Category: Xbox

During the Xbox Digital Broadcast at Tokyo Game Show 2023, White Owls’ iconic Swery (Deadly Premonition, D4: Dark Dreams Don’t Die), and Goichi Suda of Grasshopper Manufacture (Lollipop Chainsaw, Shadows of the Damned), announced details of the upcoming Hotel Barcelona, a brainchild of the two creators.

The title and genre of this game were already out in public, unexpectedly announced at an event four years ago – but the fact that two popular game creators with a huge following were planning to work together attracted the most attention. My personal fantasy was of a dual-personality agent protagonist wielding a beam katana, and my expectations for the game only grew.

In the last four years, we’ve heard very little more, and as those years passed by without any announcement, I almost gave up and wondered if the game really was in development.

The fact that we got not only got confirmation of Hotel Barcelona’s development through this year’s Xbox Digital Broadcast, but a gameplay reveal and an appearance from the two creators has brought back the feeling of anticipation and hype; we had to hear more about it. Xbox Wire immediately contacted Swery to hear more about the long awaited game.

To lay out the groundwork, can you tell us how the project for Hotel Barcelona launched?

Swery: It all started when I was a guest at a talk event hosted by Suda-san called “Travis Monday Nitro 2”, which was held in Shibuya, Tokyo in October 2019. At the event, we talked about creating a game like this together. At that time, we also announced the title: Hotel Barcelona. It initially was merely a vocal agreement between the two of us, where we just said “Let’s collaborate!” without much thought put into it. We weren’t sure if we were really going to commit or not.

But shortly after that, I got together with Suda-san again, now at an event in Canada at the end of October 2019. There, Suda-san gave me his firm commitment, mentioning he’d like to “pursue that opportunity seriously”. We worked out the plan and details in one fell swoop over dinner, together in Canada.

Was the framework of the game created then?

Swery: We had already announced back at the event that we wanted to make a horror themed, side-scrolling action game with the title Hotel Barcelona, so we started discussing ideas while keeping that in mind. We came up with the idea of taking in concepts and creating the atmosphere you would find in horror movies, while the protagonist would delightfully defeat serial killers from across the United States. And all of that would happen in a place called Hotel Barcelona. The general framework was decided on right during that time, and I worked with Suda-san to put it all together into a proposal.

As far as I can tell from the trailer, there seems to be an abundance of weapons.

Swery: The melee items, such as an enlarged surgical knife, are your main weapon, and the long-range items, such as a shotgun or Molotov cocktail, are your subweapon. You will go on missions equipped with each of these weapon types. Weapons are basically obtained from treasure chests that drop during missions. There are, of course, differences in appearance and performance.

Hotel Barcelona, the place where all the action takes place, is an integrated leisure complex, featuring facilities such as a casino and camping ground around the hotel to create a single, living world with seven smaller worlds inside.

Due to the fact that Suda-san and I are making the game, the worlds each have some twisted tricks, and each of them has a serial killer boss. The objective of the game is to somehow defeat the boss, and clear the seven worlds.

You mentioned that the boss characters are inspired by movie characters, but do you have a character in mind for each boss?

Swery: The bosses are not a tribute to any single character. They’re more like an embodiment of a subgenre of horror films. For example, there are many subgenres of horror, such as slasher movies, zombie horror, summer camps, babysitters, and so on. We came up with the idea of our bosses through the tropes that each subgenre has built up over their time.

Tell us more about the Slasher Phantom, which seems to be one of the game’s main pillars.

Swery: The Slasher Phantom was of my personal ideas to incorporate into future action games. This was brought into Hotel Barcelona because I thought it would be a great match.

Simply put, the player’s past character will move as it did in the last run automatically, while still retaining all hitboxes. Something close to this would be the ghost feature in racing games, but with hit detection; it will feel like you are fighting with your past self. You can hold up to three Slasher Phantoms, which will help your adventure in each level.

You might then think, “If I have three Slasher Phantoms with me all the time, all the levels will be a piece of cake”. I assure you it is not that easy.

