Kojima Productions has been a place where visitors have come from all the different countries to give Death Stranding an early look.

Kojima hasn't been very adamant about it and has welcomed a lot of people both from the entertainment and the video games industries.

This time around, a musician called Iain Cook, from the Scottish band CHVRCHES has stopped by the Japanese studio and spent some time with the game.

Of course, he was amazed.

"I was in Tokyo with the band, and we went to his studio, and he showed us around as well as showing us some work in progress on his new game Death Stranding," Cook said.

"I could have spent all day in there. He’s such an inspiration though, so brave and thinks like no one else. Some of the shit he is doing with the new game is unlike anything I have seen anyone else do. I have no idea how he’s going to make it work but I am confident that if anyone can do it, Kojima can."

Then added about the meeting with Kojima himself that "he came to the show and we went for some sushi afterward. I thought I was going to be star-struck, but he’s very cool and easy to talk to (once you get used to talking through an interpreter that is!) His office is so cool, it’s all classic horror memorabilia and Godzilla shit."

We know about the ambition of the Death Stranding project and look forward to seeing how it applies to a video game.

Anyway, the release date is still quite up in the air and will take a bit more before we can really learn about it.

Source

At a promotional event in Long Beach, a "Sony PR guy" told Average Caucasian Shark that Days Gone is aiming to become a "franchise."

According to this rep, indeed, Bend Studio is not thinking at the game as one single exploit but as something which could get more iterations.

"Franchise. The goal is always to make a game that people love and want more of," the rep told the website over the weekend.

Of course, it's still very early days as Days Gone hasn't even released yet - it's scheduled for April 26, 2019.

Considering we're at the end of the generation or so, there is a chance Days Gone 2 could get the PS5 treatment whenever it releases.

On top of that, it's still something that will need to go through the process of analyzing how the critics have welcomed the game and how it performed in terms of sales.

So, very early days, but rest assured that if there is an opportunity to make it, we'll get to play more Days Gone in the future.

In the meantime, do you know the main game is getting a DLC after the April 26 launch?

Source

We've already reported about The Last of Us Part II earlier today, with a first look at the weapon upgrade menu from the game.

Anyway, we're not over yet. Indeed, the game has been listed in the "coming soon" section on several PlayStation websites.

In particular, pages showcasing the Naughty Dog action adventure title as "coming soon" are from the UK, France, Germany, Netherlands, and Italy.

Of course, we know the game is coming soon, or better 'sooner or later', but there's something you should know first.

Indeed, The Last of Us Part II is being listed together with other titles we already know the release dates for.

On top of that, other games that have been long in the making like Death Stranding and Ghost of Tsushima are not listed in the same category.

Could this mean, at least, that The Last of Us Part II is coming on PS4 earlier that the Kojima Productions and Sucker Punch's exclusives?

We'll likely learn more about this over the year.

Source

In Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, precious bait is an item you can use in the game's final area, The Fountainhead Palace. It is an important item if you want to help out either of the Carp Scale Vendors and finished the Great Colored Carp's questline.

Precious Bait

Precious Bait can be found in several places in the game. You will need to have learned the dive ability. To do this, you must fight and defeat the Corrupted Monk at Mibu Village.

• There is a woman standing on the roof of a submerged building in the Fountainhead Palace. If you dive beneath the surface of the water here, you can find multiple pieces of Precious Bait. Just fully explore this underwater area to find them, they are very easy to see.
• Between the beams of the palace, under the water, in the main Fountainhead area.
• In the pool of water at the Guardian Ape's area.
• In the river, besides the mill that leads to the path where you fight the Corrupted Monk in Mibu Village.

You can feed the Precious Bait to the Great Colored Carp at the Fountainhead Palace Feeding Grounds. It is a little awkward to explain how to find the feeding grounds, so I made a short video showing the route which you can see below.

Truly Precious Bait

Feeding Precious Bait to the Great Colored Carp is a good way to get some Treasure Carp Scales, but what we are really here to do is kill that big fish. When you purchase the Mask Fragment from the strange Barrel Vendor in Hirata Estate, he will tell you he wishes to be a carp. If you haven't done this yet, travel back to Hirata and do it. When he tells you this, he will also give you a Truly Precious Bait.

Now, return to the Palace Feeding Grounds, ring the bell, and feed the Truly Precious Bait to the Great Colored Carp. The fish will swim away after eating the bait.

