The Day Before developer Fntastic has said it was planning a delay even before a trademark dispute pushed the game back eight months.
Speaking to IGN, Fntastic co-founders Eduard and Aisen Gotovtsev decried any allegations of scamming after several The Day Before community members grew concerned that the game was delayed for so long just a few weeks ahead of its planned launch date on March 1.
Fntastic released a statement on January 25 (below) claiming that a trademark dispute had forced the delay of both the game and its first major gameplay trailer in over a year.
“We planned to move the game’s release before and plan to announce it with [publisher] Mytona in a 10-minute gameplay video,” Fntastic told IGN. “And then you all know what happened. So to be on the safe side, to ensure there are no more transfers, we, along with the publisher, chose November 10. That is a safe date, given the trademark dispute.”
Despite having now been delayed twice (with the first caused by a switch to Unreal Engine 5), Fntastic is still confident it will have its trademark dispute solved by the new release date, and plans to use the extra time for improving the game in the meantime.
“We’re very confident that this issue will be resolved since we have strong legal partners,” it said. “The extra time will allow us to better prepare for the release and make the overall improvements for the game. It will become even more polished, optimized, and content-filled.”
As for complaints and allegations that The Day Before isn’t actually in development – which have been erupting on its Reddit page and Discord sever – Fntastic maintained that its game will definitely be released despite the chaotic conversation at the moment.
“The storm will calm down eventually, and time will put everything in its place. When the game comes out, people will finally see the truth,” it said. “But while we’re here, we’re grateful for such a fantastic journey and for you being with us.”
Fntastic also provided the following statement regarding current conversations and the state of the game: “For us and millions of people, The Day Before is a childhood dream come true. It’s a game with zombies and other people in a huge postapocalyptic skyscraper city.
“We understand that some players, not seeing the whole picture, might have doubts about the game. Our whole focus has always been on the product itself. We’ve been creating the game for four years. All these years have been full of sweat and blood to make this game, and for many members of our team, it is unpleasant to hear such accusations.
“We didn’t take a penny from people: no crowdfunding, no pre-orders, no donations. The game is fully funded by Mytona, one of the largest mobile publishers in the world, who checked the game’s build at every milestone per our contract.
“We made a real inner breakthrough when we decided to go for big challenges from the bottom—so big that some people would consider them impossible.
“Making a fantastic journey from the very ends of the earth, we feel like that simple guy from 90s action movies. You probably remember him as the hero who breaks through the veil of disbelief when no one believes in him, but he finds the inner strength to win and prove to everyone what he is worth in the end.
“We only believe in the final product. No matter what anyone says, you’ll see for yourself on November 10 this year. We hope that after the game’s success, we’ll give people faith that in this life, if you persevere toward a dream, it will come true, despite all the obstacles and doubts.”
I Commissioned Some Bees series has moved onto concealing a new animal: rabbits. Today they launched I Commissioned Some Bunnies, where once again they have commissioned artists to draw pictures with hidden animals to find. Still a big fan of that casual descriptive naming scheme. And yup, the pictures are nice, and the rabbits are hidden, and I’m happy to have spent £3 on it.
Yesterday, Nintendo decided to drop a bombshell on us and announce that GoldenEye 007 is, at last, coming to Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack subscribers this Friday, 27th January. What a treat! We’ve been waiting for this news since Nintendo revealed it would be coming to the service eventually.
Just a couple of hours after the announcement, Nintendo shared what might just be one of the most iconic pieces of music from the game — the Q Watch music by legendary Rare composer Grant Kirkhope. It still absolutely rules, but when we had a listen, we (and users on ResetEra) noticed something was missing…
By now you might already have your go-to Midnight Suns team for Tactical Missions, but have you considered the benefits that the katana-wielding, grenade-tossing, self-healing, chimichanga-loving mercenary Deadpool might bring to the battlefield? The first Marvel’s Midnight Suns DLC—The Good, the Bad, and the Undead—is now available on Xbox Series X|S, adding Deadpool to the Midnight Suns roster* along with a delicious Food Truck upgrade for the Abbey.
