Month: June 2019

With Stranger Things Season 3 arriving this week on July 4, Netflix is hosting a premiere red carpet event in Los Angeles, and GameSpot is on hand to speak to the cast and creators about our favorite 1980s dark fantasy teenage adventure show.

We’re coming to you directly from Hawkins High School where there is a decked-out black carpet and swarms of Strange Things fans here to cheer on the cast. So pack up your Eggos, keep an eye out for Demodogs, and head on over to our Instagram story and Twitter feed for more as the stars stop to chat with us. And, when you get a moment to catch your breath, check out our definitive ranking of the best Stranger Things episodes from Seasons 1 and 2, and scope out these behind-the-scenes photos from Season 3.

The party has officially begun with a visit from the Hawkins High School marching band.

First up, we have Will The Wise himself, Noah Schapp answering the important questions–like what it’s like being the best character in Hawkins.

How has Max changed since Season 2? Sadie Sink has some thoughts on the matter!

Would Gaten Matarazzo rather watch an episode of Stranger Things with his parents or an R-rated movie?

Caleb McLaughlin is just looking for a chance to show off his “summer abs.”

In a town like Hawkins, paranoia is a way of life. Brett Gelman explains why his conspiracy theory loving character Murray Bauman is so suspicious of the world around him.

Does Mayor Larry Kline have a solid election platform? Cary Elwes weighs in on some good ol’ fashioned Hawkins politics.

Busey sighting! Jake is here to answer that age-old question.

Pokemon Sword and Shield are coming to Nintendo Switch this November. The games will be compatible with the new Pokemon Home service when it launches next year, allowing players to import their older monsters to the titles–albeit with some restrictions. As we learned during E3 2019, players won’t be able to transfer every old Pokemon over, and future games similarly may not support every monster–a controversial decision that has resulted in backlash from many fans. Now series producer Junichi Masuda has responded to the controversy.

In a message shared on the official Pokemon website, Masuda thanks fans for their love of the series and reiterates the decision to exclude Pokemon from the titles wasn’t made lightly. “Just like all of you, we are passionate about Pokemon and each and every one of them is very important to us. After so many years of developing the Pokemon video games, this was a very difficult decision for me,” Masuda said.

Despite the fact some Pokemon won’t be transferrable to Sword and Shield, Masuda assures that those monsters won’t be excluded from the series permanently. “I’d like to make one thing clear: even if a specific Pokemon is not available in Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield, that does not mean it will not appear in future games.”

Masuda first revealed that some Pokemon wouldn’t be compatible with Sword and Shield during at Treehouse Live demo at E3 2019. Masuda acknowledged this decision was a change from previous games and said it was ultimately made in part due to development time. As he explained through an interpreter:

“In previous games that worked with the Pokemon Bank service, you were able to–for example, in Sun and Moon–bring over any Pokemon, even if they weren’t in the Alola Pokedex. But with the transition to the Nintendo Switch hardware, being much more powerful [and] allowing us to be much more expressive with each of the individual Pokemon…at Game Freak we really spent a lot of time thinking about what the best way to move forward was, really preserving the quality of all the different Pokemon while also taking into account the battle balance, having so many different Pokemon available, all within a limited development time so we don’t keep fans waiting too long for every new entry in the series. And after a lot of discussion, we decided to come to a new direction.”

Sword and Shield launch for Switch on November 15. The games take place in the new Galar region. We don’t yet know how many monsters will be in the Galar Pokedex, but we’ve already gotten a glimpse at a variety of new and returning Pokemon. The games also introduce a new battle mechanic called Dynamaxing, which allows you to supersize a Pokemon for three turns during certain matches. For more on the titles, be sure to check out our Pokemon Sword and Shield pre-order guide.

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Popular live-streaming platform Twitch is giving creators a new way to engage with their most ardent fans. Subscriber Streams, broadcasts exclusive to channel subscribers, launched as a beta on June 26.

Twitch’s vice president of commerce Matt McCloskey penned a blog post about the news. “Creators often ask us for new and better ways to reward their viewers,” he wrote. “VIP badges and custom Sub emotes are just a few examples. The next gadget we’re adding to their kit is Subscriber Streams.”

McCloskey describes Subscriber Streams as “an exciting new way for streamers to offer another benefit to some of their biggest supporters–subscribers, VIPs, and Mods.” GameSpot sister site CNET reports that viewers subscribed to a channel at any tier can see a streamer’s Subscriber Stream. Non-subscribers will only see a preview of the Subscriber Stream, but can immediately begin viewing by subscribing.

There are requirements to broadcasting a Subscriber Stream: you must be a Twitch Affiliate or Partner, you must broadcast a minimum of 90 unique days as an Affiliate or Partner, and you must fall in line with Twitch’s Community Guidelines and Terms of Service.

McCloskey believes Subscriber Streams will give creators more exciting ways to involve their fanbases, saying he could see “competitive streamers taking requests on heroes or champions to play, tabletop streamers running a weekly campaign for Subs, music streamers making all-request set lists, and a whole lot more.”

