Author: Game Infliction

TellTale’s The Wolf Among Us 2 delayed out of 2023 to avoid crunch

The Wolf Among Us, a neo-noir murder mystery set in the same universe as the Fables graphic novels. It would have been quite poetic to return to the series ten years after its debut, but that’s not going to be paw-sibble, as new TellTale have announced that The Wolf Among Us 2 has been delayed out of 2023. There’s no new release window, but maybe it’ll be ready in 2024. Hopefully.

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Atlus Cancels “Final” 3DS Game Sale Ahead Of eShop Closure

Sorry, Japan.

The 3DS eShop is scheduled to shut down this month, and in response to this, publisher and developer Atlus (known for series like Persona and Shin Megami Tensei) was planning on hosting one “final” sale on the platform in Japan.

Instead of going live today, yesterday the company announced it would no longer be happening. It apparently suspended the sale due to a “variety of reasons” and issued an apology to fans – thanking them for understanding. The sale was scheduled to run from 2nd March until 28th March.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

Capcom Ending Resident Evil 7 Cloud Rental Service On Switch

The joys of the cloud.

While in most cases you’re required to buy a cloud game outright on the Nintendo Switch, over in Japan, there are certain cloud releases that can actually be rented. Resident Evil 7 (known as the Biohazard series in this region) happens to be one of them, but it seems this offer will soon be removed from the local Switch eShop.

As highlighted by the folks at Siliconera, the option to redeem the “rental version” of Resident Evil 7 Cloud will end on 29th May 2023. Capcom has already cut off sales of the rental version, but anyone who purchased a rental pass before 1st December 2022 will still be able to redeem it up until the end of May.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

Mario + Rabbids Sparks Of Hope Updated With Spooky ‘Tower Of Doooom’ DLC

A Season Pass exclusive.

The award-winning title Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope today receives its very first DLC offering, officially titled the ‘Tower of Doooom‘. As part of this Ubisoft and Nintendo have now rolled out a new update for the game.

The patch notes at the moment are only available in Japanese. Below is a rough translation (via Google), which mentions adding support for the game’s Season Pass.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

Deal Alert: 1TB Micro SDXC Memory Card (Nintendo Switch Compatible) for $84.98

Amazon is currently a Micro Center 1TB Micro SDXC card for only $84.98. That’s one of the least expensive 1TB Micro SDXC cards we’ve seen, and it’s fully compatible with the Nintendo Switch console.

If you’ve started compiling a collection of digital games, you probably already know just how limited the Switch’s base storage capacity. With only 32GB of starting space (and some of it reserved for the OS), you’ll barely fit The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Pokemon Sword or Shield, which tap out at 13.5GB each! There’s only one expansion slot in the Switch console so you want to make sure you get the biggest card you can afford.

1TB Micro SDXC Card (Switch Compatible) for $84.98

Micro Center is a legitimate company; they have about two dozen retail stores and they’ve been around for over 40 years. This particular brand of Micro SDXC card has over 14,000 reviews on Amazon with an average user score of 4.6/5. The Micro Center “Premium” card has a faster Class U3 rating, which means it boasts a minimum read speed of 30MB/s. Of course if you plan to use this in a Nintendo Switch, it doesn’t even matter. The Nintendo Switch can only support U1 (10MB/s) speeds, so a higher rated U3 speed will just be throttled back down to U1 speeds anyways. So make sure your money goes into maximum storage capacity, not maximum speed.

Note: An official Nintendo Switch branded Micro SDXC card is no more compatible than any other Micro SDXC card with similar specs. Aside from the official licensing, you’re paying extra only for the card’s design. Of course, no one’s going to see the card once installed.

Steam Deck Owners Can Use These Cards Too!

The Switch isn’t the only gaming system that accepts these cards. If you’re a Steam Deck owner, you can also use this card, especially if you picked up the 64GB storage option. This deal may come around on Black Friday, but we highly doubt that it will be any cheaper. You might as well get it now and never worry about running out of space again. Check out our guide to the best SD cards for Steam Deck for more info.

