SNK will bring a collection of their older games in one package to the Nintendo Switch in order to celebrate the company’s 40th anniversary. Despite SNK being best known for classic fighting game franchises like FATAL FURY and The King of Fighters but they’ve also published a number of other games in a variety of genres. We knew that the 40th Anniversary Collection would include classic SNK games like Ikari Warriors (and it’s sequel), Chrysalis and P.O.W but now SNK has also revealed 5 of the 10th free DLC add-on games that will launch later on.
SNK 40th Anniversary Collection will be released on November 13th 2018 with a special Collector’s Edition available through the NIS web store.
These additional games include:
Munch Mobile
In Munch Mobile, control a car with a human limb and cruise through various scenic routes to reach your ultimate destination: the garage. Pick up various objects along the way, such as fruit and gas canisters. What a handy vehicle, don’t you think?
Fantasy
Your sweetheart has been captured and it’s time to get her back in Fantasy! To rescue your loved one, trek through the wild jungles and soar above the sea—seems like nothing can get in between you and Sherry!
Sasuke vs. Commander
As the title suggests, in Sasuke vs. Commander, you are the legendary shuriken-wielding ninja Sasuke. You must protect your master, the Shogun, against enemy ninja. Fulfill your duty in this classic set in feudal Kyoto!
Chopper I
“Emergency! This is not a drill!” It doesn’t get much more metal than this! Shoot up tanks, ships, planes, and more to defend against enemy troops. See if you’ve got enough firepower to carry out your mission in Chopper I!
Time Soldiers
Traverse through time with the “D-Scanner” to rescue your comrades in Time Soldiers. There’s just one caveat: if you’re not in the correct place in history, you must defeat that era’s boss before making the leap to the right time period your fellow soldier is trapped in.
Trading card game / action RPG Hand of Fate 2 will make the leap from PlayStation 4 & Xbox One to the Nintendo Switch it was announced today. Players collect a number of different pieces of equipment, loot and other gameplay surprises as collectable cards contained within a deck. The NPC dealer has his own surprises shuffled into the deck that await any daring adventurers who might dream of making the discovery of a lifetime. In Hand of Fate 2 once all of the cards are on the table players will deal with any challenges in a real-time action RPG setting.
Hand of Fate 2 brings several enhancements over the original including an over-world that displays all of the available main story missions, side quests and additional content available – something that the first game lacked. Combat within the ARPG sections has also been vastly improved upon according to the developers.
On Nintendo Switch Hand of Fate 2 will include the base game and all previously released DLC in one package. It will be released on July 17th with a price of $29.99 USD and will support a number of languages including English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, Russian, Hungarian, Ukrainian, Japanese, Korean, and Simplified Chinese.
Fans of Blazblue, RWBY, Under Night: Rebirth or Persona 4: Arena should be excited because ARC System Works just dropped two new character packs as paid DLC alongside Yang from Team RWBY as a free add-on for all platforms.
Character Packs #2 contains:
Jubei (Under Night: Rebirth)
Aegis (Persona 4: Arena)
Carmine (Blazblue)
Character Pack #3 contains:
Hakumen (Blazblue)
Naoto (Persona 4: Arena)
Vatista (Under Night: Rebirth)
Each pack is available separately for $4.99 CDN or as part of the $19.99 CDN Season’s Pass. Alongside the first character pack which was free for the first 14 days of release, we’ve had 9 of the promised 20 DLC characters released thus far. No word yet on who Character Pack #4 might contain but the Anti-Shadow Suppression Weapon, Labyrsm as she has been datamined in adorable Chibi form.
Fans of 2016’s Final Fantasy XV got confirmation at the Penny Arcade Expo that a season 2 of downloadable content is upcoming alongside the unexpected news that the multiplayer focused expansion, titled Comrades, will be receiving a major update this summer and a stand-alone release.
We’ve known for a while now – since the release and confirmation of March’s FFXV: Royal Edition – that brand new episodic DLC episodes could be a possibility.