Now, travel to the Guardian Ape Idol, and you will discover the corpse of the Great Colored Carp. He will have dropped an item, the Great White Whisker. If you give this to the Feeding Attendant back at the Feeding Grounds, you will get a Divine Grass.

Return To The Barrel Vendor

If you return to the Barrel Vendor, you will discover that he has indeed achieved his dream of becoming a Treasure Carp. Unfortunately for him, he is not a giant, and mighty, version, instead he is just a small carp with glowing red eyes. He still wants Carp Scales, because now he thinks they will make him glow. He will, however, reward you with a Lapis Lazuli for helping him. 

In Warframe, the Halls of Ascension are puzzle rooms that can be found on Lua. Solving them will get you some interesting mods that can be important for certain builds.

Halls of Ascension

The Halls of Ascension can randomly spawn during many of the missions on Lua. You can never be sure which ones will spawn in a mission. As such, it helps to become familiar with what each room looks like so that you can identify it in the game. There are seven Halls of Ascension in total.

• Agility Test 
• Collaboration Test 
• Cunning Test 
• Endurance Test 
• Power Test 
• Speed Test 
• Stealth Test

While many of these rooms can be completed solo, it is better to do them with other people. If you are new to these rooms, you might also get lucky and have an experienced player in your squad to help you through it. 

Now, the methods by which these rooms are unlocked and completed is pretty complicated and is something that just works better in video than in text, in my experience.

As such, I would urge you to check out this video by Youtuber iFlynn. He does a great job of explaining each of the rooms, and how to solve them. He does this in real time, with no edits, so you never miss any details. 

Remember, you only need to get 4 of these Halls of Ascension completed to finish this challenge! As such, if you run into one that is just too tough, you can simply skip it. You can also do the same room over and over again, and it will still count towards the challenge.

Some of the bosses in Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice does not know how to stay down. You'll find that's the case with the Corrupted Monk, as you first encountered them in Mibu Village. Back then, you may have noticed they looked far too spiritual. Now, you're facing a significantly more physical Corrupted Monk, and though they seem far more real, you'll find several of their moves are still the same.

The Second Corrupted Monk Fight

Throw Previous Tactics Out the Window

When you first fought the apparition version of the Corrupted Monk, you may have found it easier to spam a couple of Snap Seeds, firecrackers, and focus on the offensive.  However, you're going to see the Snap Seeds do not affect the Corrupted Monk. You're better off deflecting their attacks and attacking every so often.

You're not going to find a unique method of defeating the Corrupted Monk. You want to parry a bunch, dodge their full attacks, jump on their head, and continue attacking them. You're going to find yourself winning based on the Monk's posture, as it does seem to take a significantly long time for it to recover.

Start Off Strong

There's a way you can start the fight better than merely beating the Corrupted Monk through its posture. As you enter the battle, attempt to grapple off to the right as soon as you enter the bridge. Continue to traverse the arena using the branches, and try to get behind the Monk from the tree line. You'll notice you have a sneak attack opportunity against them if you do these correctly. Feel free to take one of its three health bars away, immediately.

Now, you'll enter the next phase of the fight where the Monk summons dark illusions of itself. Unfortunately, you cannot use the Snap Seed to make them disappear. You'll have to deflect their attacks and hope you don't get hit. After you get attacked by the shadows three times in a row, the Corrupted Monk returns, and the two of you duke it out once more. Some players have reported you can enter the tree line again after the Monk gets hit the first time, and get a second sneak attack in. However, this method is not reliable, so don't bet on it.

The Corrupted Monk is Corrupted

After you take out two of the Monk's health bars, it'll go down, and you'll see how corrupt they are. Here, the giant centipede explodes from the Monk's head and starts lashing around. While the creature does not attack you directly, many of the Monk's attacks become far more violent.

There's a sweeping attack it does during this phase you can jump on their head, but a terror attack follows it. It's better to jump away from the sweep, dodge the terror, and focus on the Monk's posture. Its posture will recover far more quickly than during previous rounds, but the more health the boss loses, the slower the posture regeneration process is. After a while, you'll take it down and clear the first boss you fight in the Fountainhead Palace.

There have been some classic Aprils Fools jokes in gaming over the years. There have also been some terrible ones, that we are all better off forgetting. How does this year's crop measure up? Read on to find out some of the best, and worsts jokes this year.