This DLC also introduces new story missions in which the Hunter comes to Deadpool’s aid after he fails to liberate a powerful artifact from Red Skull’s private collection and runs afoul of Hydra forces as well as some particularly bloodthirsty vampyres. Deadpool’s storyline is separate from the events of the main game, but once he joins the Midnight Suns you’re free to include him when assembling a team for any mission.
Deadpool’s ability to passively heal a percentage of his health each turn makes him a resilient fighter, while his unique En Fuego resource makes him more powerful any time he KOs an enemy. The benefits of having Deadpool park his Food Truck outside the Abbey go beyond the good eats: the new ability to discard a card in return for an additional move once per encounter can be a lifesaver!
The Good, the Bad, and the Undead, which is now available purchase separately, is the first of four DLC packs included in the Marvel’s Midnight SunsSeason Pass.
* The Good, the Bad, and the Undead is included with the Legendary Edition of Marvel’s Midnight Suns and is included as part of the Marvel’s Midnight Suns Season Pass. Also available for individual purchase. Base game required.
Customize the look of the Midnight Suns team and extend your adventure with the Marvel’s Midnight Suns Legendary Edition!
The Legendary Edition includes:
– Marvel’s Midnight Suns base game
– Marvel’s Midnight Suns Season Pass, which includes 23 premium skins available at launch and four post-launch DLC packs
The four playable post-launch DLC heroes included in the Season Pass are:
-Deadpool
-Venom
-Morbius
-Storm
Season Pass Premium Skins available at launch:
-Captain America (Future Soldier)
-Captain America (Captain of the Guard)
-Captain Marvel (Mar-Vell)
-Captain Marvel (Medieval Marvel)
-Magik (Phoenix Five)
-Magik (New Mutants)
-Nico Minoru (Sister Grimm)
-Nico Minoru (Shadow Witch)
-Wolverine (X-Force)
-Wolverine (Logan)
-Blade (Demon Hunter)
-Blade (Blade 1602)
-Iron Man (Iron Knight)
-Iron Man (Bleeding Edge)
-Ghost Rider (Spirit of Vengeance)
-Ghost Rider (Death Knight)
-Doctor Strange (Strange Future Supreme)
-Scarlet Witch (Boss Witch)
-Scarlet Witch (Fallen Scarlet Witch)
-Spider-Man (Symbiote Suit)
-Spider-Man (Demon Spider)
-Hulk (Fallen Hulk)
-Hulk (Maestro)
With the inclusion of the Season Pass, the Legendary Edition lets you keep the pressure on Hydra and the forces of Lilith, and expand your roster of Marvel heroes. This extra dose of vengeance includes four post-launch DLC packs, each introducing a new fully playable hero, new missions, new enemies, and more. The Season Pass also includes 23 Premium Skins at launch so you can customize the look of the Midnight Suns team.
Note: Premium skins must be used with the equivalent in-game character. Characters may require unlocking through gameplay. Post-launch Season Pass content and the premium skins will be automatically delivered in-game upon release. DLC release timing for post-launch DLC will be revealed at a future date. Terms apply.
Note: Premium skins must be used with the equivalent in-game character. Characters may require unlocking through gameplay. Premium skins will be automatically delivered in-game by 1 December 2022. Terms apply.
UNLEASH THE DARKER SIDE OF MARVEL
When the demonic Lilith and her fearsome horde unite with the evil armies of Hydra, it’s time to unleash Marvel’s dark side. As The Hunter, your mission is to lead an unlikely team of seasoned Super Heroes and dangerous supernatural warriors to victory. Can legends such as Doctor Strange, Iron Man, and Blade put aside their differences in the face of a growing apocalyptic threat? If you’re going to save the world, you’ll have to forge alliances and lead the team into battle as the legendary Midnight Suns.
With an array of upgradeable characters and skills allowing you to build your own unique version of The Hunter, you will choose how to send Lilith’s army back to the underworld.
With the release of God of War (2018), we were absolutely amazed by how many people wanted to cosplay characters from the game – even those we didn’t have the chance to make guides for.
With the God of War Ragnarök cosplay guides, we wanted to make as many as we could to help provide resources for all our fans who want to take on creating our characters.
We’re happy to share that we’ve added ten additional characters from Lúnda’s workshops notes to the God of War Ragnarök cosplay page: Freya, Thor, Angrboda, Brok & Sindri, Týr, Thrúd, Heimdall, Odin, and Gná.