Thanks to ResetERA User Reyes, who provided high quality copies of slides presented during the Final Fantasy XV: The Dawn of the Future panel that the next season of FFXV DLC will include:
Episode Ardyn: “The Conflict of the Sages”
Episode Aranea: “The Beginning of the End”
Episode Lunafreya: “The Choice of Freedom”
Episode Noctis: “The Final Strike”
All four of Season 2’s episodes will be directed by the same director as Season 1’s Episode: Ignis. An alternate ending to the game will be presented in Episode III: Notics – “The Final Strike”, Season 2 of DLC is set to begin at the end of this year and continue into the summer of 2019.
Comrades, an add-on expansion from Season 1 which allows players to create their custom avatar and take them during Chapter 13 of the story will receive multiple updates as well as a standalone version that can be played without the base game.
Here’s the full DLC schedule as presented at the panel:
I’m glad the rumoured (and honestly absurd) Final Fantasy XV: Versus episode ended up being nothing more than fan speculation. With almost two years of post-release content, now multiple Season Passes and a collection of free updates, FFXV has improved markedly from the initial release. I know fans wanted the development team to embrace Nomura’s original script and ideas – but I think expanding the characters and world of XV is a much better choice.
City simulator Cities Skylines has received at least one major free patch full of features with the release of every expansion. For owners of the Xbox One version of Paradox Interactive’s municipal management game today’s patch could be one of the best yet – adding something that only PC players have enjoyed up until this point, mod support.
Brand new buildings and in-game items will be added for free through the addition of mods. Both Paradox Interactive and Tantalus Media will be curating through community submitted modifications to bring new content to the Xbox One version of Skylines. From their official press release it doesn’t look like some of the additional features available to PC players for the longest time, like auto bulldoze and automatic tax adjustments, will be making their way to Xbox.
Sandra, a Product Manager with Paradox had this to say about collaborating with the Xbox Product Team to bring mod support to Cities Skylines:
“We’ve been working together with Tantalus to see if there was a way to bring mods to our console players that was as enjoyable as it has been on other platforms, and with help from the Xbox team, we’re ready to let our fans give mods a try in Cities: Skylines. If things keep going well, we’re eager to see which mods may appear in the future as we keep testing and working on this content!”
In addition to the free patch released today that brings mod support to Xbox One, a new pack of premium DLC that includes styles and buildings for resident and commercial districts, the Content Creator’s Pack, will be released on Xbox One and PlayStation 4 next month on March 6th. Season Pass holders and owners of the Premium Edition of Cities Skylines on Xbox One will receive the Content Creator’s Pack for free.
Pictured Above: The PC Version of Cities Skylines Circa 2015.
Psyonix’s fast paced rocketed powered soccer title Rocket League will be getting a little more heroic this March with the release of the official DC Super Heroes add-on. This pack includes two new Battle Cars for your sporting enjoyment – the Tumbler from The Dark Night Rises and the ’89 Batmobile from the 1989 Tim Burton Batman film. While no other cars are included in this upcoming pack but Green Latern, The Flash, Green Arrow, Wonder Womand and Superman all have their own Player Banners and car Decals. A brand new boost effect is also included in the DC Super Heroes pack based upon The Flash – which was previously bundled alongside the Rocket League Collector’s Edition.
DC Super Heros Pack add-on for Rocket League will be priced at $3.99 USD (or regional equivalent) and will be available on your console’s digital storefront on March 5th. It is expected to released for the Nintendo Switch, Windows PC, Xbox One and PS4 versions of the game,
Below you’ll find a breakdown of everything included in the pack as well as some screenshots provided by Psyonix PR:
Premium Batman Battle-Cars
The Dark Knight Rises Tumbler from Warner Bros. Pictures’ The Dark Knight Rises
The ’89 Batmobile from Warner Bros. Pictures’ Batman
DC Super Hero Themed Items
Aquaman – Breakout Decal and Player Banner
Batman – Paladin Decal and Player Banner
Cyborg – Roadhog Decal and Player Banner
DC – Player Banner (previously released in Collector’s Edition)
Flash – Wheels, Venom Decal, Player Banner, and Speed Force Boost (Wheels and Player Banner previously released in Collector’s Edition)
Green Arrow – Hotshot Decal and Player Banner
Green Lantern – Merc Decal and Player Banner
Superman – Octane Decal and Player Banner
Wonder Woman – Wheels, X-Devil Decal, and Player Banner
I’ve had a bit of a non-committal history with Capcom’s Street Fighter V. Despite owning the game for nearly two years, I’ve found very little reason to pick up the controller and play beyond some basic exploration of characters and training, that is until recently. The Character specific prologue stories – while welcomed – didn’t really do it for me and getting absolutely DESTROYED online isn’t my cup of tea, so I’ve shied away from the game. With the beginning of Street Fighter V: Season 3, Capcom has added someone that I feel was sorely missing from the roster – my favorite fighter, Sakura.