For more deals, take a look at our daily deals for today.

AFL 23 Release Date Confirmed, Arriving April

Cricket 22 and AO Tennis developer Big Ant has confirmed AFL 23 will be arriving on PlayStation and Xbox platforms, plus PC, on April 13, 2023.

The studio also revealed a small selection of new screenshots from the game, which will feature all the clubs and teams from the AFL and AFLW, plus the AFL grounds featured in the 2023 season.

The Melbourne, Australia-based developer, which has a long history of building cricket, rugby league, and tennis games, previously developed AFL Live for PS3, Xbox 360, and PC in 2011. Over the last decade, AFL for Wii (2011), AFL Live 2 (2013), AFL Evolution (2017), and AFL Evolution 2 (2020) were developed by Wicked Witch Software, which is also based in Melbourne.

Luke is Games Editor at IGN’s Sydney office. You can chat to him on Twitter @MrLukeReilly.

Lil Gator Game Developer Interview: Make Your Own Fun With Adorable Sandbox Exploration

Lil Gator Game is a charming sandbox adventure from MegaWobble. It’s available for $19.99 on Steam, but it’s this month’s IGN Plus game and Plus members can get a Steam key as an IGN Reward and jump in right now.

Plus members – get your key for Lil Gator Game here on its IGN Rewards page. Not a Plus member? Learn more here. You can also follow the devs on Twitter.

Lil Gator Game Developer Interview

I sat down with Lil Gator Game devs Scott Slucher (Lead Developer) and Connor Quothe (Lead Writer) to talk about their inspiration, as well as what players can expect when they jump into this fun, lighthearted game.

The titular Lil Gator has a recognizable hat, tunic, and left-handed sword swing that will immediately look familiar to any Zelda fans, and Lil Gator Game wastes no time before making its love for that series explicit. When I asked why the main character was an alligator, Scott laughed and said, “because alligator is green and Link is green,” and although that isn’t the whole story, Scott was inspired by The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons, a fantastic duo from the Game Boy Color generation.

With such classic inspiration, it would be easy to mistake Lil Gator Game for a one-trick pony, but that’s far from the truth. Filling out the world and giving it life are myriad characters, each with fun personalities that make meeting and talking to them breezy and delightful.

The writing was inspired by Frog Detective’s conversational tone, as well as cartoons like Spongebob Squarepants, Fairly Odd Parents, and Foster’s Home For Imaginary Friends. Connor’s own theater and Dungeon Master background meant he had experience giving substance and personality to multiple characters, which Lil Gator Game’s broad cast of characters greatly benefits from.

Fueling the lighthearted and comedic side of the game (and leaning into the strength of the side characters) the side quests are inspired by the Yakuza series. “[They are] just weird little things you stumble into,” Scott said, “with a joke or moral message at the end, and then you move on.” Side quests are also incredibly short. There are tons of them, and they can generally be completed in under a minute, creating refreshing gameplay loops of exploration and levity.

The warm, welcoming tone of the game reminds me of A Short Hike, and Scott confirmed some other inspiration for Lil Gator Game was drawn from Kirby’s Air Ride and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, which is reflected in Lil Gator’s focus on discovery and undirected play.

When asked about the team’s favorite elements, Connor said his were some Easter Egg items the player will find, and Robin (who was primarily responsible for creating the music) loves the game’s humor. Scott, who was inspired by long hikes near his Kentucky home, is most attached to the trees (which he reworked four times during development).

Scott had one final note to players. “I encourage people to look for ways to find their own fun… I have the concept of a “toy box” with this game. I tried to put in as many toys as I could, in the hopes that they’d be inspired by one of them and would play with it.”

What Is IGN Plus?

IGN Plus is the paid membership program for IGN, and right now you can grab an annual membership for just $29.99, or just $4.99 a month, if you prefer to go that route. You can also try it for just $1 for 30 days.