Each guide contains character renders, close-ups of detailed pieces, and shots of their weapons/accessories. You’ll also find in the pages additional lore details handcrafted by our writers here at Santa Monica Studio and more sketches from B is for Boy artist Romina Tempest.
After you’ve taken a look at the new guides, make sure you check out the interview with Lead Character Artists Dela Longfish below on how the team approached creating the designs for Freya, Thor, and Angrboda.
Community cosplay partners
In addition to the new guides, we’ve once again partnered with members of our extremely talented cosplay community to provide resources and tips on creating three of the characters from the updated guides – Freya, Angrboda, and Thor.
Representing Freya is none other than Ibelinn Cosplay, who did an enchanting Witch of the Wilds back when God of War (2018) released. We’re thrilled to partner with her to create Freya’s updated design in God of War Ragnarök.
Ibelinn has put together an expert guide on how to plan a cosplay, along with her how-to videos on creating the former Valkyrie Queen – you can see them here.
Angrboda – Kizuki Cosplay
Cosplay Credit: Kizuki Cosplay
To embody the Giantess of Ironwood, we’ve partnered with the wonderful Kizuki Cosplay, who brings a wealth of experience crafting intricate and detailed designs.
Bringing her expert and versatile skills to the creation of her cosplay, Kizuki has created a guide on making a wig for Angrboda, as well as tips on how she approached the other pieces of the costume, which you can see here.
Thor – The Ronin Cosplay
Cosplay Credit: The Ronin Cosplay
To become the God of Thunder, we partnered with The Ronin Cosplay, who has been a longtime pillar of the God of War cosplay community. From Kratos to Sigrun, Ronin has taken on some of the most complex character designs in our games and made them look absolutely incredible.
Ronin has provided us with his expertise in creating the intricate leather pieces for Thor’s armor in his guide, as well as insights into his process with his tips video – check them out here.
Interview with Lead Character Artist Dela Longfish
To provide insights into the three characters we’ve partnered with community cosplayers to make, we’ve sat down with Dela Longfish, a lead character artist on God of War Ragnarök, to discuss how these designs came to be.
Freya
God of War Ragnarök – Freya Cosplay Guide Pg. 3
Grace Orlady: At the end of the last game, Freya undergoes a traumatic event with the death of her son – changing her from friend to hunter, vowing vengeance on Kratos. How did the team want to go about changing Freya’s visual look to represent her emotional state at the start of God of War Ragnarök?
Dela Longfish: After the events of the last game, we knew we would be seeing a completely different side of Freya in God of War Ragnarök.
While we wanted to retain the iconic look of her design, we added a light armor under her clothing that is visible around her neck and shoulders. Not only did this show she’s ready for battle, but also using the armor in this way also allowed to make the costume darker to reflect the grief and rage she has because of the loss of her son.
Elements of her appearance were designed to look unkempt as we imagined she has spent sleepless days and nights in her endless pursuit of Kratos. Covered in a layer of dirt to show her rough living, we also smudged the kohl around her eyes intentionally made to resemble tears to show that behind all that anger there’s a layer of sadness she can’t escape from.
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When we first meet Freya again, she is living on Midgard in the heights of Fimbulwinter. Did the harsh climate influence any aspects of her design?
We always imagined Gods have a stronger resilience to the cold than the humans in Midgard. With her single motivation to kill Kratos she has neglected any other mortal needs. The flame of anger she feels towards Kratos is all she needs to keep her warm while on the hunt.
Freya Concept Art by Shan Qiao and Rafael Grassetti
Which elements of Freya’s original look as the Witch of the Wilds did the team feel were important to maintain across this next installment?
We wanted this version of her costume to be an evolution from when we had last seen her. That meant that we retained a lot of the elements from her God of War (2018) look while building on top and around them. Players will recognize elements like the gold disc around her waist which was always a nod back to her royal position in Vanaheim.
Smaller elements of her costume like the weaving and shawl also remain consistent in her God of War Ragnarök design.
We also know that Freya was once the Valkyrie Queen. With her ability to fight somewhat restored at the beginning of the game as she pursues Kratos and Atreus, are there any particular visual references to her past as a warrior incorporated into her updated look?
