Remedy’s take on the survival horror genre. Gameplay, narrative, atmosphere, music – it’s all singing from the same hymn sheet, and that was very important for us from the outset.

And while Alan Wake 2 will build upon the stories of the first title and, to an extent, Control, players won’t have to learn any of that to enjoy the sequel. In fact, Lake mentions that the goal was to make something that was more “welcoming” to a wider audience. Still, that doesn’t mean fans won’t be rewarded with interesting bits of lore and information, so there’s something for everyone to enjoy with the series’ second installment.

When we were creating the concept for Alan Wake 2, it was very much on our mind that we wanted to create an experience that was welcoming to all – both new players who may not be familiar with Alan Wake or the Remedy Connected Universe and our fans, who have been on the journey with us and enjoyed earlier Remedy games. Of course, if you have played games in the Alan Wake franchise, Control, and the Control: AWE DLC – there will be many connections, pieces of lore, and familiar characters for you to discover.

Alan Wake 2 launches this 2023 on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.

Source: GamesRadar

Carlos Perez

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Gran Turismo 8 in Development and Will “Have a Theme,” GT7 Not Supporting PSVR2 Controllers Explained

Gran Turismo series creator Kazunori Yamauchi confirmed that Gran Turismo 8 is currently in development. While he wasn’t able to share anything other than the fact that it’s in the works, he did offer a bit of a tease, stating that the game already has a “theme.”

The reveal was made in an interview with Japanese outlet GAME Watch. Here’s the full statement, as translated via DeepL:

–From an amateur’s point of view, “GT7” seems to have achieved all the necessary elements of a driving simulator. However, is there anything you would like to achieve in the future that cannot be realized with modern hardware, or any elements that are still lacking in Gran Turismo?

Mr. Yamauchi: Actually, we do have a theme. We are starting to work on the next one, but I can’t talk about it yet. It’s a shame that I can’t talk about it very much (laughs).

One other question directed towards Yamauchi was regarding the recently announced PSVR2 version of Gran Turismo 7. In particular, the interviewer asked why the game did not officially support the dedicated PSVR2 Sense controllers. Here’s the response:

–The PS VR2 comes with a dedicated “PS VR2 Sense Controller,” but what was the reason for not supporting it?

Mr. Yamauchi: We didn’t dare to make it compatible. Basically, you sit in the seat and use the gas pedal, brake, and steering wheel to control the car, so the DualSense functionality was enough for us. Also, many Gran Turismo players are serious about using the steering wheel controller, and the combination of PS VR2 and a steering wheel controller is “the exact same experience” as actually driving the car. “You get the same experience, so we focused on the two experiences of DualSense and the steering wheel controller.

As we basically know nothing else about Gran Turismo 8, we’ll just have to wait for more official information when it comes out, especially regarding the game’s apparent “theme.”

Source: GAME Watch

Carlos Perez

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Battlefield 2042 Drum & Extended Mag Changes From Update 3.2 Being Reverted, Breakaway CQ Playlist Coming in the Near Future

Are you playing Battlefield 2042 after update 3.2? If you think (or felt) that the changes made to some of the attachments were a bit much, you’re not alone. DICE has confirmed that Battlefield 2042 drum and extended mag changes are being reverted soon!

This was announced over on Twitter, where the studio states that this change didn’t meet their quality standards.

We’ve heard your concerns about the recent Drum and Extended Mag changes as part of Update 3.2. We’ll be reverting this change in the near future.

This change didn’t meet your, or our, quality standards and we will reassess how to improve and balance those changes for the future

It’s very important for us to act upon your feedback, and we’ll continue to make adjustments based on that feedback and the data we see as updates continue to roll out.

Keep your feedback coming, and enjoy Update 3.2!

Another thing coming in the near future is a Breakaway Conquest-only playlist! 

No word yet on when the changes or this playlist will be released, but once we know when, we’ll be sure to let our readers know.

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Alex Co

Father, gamer, games media vet, writer of words, killer of noobs.

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CrossfireX Shuts Down on May 18, Single-Player Campaigns Unplayable After Closure

Multiplayer online shooter CrossfireX is shutting down on May 18. The FPS title will offer refunds to those who made purchases for the game in the last two weeks, and Xbox Store sales have now been halted. No new content will be added to the game until its closure, either, so what’s available right now is all you can play with until the servers go down.

If you’ve been playing CrossfireX and have questions regarding the game’s closure, an official FAQ page was made to address potential concerns. Here’s the full list if you’re curious:

1) When will the CrossfireX servers officially close? 

  • The CrossfireX servers will officially close on May 18, 2023 – 00:00 UTC. 

2) Will I be refunded for my purchases made in CrossfireX? 

  • Purchases made within the last 14 days as of February 3, 2023, may be eligible for a  refund. Please submit a refund request via the following link. 

3) I made a purchase in the last 14 days, when will I receive my refund? 