What you get as an IGN Plus member:

Brian Barnett writes reviews, guides, features, & more for IGN & GameSpot. You can get your fix of his antics on Twitter (@Ribnax) and Twitch (Ribnax) or check out his fantastic video game talk show, The Platformers, on Twitch & Apple Podcasts.

How Modding Passion Brought UGC-Focused Leap to Life – Available Now 

Hey there, this is Alex Tintor, co-founder of Blue Isle Studios. We’re launching a new game called Leap that has major mod support…something that is pretty near and dear to my heart.

I got my first taste of modding at ten years old, when I started making mods for the Command & Conquer series of games. I worked on the Command & Conquer: Red Alert map editor which I continued to collaborate on with a group of others through my high school years with the Blitzkrieg 2 mod for Command & Conquer: Generals. I met my colleague and studio co-founder Brenden years down the road when Starcraft 2 came out with an impressive set of modding tools. I was on a mission to start a total conversion modding project and had been told I needed to connect with Brenden.

FPS POV

Together at Blue Isle Studios, we have brought numerous games to market over the past decade and have always envisioned developing a game where players are offered the opportunity to mod within the game and create content that adds to the game’s playability. Leap was the perfect game to introduce our Leap Design Works suite of mod tools.. All of our games have amazing communities, and Leap has had an especially active community of modders who have been in the game since our Early Access launch last year. Their content paired with our new partnership with the modding leader Overwolf has set us up to have a nice selection of user-generated content (UGC) from modders all over the world available to play today!

Some of the UGC I am most looking forward to checking out include a mod called “One Bullet One Kill” by Overwolf modder “th_mrow,” and another is located within a private server from another Overwolf modder, Lukas, called “Leap Hardpoint.”

Screenshot

In addition to modding being one hundred percent functional for console launch, Leao also features two modes (PVE and PVP), tons of map maps, weapons, and personal vehicles as modes of transportation (my personal favorites being the robo moose and hoverboard). Leap continues to grow daily as our modding community expands and continues to implement new servers and content. We also have a solid roadmap of content planned for the coming months that includes new weapons and levels among other things that we will reveal soon.

While Leap delivers on what players have come to know and expect from a solid FPS, we are excited to stand out with our partnership with Overwolf, and look forward to keeping our servers filled with imaginative players.

This is a big moment for Brenden and me, as we look back on those hours spent in our teenage bedrooms come full circle; we hope with the launch of this game, it will provide an avenue for new and experienced modders to create content for years to come.

Welcome to Leap! We can’t wait to see what experiences you’ll have and what creative modding content you’ll create – not that I’ll be judging or anything.


LEAP
Xbox Live

LEAP

Blue Isle Publishing

☆☆☆☆☆
★★★★★

Get it now

LEAP is a fast-paced, multiplayer first-person shooter featuring epic large scale battles, each with players armed to the teeth. Become an elite LEAP mercenary as you soar into battle. Fight for either the United Earth Defense Coalition (UEDC) or the rebel Exo-Terrans – whoever pays the most, wins your trigger finger and excessive arsenal.

Work together with your teammates, use powerful weapons and unique class abilities, and traverse the terrain quickly with grappling hooks, jetpacks and outrageous vehicles to seize victory.

Jump on your hoverboard and backflip into battle, or saddle up onto a mechanical moose and lead the charge. Whatever your play style, every LEAP mercenary is equipped with a Personal Vehicle (PV), allowing you to quickly cover distances and close the gap on your enemy.

Every exosuit comes equipped with match altering abilities – Call in an Orbital Laser to wipe out a group of enemies, or throw down a Support Shield to take temporary cover from enemy fire.

Every obstacle is an opportunity to soar, dash or charge, and an elite mercenary will use their unique movement abilities to navigate the battlefield quickly. Use your grappling hook to reach greater heights or your directional dash to dodge enemy fire.

The glory of victory only gets sweeter with rewards. Customize your mercenary with helmet emojis and distinct skin options for exosuits, vehicles and weapons. Flaunt and taunt your frenemies with style and sass.