Each of the seven worlds consists of several areas to be cleared, and the boss appears in the last area. When you clear an area, you can choose a power-up, which may restore your health or increase your attack power. However, if you get hit and are sent back to the beginning of the area, you may find it appealing to chose a different route than the previous one, say to increase your attack power. When you do so and choose a different route, the Slasher Phantoms will reset completely.

As you get used to the game, you will gradually be able to beat the bosses without the assistance of Slasher Phantoms. We are making adjustments with the goal that you will find yourself getting better at the game itself, as the player gains experience.

─Where did the idea for the Slasher Phantom come from?

Swery: While there are many death loop games that make you start over from the beginning when you are hit and downed, I have always wanted to make an action game that would embed the looping into its “action” aspect well. My thinking was to focus on carrying the action itself into the next loop, not the items and EXP. The result was an idea of looping the actions of your past play alongside the current player character.

From what I’ve seen during tests, the less good you are at action games, the more the player will value the Slasher Phantom. I had the impression that these players were really struggling in situations where they had to decide between recovering health and keeping their Slasher Phantoms.

Hotel Barcelona is being developed by the team that worked on The Missing: J.J. Macfield and the Island of Memories, and at the start of development, I told them that Hotel Barcelona was a side-scrolling, battle action game, and didn’t discuss anything about the Slasher Phantom system. Since the team had experience developing side-scrolling games but not combat-focused action games, my first goal was to make sure we had a good feel for the game. When it began taking shape, I then asked the team to add the Slasher Phantom system in.

I found the visuals to be very intriguing. What were some particular points you took great care with?

Swery: We started with the difficult task of incorporating the best of both worlds, which would mean figuring out what makes both our games iconic from a visual perspective. First of all, as a common characteristic, we identified that we both like to create games with animated expressions. So, at first, we tried to use the art style of D4: Dark Dreams Don’t Die with the inclusion of shaders that created abstraction. However, the characters were too small to be expressed well through this art style, so we decided to use ray tracing and added glistening effects, but this time, the frame rates became unstable. In the end, we mixed the colors and atmosphere of Japanese animation along with the expression of shadows in a typical ’80s Hollywood horror movie to create what we have now. We make an effort to keep the frame rate at a steady 60FPS, especially because it was an action game, and also at the same time, had to develop an art style that people had never seen before.

Speaking of animations, that transition when entering the boss fight looked very interesting.

Swery: We asked animation artist Saho Nanjo (who has recently created music videos for popular anime and artists) to create them. Cool hand-drawn animations will be played when each boss appears, so please look forward to them as well.

You’ve mentioned that Hotel Barcelona’s launch is in 2024, but when do you envision it becoming available?

Swery: The framework of the game is ready and the amount of content is also comfortably ready. 2024 is definitely the year, but the true game-making process begins here… Speaking of action games, it all comes down the balance of the gameplay. It really depends on how long it takes to get that right.

Lastly, please give a few words to the users who are looking forward to Hotel Barcelona.

Swery: First of all, thank you all for your interest in Hotel Barcelona. This game is a collaboration between two creators, myself and Goichi Suda. Although it may look like something out of the ordinary, we have created a challenging and rewarding action game together. The game is being developed by White Owls with the team who created The Missing, and we are proud to present it to you. Please look forward to playing it.

The post Hotel Barcelona Interview: Swery and Suda’s Collaboration Is a Horror Action Game with a Time Looping Twist appeared first on Xbox Wire.

This marks an incredible week for PC Game Pass members – on the heels of Starfield, highly anticipated titles Lies of P, Payday 3, and Party Animals all arrive this week – and October is shaping up sterling as well with the likes of Forza Motorsport and The Lamplighter’s League. That’s on top of well over a hundred more PC games available at your fingertips; sometimes the question is: where to start?

To help players find the right game for them, we asked one of our favorite variety streamers, Bruce Greene, to pick some of his favorites from the PC Game Pass library. Why him?