League of Legends - Cats Vs. Dogs

Riot Games decided to have a pet show! Using what we assume are skins that will never make it to the actual game, cat and dog versions of well-known champs like Fizz and Corki take on Rengar and Yorick as they try to wow the crowd with their cute tricks.

Totally Accurate Rick-Rolling Simulator

Someone always goes for the Rick-Roll on April's Fools Day, but I really like what Landfall Games did here. Anyone who loads up Totally Accurate Battle Simulator today is in for a treat. Also, today is the day it launched. I really hope everyone is happy with their decision to purchase it! You can see their rendition of a hit from Rick Astley in the video from BaronVonGames linked above.

Competitive Farming

Complexity Gaming announced they would be fielding a team in a new area of competitive gaming, Farming Simulator! This one is made all the more funny by the fact that competitive Farming Simulator is actually a thing!

For Honor X Rabbids

If you load up Ubisoft's For Honor today, you will witness...well...a whole lot of something. Rabbids have been placed in the game, so if you have ever wanted to watch armies of the little critters going at it in a historical military setting, this is your chance.

PewDiePie Submits

PewDiePie has put out new music. A follow up to the song that started his war with the T-Series channel. In it, he very honestly congratulates T-Series on reaching the number one spot on Youtube. There are certainly no jokes, or insults, in this song. And it definitely doesn't mention any of T-Series' legal troubles.

Ubisoft’s The Division 2, released to critical acclaim last month. With massive improvements to the formula of the original game, critics and gamers alike were astonished at Ubisoft’s latest effort. The change of location to D.C along with the game’s constant reward system seemed to fix the major issues of the previous entry. It also helped that there was two failed “loot shooter” around the release of the game. By comparison, The Division 2 seemed like a breath of fresh air for the genre as a whole. The one major praise that critics continue to bestow on The Division 2 is that the end game content remains compelling. However, I believe that the A.I. is what makes The Division 2 shine. 

Brain-Dead 

The A.I. of most games within the genre is usually braindead bullet sponges. They pose a treat to the player in terms of doing a lot of damage, but the actual tactics they use are generally lackluster. Games like Destiny and Anthem feature enemies that literally stand out in the open and take as much damage as they possibly can from you. Players usually have over-leveled gear that requires the same strategy as any number of their under-leveled weapons. Essentially, players aren’t expected to face any semblance of a challenge until they reach the endgame and even then, the enemies are usually just more annoying variations of their earlier versions.

Without a proper challenge, the entire experience of a shooter feels pointless. There must be consequences to your actions or else the game feels redundant. Why take cover when you can just mindlessly walk up to an enemy and blow their faceoff point blank? A degree of skill is present in all first and third person shooters that makes mastering the mechanics of the game feel rewarding. However, in the “loot shooter” genre, there seems to be an emphasis on level stats as opposed to actual gunplay, which means that players with a higher level will always trump players with better skills. Some say this is by design, but I believe that its an inherent flaw of the. The resulting experience born from this method is one that has A.I. that refuses to take cover or implement advanced tactics. This remained a stable of the genre until the release of The Division 2 last month.

Divide & Conquer

The A.I. found in The Division 2 is nothing short of brilliant. Not only will enemies flank you, use callouts, switch up their strategies, but they also play by the same rules as you. Meaning that while their bullets can prove deadly towards the player, you’re just as lethal towards them. The fact that most encounters take place in tight/well-designed locations gives The A.I. of The Divison 2 plenty of room to flex their intelligence. Rarely did I ever feel like I was killed due to cheap game design or a lack of proper tools. No matter how high my level got, there was also a need to keep my guard up and play to the best of my abilities. Whether I was in a group or solo, The A.I. remained a rewarding adversary. 

Ubisoft’s ability to pull this off in a game like The Divison 2 is truly something amazing. I always welcomed the help of strangers because I felt like their presence was warranted. Even if our entire party was the same level, we still had moments of complete chaos where all of us would go down, or the enemies would flank us. The gradual increase of difficulty found within the game was also an amazing sense of progression. My previous issues with the genre were that I was always waiting for the game to become fun. Fun to me is something challenging and the design of other “loot shooters” made it that I had to grind for hours to see that content. 

The Divison 2 however, is game that reminds me of the excellent A.I. found 2005’s F.E.A.R. Every gunfight matters and rewards the player with incremental increases to their arsenal. Moving forward, all games in the genre should take note of how The Division 2 forces players to work together and actually use the social aspects of the genre. The Division 2 is out now for PS4, XBO, and PC.