Sporting 2 brand new outfits and one retro throwback as part of her complete character package, Sakura brings her Ryu inspired move-set to Capcom’s latest with a lot of flash. Her upbeat attitude and optimism remain in-tact in her SFV incarnation along with a little bit of maturity that comes with growing up. Sakura is no longer the highschool girl lusting after Ryu, and has instead moved on to college (complete with a part-time job). Her new costumes reflect this change in character – Her college outfit is complete with the requisite varsity jacket. Perhaps my favorite of the 3 options is her part time job outfit, which is modeled after the get-up that Capcom Staffers wear while occupying the pop-up Capcom Stores at major convention. It’s a little wink to fans, and it works well!
I’ve been excited about her return to the franchise and even saved up 90,000 fight money (thanks easy mode Character Stories) so I could buy her right away. She is available as part of the Season 3 character pack ($39.99 CDN), part of the SFV + S3 Character Bundle ($53.99 CDN) or can be purchased individually for $6.99 CDN. Buying Sakura for cash does not provide her 2 alternate costumes (Capcom Store Worker and Classic). Those are purchased separately or as part of the above packs.
Destiny 2 developer Bungie canceled today’s promotional live stream for the upcoming Curse of Osiris DLC and instead addressed several of the concerns that the community has had. There’s been a lot of activity both within the Destiny 2 subreddit /r/DestinyTheGame and within the gaming enthusiast press surrounding the tacit XP throttling that Bungie was doing under the hood; as well as the subsequent doubling of XP required to level up once throttling was removed.
Regarding Experience Points
The devs admit that the newly introduced 160,000 XP requirement per level is too high to grind some activities and that Bungie are collecting data so that they can make further adjustments faster. More communication with the community about the inner workings of experience point in the future was also promised towards the end of the XP Points section of today’s blog post.
“We were able to disable the system with a server-side change, but a new solution is now needed to rebalance XP in Destiny 2. We have begun that work, and will continue to provide updates to you about timelines and specifics…We already see that the newly adjusted 160K XP per level value means that leveling is too slow for some activities, and we have begun the process of collecting data and recalibrating XP earn rates to improve them as quickly as possible.”
New Rarity For Weapons: Masterwork
A brand-new tier of rarity for weapons beyond Legendary and Exotic is being added to Destiny 2 with the December patches, called Masterwork. This new class of rarity will have kill tracking as a baseline feature and will generate orbs for allies and the player upon scoring kills. Destiny 1 veterans asking for the return of randomized bonuses will be happy to learn that re-rollable Masterwork Traits are part of this new rarity. Unlike the traits in Destiny 1, Guardians won’t be fully healed or receive massive amounts of sniping damage like some D1 weapons provided but they should help differentiate the Masterwork weapons from regular legendaries.
Here are some of the features of Masterwork weapons as provided by Bungie’s blog:
Masterworks will have a few advantages over the baseline Legendary weapon:
Track and display the number of kills with that weapon (with choice between total count or Crucible-only count)
Generate orbs for you and your allies on multi-kills
Add weapon stat bonuses that are selected randomly from a small pool and are re-rollable
Masterworks drop from any source of Legendary weapons for characters above 250 Power
Unwanted Masterworks can be dismantled into materials that can upgrade an existing Legendary Weapon into a Masterwork
Raid and Trials of the Nine Weapons will have a very high chance to be Masterworks
We have future plans to extend Masterworks to other gear and expose your kill counts in more places (e.g. Crucible kill screen)
Vendor Changes
Quality of life updates for Destiny 2’s various vendors is another big focus with the December 5 and December 12th patches. Once completing the game Guardians will be able to purchase exotic quality engrams for legendary shards. Common tokens that drop in all of the major hub worlds are having their drop rates increased by 100%. Also of note are changes to Xur – he will now decrypt exotic level engrams and once per week players can purchase a single Fated Engram that guarantees them an exotic weapon or piece of gear they don’t already own. Also returning from Destiny 1 is the “Three of Coins”, which has been simplified from its initial incarnation. The three of coins will boost the chances of finding an exotic for 4 hours and can be purchased from Xur during weekends.