“I’ve been playing PC games for 25 years and I’m super impressed by what’s on PC Game Pass,” he told me, as he shared his list. “When I was asked to pick games from PC Game Pass that you would recommend, I picked like 40 or 50 cause like there were so many good games on there and I had to pare them down which is hilarious. Being a curator, it’s perfect for me.”

You’ll find Bruce’s full list of picks in the Xbox App for your Windows PC, and he dives a bit deeper into some of his selections below. You can also find more of Bruce Greene’s picks of favorite games in the PC Game Pass catalog by checking out the Xbox app for Windows PCs or follow him on Twitch.

ASTRONEER

System Era Softworks

☆☆☆☆☆
258

★★★★★

$29.99

$23.99

Get it now

Xbox One X Enhanced

PC Game Pass

Xbox Game Pass

Astroneer
“This game I played when it was first in Alpha back in, I think it was 2017, and it was kind of like this epiphany I had because generally those sorts of crafting games just don’t get me. Astroneer is like the perfect mix of survival, crafting, and exploration. And it’s also space and I love space. I just recently played through it again a few months ago and it’s practically perfect. It’s basically LEGO in space — it’s just an amazing progression of exploration and crafting.”

HITMAN World of Assassination

IO Interactive A/S

☆☆☆☆☆
625

★★★★★

$69.99

$55.99

Get it now

Xbox Game Pass

Hitman World of Assassination
“I liken Hitman very much to a Bethesda Softworks game, because it’s an open world, go anywhere, do anything type of game — you can be as ridiculous as you want. You can dress up as wacky characters, like a clown or a mascot or whatever, and eliminate people in discrete ways. That’s the best part of all of the newest Hitman’s in 1, 2, and 3. The World of Assassination is all of those packaged together, in addition to a rogue-light mode for Hitman. That’s even wilder because it’s like you’re playing a bunch of Hitman levels in a row, but you can’t get caught or die — which is so hard in Hitman! You can play it really fun and wacky, or you can be super “tryhard” about it and then go through the rogue-light mode. But Hitman is just like the perfect example of an open world game that really vibes with my personality.”

Microsoft Flight Simulator Standard 40th Anniversary Edition

Xbox Game Studios

☆☆☆☆☆
216

★★★★★

$59.99

$47.99

Get it now

PC Game Pass

Xbox Game Pass

Microsoft Flight Simulator
“I’ve been playing PC games for 25 years, so I have a real attachment to, in general, flight simulators. Microsoft Flight Simulator is the one that I remember first playing when I was a kid. It blows my mind because it’s like, ‘wait… how can you fly anything like a real aircraft, or even a fun fictional aircraft?’ The newest Microsoft Flight Simulator is just otherworldly. It’s almost exactly what you would want, because now you can travel and see different parts of the Earth via a flight simulator, which is something I’ve always wanted to do. I wanted to be a pilot, so yeah, it vibes perfectly with me.”

Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord

TaleWorlds Entertainment

☆☆☆☆☆
334

★★★★★

$49.99

$39.99

Get it now

PC Game Pass

Xbox Game Pass

Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord
“The best part of Mount & Blade 2 Bannerlord is you are moving across a map, conquering different parts, very much like Civilization. However, each encounter, when you’re conquering, turns into third-person massacre. So, you get on your horse with your polearm and then battle a bunch of people individually as you’re conquering. So rather than just watching the numbers go up or down when you’re conquering specific areas of the map, you’re actually getting out there along with a bunch of other friendly or enemy AI. It’s great.”