In the beginning of God of War Ragnarök, we see firsthand her skill in fighting that made her the Queen of the Valkyries. Her ability is quickly evident, wounding Kratos and proving immediately she is equal to him in every way. The increased armor and covering in her design reflects a practical choice for more combat-ready clothing while she pursues Kratos. Not only does she have the leather undershirt now guarding her torso, but she also has additional leathers on her waist to provide additional protection while keeping extremely nimble.
Even using her ability to shapeshift into a falcon to deliver cunning attacks from the air all hint back to her role as the winged queen. You can see the falcon feathers in her hair have been kept in God of War Ragnarök.
While her sword was always present in God of War (2018), it was always sheathed on her back. This is the first time we see her draw it and use it to deadly effect. Throughout the game we see more elements from her past as a Vanir leader and Valkyrie return to her design as she reclaims her power and agency back from Odin.
God of War Ragnarök – Freya Cosplay Guide Pg. 15
Is there any aspect of Freya’s design that you especially want players to notice?
Some fans will notice elements from Baldur’s costume throughout her designs, such as the Twilight Pendant and the orange warps he wore around his legs that she now wears. These are mementos she carries with her to always remember her son.
Thor
God of War Ragnarök – Thor Cosplay Guide Pg. 3
When Thor’s design was shown after the first God of War Ragnarök trailer, the internet exploded (just a bit) with discussions. Were you expecting our take on Thor to be such a hot topic among gamers?
It’s always interesting seeing what catches fire across the internet. With a character like Thor that has so many great depictions in pop-culture, people grow a special connection to them. So, in that way it’s understandable a discussion is prompted when a new take on that type of character comes out.
Our hope is to be able to build that same connection between our characters and gamers. For our interpretation, we wanted a design that fit within the visual language of the world we had established in God of War (2018), while also complimenting the story and gameplay the team had in mind.
We wanted to design a character that embodied a thunderstorm, the concept of pure power coupled with a degree of chaotic unpredictability. As the strongest god in the Norse pantheon, we took inspiration from real world strongmen and powerlifters which gave him a solid build while also reflecting the general time period we reference for the game.
God of War Ragnarök – Thor Cosplay Guide Pg. 5
We’ve referenced Thor’s descriptions in the Eddas for a lot of inspiration in his design, was the teams’ visual interpretation of him from the myths pretty defined from the start or did it take a lot of iteration to settle on the final look?
We typically start any character design with a wide range of visual exploration. Thor was no different in this case. We had actually started concepts for him back on God of War (2018), but those early explorations were put on pause.
When the team began work on God of War Ragnarök, we started re-exploring what he would look like. The myths were a big inspiration and depicted the God of Thunder as a great warrior, but also someone who was less than heroic at times, even dangerous and reckless in his actions.
We wanted his look to reflect those aspects and multiple artists did work with that in mind. As the designs began to evolve and various elements began to resonate with the team our art director Rafael Grassetti did a pass and that is the final design of Thor seen in game.
Thor Concept Art by Rafael Grassetti
Mjölnir is not only an iconic weapon in modern pop culture, but also within the story of our game needs to be a worthy rival to the Leviathan Axe, which is now one of the most iconic God of War weapons. Could you take us through how the team created the Huldra Brothers’ (second) greatest creation?
There are so many good interpretations for Mjölnir already in pop culture. For us Thor’s hammer, which he always holds in his left hand, was inspired by the angled look of Norse artifacts and amulets of the time.
Artist Yefim Kligerman designed the hammer for the post credits scene in God of War (2018). Even back then to visually connect these two iconic weapons, Yefim included a runic skill tree etched into the face of the hammer in the same manner we find on the blade of the Leviathan Axe. This way we can see the signature craftmanship of Brok and Sindri in both weapons.
God of War Ragnarök – Thor Cosplay Guide Pg. 14
Is there any aspect of Thor’s design that you especially want players to notice?
Along with making sure we get the overall look we want for any character we also enjoy layering in small hints and design details. Thor’s goats, Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjostr, make an appearance in the bottom gold carved cap of Thor’s hammer. Keen-eyed players and cosplayers will also notice there are other goat motifs reflected in his design.