For players chasing a world Legendary or looking for Masterworks, Master Rahool will sell some of his rumored hoard of Legendary Engrams for Legendary Shards
Common quality Destination Resource Tokens will have their drop rates increased to 100%, and values per Token increased as well (by 50% for common quality Tokens and 250% for rare quality Tokens)
For players wanting to clear some Mod inventory space, Rare quality Mods will dismantle into Gunsmith Materials and have a chance to produce Legendary quality Mod Components
Every week, you’ll be able to acquire one of the new Fated Engrams using Legendary Shards from Xur that will decrypt as Exotics that aren’t already in your collection
A simpler Three of Coins that boosts Exotic drop rates from any source for 4 hours
So Much More
I highly recommend that any interested guardians (or potential guardians) head on over to Bungie’s recently released blog post and read all of the changes coming to the game themselves. Some of them are minor, like being able to dismantle mods at the gunsmith. Other changes, like the introduction of Masterwork weapons and changes to tokens, are going to have a much larger impact on Destiny 2’s end game.
Is all of this enough to sate the hardcore fans who want D2 to be their forever game? I’m not sure. What I do know is that aside from the December 5th and 12th quality of life updates, Destiny 2 is also going to get a whole lot of new content with the release of Curse of Osiris on 5th alongside the first patch.
Right now Star Wars Battlefront II holds the dubious honors of having the most downvoted comment in Reddit history and for and kickstarting a conversation throughout gaming communities & tech press alike about the nature of progression and purchasing power within multiplayer-centric titles.
If a listing that briefly appeared on the Australian PlayStation Network is accurate this whole shit show is about to get a little messier with the accidental reveal of a “Starter Pack”. No, it’s not a free to play or price reduced entry into the game’s multiplayer – but rather Electronic Arts selling players power as they begin their epic 40-hour quest to unlock Darth Vader.
For the proposed price of $23.95 AUD (price subject to change, of course, since it was de-listed) you’ll receive a guaranteed 3 rare star cards of an unspecified type and 1500 Crystals for the purchase of RNG loot crates.
Thanks to the thousands of people who came out to read my early Battlefront II review. I knew it was risky, posting a review based on the Origin trial and before whatever embargo EA has set for those who received review copies or attended a “capture event”.
Here’s what I had to say about my experience with Battlefront II’s multiplayer after ten hours:
“Locking iconic Heroes & other playable characters behind a hard in-game paywall that either requires the purchases of dozens of loot boxes or playing hundreds of multiplayer matches immediately sours the experience…. Don’t buy this game new, don’t pay full price for it, Electronic Arts are going to sell millions of copies based on the Star Wars license alone. PerhapsBattlefront II will also see “success” as an example of how a publisher should not monetize a highly anticipated title. Battlefront II has all of the psychological manipulation and shady practices found within free to play and mobile games and they’re asking you to fork over $59.99 USD for the “privilege””
Star Wars Battlefront II is set to be released on November 17th.. Unless you purchased the ‘Elite Trooper Edition’ for a premium, then you get three days early access.
Just a friendly reminder to all of Aloy’s fans that might read our site that the expansion DLC, Horizon Zero Dawn: The Frozen Wilds is out today on the PlayStation Network.
The Frozen Wilds offers players a completely new winter to explore, an expansion specific main questline, several side quests, new mechanical monsters and three new weapons. For experienced players who might have completed all of the content offered in the original game, The Frozen Wilds offers a chance to learn more about the Banuktribe outside of the single tribe encampment found within the main game.
I thoroughly enjoyed Horizon Zero Dawn when I played it through with my wife this past summer. Aloy is a relatable and fully fleshed out character and as we played I found myself wanting to learn as much as I could about the mysterious machines, our protagonist and the world she lives in. My wife enjoyed the game so much that when she played through the campaign, she told me about bits and pieces of it, and then joined me for a second 100% playthrough so I could see for myself what made Horizon Zero Dawn so special. I have high hopes for The Frozen Wilds when we get around to it.