Starfield

Bethesda Softworks

☆☆☆☆☆
1158

★★★★★

$69.99

Get it now

PC Game Pass

Xbox Game Pass

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition

Bethesda Softworks

☆☆☆☆☆
1775

★★★★★

$39.99

$31.99

Get it now

Xbox One X Enhanced

Xbox Game Pass

Starfield and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition
“Working a full-time job and making content for YouTube, I never had time to sit down and put hours into these games. Now that I’m streaming — and I’ve been streaming for four years full-time — it’s perfect because if you want to play two hours of it, you can play a couple of hours of it. If you want to play seven or 16, you can do it and it’s like this constant stream of meeting new NPCs and combat. And the really fun, engaging stories work perfectly for not only my own personality, but also for streaming. I had never played Skyrim or, well, obviously Starfield, but I hadn’t played those games until recently. I played Skyrim for the first time for a 24-hour stream and as soon as I was done with that, I stopped the stream, rested, and then came immediately back to Skyrim because I was having so much fun.”

Warhammer 40,000: Darktide

Fatshark

☆☆☆☆☆
7

★★★★★

Get it now

PC Game Pass

Warhammer 40,000: Darktide
“I’ll be perfectly honest: I’ve never been attached to Warhammer or Warhammer 40K lore. I’ve been playing Warhammer miniatures for years; we’re talking 10-15 years, long before they were ever major video games like Vermintide. Darktide is the “sequel” to Vermintide, and Darktide, in my opinion hits that formula pretty close to perfection. In terms of Vermintide and Darktide, it’s Left 4 Dead, but in the Warhammer universe and it’s just fun to play again and again with your friends — I have played Darktide for 100 hours so far. Fatshark (the developers) have a really passionate community and are always wanting to make sure the game is perfected. They’re working very, very hard to make sure that that game gets better and better. It’s great.”

The post Meet PC Game Pass’ Autumn Curator, Content Creator Bruce Greene appeared first on Xbox Wire.

Get ready for one of the most exciting and stylish action RPGs of the year: Infinity Strash: Dragon Quest Adventure of Dai arrives on Xbox Series X|S and PC next week!

This new game presents a fresh take on the legendary Dragon Quest series, with exciting action-based gameplay and anime-infused visuals that capture the kinetic style of the beloved manga and TV series it’s based on. Take a look at the trailer and you’ll see what we mean.

Ahead of the game’s launch, we thought we’d tell you a little about the game to give you a preview of what to expect and share some information direct from the game’s Producer Takumi Kasai!

But first, we should probably address a question some of you have.

What is Dragon Quest The Adventure of Dai?

Many of you may already be familiar with Dai and his friends from the acclaimed anime TV series and long-running manga. However, for some of you, this may be your first introduction to Dragon Quest The Adventure of Dai. I have to imagine many have never had the pleasure.

The good news is that no prior knowledge is needed to enjoy the game. It follows the story of the anime series, so you’ll be introduced to the world and its characters naturally over the course of the adventure. You’ll learn to love Dai, Popp, Maam and the gang just as fans did through the series.

That said, we’re sure many of you are curious about the franchise, so allow us to provide a brief introduction.

In 1989, writer Riku Sanjo and illustrator Koji Inada launched a new manga in Japan: Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai. Inspired by the popular videogame series, it told the ongoing tale of a young man – the titular Dai – who dreams of growing up to become a hero.

The story ran until 1996 over 37 volumes, and among the best-selling and most highly regarded manga series of all time. It also inspired the acclaimed anime series of the same name in the 1990s, and a remake which started in 2020.

Infinity Strash: Dragon Quest The Adventure of Dai adapts the first 41 episodes of this new series for the game, charting his rise from humble beginnings to a true hero.

Ask the Producer: Why make Dragon Quest The Adventure of Dai into a game?

Takumi Kasai: The project was originally started to go along with the start of the new animated series.

While a new anime series for ‘The Adventure of Dai’ was to be adapted, this story had never been made into a console game before. Since it bears the name Dragon Quest, Square Enix felt that a game adaptation was in order, so we initiated the game project at the same time as the anime.

We’re very pleased to have been able to adapt this fascinating work into a game and present it to the world!

So, what do you do in the game?

Your first port of call will be Story Mode. As the name implies, this is where you’ll experience the narrative, an adventure that takes you through multiple, varied stages. You’ll explore areas full of classic Dragon Quest monsters, take bosses on in epic one-on-one battles and more.