God of War Ragnarök – Thor Cosplay Guide Pg. 7
Angrboda
God of War Ragnarök – Angrboda Cosplay Guide Pg. 3
While we were able to visit Jötunheim at the end of the last game and saw parts of their culture represented through Faye’s art and the triptychs, Angrboda is the first Giant we meet that is actually from Jötunheim and currently calls it home. What were some of the key elements you wanted to include in her design to show visually how the Giants are unique from the Midgardians and Aesir?
The Giants were master artisans and craft folks. Even though Angrboda has been surviving on her own for so long, we wanted an elegance and beauty reflected in her design that we don’t find in the inhabitants of other Realms.
As one of the last living Giants, she represents that part of Atreus’s heritage which is something no one else can share with him. Not only does she carry with her the knowledge of her people, but she also physically carried individually carved marbles that contained the souls of the Giants.
Angrboda Concept Art by Rafael Grassetti
You mentioned Thor’s goats are referenced as motifs in his design, are there any nods to the Norse myths within Angrboda’s clothing?
Angrboda has a few serpent motifs recurring throughout her design, which was a nod to her being known as the mother of Jörmungandr in the myths. That theme can be seen most evidently in her gold hair accessory which is shaped like a snake, as well as in her brooches, necklace, and various patterns in her clothing.
God of War Ragnarök – Angrboda Cosplay Guide Pg. 8
Angrboda has some of the most unique tattoos in the game in terms of color and design. Why did the team decide to go in this direction with her ink?
With each of the different mythical cultures in the game, the team will look for specific aspects unique to each that set them apart visually. Angroboda’s tattoos were an example of this in that they have a much more organic and natural feel to them than many of the other tattoos you see on other characters. We wanted all aspects of her design, including her tattoos, to reflect a unique aesthetic that is carried through their art and craftsmanship.
The yellow was a color that represented Faye and the Giants throughout God of War (2018). As one of the last of her people left, we wanted that shade to be present in her design.
God of War Ragnarök – Angrboda Cosplay Guide Pg. 5
When it comes to visual storytelling, what aspects of Angroboda’s character are the most important to convey through her design?
Unlike some of the more fantastic characters and creatures of the game, we took a more subtle approach to the details in Angrboda’s design.
For example, Atreus’ new look features a huge splash of yellow to honor his Giant heritage and connection to his mother. Angrboda, while being a Giant and living in Jötunheim, has clothing that features mostly shades of browns, teals, and grays. While her primary clothing pieces don’t have the same statement yellow piece that Atreus’ does, we still wanted to include smaller touches of the color to show her ties to the Giants and to Atreus.
Not only are her tattoos yellow as mentioned before, but you can also see other pops of yellow woven through her hair, in some of the stitching of her clothing, and in the bronze jewelry she wears. These were all layered throughout her design to give a consistent, but subtle, reference to the Giants.
God of War Ragnarök – Angrboda Cosplay Guide Pg. 6
If you decide to cosplay a character from God of War, make sure you tag Santa Monica Studio on social or use the hashtag #GodofWarRagnarok! We always love to see your work.
Elden Ring, God of War: Ragnarok, Stray, and Pentiment are leading the finalists for 2023’s Game Developers Choice Awards, the video game awards voted for by developers.
All four of these games feature in the Game of the Year category, alongside Sam Barlow’s Immortality and Tunic. Elden Ring and Stray have a total of six nominations each while God of War: Ragnarok has five.
The results of the awards will be announced at 2023’s Game Developers Conference on March 22, held alongside the Independent Games Festival Awards – the nominations for which were announced yesterday.
