Ken, Incineroar, Piranha Plant, World of Light and Spirits Revealed in Latest Smash Direct

After what seemed to be the most speculation in Smash history with leak after leak, the last of the Smash Ultimate roster has been revealed. On November 1st, Masahiro Sakurai presented the last Smash Direct before Ultimate’s release on December 7th. The Direct opened with two new character reveals during a match with Little Mac: Ken from Street Fighter and Incineroar from Pokemon Sun and Pokemon Moon. Ken is an echo fighter to Ryu and was given his move set from Street Fighter II Turbo. In addition to increased run speed, his specials will have different aesthetics along with his Tastumaki Senpukyaku and Shoryuken having multiple hits. Incineroar is one of the more unique fighters in the game purely due to his presentation. Incineroar has a move set that is akin to a pro wrestler. Suplexes, Moonsaults, Irish Whips, and many other moves are all going to be part of Incineroar’s kit. He also happens to be one of the more animated characters, as he poses or pouts depending on if he hits or misses his target. The Direct also involved revealing more assist trophies with some being anticipated characters and potentially leaked characters. Golden Sun’s Isaac and Shadow the Hedgehog were given the assist trophy treatment, which disproved the widely discussed “Grinch” leak. However, the leak did correctly predict Ken as an echo fighter while news on Banjo-Kazooie was left unaddressed. Some other notable assist trophies include Yuri Kozukata from Fatal Frame and Dr. Wily from Mega Man. The previously blurred menu option of Ultimate was also revealed to be Spirits. Spirits involves fighting the “spirits” of some of the most notable characters in every Nintendo franchise in Ultimate. For example, to fight the spirit of Guts Man, you will fight a giant orange version of Mega Man that likes to grab often. Collecting these spirits and combining them with your character will give them certain stat boosts in order to level your character throughout the mode. You can level your spirits with prolonged usage and you also fuse these spirits to create even more spirits. This Spirit mode also seems to be tied into Ultimate’s new adventure mode entitled “World of Light.” Similar to Subspace Emissary from Brawl, it looks as though the entire roster and the spirits have been overtaken by some mysterious force. From the clips, it seems as though Sakurai combined Smash Run, Smash Tour, and Subspace Emissary. There will be bosses that have returned from Brawl, yet the maps layout seems to look similar to the Smash 4 modes. Sakurai continued to make good on Ultimate being a great casual game and competitive fighting game by revealing the Online features. Matchmaking has become far easier to find what you want out of a match by setting your preferences before going Online. You can set if you want stocks, time, items, etc. This ensures a player will match up with another player with similar tastes. There will also be a Smash ranking system known as “Global Smash Power” or “GSP.” This stat will track how well you play and will match you up with others of a similar GSP. In addition, each character has their own GSP to make the matchmaking line up with your skill with a certain character. If you reach a very high GSP, you will be allowed to play the “Elite” version of Online. This seems to be a way for the best of the best to play each other and Sakurai let us know that he and his staff will be paying very close attention to Elite matches. Any nerfs or buffs to characters in the future will probably be due to these Elite matches along with any tournaments. Before the Direct ended, Sakurai revealed his limited time offer of a free character. Piranha Plant from Super Mario Bros. was revealed as an additional fighter and could be acquired for free if you purchase the game any time before January 31st. This was one of the biggest surprises of the Direct as this character was not highly requested nor was he a part of any leaks. There will also be 5 additional DLC characters that will be added throughout the first year and then some of Smash Ultimate. Each character will be priced at $5.99. Nintendo also offered an Ultimate Fighters pass to purchase all 5 for the price of $24.99. This will bring the grand total of characters to 74 when it is all said and done. If you’d like to see the Direct itself, you can watch it right here.