Has Borderlands 3 release date been accidentally revealed, or is it just an elaborate April Fools Prank?

April the 1st is usually a cautious time for gamers. It is on this day that many game developers release faux video game announcements, all under the pretense of it being a cruel and sad prank. While most of these pranks are overall harmless, there are some that go a little bit too far.

It is currently unknown if this Borderlands 3 announcement is one of those cruel pranks, or if it was a genuine leak.

Borderland 3, after weeks of buildup, was officially released at PAX East. The trailer showed off new and returning characters and promised a billion guns in the game. It was everything fans would have wanted.

No official release date was given, so fans have been waiting for any formal announcement. Early today, we may have gotten an accidental reveal for Borderland’s release date.

On the official Borderlands 3 Twitter account, a tweet was sent out with the words “Mayhem is Coming September 13. Pre-order now for the Gold Weapon Skin Pack.” The tweet also had an image of golden keys that are probably representations of the gold weapons.

Twitter user Warior64 was able to save a screenshot of the tweet.

Through a now deleted tweet, Borderlands 3 release date is September 13th https://t.co/BMX7q1kXbghttps://t.co/uqRYyRwANDpic.twitter.com/wJ7wC3Tkkw

— Wario64 (@Wario64) April 1, 2019

Usually, when this kind of information is released on April Fool’s Day, most fans would take this information with a grain of salt. However, what makes this tweet feel more legitimate than others is the fact that it was released with so little fanfare.

Most of the time, corporates will go out of their way to make their reveals as believe as possible, even if it’s something completely unbelievable. The tweet made the release date seem more like a matter of fact, rather than a grand reveal.

The tweet has now been deleted, which adds more credence to the fact that the release date is real. If this is an April Fool’s Prank, it would have been left alone.

Despite all the arguments that support the release date being real, and the tweet was accidentally released, this whole situation could be an elaborate prank by the developers. It is possible they purposely release that tweet on this day to drive fans crazy and even quickly deleted the tweet to add credence to it.

It would certainly be a very elaborate, yet brilliant April Fool’s Prank.

With that said, if the tweet did have the real release date, then it is fortunate that it was released on this day of all days. If it was any other day, we would have totally believed it.

When Risk of Rain 2 launched last week on PC, fans were greeted with a somewhat polished game that had all the secrets, challenges, and allure of the original game that launched all those years ago.

Console players, however, were left with more questions and answers as no console release was confirmed at the time. That didn't stop some eagle-eyed fans, however, from looking into the games files to seek answers for questions Hopoo Games were not commenting on.

And would you behold, someone was able to find Nintendo Switch files located in the games files, albeit for the controllers that do have Steam support. One file does stick out from the rest, however. The one that mentions "Handheld.asset" as this file would only be added to a Switch game to allow the title to be played in the handheld mode with both Joy-Con controllers attached to the system,

While these files do not point towards a Risk of Rain 2 console port anytime soon, fans are still hopeful of some form of announcement in the future. Hopoo Games have gone on record saying they plan to release the game on consoles for version 1.0, but have no plans to bring the current early access version of the game to Xbox One, PS4, and Nintendo Switch anytime soon.

Still, if you want to at least get a feel for the game with a console controller, nothing is stopping you from doing so. Just plug in your PS4, Xbox One, or Nintendo Switch controller of choice and have some fun.

H/T Spiel Times

Those who pay for the Pokémon Bank online services will be getting two new Pokémon for free.

Pokémon Bank is a paid, online service that is for the Nintendo 3DS. The service allows players to store and transfer their Pokémon. The Pokémon are stored in an online storage system, and gamers are capable of transferring the Pokémon they capture in the games they own.

In the coming months, those who have Pokémon Bank are gifted two Pokémon; Passimian and Oranguru; both Pokémon were introduced in Pokémon Sun and Moon.

Passimian is a pure fighting type Pokémon, which can only be found in Pokémon Sun and Ultra Sun. These Pokémon are based on Lemurs. Oranguru is a normal/psychic type Pokémon, and they could only be caught in Pokémon Moon and Ultra Moon. These Pokémon are based on Orangutans.

The Passimian and Oranguru that Pokémon Bank subscribers get come with a hidden ability. Passimian’s hidden ability is called defiant; it raises its attack stats by two points. Oranguru’s hidden ability is symbiosis; in double battles, if Oranguru’s partner uses a held item, Oranguru will then hand them Oranguru’s own held item.