The full list of nominees can be seen below:
Best Audio
Elden Ring
God of War Ragnarok
Horizon Forbidden West
Metal: Hellsinger
Stray
Best Debut
Neon White
Norco
Stray
Tunic
Vampire Survivors
Best Design
Elden Ring
Marvel Snap
Neon White
Stray
Tunic
Innovation Award
Elden Ring
Immortality
Neon White
Pentiment
Stray
Best Narrative
God of War Ragnarok
I Was a Teenage Exocolonist
Immortality
Pentiment
Return to Monkey Island
Social Impact Award
As Dusk Falls
Citizen Sleeper
Endling – Extinction Is Forever
I Was A Teenage Exocolonist
OlliOlli World
We Are OFK
Best Technology
A Plague Tale: Requiem
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II
Elden Ring
God of War: Ragnarok
Horizon Forbidden West
Best Visual Art
Elden Ring
God of War: Ragnarok
Horizon: Forbidden West
Pentiment
Stray
Game of the Year
Elden Ring
God of War: Ragnarok
Immortality
Pentiment
Stray
Tunic
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer and acting UK news editor. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.
Shoulders Of Giants is out today on the Epic Games Store. When we first saw the trailer for Shoulders Of Giants, a few people on team responded with murmurings of “What the hell is this?”, which increased in frequency and volume as more bizarre things appeared on screen. I sort of did what the Goonies do when they first find the map to One Eyed Willie’s treasure, or what anyone in Pulp Fiction does when they open the briefcase: “Wooooaaaah.”
Consider the progress of information. It’s a sci-fi roguelike best played, I think, in 4-player online co-op. You play a sword-wielding combat mech. You also control a small frog standing on the mech. You drop onto proc-gen planets overrun by a kind of magical accelerated entropy, that turns everything black and pink and grey. By destroying totemic altars orbited by floating eyeball robots, you start to re-energise the planet, so areas have grass and butterflies. Eventually you will destroy enough totems to get to a planetary boss fight, which might be against, for example, a giant ghost samurai or a floating purple hand with an eyeball in it. It’s mad, but I sure do wish more games were like this.
Imagine Fire Emblem went through kind of a moody, emo phase and started reading a lot of dark fantasy novels and you’ll have some idea what to expect from Redemption Reapers. This turn-based tactical RPG, from the developers of the excellent and unsung side-scrolling 2021 Soulslike Ender Lilies, puts you in command of the moody Ashen Hawk Brigade. Your task is to fight back against the Mort, an army of mysterious and murderous humanoid fiends who seem to care for nothing but the constant slaughter of innocent people. So, you know, you should probably do something about that.
Admittedly, I didn’t get too much of a sense for the shape of the world or what the larger arc of the story is going to be after playing through the first seven chapters. We still don’t know where the Mort came from or if there is any greater purpose to their terrifying rampage. That served as an interesting question that pushed me to seek answers, but it can also lead to the plot feeling a bit aimless. My band of beleaguered fighters was simply traveling from village to village trying to solve smaller problems in the wake of a seemingly all-consuming invasion, which left me asking if we were really making a difference at all. And maybe that’s intentional. But I longed for some clearer, long-term goals.
The characters mostly come across like anime archetypes who rarely showed any hidden facets or surprised me by playing against their surface-level traits. Lugh is an edgy spear-wielder who enjoys the thrill of battle and bloodshed. Urs is a beefy barbarian type with a stony demeanor. We do get a few hints that our protagonist, Sarah, blames herself for some past failure in the war against the Mort that still haunts her. But in this small slice, it’s merely alluded to.
All of these characters are elevated by a great English voice cast.
All of these characters are elevated, however, by a great English voice cast. Allegra Clark (aka Dorothea from Fire Emblem: Three Houses and Bloodhound from Apex Legends) voices the plucky archer Karren, and David Lodge (Three Houses’ Jeralt and Persona 5’s Igor) lends his gruff tone to the aforementioned big boi, Urs. The direction is pretty strong across the board as well. It sounds like a well-done, big budget anime dub, even when some of the lines are so tortured and melodramatic that they read as almost goofy.
Road to Redemption
The tactical combat takes a while to come together, but I ended up really enjoying it once the proper pieces were in place. Melee attacks, whether against you or an enemy, almost always provoke the risk of a counterattack. Thus, maximizing the chances you’ll be able to strike back and preventing your enemies from doing the same is a major concern. Party members in range of an enemy you just attacked also have a chance to perform a follow-up attack, which can be chained together if you have the foe completely surrounded. These are triggered by a timed button prompt, which adds just a dash of reflex-based tension to the normally methodical battles. I honestly enjoyed that.