United States senator and 2020 Presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders now has a Twitch channel. We recommended a few games he should stream, including Hitman 2 and Persona 5.

Final Fantasy XIV Shadowbringers is now available for those who pre-ordered it, and within this third expansion for Square Enix’s MMORPG are brand new Jobs (or classes). Dancer falls into the Ranged DPS role, throwing bladed chakrams to attack and using rhythmic steps to provide buffs. On the other hand, Gunbreaker is the new Tank and wields a gunblade (a la Squall Leonhart from Final Fantasy VIII) to lay down damage while taking hits for the team. You can see both classes in action during their Job quests in the video above.

Both Dancer and Gunbreaker require players to have at least one other Job/Class (Disciple of War or Magic) at level 60 before taking on the new Jobs. There are some important changes that come along with Shadowbringers and the 5.0 update–like the removal of TP, charge actions, and the higher level cap–and you can check out our breakdown of the biggest changes in Shadowbringers. You can also get the full rundown of what’s new in the 5.0 patch, or see a preview run of a new dungeon called Dohn Mheg.

Where To Find The Dancer Quest And How To Fight

The quest to unlock Dancer is called “Shall We Dance” and it’s located in Limsa Lominsa Lower Decks close to the main plaza Aetheryte–the coordinates are X: 9.8, Y: 12.0. After watching a few scenes you’ll be given your starting weapon and a chest to open containing your new gear.

The default Dancer gear set.

Dancers largely rely on chances for their stronger attacks (referred to as procs). Two basic attacks Cascade and Fountain both have a 50% chance of opening more powerful versions called Reverse Cascade and Fountainfall–use these when you can. You then have a 50% chance to build your Fourfold Feather gauge, which gives you access to the Fan Dance moves (these are attacks you can use freely outside of cooldown). The attacks Windmill and Bladeshower are the AOE equivalents that can open up the stronger Rising Windmill and Bloodshower.

The other mechanic to note is the rhythmic Standard Step–activating this will turn your attacks into button prompts to match a sequence. After two successful steps, you’ll get a a 60-second damage buff (similar to how Ninjas cast Huton through Ninjutsu to increase their attack speed).

The main challenge for the level 60 Job quest is in the final fight. You’ll want to be extra careful when whirlwinds are cast across the arena–avoid these at all cost. This is especially dangerous when the enemy is casting their auto-lock column attack that you can’t escape; if you’re hit while standing in a whirlwind, you’ll die immediately.

Where To Find The Gunbreaker Quest And How To Fight

The quest to unlock Gunbreaker is called “The Makings Of A Gunbreaker” and it’s found in New Gridania near the Aetheryte–the coordinates are X: 11.5, Y: 11.9. It’ll take you to Hawthorne Hut and around for an easy fight, then you’ll get your gear chest and weapon.

The default Gunbreaker gear set.

Like all Tanks, Gunbreaker specializes in pulling enmity (or aggro) and it’ll be necessary to have the ability Royal Guard active–to pull extra enmity, you have Provoke and to divert it when you’re in trouble, you have Shirk.

Gunbreaker’s basic attack rotation is pretty fun to execute and it basically goes like this: Keen Edge, Brutal Shell, Solid Barrel, then gain one cartridge in your Powder Gauge. With just one cartridge, you can go into a more powerful combo: Gnashing Fang, Savage Claw, Wicked Talon–these moves are also subject to cooldown, so when they’re not available, just use the strong standalone attack Burst Strike. And don’t forget that the Danger Zone attack lives on its own cooldown; use it when you can.

You also have a two-part AOE combo of Demon Slice and Demon Slaughter, which is very effective against groups of three or more enemies. This combo also generates a cartridge for the Powder Gauge in just two attacks, making Gunbreaker even more effective as a damage-dealer.

Buffs like Rampart, Nebula, and Reprisal help stave off damage taken while No Mercy boosts your attack power for a short period.

There are plenty of more details to parse in order to become the most effective Dancer or Gunbreaker, but those are the basics to help get you started. Note that these tips are based on the Jobs as they are at level 60.

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In the years since Castlevania: Symphony of the Night helped define the genre, “Metroidvania” has gone from a bold archetype to a bullet-point feature. Quite a few games have iterated and riffed on Metroidvanias. But Castlevania series producer Koji Igarashi isn’t riffing on the genre with his latest project, Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, so much as returning to convention. But despite being relatively safe, Bloodstained is more than just its creator; its impeccable craftsmanship in level design and combat, quality-of-life improvements, and unique flavor help it stand on its own in a crowded landscape.

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night feels comfortable and familiar, even down to the color-coded map that reveals itself during the course of the game. Like its predecessors in the Castlevania series, your hero Miriam needs to strike even the most basic of enemies four or five times to defeat them, and the lack of agility at first can feel stiff and restrictive. This can actually seem discordant with memories of games like Symphony of the Night, but the familiarity will return as Miriam grows more powerful and the game becomes more recognizable along with her.

