Stardew Valley has been teasing something big for patch 1.4, which developer Eric “ConcernedApe” Barone has called the “everything” update. A new post on the Stardew Valley developer blog has gone into detail about what we can expect from patch 1.4, including additions that will be made to endgame romance plots, and when the patch will be live for the PC version of the game.

The 1.4. update is coming to the PC version of the game on November 26, 2019, and will add a “pretty big variety of new things” to the farming sim, which first released in 2016. The aim of this patch, Barone says, is to “polish” the game to a point where it completely matches his original vision for the game, introducing quality of life improvements and bug fixes that “will make the game more seamless to play.” Barone has promised that “nearly every aspect of the game has been expanded or improved upon in some way.” One example he gives is Wild Bait, which previously served very little purpose, but will now make it possible to catch double fish when you use it during fishing.

There will be tweaks big and small, including a new 14-heart event for every potential spouse after you marry them. This means that even if you feel like you’ve finished absolutely everything in the game, there will be more content to discover, including plenty of stuff that Barone doesn’t want to announce yet so that players can be surprised. Also significant is the addition of a unique screenshot function for the PC version, which will add the ability to take a screenshot of your entire farm, or any other area, from the options menu. This means that you can show off what your whole farm looks like without needing to stitch together multiple shots. There’s no mention of a similar functionality coming to the console or mobile versions of the game, which will be receiving 1.4 “a few weeks” after the PC release.

Barone is aiming for a simultaneous release across all systems, but there are some caveats–the PS Vita version will receive another patch to fix some issues with the current build, but no content beyond what was offered in 1.2, and there are no plans to bring multiplayer functionality to the mobile versions of the game. The 1.3 multiplayer patch has now come to every console, having recently made it to the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions of the game. Also interesting to note is the fact that the 1.4 update represents the first time Barone has allowed other people to work on his game. “I formed a small team earlier this year to help me continue working on Stardew Valley,” Barone wrote. The patch was developed with the help of two other people.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/stardew-valleys-upcoming-14-update-dated-and-impro/1100-6471479/

Terminator: Resistance, a new action/stealth title set in a post-Judgment Day period of the Terminator timeline, is out today for PS4, Xbox One, and PC–but only if you’re in Australia or Europe. Players in the US hoping to get their hands on the new Terminator game will have to wait a while longer if they want to play the game on consoles, as the game’s American release on PS4 and Xbox One has been delayed until December 10. Curiously, it went up on Steam in the US on November 14, so it’s available on PC. The game has had a quiet release, slipping in under the radar during a busy period for new releases.

The game, which follows the timeline established by the first two movies (and ignores the other films, much like recent cinema release Terminator: Dark Fate), mixes action and stealth. The game casts players as Jacob Rivers, who is part of the resistance against Skynet’s army of machines. He’ll need to take down using a variety of energy weapons and hacking abilities, but also avoid combat whenever he’s not armed with an appropriate gun. It’s developed by Teyon, the studio behind Rambo: The Video Game.

It’s unclear exactly why this delay has happened, but December 10 is certainly a less crowded release date than November 15–Terminator: Resistance is going up against both Star Wars: Fallen Order and Pokemon Sword & Shield in regions where it launches today. It’s unusual for games to have staggered release dates in 2019, although not unheard of. Google Stadia launches next week, but by the end of November it will only be available in 14 countries: Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom, and the United States.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/under-the-radar-shooter-terminator-resistance-is-o/1100-6471473/

It’s finally happening: Bungie is about to severely weaken one of the best, most tried-and-true guns of Destiny 2. An upcoming update will cut the legs out from under The Recluse, a pinnacle SMG from Year Two that remains one of the most versatile and sought-after guns in the game. It’s about to become a lot less useful, thanks to rebalancing that will also effect the Titan Exotic helmet One-Eyed Mask, and the Xenophage Exotic machine gun.

In its latest This Week at Bungie blog post, the developer shared details for a few upcoming balancing changes, with a nerf to The Recluse headlining the list. Currently, the gun carries a perk called Master of Arms, which is activated when you get a kill with any gun in your arsenal. When the perk is running, The Recluse deals significantly more damage, making it a beastly addition to your arsenal in just about all situations, both in the PvE and PvP sides of the game.