 To get these gift Pokémon, you need to be a Pokémon Bank subscriber by October 31, 2019. Select the Pokémon Bank app on your 3DS, and on the app select which game you’ll want your gift Pokémon to be sent. Then turn on the game, head to the nearest Pokémon Center in the game, and talk to the delivery person. The delivery person will then give you your gift Pokémon.

Pokémon Bank costs $4.99 a month, and is available to purchase on the Nintendo eShop.

The PlayStation Store has updated their refund policy, offering buyers to refunds for digital pre-orders and for purchases that are two weeks old.

Sony has changed the cancellation policy for the PlayStation Store. Now buyers can cancel any pre-order game they purchase through the PSN, and they will get refunded. Buyers can even still request a refund for pre-orders fourteen days after the game is officially released.

However, the catch is that buyers are denied a refund if they downloaded, or pre-downloaded, the game already. Sony will only refund downloaded products if it turns out to be “faulty.” What they mean by faulty is specified; it is ambiguous enough that it can apply to any downloaded product that a buyer may have issues with.

Most refunds are returned to buyers’ PlayStation Wallets. Funds in your PS Wallets are only used to purchase content on the PlayStation Network.

This news is coming off the heels of Sony announcing they will no longer have retailers sell digital copies of their games.

After a month of waiting, DMC 5’s Bloody Palace is finally here. While you’ve probably finished the campaign of DMC 5 by now, you’ve probably yet to clear all of the bonus challenges and difficult modes. For the demon hunters out there who are thirsty for even more content, Capcom has you covered! The Bloody Palace has made its graceful return and promises to push all demon hunters to their limits!

But what is The Bloody Palace? The Bloody Palace is a legacy mode of the DMC series and its essentially a wave-based horde mode. The game throws its entire roster of enemies at you as you attempt to survive the gauntlet. Naturally, you're expected to style on your enemies as you would in the main campaign. However, the main twist in The Bloody Palace is that you have a set limit of time to complete each level. Don’t worry, yet, each kills nets you even more time on the clock. Every ten levels or so you’ll be expected to defeat one of the bosses of DMC so be prepared for a challenge! For skilled enough players who manage to make it to the end of the palace, a special award awaits.

The DMC 5 interaction of The Bloody Palace allows players to pick from any of the three main playable characters. All of your devil arms, orbs, and literally any progress that you’ve made will carry over to the mode. Each character has a unique palace designed around their playstyle, but the overall goal is the same; survive. New to DMC 5 is the ability to save your progress in the middle of your run. Dying will naturally force you to restart the palace, but in between rounds, you can actually hold your place. There’s also a warm-up option where you can jump to any level that you’ve already finished and practice some moves. Overall, The Bloody Palace remains precisely what fans would expect and want; which is a brutal challenge not made for the faint of heart.

I’d highly recommend finishing the main campaign twice and purchasing all upgrades before attempting The Bloody Palace. DMC 5 expects players to be fully equipped and ready for anything whenever they step foot into the palace. However, The Bloody Palace is also great for demon hunters who just wanna kill demons without any rhyme or reason. It’s also a great place to grind for orbs if you’re desperate for a new upgrade. Devil May Cry 5 is out now for the PS4, XBO, and PC.

Perhaps one of the strangest April Fools announcements would be Ubisoft’s Rainbow Is Magic Event for Rainbow Six Siege. Yes, the gritty operators of Rainbow Six Siege are bearing dangerously pink outfits for the entire week. Not only that, but the map “Plane” has been completely renovated to match the cuteness overload.

Only select operators are available on this map; there’s also a new announcer to match with the theme. This version of the map is available till April 8, but players have until April 15 to unlock all of the rainbow theme items. 

As usual, Ubisoft has gone above and beyond for their April Fools joke and players are enjoying it. Random events such as this are what help keep Rainbow Six Siege amongst the top played games on the market. For those of you who feel like you need more magical sunshine in your life, Rainbow Six: Siege is out now for PS4, XBO, and PC.

The original Driveclub was one of the first major next-gen driving games for the PS4. The amazing graphics stunned critics and gamers alike but the horrible launch of the game killed much of its momentum. Eventually, however, the game managed to find its fanbase and became a favorite racing title with a niche market on the PS4. Unfortunately, Sony recently announced that the servers for Driveclub would be shutting down on March 31, 2020. As a result, the generally favorable VR version will follow suit a little sooner than expected.