Review: Soul Calibur VI

  Soul Calibur VI is the latest entry in Bandai Namco’s classic fighting franchise. Following in the steps of Tekken 7, Soul Calibur VI successfully updates the classic gameplay with new mechanics that mix well with the old ones. Right off the bat the most obvious change is the shift in timeline. Soul Calibur has always advanced the story in each successive entry with older characters, newcomers who used retired fighters styles and a story-line that has spiraled away from the original cast. Soul Calibur VI is essentially a reboot. Instead of advancing the story they decide to go backwards, and they set the game during the time period of the original Soul Calibur while also bringing fighters from the later games such as Tira and Zasalamel.  The reboot theme is strong and carries into all elements of Soul Calibur VI. Characters, gameplay mechanics, and single player modes all feel familiar, but have enough new wrinkles to keep them fresh and exciting for the modern fighting fan. Ever since Soul Calibur launched with the Dreamcast, the franchise has been on the forefront of great single player content. That hasn’t changed here at all. Featuring not just one, but two different and diverse story modes. Soul Chronicles is the more traditional story mode. It has a main plot line telling the tale of Soul Edge and Soul Calibur and all the drama they bring to the stage of history. The main story takes place in a timeline and every single person on the roster gets their own individual chapters to play through that exist alongside the main plot. Overall the stories are really well made and do a decent job of moving Soul Calibur forward, just don’t expect tons of CG cut-scenes or even in game set pieces on the level of Tekken 7. The scope is a bit more limited in that respect. The other main mode is called the Libra of Soul. Mixing a bit of the best of the previous entries modes all in one long, RPG narrative driven story. In Libra of Soul you must create a character and embark on a story-line that features moral choices. You move around a top down map from node to node and take on battles that harken back to the original games edge master mode. Speaking of creating a character, create a soul returns and is incredibly diverse. It allows you to customize pre-made characters, except for the guest characters Geralt and the newly revealed 2b, or make a character from scratch. Despite the depth it offers most of the gear pieces themselves disappoint. It has much less gear than five, and most of the gear it contains are just reused assets from the older games. The custom characters are also causing problems right now with the competitive community because customs are allowed in ranked. This causes problems because the custom fighters can have very different hit-boxes which throws balance out the window. Players are making tiny Astaroths or super tall Talims and entire combos just won’t hit or work properly. Namco has already commented on this and I fully expect patches to make adjustments to this in the near future. Outside of that the game runs fantastic. All versions are locked at 60fps and although most of the models are brought over from the older games, they use a lot of very nice looking post processing effects to dress them up. Big trails of lightning, flashy super attacks and weapons trails are all great to look at, while also not getting in the way of the action. The sound and music is also stellar, with the narrator returning to add flavor and gravitas to every battle like he always has. A good soundtrack highlights all of the actions with some old favorites hidden away as secrets to discover. Obviously the most vital part of any fighting game is the fighting itself. This is where Soul Calibur VI shines brightest. The classic 8 way run style is back and faster than it’s ever been. Every attack, parry and throw is lightning fast and incredibly responsive to the touch. Old mechanics like the guard parry and the super attacks are joined by the new soul charge and the most controversial new addition, the reversal edge. Reversal edge acts like an auto parry, allowing you to absorb several hits and landing a shot that does some damage, then slows the action down as a rock paper scissors style mechanic plays out. The initial worry was that the flow of matches would be ruined by this new system and at first it can affect the flow of matches. As time has gone on and the reversal edge has been explored a bit more, it doesn’t ruin the intensity and speed of the fights. It also has just as many counters and reads that add a fresh new layer to use for the mind games. Soul Calibur VI has been great to play. Against friends old and new, in the various single player modes and even versus random opponents using all sorts of insane custom fighters online. The speed, gameplay and atmosphere has been returned back to its roots. Like the announcer says, it’s a tale of souls and swords, and it has thankfully been retold.

EA Announces Cloud-based Developer Project Atlas

According to online publisher Medium, EA is pitching a new cloud-focused platform for developers to make tools more handy when creating games. Speaking with Electronic Arts Chief Technology Officer Ken Moss, he gives a gist of what the publisher has planned for the new project. The basis of why the project is in the works is to help developers unjumble the process of creating a title. From in-game assets to online integration and the game’s engine, all pieces of what makes the game whole don’t always stick when put together. “With Project Atlas, which is cloud native, we’ll have the ability to break from the limitations of individual systems,”. For the Project Atlas being cloud-based, it will support online-founded aspects for the game. Though this isn’t an authentic idea from EA, putting cloud support as the main engine for the project makes this pitch more interesting. Previously, any simulation or rendering of in-game action were either limited to the processing performance of the player’s console or PC, or to a single server that interacted with your system. By harnessing the power of the cloud, players can tap into a network of many servers, dedicated to computing complex tasks, working in tandem with their own devices, to deliver things like hyper-realistic destruction within new HD games, that is virtually indistinguishable from real life — we’re working to deploy that level of gaming immersion on every device. What’s next for the new project was left unanswered. The ambitious cloud-integrated platform could work wonders if it truly becomes a reality. As stream-based services are becoming more and more apparent, the project will fit well down the road for future titles. Medium closes their article asking for other developers to get involved with the new project EA has set for creating games. Either it being to assist bring the new technology to life or fully partnering with Electronic Arts, Atlas can bring crafting games a great scale less of a hassle if it happens. Source: Medium