  • Please click on the following link and request a refund. If you do not receive your refund  within a few days after it has been approved, please contact Xbox support at:  https://support.xbox.com/en-CA/

4) Will I still be able to play the CrossfireX campaigns? 

  • If you have previously purchased either of the single player campaigns, then you will be  able to enjoy and complete them until servers close on May 18, 2023 – 00:00 UTC. 

5) Why is the game closing? 

  • While our team worked hard to push out numerous content updates including fixes,  new maps, modes & in-game events, the game was ultimately not where it needed to  be. As a result, we have made the difficult decision to close the game. 

6) What will happen to my items & account progression? 

  • Access to player data (including CrossfireX player profiles, in-game progression and  purchased items) will remain with your account until the closure of CrossfireX on May  18, 2023. 

7) Why is the shop still open? 

  • We will keep the in-game shop open until the servers close to allow users to spend any  remaining currency, but we will be disabling the option to purchase CFP/GP. 

8) What will happen to the CrossfireX social media channels like Discord, etc.?

  •  The official CrossfireX social media channels will stop posting content but will still be  available to view. The Discord server will remain in a limited capacity for any support  issues.

It’s worth noting the question regarding the game’s campaigns. While single-player experiences, you’ll only be able to play them until May 18, so if you haven’t done them already, you might want to before the servers close.

Carlos Perez

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Armored Core 6 to Feature FromSoftware-Like Boss Fights, Arena Mode, Custom Emblems Per Producer

Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon will apparently feature dynamic, FromSoftware-like boss battles and multiplayer-centered elements and features, such as customizable and shareable emblems. The new Armored Core 6 info was revealed during the Taipei Game Show presentation held during the event.

The boss fights of Armored Core 6 are “dynamic,” with close-quarters and long-range combat variety, according to Armored Core 6 Producer Yasunori Ogura:

Boss battles in FromSoftware games often require close observation of enemy movements, to catch that little tell so that you know just when to attack, and how best to make your move. That’s certainly the case again in this title, so I am confident that our users will find the boss battles extremely enjoyable. Becaue of the use of mechs, both the player character and enemy characters have extremely dynamic movements. As robots, their dynamism is only matched by the aggressiveness of their movement. Attack distance, in particular, changes frequently, from close-range to far, then from far back to close again. In that respectg, the dynamic action of these battle scenes really serves to keep players on their toes.

While Ogura reiterated that the game’s story mode will be single-player only, he did talk a bit about the game’s multiplayer aspects. In particular, he talked about how there would be an online arena where you could battle against other players.

One other interesting online feature that’s making a return in Armored Core 6 is its custom emblems, which let players design their own emblems to display on their Armored Cores. These emblems will be shareable, too, so you can have other players don your emblems or vice-versa. Ogura also revealed that you can add weathering decals to your AC, which should let players make even more varied and unique AC designs.

When it comes to Armored Core 6’s difficulty, Ogura claims that FromSoft has put a focus on the game’s customization as part of what makes it “challenging.”

In this game, as always, we have striven to create a game that poses a stiff challenge for our players, and I’m confident we have achieved that. Our approach to the issue of difficulty level in “ARMORED CORE VI” is slightly different to other titles, in that the most distinctive feature of the “ARMORED CORE” series is the combination of parts to customize the player’s mech. As this lies at the title’s core, it is really the adjustment of these parts that is key to overcoming difficulties within the game.

You can watch the full interview with Ogura here:

Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon will launch sometime in 2023 on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam.

Carlos Perez

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It Takes Two Sales Reach Over 10 Million Copies Sold

It Takes Two, the award-winning co-op game by Hazelight Studios, just recently sold 10 million copies worldwide. This achievement comes just under two years after the game was initially released on March 26, 2021.

Hazelight Studios’ official Twitter account broke the news a few hours ago:

It Takes Two is arguably one of the most successful co-op-focused games in recent years. It’s won multiple awards, including the coveted “Game of the Year” award at The Game Awards 2021. It also won awards the following year in 2022 at the 25th Annual Design Innovate Communicate Entertain (D.I.C.E.) Awards and 18th British Academy Awards.

It’s worth noting that because It Takes Two is a co-op game, potentially even more than 10 million people have actually tried the game out. Interestingly enough, this isn’t the first game that celebrated a sales milestone in February. Hit PS5 title God of War Ragnarok also achieved a similar milestone, with 11 million total copies sold in under three months. 

If you’re thinking about trying It Takes Two for yourself, consider giving our review of the game a read. Here’s our verdict: “And at the end of the day, that is what stands out in It Takes Two. It’s fun. The game is effortlessly fun. While the marriage of gameplay and story wasn’t what I had hoped – I wasn’t ever really invested in May and Cody’s relationship – I was constantly having fun playing it. And for me, that is what matters most. Highly recommended.”

Carlos Perez