Month: July 2020

The Tengu’s Disciple, the long-awaited first DLC for Nioh 2, is upon us on July 30. IGN Japan went hands-on with the new content, which features a new storyline, new weapons and abilities and more. The Tengu’s Disciple is set in the Heian Period during the Genpei War, a national civil war that raged in Japan from 1180 to 1185. The difficulty of the DLC is balanced for players who have completed the main game at around level 120, but you can play at a lower or higher level if you prefer.

The new weapon in the DLC is the Splitstaff, a staff that can be used for close-quarters combat, but, with a long press of the attack button, transforms into a mid-range weapon as the ends extend on flexible chains. It is a fast-paced attack weapon that allows you to close the gap on enemies, and seems to be a useful new addition to Nioh’s arsenal. The first mission of the DLC, meanwhile, titled A Song to Calm the Storm, takes place in the coastal location of Yashima, the real-life setting of an important battle of the Genpei War. Nioh players know to fear a coastal stage; this time, the rugged terrain and nighttime setting make it easy to trip if you don’t carefully watch your footing, and it is a location designed to torment the player. If you manage to proceed, you will encounter variations on familiar enemies mixed among others that are brand new. Ignore the gruesome crab-like Bakegani and slithering half-woman Nure-Onna at your peril.

Toe to toe with the Mysterious Warrior Monk

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The first mid-level boss is the Mysterious Warrior Monk. True to its name, this foe is a mystery – so much so that I died extremely quickly the first few times we fought. This is where the DLC really begins, and players will need to carefully observe the Monk’s attack patterns to stand a chance of beating him. A weak point glows on the far side of his shin, but despite his large size, Mysterious Warrior Monk moves fast, making it difficult to find a way to land a blow. What to do?

Relief comes thanks to an upgraded Yokai Shift system. While this skill was rather limited in the full game, here the duration of a transformation into half-yokai form is much longer and allows you to deal a considerable amount of damage, making it an essential technique to master. The top advice we can offer for The Tengu’s Disciple: When in trouble, become a Yokai.

Having beaten the Monk, I progressed through the map with little trouble, saving progress at shrines, and eventually reaching the mission’s main boss. It took about three hours to reach this point – and this is where the real pain began.

Yep, Nioh’s bosses are still hard as nails

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The boss of A Song to Calm the Storm is named Uminyudo. It appears as a hideous face that fills the screen, transforming mid-battle into a sort of deformed giant penguin-like sludge monster. Both forms unleash brutal attacks in succession, and you will die over and over until you find a way to respond. Of course, your mileage will vary depending on your skill, but a key technique to use here is the counterattack performed by pressing R2 and Circle. Also, figuring out the right timing to make use of the Yokai Shift technique is crucial to success.

I won’t spoil this boss battle with the specifics of how I beat it, but it took about two hours before the creature finally fell. Even having played a ton of Nioh 2, I found Uminyudo to be a real workout. Incidentally, shrines (Nioh’s versions of bonfires) have large monsters placed nearby, allowing for convenient grinding if you need to level up between attempts.

Reading from the Demon Parade Picture Scroll

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In tandem with the release of the Tengu’s Disciple DLC, the base game is getting a free update, adding the new Demon Parade Picture Scroll element. This is an equippable item that some enemies may drop on the new game plus Dream of the Strong difficulty level or higher. You cannot equip the Demon Parade Picture Scroll right away; instead, attempting to use this item will unveil a special mission (more on this below). Complete the mission and the Demon Parade Picture Scroll becomes available to use.

Additionally, while the Demon Parade Picture Scroll can be equipped after clearing the special mission once, completing the mission further times will imbue it with different stat buffs, which you can apply to either your mid-stance or low-stance. These are unlocked once each time you complete the special mission, but with a maximum number of uses per scroll. The actual limit to this number is random (the one I tried had a maximum of six uses), so your final outcome will be based on the luck of the draw. According to publisher Koei Tecmo, the drop rate for the Demon Parade Picture Scroll is low. Since it can also be found in the new Dream of the Demon difficulty level available in the DLC, buying The Tengu’s Disciple offers more opportunities to get this item.

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And what is the special mission you must beat in order to use the Demon Parade Picture Scroll? A boss rush battle, which throws multiple mid-boss characters at the player at once. In a series where it’s prudent to fight enemies one at a time, this represents an overwhelming challenge. Even with my character levelled reasonably high and attempting the mission on its lowest difficulty, I was unable to beat this mission during my limited time with the game.

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After the six hours I spent with Nioh 2’s The Tengu’s Disciple DLC, I had still only cleared the first mission. To be honest, I only achieved this much by trial and error, dying a lot and repeating my attempts until I won; but when I play it at home after release, I would expect to achieve a more efficient outcome by levelling up my character properly before taking on the boss battles. In addition to the mission A Song to Calm the Storm as outlined above, the DLC contains one more main mission, and also another eight sub missions. Koei Tecmo says the DLC offers 10 hours of content, but unless your character is majorly over-levelled or your action skills are pretty remarkable, I’m sure it will take considerably longer. As for the Demon Parade Picture Scroll, I wasn’t even able to unlock it without help, so I can’t imagine how much extra time it would take to fight off all those mid-level bosses multiple times to explore its full potential. There are also new character customisation options, ninjutsu techniques and more. It’s a really beefy package.