Rumor: Legend Of Zelda Netflix Series Coming From Castlevania Producer

With the recent release of season 2 for Netflix’s Castlevania series, talks of more series from the show’s producer Adi Shankar has emerged. In a recent Instagram post, the showrunner has teased the idea of possibly working on a new series for Nintendo’s Legend of Zelda franchise. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Adi Shankar (@bootleguniverse) Though the statement is very vague, Shankar does confirm that what he is working on next will be revealed in mid-November. ” I can confirm that I’m working with an iconic Japanese gaming company to adapt one of their iconic video game series into a series”. What sparks the idea for one of Nintendo’s iconic game series to be adapted into a show comes from TheWrap, stating that the entertainment outlet got exclusive word on the upcoming series following its reveal. It’s unclear if this is to be true as Shankar has never mentioned The Legend of Zelda for a future project, but Metroid though was referenced at a prior time. When asked for a comment, Nintendo told TheWrap “We have nothing to announce on this topic.”. Other titles like Diablo have been mentioned to be getting its own Netflix series similar to Shankar’s Castlevania. With the rise of these videogame-based series, they seem to be translating the image of their influenced games greatly compared to the featured films that continue to release this past decade. We might see more appear on Netflix and other streaming entertainment services in the near future. For the high hopes of a series featuring Zelda & Link it’s still unsure if this will happen. For what’s to come from Shankar, stay tuned as we approach to November 16th for his next project.

Multiple Titles Expected From Respawn Entertainment Next Year

In the latest quarterly earnings call for Electronic Arts, it was discovered that the newly acquired Respawn Entertainment has multiple titles to release in 2019. The most recent title from the studio, Titanfall 2, released nearly two years ago and since then it’s been unsure what will be coming next from Respawn. CEO Andrew Wilson stated in the call: Across multiple studies, we have new projects underway, including games from Respawn that are slated to launch by next holiday season, For what we already know about what’s coming from the California-based developer, there are three projects already in development. The earliest reveal being their partnership with Oculus to create an VR title, but not much detail was revealed on what is coming from the newly announced game. Following with the announcement of a Star Wars title, which was later revealed to be titled Jedi Fallen Order at this year’s EA Play with an expected release for Holiday 2019. And the third installment in the Titanfall series was teased in result from the studio’s acquisition by EA last year. Despite the outcome of Titanfall 2 releasing shortly after Battlefield 1 in 2016, the franchise deserves to see another sequel seeing how the game was received above average. The poor decision to release the titles back to back could be avoided this time around if the publisher coordinates the launch dates for the upcoming titles. Though there’s not much information on what Respawn has planned, not even a screenshot or trailer, it will be exciting to see what’s coming from the former Call of Duty developer. With their own interpretation of Star Wars, I’m most interested in how they take the story after playing Titanfall 2. Already aware of how they work on mechs and machines from the franchise, how they pursue game’s plot should be in good hands. Source: EA

Netflix releases a new Witcher teaser trailer

When Netflix casted Henry Cavill as Geralt of Rivia for The Witcher, there was a huge speculation as to whether Cavill’s days as the Man of Steel are over. While it’s still open for debate, it seems to be heading in that direction, because Netflix has now released a new Witcher teaser trailer. The trailer opens with a director’s clapboard and Cavill approaches with white long hair and black body armor, just like the character in the series. He doesn’t say anything, just a short stare at the camera and drinks a vial at the end. There are some interesting reactions with comparisons to Legolas and Christopher Lambert’s Raiden from the original Mortal Kombat movie. With the success of Castlevania and Henry Cavill’s caliber, the expectations are high for the series, as 2019 will be the scheduled launch for Netflix.