On August 31, 2019, Driveclub VR will be removed from the PlayStation Store. Although like the original version, Driveclub VR did receive a physical release so players can still experience the singleplayer content. While the game didn’t exactly set the industry on fire, it’s still sad to see a fanbase lose a beloved title. Sources say that the game is being pulled from Sony's virtual store due to licensing reasons. Apparently, this is a standard procedure within the genre, and Driveclub just happened to reach the end of that deal. Former Driveclub developer; Paul Rustchynsky, confirmed this on twitter. 

To be clear the game, like most racing games, it is being delisted for licensing reasons. It's standard practice across the industry for ~5yr deals, so buy it before it's gone forever.

— Paul Rustchynsky (@Rushy33) March 31, 2019

Yes, the original game and its VR version featured single player content, but Driveclub specifically was geared towards social racing. Like all titles, however, if you purchase Driveclub VR before it’s removal from the store, you’ll still be able to download it from your library. For the time being, Driveclub and Driveclub VR are out now exclusively for the PS4.

From Bloodborne to Spider-Man, Sony has dominated the exclusive front for the entire 8th generation of consoles. Nearly every exclusive has been critically acclaimed and worthy of praise. Even as the 8th generation seems to be winding down, games like The Last Of Us 2 are still on the horizon. Although, despite all of these highly anticipated titles, there seem to be one black sheep that’s gotten lackluster response after response. Even at its initial E3 debut, terms such as generic and stereotypical were often thrown its way. Combined that with its seeming bargain bin Walking Dead characters and you have a game that’s barely on anyone’s radar. The game in question would is SIE Bend’s Days Gone. 

In a world where we have The Last of Us 2 and now the hugely successful Resident Evil 2, your zombie game is going to have to do a lot to impress gamers. The novelty of shooting hordes of mindless zombies has long worn off for players. While the game’s graphics and mechanic have never looked poor, I’ve always felt a sense of wanting more from the game. Mind you, these are all impressions that I’ve gotten from previews, but things could change once the full game releases. Nevertheless, there are ways that Days Gone can surprise the industry and become another classic franchise among the many lists of PS4 exclusives. 

Open World

Taking advantage of your open world is one aspect that Days Gone can stand out. The previous zombie games that I listed don’t exactly thrive in open world environments and Days Gone can create a unique niche for its self. An extreme focus on the biker aspect of the game can really make players feel like Days Gone isn’t just your average third person zombie survival game. Having player scavenge for bike upgrades or choosing between previous upgrades to their bike or weapons could make for some interesting dynamics. Think of how Resident Evil 2 makes players decide between which resource are more important and to use them. 

Also, making the open environment truly feel lived in as well as abandoned can go along way. Players should be able to name countless landmarks within your open world and navigate without having to use a map towards the end of your game. It’s really easy to tell when a developer copied pasted their environments and Days Gone should attempt to go above and beyond with immersing its players. 

Weapons And Gadgets

Since you’re going to be spending most of your time doing this, combat should have a certain weight to it. Each weapon should feel grounded and unique to the world. This is a post-apocalyptic game after all so get creative with the gadgets and weapons. I’m not asking for Ratchet & Clank levels of creativity but make great weapons. 

Enemies

Make your enemies intimidating! The reason games like The Last of Us and Resident Evil are loved is because they force you to use your head. The enemies in those games are deadly and relentless monsters that will expend your resources. The most interesting aspect of the game that I’ve seen so far was the World War Z style of zombies, meaning that they would swarm the players like a wave and it was technically and visually impressive. There are elements like this that have potential, but I feel like the SIE haven’t properly marketed the best aspects of their game. 

Deacon St. John - The Lead Protagonist

This is me personally, but the main character of the game has never screamed interesting. Deacon St. John always seemed like generic male protagonist #500 that I'm supposed to relate to for...reasons I guess? Maybe I'm too harsh on the character, but your story has to have something to say. Trailers have given off a more serious tone unlike games like Dead Rising, so I hope that the writers have a strong enough voice to make me care. Because the key to any horror story is having the horror the catalyst for some form of social commentary or personal story.

With the release date a few weeks away, Days Gone’s time to shine is coming soon. While Sony’s first party studious have earned my trust when it comes to quality games, Days Gone still has a lot to prove. Days Gone releases April 22, 2019, exclusively for the PlayStation 4. 