The Heian Period 1180s setting feels markedly different than the base game’s Sengoku Period backdrop of the late 1500s, lending a new exciting edge. There are very few games set during this period of Japanese history, and the fascinating selection of detailed costumes and props bring welcome extra value to the package. The Tengu’s Disciple is the first of three planned DLC expansions to Nioh 2; its new elements are interesting, and the level of quality will delight fans of the series when it is released tomorrow.

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Yoshiaki Takahashi is a freelance writer for IGN Japan.

The Outer Worlds publisher Private Division has announced that it’s signed agreements to publish new games by Moon Studios (Ori & the Blind Forest), Roll7 (OlliOlli) and League of Geeks (Armello).

Details about the games are scant: Moon Studios’ game will be a “a compelling action RPG”, League of Geeks will be announcing a new IP, and Roll7 will be taking “the next jump forward in their mission to create awesome, flow state games.”

Don’t expect to be playing any of these games too soon, however – none of the studios have formally announced the projects, and the first of them won’t arrive until parent company Take-Two’s fiscal year 2022.

All the new games are in early development, and announcements about each project will come “in the future”. No specific platforms have been announced at this time.

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“Developing the Ori series over the last decade has been a fantastic experience for our team, and we’re thrilled to now be aiming our sights even higher with a new action RPG,” said Moon co-founders Thomas Mahler and Gennadiy Korol in a press release. “We attribute our success to the ‘iterative polish’ process we use at Moon Studios, and we’re continuing that style of development to create a new game that rises above anything we’ve created thus far.”

Private Division was created by Take-Two as a publishing label for independent developers. So far, it’s published The Outer Worlds, Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey, and Disintegration, as well as republishing Kerbal Space Program.

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Joe Skrebels is IGN’s Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

Phil Spencer has said that news on backwards compatibility for Xbox Series X should be coming in August, sparking speculation that the previously-rumoured August Xbox event (and possible Xbox Series S reveal) event is legitimate.

Speaking on iJustine’s Same Brain podcast, Spencer discussed the work of the backwards compatibility team on Xbox Series X, and praised their work on optimizing older games for the next-gen console. He then added: “I’m encouraged to be able to talk more about it – should be August. I think August we’ll have more to say on that.”

While Spencer is specifically referring to backwards compatibility news, many have connected the August timing to previous rumours about an Xbox event set to take place during the same month.

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Those rumours point to the formal announcement of Xbox Series S (or Xbox Lockhart), a lower-priced, lower performance version of the Series X. It’s not too much of a speculative leap to imagine that the backwards compatibility news could apply to how older games will perform on the new console model. Earlier this week, we saw an image of a supposed white Xbox Series X controller surface, which added to the Lockhart buzz.

If true, it would mark the second major Xbox event in two months, following the Xbox Games Showcase – we thought some of that show worked, and some didn’t, so hopefully Xbox will be reacting to those concerns in any future events.

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Joe Skrebels is IGN’s Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Warzone are getting a refresh today, as Infinity Ward has rolled out a series of new playlists (and removed some) for the multiplayer games.

For Modern Warfare, Gunfight, Gunfight 3v3 Knives Only, Deathmatch Domination, and Drop Zone are now available. Additionally, fans of the popular Shipment and Shoot House maps are in luck, as Infinity Ward has introduced 24/7 playlists for each of them.

In Warzone, players can now dive into Plunder: Blood Money Trios, alongside the normal playlists: Solos, Duos, Trios, and Quads. The Plunder Quads playlist, however, has been removed.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

With just over a week left until Guerrilla Games’ Horizon Zero Dawn releases for the first time on PC, minimum and recommended specs have finally been added to Steam and Epic Games‘ digital storefronts.

The game was first released in February 2017 as a PS4 exclusive, and has since received an in-depth story DLC, The Frozen Wilds. The PC version of the game is launching as a complete edition, with all DLC included.

As picked up by PC Gamer, here are the specs for PC players:

Continue Reading at GameSpot

Grounded has had a strong debut, shooting to the top of Steam’s top sellers list after yesterday’s launch. The Honey I Shrunk the Kids-inspired survival game is an experiment of sorts for developer Obsidian Entertainment. The studio is known for its story-heavy RPGs with the likes of The Outer Worlds, Pillars of Eternity, Fallout: New Vegas, and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II filling out its expansive catalogue.

Grounded quickly became the top-selling game on Steam after launching in Early Access yesterday, despite being freely available as part of Xbox Game Pass for PC as well. SteamDB shows a concurrent player peak of 12,543 players, which puts it near the bottom of Steam’s top 100 most played games. However, this doesn’t take into account those playing on Game Pass or via the Windows Store.

These numbers jump up in terms of Twitch views, too, with the survival game reaching the top three spots in terms of viewers on the streaming platform.

Continue Reading at GameSpot