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Review: Labyrinth Of Galleria: The Moon Society – A Deep, Dense, Devastating Dungeon Crawler

Moon’s haunted.

Though the JRPG has remained the de facto king of the RPG space for the last few decades, one could argue that the popular genre would never have existed were it not for DRPGs. What started in eons past with titles like Ultima and aimed to translate a traditional D&D gameplay experience to the screen has given way to more approachable dungeon-crawlers like Etrian Odyssey and Demon Gaze. In 2018, Nippon Ichi tried its hand at the subgenre with the enjoyable Labyrinth Of Refrain: Coven Of Dusk and it’s now opted to follow up on that experiment with Labyrinth of Galleria: The Moon Society. Though it’s clearly designed for a relatively narrow audience, there’s a lot to love about Labyrinth of Galleria.

Labyrinth of Galleria places you in the role of Eureka, a bright-eyed young girl responding to a job posting that sees her visiting a sketchy abandoned manor in the woods. Here, she is welcomed by the witchy Madame Marta, who quickly bonds her with a cute green ghost that Eureka names ‘Fantie’ and prompts her to use her spooky new friend to explore the vast labyrinth below Galleria Manor in search of powerful magical artifacts that the manor’s mysterious owner desires. No human can enter the labyrinth and return unharmed, so Marta teaches her how to use Fantie’s powers to imbue various puppets with life and direct them to explore the dungeon on her behalf. Eureka thus sets out on a vicarious quest into the depths below, while slowly learning more about her eccentric employers.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

The Mandalorian Xbox Consoles Come With a Special Grogu Controller and Cloak

In a bundle just as rare as little Grogu, Microsoft announced two sweepstakes for The Mandalorian-themed Xbox Series S|X consoles and accessories.

An Xbox Wire blog post announced Xbox’s Lucasfilm collaboration featuring a package of Grogu goodies celebrating The Mandalorian’s Season 3 debut. The Star Wars gaming gear is an extra-limited edition set, only available by entering the sweepstakes on Twitter, with more Mandalorian-themed accessories up for grabs through Microsoft Rewards.

Beginning today and wrapping up on May 11, The Mandalorian fans can enter through a retweet with #TheMandalorianXboxSweepstakes of the Xbox official contest post. The custom Xbox Series X and Series S consoles feature the show’s beloved Star Wars dad, Din Djardin, and the adorable Baby Yoda – or Grogu. Sticking to the theme, Xbox is also offering a tiny hoodie for the consoles’ bright green controller, complete with Grogu’s fluffy trim and all.

Anyone in Xbox-supported locations can enter the Twitter sweepstakes, but the Xbox Wire post notes its hosting an additional drawing for a human-sized Pram bundle open to US account holders only. The prize includes the same consoles, but they’re packaged with the giant Grogu pod that features all sorts of bells and whistles with flashy lights, cupholders, and massage cushions.

The Mandalorian Season 3 kicks off today on Disney+ with the first of eight episodes, and we’ve already got a list of burning questions from the debut’s biggest reveals. After comments on cameos from some Star Wars characters we thought long-perished, The Mandalorian co-creator Jon Favreau only adds to those rampant fan theories and speculation.

Grogu and Mando’s latest adventure should be available to Disney+ subscribers now, with new episodes airing on Wednesdays. As for The Mandalorian’s premiere, the 8/10 IGN review summarized:
“The show goes back to the beginning to demonstrate how much has changed even if its core dynamic remains the same, laying solid groundwork for a host of new conflicts for the Mandalorian and his foundling to face together.”

Andrea Shearon is a freelance contributor for IGN covering games and entertainment. She’s worn several hats over her seven-year career in the games industry, with bylines over at Fanbyte, USA Today’s FTW, TheGamer, VG247, and RPG Site. Find her on Twitter (@Maajora) or the Materia Possessions podcast chatting about FFXIV, RPGs, and any series involving giant robots.