No one knows when the redemption arc of Capcom is coming to an end, but gamers aren’t complaining. After reviewing their stable series such as Monster Hunter and Resident Evil, Devil May Cry was naturally up next. Everyone thought that the 2012 reboot would be the final entry into the franchise, but here we are in 2019 with Devil May Cry 5. And unlike previous entries into the series, Devil May Cry 5 wasn’t held back by any budget/time restraints or taken in any drastically different directions. This is Devil May Cry distilled into its purest form!

Story

So what have the demon hunters been up to lately? This latest entry takes place after the events of Devil May Cry 4 and sees Dante, Nero, and the mysterious V, facing off against their greatest threat yet. The overall story of Devil May Cry 5 is exactly what you’d expect and want from the series. Wacky/over the top characters are tasked with defending the human world from the demon world. This entry jumps straight into the action as if the extremely long gap between games never existed. 

Characters such as Nico and V are awesome editions to the cast while Dante and Nero remain just as cool as you remember. There’s also an extreme amount of lore and fan service that fleshes out the world of Devil May Cry like never before. Usually, fans would have to depend on external sources for their backstory, but the game does a great job with Nico’s journal entries. 

The overall plot is admittedly generic at first until certain reveals are made. Although some of them are predictable, they’re the kind of reveals that fans have been dying for. Strangely enough, this is perhaps the most feel-good Devil May Cry game. There’s a sense of closure by the time you reach the credits, and the game has fun with what it's trying to do. 

Graphics/Sound

Comparing the game to its original anime influence style is offputting at first, but Capcom’s RE engine truly does shine throughout the game. The fact that the same engine that made Resident Evil 7 and Resident Evil 2 can facilitate the imagery of Devil May Cry 5 is astonishing. Never before has a Devil May Cry game felt as realistic as it does here and the characters are photorealistic. This is definitely a game that had hours of love and effort poured into its art style, and it perfectly merges technology and art. My only true gripe is that the color pallet of some levels can feel very similar but not enough to ruin the experience by any means. 

As for the sound, it's exactly what you’d expect from a Devil May Cry game. Swords clash with a piercing sharpness and enemies all have unique sounding attacks. The voice acting is also top-notch, and every actor knocks it out of the park. Even Nico’s unique accent is something that I grew to love throughout the game. As for the music, I’d be lying if said I didn’t hate “Devil Trigger” at first. But its definitely one of those songs that you go from mocking to singing unironically eventually. While I personally would never probably listen to any of the featured songs in my spare time, they definitely fit and don’t feel out of place. Everything just melds well to create an exciting presentation. 

Gameplay

The gameplay of Devil May Cry 5 is...well this may sound hyperbole, but its… well, it's literally the greatest character action gameplay ever designed! The gameplay is varied enough for casuals to have fun but deep enough that the skill level is infinite. Not only that but characters such as Dante have so many options that a separate character can be built from one of his many weapons. You literally can not buy every move in the game on a single playthrough without grinding for orbs here and there. 

Players returning from Devil May Cry 4 will feel right at home with Nero. Most of his original combos return with a few new ones, but his new Devil Breakers are what set him apart. Due to some unfortunate events, Nero loses his arm at the start of the game and has to use Nico’s Devil Breakers. Essentially these are arms that allows him to punch enemies with a rocket arm, slow down time, propel himself in the air, and numerous other abilities. You can even escape enemies attacks by destroying your current Devil Breaker or use an extremely powerful attack that will also destroy your current Devil Breaker. Overall, the systems add enough variety to Nero to make him feel fresh again. 

Next up we have everybody's favorite emo boy; V. At first I hated V’s character based on principle but his arc in the game made me really appreciate him over time. Nevertheless, his gameplay one where you let your minions do the work for you. V can send out his pet demons that use long-ranged and close-ranged attacks that must be timed properly for huge damage. The only way that V can finish off enemies is with a killing blow where he teleports in and stabs them. 

His entire playstyle is something new to the series and one that requires more patience and positioning. My first experiences with him were filled with frustration because I used to always getting in close and personal to enemies. However, once you purchase more moves for V and get into a certain rhythm, he’s perhaps the easiest demon hunter to use at face value at least. He wasn’t my favorite character to use, but I appreciated his inclusion in the game because it really switched things up during the campaign. 

Finally… we have the legendary Dante who has too many abilities to name here. Dante’s gameplay is all about style switching and using all of your weapons. Sure you can get SSS ranks by using one style/weapon at a time, but the game really wants you to experiment with all of his tools. Honestly, the number of options I had was overwhelming but in a good way. Dante is made for players that plan on making those epic Youtube montages or those players that want to push the game to its absolute limit. Overall, I loved his gameplay even though I’m far from mastering everything he can do or even purchasing all of his moves yet. 

