Syndicated
Gaming News
Dark Souls Creator Explains How Elden Ring Is The Next Step For The Genre
From Software’s new game Elden Ring boasts a high-profile partnership with fantasy author George RR Martin, but it’s shaping up to be more than a Souls game infused with Martin’s lore. The transition to an open world game, and some of the world-building from Martin, are making it into what Dark Souls creator Hidetaka Miyazaki feels is the next logical step for the genre he helped to create.
“With a larger world, new systems and action mechanics inevitably become necessary,” Miyazaki told IGN. “In that sense, I think that Elden Ring is a more natural evolution of Dark Souls.”
For example, the protagonist of Elden Ring can travel the world on horseback, and even fight enemies while mounted. Miyazaki says this leads to more diverse combat situations, rather than restricting players to combat within tightly confined spaces. The addition of horseback also means that spaces can be set further apart, including villages. But unlike many RPGs, these villages won’t be safe havens full of NPCs and happy shopkeepers.
“Villages will be the dark dungeon-like ruins that you have come to expect from us,” Miyazaki said. “Creating a more open game is a big challenge for us. If we were to add towns on top of that, it would become a bit too much, so we decided to create an open-world-style game focused on what we are best at.”
Miyazaki also says the division of labor with Martin has resulted in an interesting process developing the lore. Your character is created and so the protagonist of the story has no fixed identity. Martin’s work has been to lay the groundwork with the lore and history of the world, while Miyazaki’s team has been developing the events within the timeframe of the game. Both worked independently, but their work would impact each other.
“Storytelling in video games–at least the way we do it at From Software–comes with a lot of restrictions for the writer,” he said. “I didn’t think it was a good idea to have Martin write within those restrictions. By having him write about a time the player isn’t directly involved in, he is free to unleash his creativity in the way he likes. Furthermore, as FromSoftware we didn’t want to create a more linear and storydriven experience for Elden Ring. Both issues could be solved by having Martin write about the world’s history instead.”
Elden Ring is coming to PC, Xbox One, and PS4. For more on Elden Ring, check out our pre-order guide.
from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/dark-souls-creator-explains-how-elden-ring-is-the-/1100-6467971/
John Wick Hex Is Turn Based, But That Won’t Hold Keanu Reeves Back
John Wick films are riveting to watch because of how fluid and precise all of Keanu Reeves‘ moves are. You get a sense that he’s always one step ahead, able to predict the next movements of his foes and adjust accordingly. It’s not always perfect though; John gets battered and bruised when he makes an error, reminding him that death is just a second away should he not maintain a death-dealing rhythm. With Bithell Games’ interpretation of this action franchise, all these pillars of John Wick’s combat are upheld, which is surprising given the turn-based nature of John Wick Hex.
John Wick Hex puts you in control of the titular assassin during his lucrative time as an assassin before any of the films, when John’s skills were at their sharpest. You overlook the action from above, moving John around the linear stages by clicking on points for him to move to. Each action takes up time, represented by a bar on top of the screen that lets you easily see what commands you’ve enacted, and how long they will take to execute down to the second.
Directly underneath this is another timeline for enemy actions, letting you compare how long their moves will take in comparison with yours. While time is paused between your turns, you can cycle through each of your available moves and get an idea of how long it will take to execute in the timelines above. This lets you make the best decision possible for the scenario, calculating your actions so that you can pull off a headshot on an enemy before they get to return fire, or just as quickly duck behind cover before poking out on the other side to return a shot.
Despite being turn-based, John Wick Hex lets you take turns so quickly that it’s easy to string multiple actions together fluidly once you feel more comfortable with the repertoire of offensive actions open to you. It felt great to throw my handgun across a small courtyard to stagger an enemy about to fire at me, then use the afforded time to take down another enemy close by before picking up their handgun and finishing off the previous one. When strung together Hex flows by much faster than you might expect for a strategy game, while still pushing clever decision making to the forefront of its gameplay.
John Wick Hex aims to make you feel like your scripting one of the many action sequences in one of the films. Each small decision you make influences the full symphony of death that John orchestrates, with a feature at the end of each level letting you see your actions unfold in real-time. Bithell Games co-founder, Mike Bithell, explained that they were also careful to ensure this approach made logical sense. Games like XCOM will often introduce randomization in what should be a certain situation, which is one example where Hex makes some changes based on their title character.
“It’s the logic of the fight that when you’re watching as a viewer, you think, yeah, that seems how you would fight, and that’s the driving principle of every choice we’re making is, does this feel like it’s sensible?” explained Bithell. “Like you say, if I’m directly in front of a guy, the chance of me hitting him is 100% every time. Because it is. If I’m John Wick, he would not miss at this range. One of our starting assumptions with the game was that we thought that John Wick never misses. You go back, watch the movie, he totally does, but he misses in places where that feels logical.”
So far Hex feels incredibly faithful to its source material, while also being a tactically satisfying turn-based strategy game too.
Bithell was coy regarding just what story Hex was going to tell, given that it is detached from the trilogy of films out now. But he did say that Lionsgate has given him and his team a lot of freedom to experiment with both their own story and its effect on the series’ mythos, allowing them to tell a tale that Bithell says will be surprising to fans.
John Wick Hex excels so far at making you feel like the ultra-instinctive and clinical assassin that Wick is. It will be crucial to see how its enemy variety and level-design both test your strategies as you become more comfortable with your abilities. But so far Hex feels incredibly faithful to its source material, while also being a tactically satisfying turn-based strategy game too.
from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/john-wick-hex-is-turn-based-but-that-wont-hold-kea/1100-6467959/
New Star Wars Battlefront 2 Content On The Way
While everyone’s looking ahead to upcoming Star Wars releases such as Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (November 15) and Star Wars: Episode 9 – The Rise of Skywalker (December 20), video game publisher Electronic Arts announced some new content for the not-yet-forgotten Star Wars Battlefront 2.
Dennis Brännvall, franchise design director for Star Wars Battlefront, took to Twitter to outline the new content in a community update video. The update, set to launch sometime this month, introduces new characters and firepower. Droidekas and the Galactic Republic TX-130 tank from the Clone Wars will finally roll out, alongside a new set of digs for Anakin Skywalker and the 212th Recon Division and 41st Scout Battalion troopers. Check out the announcement below.
We also got a sneak peek at what’s to come. A new planet called Felucia is in the works, as well as “new ways to play the game.” Brännvall didn’t specify when Felucia will be available nor did he clarify what “new ways to play” means.
EA CEO Andrew Wilson said Star Wars Battlefront 2 is “a great game” in a May 2019 earnings call. Wilson was keenly aware of what microtransactions did to the game’s reception, noting that they “clouded what was otherwise a really great game.” However, he called attention to developer DICE’s continued effort to support and improve the title, stating the shooter is now “a really strong game with really strong player sentiment.”
In our Star Wars Battlefront 2 review, we gave it a 6/10 at launch, saying, “While its main narrative feels unresolved, and the general loop of the multiplayer carries a number of issues, Battlefront II still manages to evoke that same sense of joy and excitement found in the core of what the series is all about.”
from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/new-star-wars-battlefront-2-content-on-the-way/1100-6467968/