Every playable character has their own playstyle, able to deal out unique combos and special skills. Some like Dai, for example, are all about getting in close and taking enemies apart with powerful sword techniques.

Others, like Popp, specialize in magic, and are able to take on enemies at a distance with flashy ice and fire attacks. Meanwhile Maam can provide both melee and long distance attacks as well as healing support.

The variety of characters and abilities means there’s an incredible depth to combat, especially when you factor in more advanced skills like parries and perfect dodges. It looks great too, with incredible effects and animations that directly reference the anime. It all makes for combat that feel incredibly exciting to engage in.

As you play, you’ll also collect accessories known as Bond Memories. Not only do these augment the stats of the character you equip them to, they also unlock scenes from the original manga for you to enjoy!

The Temple of Recollection

If you want to take a break from the story, experiment with different characters or just make your heroes stronger, you should head to the Temple of Recollection.

This ever-evolving, repeatable dungeon changes every time you play it. As you take on each dangerous floor, you’ll earn valuable rewards, including some enticingly powerful Bond Memories that can make your heroes even tougher.

The deeper you delve into the dungeon, the more dangerous it becomes… but the greater the rewards become too. Of course, you can only keep your prizes if you exit the dungeon, which you can do every five floors. You’ll have to decide whether to leave when given the chance, or gamble it all on what may lie ahead.

It’s classic risk/reward, and it makes for one heck of a compelling loop!

Ask the Producer: How did you approach production of this new game?

Takumi Kasai: Since there was an existing anime and manga for Dragon Quest The Adventure of Dai, I felt that the most important thing was to create a game that has the utmost respect for the source material.

To that end, I was not only responsible for supervising the production, but also thinking about what would really make the fans happy. I thought it was very important to create a game that would please those existing fans.

But we also wanted to attract new fans too. We have prepared plenty of exhilarating action and challenging dungeons, so we hope that people who are not familiar with the anime will play this game and get to know the world of ‘The Adventure of Dai’!

Ask the Producer: How does the game differ to the anime and manga series?

Takumi Kasai: Since the original Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai has a very well-thought-out narrative, it wasn’t very challenging to make the game story follow the original narrative.

However, because the story is so seamless, there were parts of the game where the storytelling became overly long. So, with the approval of the original author, we altered the story in these parts to keep a good pacing for the game.

We also adjusted the way we present the story to make the experience unique to the game – such as using voice dialogue during battle to progress the narrative and incorporating a storyline before we switch to the battle phase.

It was challenging, but we’re hopeful that this part of the game will be accepted by fans. If you’re new to the series and want to know more about the world of Dragon Quest The Adventure of Dai, we hope it inspires you to see the new anime!

Infinity Strash: Dragon Quest The Adventure of Dai preorder bonuses

Infinity Strash: Dragon Quest The Adventure of Dai releases September 28 for Xbox Series X|S and PC via Windows Store. There’s still time to preorder and claim some awesome early purchase bonuses for all editions:

• Dai’s special outfit “Legendary Hero”
• The Bond Memory “The Hero’s Tutor”.

In addition to the Standard Edition of the game, there’s also a Digital Deluxe Edition, which contains the following bonus items:

• Legendary Mage – Popp Outfit
• Legendary Priest – Maam Outfit (Warrior Priest)
• Legendary Martial Artist – Maam Outfit (Martial Artist)
• Legendary Swordsman – Hyunckel Outfit (Dark Armour Blade)
• Legendary Warrior – Hyunckel Outfit (Dark Armour Spear)

We can’t wait for you to experience all the intense action that Infinity Strash: Dragon Quest The Adventure of Dai has to offer. To find out more head over to the official website and follow us on social media:

• DRAGON QUEST on Twitter / X
• DRAGON QUEST on Facebook
• DRAGON QUEST on Instagram

The post Infinity Strash: Dragon Quest The Adventure of Dai Is The Perfect Adaptation Of A Beloved Series appeared first on Xbox Wire.