Nerfs To The Recluse

Right now, when Master of Arms is activated, The Recluse does precision-level damage no matter where you hit your target–basically, it’s like the gun lands nothing but headshots. In Destiny 2’s next content season, the Season of the Dawn, the game will get a change that removes that bonus, which will knock down the damage The Recluse deals significantly. It’s part of Bungie’s continued focus on trying to bring Legendary guns (of which The Recluse is one) down a peg in strength, in order to make rarer Exotic guns stand out from the crowd more.

As Bungie details in the TWAB, The Recluse will still get a damage bonus from Master of Arms, but it won’t be as powerful as the current bonus.

“Many doubted The Recluse when it was first announced, but it has since proved to be resilient to being squashed,” Bungie writes. “Although the precision damage modifier did not actually improve the efficacy of the weapon at its best, it did allow for fairly mindless spraying to be just as good as concentrated aiming. After considering various options on what to do with it, the decision was made to remove that part of the functionality and preserve its activation methods. The alternative was leaving in an effect we believe to be too strong for a Legendary weapon.”

Nerfs To One-Eyed Mask

Also getting pared down is a favorite Titan helmet from Year Two called One-Eyed Mask, which has become a regular adornment for many players in PvP. One-Eyed Mask marks the person who damages you when you take fire, activating a perk called “Marked for Vengeance.” If you then kill the person who did damage to you, you get immediate health regeneration as well as an overshield, making you even more powerful for taking down the next person you encounter.

The update that nerfs The Recluse will also alter One-Eyed Mask to do away with the overshield.

“In a previous sandbox update, One-Eyed Mask received some tuning in how Vengeance was applied to Titans,” the blog states. “Next Season, this perk will continue to provide health regeneration when defeating an opponent that has inflicted damage upon your Guardian, but it will no longer grant an overshield.”

Boosts To Xenophage

The TWAB wasn’t all bad news, though. The recently released Xenophage, is getting its power amped up to make it more effective. Xenophage fires explosive rounds that explode somewhat like grenades, but it doesn’t deal extra damage for critical hits. That made it somewhat less powerful than Bungie intended it to be at release, and coupled with its small magazine size, made the gun fairly forgettable. Next season, Xenophage will get a couple more rounds when you pick up Heavy ammo in PvP, and will do more 50% more damage in PvE.

“Xenophage unintentionally shipped a little weak, so it’s getting a bump up in raw damage,” Bungie writes. “Machine Guns have a higher ammunition capacity than other Heavy weapons, trading raw DPS for ease of use. Xenophage slides further towards other Heavy weapons such as Grenade Launchers in that aspect but didn’t get enough power back. This will correct that.”

There’s only one month left in the Season of the Undying, so now’s the time to get out there and enjoy your Recluse and One-Eyed Mask before Bungie’s changes come through. On the bright side, Xenophage could be a very useful gun with these new changes, which will be nice considering how difficult it was to unlock in the first place.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/destiny-2s-best-gun-is-getting-nerfed-again/1100-6471470/

With X019 happening, plenty of big announcement have been made for Microsoft’s gaming platforms, including several Japanese games making their way to Xbox. A total of 10 Final Fantasy games will hit Xbox Game Pass, while Sega revealed three Yakuza games will debut on the platform as well. But what wasn’t part of the stage show was Xbox boss Phil Spencer confirming that Square Enix’s MMORPG, Final Fantasy XIV, will be coming to Xbox One.

In addressing the press at X019, Spencer said, “I wanted you to know, rest assured that we will be bringing that game [Final Fantasy XIV] to Xbox. We have a great relationship with Yoshida-san [FFXIV director] and we’re working through what it means to bring [to Xbox] a cross-platform MMO that they’ve run for years.”

While it may not come as too much of a surprise, since FFXIV director/producer Naoki Yoshida has continually said he hopes to eventually bring the game to other platforms, Spencer’s statement makes it clear that things are actually moving along. No potential release date or launch window was suggested, however.

In a previous interview with Yoshida-san, he told us, “My direction has never changed from the beginning when we started with A Realm Reborn: strive to have as many people play FFXIV on multiple platforms. Secondly, I want to allow people to play with their friends without any cross-platform limitations. I am still in discussion with Microsoft and Nintendo to make this a reality.”

FFXIV and all three of its expansions are playable now on PC and PS4; for more on why the MMORPG is important, be sure to read our FFXIV Shadowbringers review, post-mortem interview with Yoshida-san, and feature on how the latest expansion became one of the best stories told in franchise history. And for more on X019, check out our stories below:

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/final-fantasy-xiv-will-come-to-xbox-one-phil-spenc/1100-6471467/