Horizon Zero Dawn: The Frozen Wilds is priced at $26.99 CDN, is available on the PlayStation Store and requires the base version of Horizon Zero Dawn to be played, it is not a stand alone expansion.
Adventurers should be prepared to enter the world of mechanical gears and golden wonders as Bethesda & Zenimax Online Studios have announced that the Clockwork City DLC for The Elder Scrolls Online will be available on PC & Mac on October 23rd. Xbox One and PlayStation 4 players will receive the add-on two weeks later, on November 7th.
Players looking to experience the brand new single player content that ESO: Clockwork City has to offer will have a few different options to access the content. Clockwork City can be purchased as a standalone add-on pack through the Crown Store for 2000 crowns (closest IAP 3000 crowns for $39.99 CDN) – this adds the new zone to a players game forever without subscription. Those looking for a more premium package can opt for the Clockwork City Collector’s Bundle which includes the base DLC as well as “Clockwork Skeevaton pet, the Kagouti Fabricant mount, and Five Crown Experience Scrolls” additional items (closest IAP in the Crown Store being 5500 crowns for $49.99 CDN). Clockwork City will also be included as part of an Elder Scrolls Online Plus subscription which retails for $14.99 per month, although subscribers lose access to any unpurchased DLC should they end their subscription.
A prologue quest leading up to the beginning of Clockwork City – titled “of knives and long shadows” can now be accessed at your local Mage’s Guild.
Here is the official description on how to begin that quest:
“Prominent diviners, scholars, and planar archaeologists are being killed by their own shadows, and it’s up to you to investigate these deadly assaults. To get started, travel to any local Mages Guild headquarters in Tamriel and find the note on a nearby table titled “Order of the Eye Dispatch”. Read the note to receive the quest “Of Knives and Long Shadows” and begin your new adventure.”
Two brand new dungeons for The Elder Scrolls Online – Bloodroot Forge and Falkreath Hold are now available through the Crown Shop on PC & Mac and will be coming to both PlayStation 4 & Xbox One on August 29th. These two optional challenging dungeons have been released alongside a brand new battleground for owners of The Elder Scrolls Online: Morrowind as well as a free update that provides a number of bug fixes for all players.
Here is the description of Bloodroot Forge from the official announcement:
“Burning with hatred and thirsty for vengeance, the Reachmen have discovered the location of a dreadful secret: the Bloodroot Forge. This altar to all things primal and untamed grants a terrible power to those who would wield it. Venture into the Bloodroot Forge to stop the Reachmen and their Minotaur allies – before it’s too late.”
If you’re wondering, yes Falkreath also has a summary:
“Falkreath’s defenses are breached. The Minotaur and their Reachmen allies are relentless, pouring through the hold’s broken walls. Soon, Falkreath Hold will fall. Gather your most trusted companions and set forth. You are the last line of defense.”
Players can get a pair of brand new instances for 1500 Crowns (aprox $20 CDN) or access the two trials as part of an Elder Scrolls Online subscription.
Adventurers in the world of Tamriel looking for a new mount can purchase the Horns of Reach Dungeon unlock combined with the Okami-esque Karthwolf Charger mount and Karthwolf Shepherd pet for 3,500 crowns. To be honest I am really digging the Karthwolf Charger Mount and might pick it up when my next month’s Crown allotment comes in.
New options for Giuildmasters, adjustments to combat, the addition of colorblind ability procs a Writ Merchant Inventory and a Champion Points boost from 330 to 360 round out the improvements available to all players in Update 15.
Here is a summary from the official site:
Various fixes and updates to combat, gameplay, Alliance War, crafting, dungeons, balance, questing, and more
Improvement to Guild functionality including Guild Invite History and a new “View Guild Bank Gold” rank permission
Improvements to Crafting functionality including research cancelling and more
Customizable Combat Cues from the Settings menu
Improvements to itemization, including Guild Store furniture previews
Updates to the master Writ Merchant’s inventory
New Furnishings and a new home Hakkvild’s High Hall.
Champion Point increase from 630 – 660
Three new Crafting Motifs: Hlaalu, Redoran, and Telvanni (ESO: Morrowind owners only)
And more!
Zenimax Online was kind enough to provide me access to The Horns of Reach for editorial coverage. Look forward to video capture from both Bloodroot Forge and Falkreath, as well as written impressions in the coming days.