Just a few weeks ago at Gamescom we announced that an expansion for Age of Empires IV – The Sultans Ascend – would be coming soon. Today we’re thrilled to let our PC and Xbox console players around the world know that they’ll be able to play this exciting new content on November 14! Pre-orders are available now for everyone wanting to graduate The Sultans Ascend from their wishlist and begin counting down the days.

We’ve been slowly revealing what you can expect from The Sultans Ascend since our announcement and today can share the full package coming on November 14:

• New 8-mission campaign
• 2 new civilizations: Japanese & Byzantines
• 4 new variant civilizations
• 10 new maps
• 2 new biomes
• New unlockable rewards

This new Age of Empires IV single player campaign takes place in the Middle East during the European Crusades. You’ll take on the role of the Muslim resistance to the invasion and follow the story of well-known Muslim leaders, their struggles with the Crusaders, and the battles they fought. Our story begins with the First Crusade at the end of the 11th century, when Muslim provinces are mired in rivalry with one another. The Crusaders take advantage of this and sweep through the Levantine coast, taking major cities and capturing Jerusalem leading to their controlling most of the Holy Land. Players will fight against the Holy Orders of the Templars, Hospitallers, and Teutons, as well as their old foes, the Mongols. The Sultans Ascend is the first Age of Empires IV campaign to feature naval gameplay! The fight plays out both on land and at sea with new heroes, abilities, and mechanics at your disposal.

As well as a new campaign, by popular demand, we’re bringing two exciting new civilizations to the game. Take command of the mighty Japanese or the illustrious Byzantines! Each civilization brings unique new landmarks, special units, and strategies. The Japanese civilization tells the story of the age of the Samurai and includes special Shinobi units for espionage and assassination. The Byzantines civilization focuses on the Eastern Roman Empire which lasted over a thousand years. Players will be able to build aqueducts and cisterns, harvest a new resource and hire mercenaries.

We’re also adding re-imagined variants of four existing civilizations, with exciting new heroes, units, and strategies. The Abbasid Dynasty, Chinese, French and Holy Roman Empire will receive these new Variant Civilizations and players will have new ways to play as seasoned favorite civilizations.

In addition, The Sultans Ascend expansion introduces ten unique new maps. Each is meticulously designed to offer a different strategic layout and terrain. You’ll need to adapt your tactics to conquer diverse environments and emerge victorious. The expansion also features two new biomes – Japanese Spring and Savanna!We’re excited to expand Age of Empires IV! Get ready for November 14^th now by pre-ordering on Windows Store, Xbox or Steam. Want to ensure you get all the details on the new content? Ensure you’re following Age of Empires on X, Facebook and Instagram, or join the discussion on Steam, official Forums or Discord.

Related:
Coming to Xbox Game Pass: Party Animals, Gotham Knights, Payday 3, and More
State of Decay 2’s New Curveball Update Is a Literal Game-Changer
Idris Elba Interview – How Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty Attracted Another Hollywood Superstar

Enjoy deep discounts on Xbox games and DLC with this week’s Xbox Sales and Specials from the Microsoft Games Store. Discounts are valid now through September 25, 2023 (actual end date varies by sale). Visit the official Xbox Sales & Specials site here.

Plus, save up to 75% off select Xbox titles during the Game Awards Sale and Tokyo Game Show Sale.

Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S Deals

Please note: prices and availability are subject to change and may vary by region. Content Type varies by title and some titles may have multiple types not listed. Check the title’s individual product page for specific details about the game.

Xbox 360 Deals

Please note: prices and availability are subject to change and may vary by region. Content Type varies by title and some titles may have multiple types not listed. Check the title’s individual product page for specific details about the game.

Related:
Coming to Xbox Game Pass: Party Animals, Gotham Knights, Payday 3, and More
State of Decay 2’s New Curveball Update Is a Literal Game-Changer
Idris Elba Interview – How Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty Attracted Another Hollywood Superstar