Overall Value

Even after you beat the campaign, there are countless other modes to go through. On higher difficulty modes, enemies gain new moves and new enemies appear in certain locations. To truly even say you “beat” the game, in my opinion, you should clear the campaign twice. Even then, The Bloody Palace mode was just released for free and more DLC is on the way. Similar to how you replay a fighting game to get better, Devil May Cry 5 demands that you learn the intricacies of its varied cast of characters. For those of you that love slaying demons and eating pizza, Devil May Cry 5 is out now for PS4, Xbox One, and PC!

Radiation damage in Warframe is a secondary elemental damage type. It is caused by mixing two primary element damage types. By mixing the primary damage types Electricity and Heat, we can cause radiation damage. Radiation damage is very effective against Alloy Armor and is the current best damage to do while hunting Eidolons.

To complete the Reactor Challenge, you need to kill 150 enemies with Radiation Damage.

How To Do Radiation Damage

To cause Radiation damage, you need to mix Heat and Electricity mods in your weapon build. Mixing these two damage types will cause your primary, secondary or melee weapon to do Radiation damage. As you can see in the image above, the Electricity and Heat mods interact to cause Radiation damage.

There are also some weapons in the game that will do innate Radiation damage. While it is easier to simply use mods to cause Radiation damage with any weapon you wish, it can be helpful to know which weapons in the game do specific damage types. As an example, by using an Electricity and a Heat mod on a weapon that already does Radiation damage, you will greatly increase the amount of Radiation damage it does.

• Arca Plasmor (primary)
• Battacor (primary)
• Mutalist Quanta (primary)
• Phantasma (primary)
• Secura Penta (primary)
• Cycron (secondary)
• Detron (secondary)
• Mara Detron (secondary)
• Nukor (secondary)
• Ocucor (secondary)
• Secura Dual Cestra (secondary)
• Staticor (secondary)
• Dark Dagger (melee)
• Dark Split-Sword (melee)
• Dark Sword (melee)

Mirage's Prism attack, Nova's Anitmatter Drop, and Oberon's Hallowed Ground abilities all do Radiation damage as well. You should have no problem quickly wrapping up this challenge.

Phil Spencer has just dropped one of his Twitter-based teasers for what's to come about Xbox, as he'll be embarking on a journey very soon.

As he shared on the social network, indeed, he'll be in Japan and Korea in order to meet several publishers and developers.

These meetings will be functional to the preparation of the Xbox E3 2019 media briefing, where there'll be the usual series of foreign games.

On top of that, Spencer will also be briefing those partners about the "future plans" the gaming division at Microsoft has in store for the next couple hours.

"Looking forward to the week in Korea and Japan visiting studios and publishers," he told his followers on Twitter.

"Always inspired by the great games these studios are delivering. Talking about E3 and getting input on future plans is always fun."

So, it's interesting that these talks won't stop at the E3 2019, which is in June, but will also cover "future plans."

Xbox has in store a next-gen console family, which should span across two different platforms, and the streaming platform Project xCloud, so definitely Spencer will have a lot to talk with his partners over in Asia.

Looking forward to the week in Korea and Japan visiting studios and publishers. Always inspired by the great games these studios are delivering. Talking about E3 and getting input on future plans is always fun.

— Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) 31 marzo 2019

We've been waiting for quite a long while about PSN name change update news, but those haven't dropped as early as anticipated.

After a quick beta, it even looked like there could be some technical issue that could've prevented the feature to be released at all.

While there's a timeframe engineers at Sony need to use to fully deploy and support the feature, there's a bit of impatience and even concern among supporters for it.

Well, it seems like there's no reason for concern at all, as Sony is still working on the update and will probably have more to say on the topic very soon.

The confirm arrives directly from the recent refund policy change on PlayStation Network, since the feature is mentioned over there.

It specifically talks about "refunds for changing your online ID on PlayStation Network," something that is not possible today but will probably be 'tomorrow'.

"You cannot cancel or obtain a refund for your purchase of a change of Online ID," claims the newest policy.

Let us remind you of how this works: the first PSN name change will be free, then it'll cost $9,99 for future changes.

So, be prepared as it seems the gears are finally in motion for the name change on PSN.