Capcom has released the latest the two Banned Footage DLC packs for Resident Evil 7 on both Xbox One and Windows via Steam the publisher has announced. All of this DLC was previously released on PlayStation 4 first. Both packs are also included with the Resident Evil 7 Season’s Pass. Banned Footage volume 1 is priced at $9.99 USD while volume 2 is priced a bit higher at $14.99 USD according to Capcom’s press release.
Each volume includes the following add-on content:
Banned Footage Volume 1
Nightmare
Bedroom
Ethan must die.
Banned Footage Volume 2
Daughters
21 & Over
Jack’s 55th Birthday
Resident Evil 7’s director, Koshi Nakanishi, explained how these add-on tapes allowed the team to experiment narratively and show players some of the motivation behind the actions of the Baker clan. Here is the full quote:
“We had more freedom in the DLC to let the team try different things. Each of the experiences lets us explore one concept in depth in a way, so for Nightmare it was pure combat. In Bedroom, I wanted to show Marguerite in detail and give players a chance to finally try the food she got so upset you didn’t eat in the dinner scene. You can literally eat it until it kills you.”
Since the game was released back in July, Nintendo and Capcom have been releasing a series of free DLC packs for Monster Hunter Generations, but alas all good things must come to an end. January brings the start of another year but the end of the free DLC packs.
The final DLC pack comes packed with some of the deadliest quests in the game, featuring multiple Hyper Monsters back-to-back or even at the same time!
All you need to do is connect your Nintendo 3DS to the Internet and go to the in-game DLC menu to secure 15 new Quests, 15 new Guild Card titles and a fancy new Guild Card background. And don’t forget you can still download all the content from all previously released DLC packs, including quests that unlock the Fire Emblem and Legend of Zelda gear sets and a number of useful Item Packs.
Fans of Square Enix’s decade in the making Final Fantasy XV get to enjoy a holiday treat with a pair of DLC add-ons the company announced. A free Holiday Pack will be available for everyone and includes a special Warrior’s Fanfare, a band which stops the party from earning experience, admission to a special holiday carnival and a special Chocobo themed t-shirt. Owners of the Final Fantasy XV Season Pass are able to snag their own unique fanfare, an item which grants Noctis unlimited sprint, another accessory which increased the rate of loot dropped by enemies among other goodies.
Here is how Square described each item in the free Holiday Pack:
Warrior’s Fanfare – A scroll of sheet music containing a song of jubilation that provides additional AP for earning an A+ in Offense outside of training. Nixperience Band – A device that stops experience points from being tallied, preventing the party from leveling up for an added challenge. Carnival Passport – Adorably adorned ticket that whisks the bearer away to a fun-filled carnival for a limited time. Choco-Mog Tee (available late January) – An exclusive T-shirt featuring everyone’s favorite fluffy and feathery friends. Colorful, comfy and appropriate for any carnival-goer.
Those with the season’s pass will be receiving all of this:
Ring of Resistance – A protective piece of jewelry that renders the entire party to be resistant to magical friendly fire. Tech Turbocharger – A device for Noctis that accelerates the tech bar replenishment rate, but freezes the Armiger bar. Armiger Accelerator – A device for Noctis that accelerates the Armiger bar replenishment rate, but freezes the tech bar. Blitzer’s Fanfare – A scroll of sheet music containing a song of jubilation that provides additional AP for earning an A+ in Time outside of training. Tactician’s Fanfare – A scroll of sheet music containing a song of jubilation that provides additional AP for earning an A+ in Finesse outside of training. Key of Prosperity – A lucky charm that increases the rate at which fallen foes leave behind items of value. Stamina Badge – A device that enables Noctis to sprint and hang without expending stamina. Carnival Passport – An adorably adorned ticket that whisks the bearer away to a fun-filled carnival for a limited time. Festive Ensemble (available late January) – A fancy and fun outfit perfectly suited for enjoying the festivities. The darling design puts all who see it in high spirits. Holiday Pack + Exclusive Photo Frames (available late January) – Additional themes the player can add to Prompto’s photos when sharing over social media.
This latest update to Final Fantasy XV also adds the addition of New Game Plus which allows players to restart their journey over but with all of their other gameplay data intact!