In addition, characters can gain Determination from certain situations, such as taking damage, that gives them extra action points on their turn. Putting this all together, Redemption Reapers really rewards thinking carefully through each turn and figuring out how you can do the most damage while taking little or none yourself. Attacking with characters who are immune to counter attacks first, then finishing off the enemy with a chain of follow-up attacks is far more effective than simply trying to grind out a win. And all of the Ashen Hawks are quite fragile, so reckless tactics can lead to a full party wipe. This bleak world is somewhat forgiving in those situations, though. There is no perma-death, and as long as you can get to the end of a mission with one Reaper standing, it still counts as a win.
Art of War
In between missions, you can stock up on and upgrade gear, and spend skill points. The weapon system is fairly similar to Fire Emblem: every sword, bow, and spear has a durability rating, and repairs can get expensive, so you’ll feel the squeeze of keeping up your equipment even if you’re acing every mission. Starter weapons tend to have high accuracy and high durability, but low damage. The more advanced a weapon is, it will gain damage while losing accuracy and durability. So progression mainly follows a routine of upgrading someone’s weapon when they level up enough to use it without missing all the time. But even then, you’re signing up for higher repair costs if you want everyone wielding the deadliest gear available. It’s a simple but effective layer of strategic trade-offs that adds just the right amount of pressure.
Each character’s skill tree is specialized toward filling a specific role in combat, which often plays off one or more other characters to create deadly combos. Urs is an incredible tank who can shrug off blows and punish aggressive enemies, while Sarah’s talents focus on getting lots of hits in without risking counterattacks. It took me some time to really get a grasp on how all of these characters can be used together to overcome the most difficult challenges, but it felt awesome when I did.
Each character’s skill tree is specialized toward filling a specific role in combat, which often plays off one or more other characters to create deadly combos.
While I may not be entirely sold on Redemption Reapers’ fairly generic dark fantasy setting or brooding stock characters yet, the interesting and challenging tactical combat speaks for itself. I’ve only scratched the surface of the unfolding story, and I’m intrigued enough to want to know what else lies below the grimy surface. And the superb voice cast goes a long way toward selling the overall mood and vibe, when it would have been easy to slip into edgelord territory. We’ll all be able to catch up with the Ashen Hawks and continue their journey next month.
Dead Space. With some small but welcome exceptions, Dead Space is a one-to-one remake of the 2008 original.
Your opinion on whether that is a good thing or not will depend on how you feel about the endeavour of remaking games from fifteen years ago in the first place. As far as I’m concerned, this remake allowed me to replay one of my all-time favourite games in a lavish new form, and in that sense, Dead Space is extraordinary.
Season: A Letter To The Future begins with a goodbye. You wander around your home for the last time, choosing five objects which inspire deep memories that spur each of the five senses. You then place them into a cauldron one by one, your mother keeping a watchful eye. The ritual comes to an end and the result is a small glowing pendant that will protect you from the dangers of the outside world. “You must promise me never to take the pendant off,” your mother says. The Goodbye ritual is finished, and you leave, knowing you’ll never see your mother or your hometown ever again, all as the prophecy foretold.
It’s a fantastic – if sad – start to Season, and gets straight to the heart of the adventure ahead of you. This is a world where prayers, rituals, and prophecies hold great weight, and where you’ll be exploring the fragility and fickleness of memory. Underpinning everything is a deeply profound sense of melancholy – and here I was expecting some relaxing two-wheeling through lovely-looking landscapes. Well, turns out Season is a lot more than a pretty travelogue.
I Commissioned Some Bees series has moved onto concealing a new animal: rabbits. Today they launched 
Shoulders Of Giants is out today on the Epic Games Store. When we first saw the 
Dead Space. With some small but welcome exceptions, Dead Space is a one-to-one remake of the 2008 original.
Season: A Letter To The Future begins with a goodbye. You wander around your home for the last time, choosing five objects which inspire deep memories that spur each of the five senses. You then place them into a cauldron one by one, your mother keeping a watchful eye. The ritual comes to an end and the result is a small glowing pendant that will protect you from the dangers of the outside world. “You must promise me never to take the pendant off,” your mother says. The Goodbye ritual is finished, and you leave, knowing you’ll never see your mother or your hometown ever again, all as the prophecy foretold.