The Star Wars universe is massive, replete with all manner of intriguing locations, characters, and storylines that fans adore passionately. So, if you're DICE and you're designing the new on November 17.
Nintendo has announced it is redesigning the Miiverse to "make communicating about the games you're playing more enjoyable than ever."
The redesign is scheduled for summer 2015, and will include a number of new features including a screenshot album, a play journal, and a general visual refresh.
A breakdown of all the changes and new features can be found below.
Persona 4: Dancing All Night will be available in Europe in Fall 2015, publisher NIS America has announced.
Traditionally, Persona games launch in Europe a number of months after their Japanese and North American counterparts, but the story-driven music game will be available around the same time.
, NIS America will be releasing a limited "Disco Fever Edition" in Europe, along with the standard physical and digital versions. Details on what's included in the Disco Fever Edition can be found below.
Two Discs Chock Full of Persona 4 Music Remixes: Hear the Persona 4: Dancing All Night soundtrack in all its glory! The two-disc CD set is full of original classics including "Pursuing My True Self," and "Shadow World," new song arrangements including "Heartbeat, Heartbreak" and "Your Affection," remixes by artists including Lotus Juice, TK, and Yuu Miyake, and completely new songs specifically composed for P4D!
Last Night a Vita Pouch Saved My Life: Protect your PS Vita in this custom P4D enameled pouch with a full color P4D design featuring Teddie in all his Elvis-esque jumpsuit glory on one side, and an embossed version of the P4D logo on the reverse. Not for sale in North America, the "Disco Fever" edition is the only way to get the exquisitely detailed pouch.
Cover Band: Preserve the sanctity of the PS Vita’s display with a form-fitting skin to show off the very essence of P4D! (The skin is designed to fit the most recent model of PS Vita).
All About that Bear: Never lose your keys or whatever else again with a golden Teddie keychain. Exclusive to North America, the gold (not real gold, of course) keychain comes embossed in the visage of all of Teddie's gloriousness, based on the belt buckle design on his P4D jumpsuit!
The Whole Package: All the items will come in a large collectible box with custom disco ball art (based on the Japanese Crazy Value Pack version of P4D).
Persona 4: Dancing All Night's story takes place months after Persona 4 Golden, with Rise Kujikawa returning to the world of super-stardom. However, rumours begin to spread about a strange video transporting people into dream worlds once again.
As members of a J-Pop group begin disappearing, players must defeat Shadows in dance battles to solve the mystery and help Rise.
Ronin is a stealthy, cyberpunk-themed action platformer starring an assassin with an axe to grind. Taking some cues from Kill Bill, slick tracksuit and motorcycle helmet included, you infiltrate enemy compounds to pinpoint the location of five targets who left a stain on your past. Marred only a little by control flubs, Ronin is a brief but entertaining ride, packed full of gripping covert infiltrations and plenty of bloodshed.
As video games have often taught, it is a lot of fun to play as a lithe assassin, and Ronin is no exception. Here, you clamber up walls and dive through windows; you stick to the shadows, dodging traps and enemy eyesight; you crawl on ceilings, swing from a grappling hook, and slide down ventilation shafts--all the while sinking your sword into anyone who stands between you and your goals. The locomotion of your vengeful assassin is intuitive and fun. Hopping over platforms and rooftops is smooth, and ending your brisk sprint by bursting through a glass pane to knock down a dumbfounded security guard and plunge a katana into his back is a sinister thrill that never gets old.
The combat is challenging; Keep an eye out for those lasers!
But as fancy as your moves may be, it takes only one bullet for enemies to end your violent jaunt--so, naturally, you need to kill them first. Ronin employs a turn-based combat system, which makes for a rather dramatic gear shift from the methodically paced sleuthing. However, the combat is steady and challenging, and is a joy to boot. The game pauses the moment you enter battle, which offers a chance to scan the area and get your bearings on the fight ahead. Enemies train their laser sights on you, forcing you into a situation where you must escape harm. Using your mouse or analogue stick, you create a jumping arc line to evade incoming fire indicated by a red laser sight. Leaping into a guard knocks him over, which momentarily stuns him, occasionally giving you the chance to deal a finishing blow. Every action moves the battle forward one second, which is important to note, as enemies can call in lockdowns unless you can stop them within a 10-second time limit.
You have access to all of your abilities while in combat, and your mastery of them can mean the difference between a successful dodge and getting blown to bits. The tense battles have you swinging through the air on your grappling hook or bouncing from wall to ceiling like Spider-Man. Knocking down or killing an opponent earns a point that goes into a handful of unlockable skills. After collecting enough unused points, you're granted a limit break, or one free move to use however you wish, from leaping to quickly finishing off a nearby enemy.
Unfortunately, the controls aren't always as sharp as your helmeted assassin's blade.
I really got the drop on this guy!
Worse, however, and far more aggravating, are the mistakes made due to button prompts that change depending on the situation. For example, one button is typically used in order to enter doors, but the given prompt sometimes changes if you're near someone, such as a civilian--whom you typically try not to kill. So, after getting it stuck in your head that a certain prompt is used for entering a door, you may feel a tad perplexed as to why your assassin is suddenly dealing a death blow to a civilian standing just off to the side.
This happens because Ronin allows for multiple button prompts to enable you to tackle many enemies at once while in combat. During exploration, typically only one particular button is used. But when there is suddenly another possible target, the button might swap with another (for example, from A to B), sometimes allowing the aforementioned unfortunate situation to occur. It can happen in combat as well; an accidently thrown sword will quickly teach you to take battles more slowly and stay mindful of the button prompts. It isn't a damning problem, but it is jarring, and can often lead you to reload your last checkpoint.
Minor control issues don't keep Ronin down. Though the game can be finished in around six hours, it provides enough intense moments to keep your attention locked through every second. There is also a new-game-plus mode if you're hungry for more and looking for some tougher action. Enjoyable and captivating, Ronin proves that revenge is a dish best served cold--and sometimes hanging from the ceiling.
Retro-style platformer (which are not seeing physical releases). Yacht Club said as part of today's announcement that the game has sold more than 700,000 copies across all platforms.
As for the Plague of Shadows expansion, which looks to be a major update for the game, Yacht Club says it's coming "very soon." As noted above, the free update "will definitely hit digital platforms BEFORE the boxed version." The company notes it's "in the home stretch and [is] polishing every detail, pixel, and potion right now." You can check out an animated GIF and some screenshots of the expansion in action above.
I sit down with the GameSpot crew to figure out their most desired elements for the upcoming Bloodborne expansion.
Kevin and Andy talk about how much they've enjoyed Batman: Arkham Knight, how broken it is on PC, and why GameSpot gave it a score of 7/10.
The Last of Us 2 might have been accidentally revealed, early bird Steam Controllers and Links sold out, and GTA 5’s getting new content next week!