This isn’t to say that Bloodstained has left the formula entirely untouched. A series of Techniques found in tomes around the castle teach weapon-specific move sets similar to a character-action or fighting game. With the increased emphasis on differentiated weaponry, the game introduces “Shortcut” loadout slots that allow you to quickly swap between different sets of equipment. It’s a small quality-of-life touch, but it’s smartly implemented.

The biggest addition comes from Shards, or pieces of the demons and other monsters that imbue you with extra powers. The Shard system combines the Spells, Relics, and Familiars from Symphony of the Night into one system that’s more robust and versatile. Shards come in five forms: Conjure, Manipulative, Directional, Passive, and Familiar. Conjure summons a weapon or creature, while Manipulative makes more lengthy changes to your current state. Passive offers buffs and other benefits, and Familiars accompany you, giving aid. Directional has the most variety by far, offering tons of projectile-like weapons that can be pointed anywhere using the right-stick. Unfortunately, Directional shards are also used for a few abilities that are crucial to navigation, forcing you to manually swap them when needed or take up a couple of Shortcut slots.

By the nature of its Shard system and other power-ups and abilities, Bloodstained isn’t often a terribly challenging game. Gaining a few more levels to take on a challenging new area or boss is quick and breezy, and the sheer variety of weapon types makes it easy to fit the game around your play style. Like many old-school games, seeing your way past the challenges requires patience in learning the enemy patterns, cheesing your way through with special abilities, or some combination of the two.

Other additions like crafting weapons and cooking meals for permanent buffs add a little more nuance to Bloodstained, and a nice variety of ways to improve your stats. In general, the powering up only goes in one direction. You aren’t often forced to make tough decisions about trade-offs, aside from a point or two from one stat or another in choosing equipment. This feels unusual by modern standards, but helps drive home the idea that the genre is about empowerment. Going from weak and overwhelmed to a capable and professional monster slayer makes for more satisfying progression.

Occasionally, Bloodstained does show slight technical issues. It suffers from slowdown at points, especially given certain Shard abilities, and some areas are noticeably more plain than the lush gable rooftops of Arvantville or the gaudy brilliance of the Dian Cecht Cathedral. The interior of the castle on the whole is gorgeous, and the disparate environments show a keen eye for design with differentiation. The less ornate parts of it stand out, but only because the rest is so well put-together. [Editor’s note: The Nintendo Switch version fares worse, with a number of technical problems including reduced visual fidelity and an unstable frame rate that affects gameplay. Stay tuned for our separate Switch review.]

True to its lineage, Bloodstained is full of secrets to uncover and nooks to explore. The castle design unfolds beautifully over the course of several hours, instilling a constant sense of curiosity and exploration. The layout is subtle and inviting; points that are meant to be accessed sometime later are clear without feeling restricted or frustrating, and it rarely leaves you at a loss for what to do next. A pin feature lets you mark points of interest to return to later, too (though its unintuitive button mapping means it’s easy to place a flurry of them accidentally). Accessing the “true” ending is a clever puzzle within this platformer formula, which opens up even deeper layers of the castle that beg to be explored.

The castle design unfolds beautifully over the course of several hours, instilling a constant sense of curiosity and exploration.

Being a Castlevania game in all but name places some restrictions on how explicit the game can be with its references and callbacks. Some are more blatant than others, but Bloodstained consistently impresses with creative solutions to raise the specter of Castlevania while skirting just on the right side of originality. From weapon descriptions to a hidden 8-bit-styled stage to one of the super-tough optional bosses, Bloodstained pays homage to its legacy with too many Easter eggs to count. These fun winks are clear messages to long-time fans, but not so obvious that they should be distracting for newcomers.

That cheeky tone informs the entire game. While the story itself is bland and unremarkable, the style and trappings around it are anything but. This is gothic horror at its most silly, with demons occupying the castle corridors alongside giant puppy heads and homages to the indie hit Shovel Knight. Even some of the dialogue is clearly in on the joke. A quest giver in the main hub has a comical level of bloodlust over her revenge quests. An undead ferryman drops an unsubtle hint about how you could open a path for him if you only had a giant hand. A demon barber who opens up cosmetic options is conspicuously named Todd. Bloodstained is full of little touches like these, which let you know that despite its dour name and setting, the game is comfortable enough with itself to be absurd.

It’s that sense of comfort in its own skin that makes Bloodstained such a treat. This isn’t a bold modernization of the genre or a departure from its roots. It is exactly what it set out to be: a return to the style of a bygone era, with a few modern improvements. Its perception was always going to be affected by how well it invoked the feeling of a classic Castlevania game, but Bloodstained does that and better. With more flexible combat and level design that always beckons to check just one more room, Bloodstained shows that a modern Metroidvania can stand alongside its predecessors as an equal.

With Amazon Prime Day right around the corner, Twitch is getting in on the action with a whole host of giveaways and events. That includes exclusive in-game goodies for Respawn’s popular battle royale shooter, Apex Legends, as well as content for several EA Sports franchises.

Then on July 13, right before Prime Day, Twitch will host celebrity gaming tournaments in London and Las Vegas for both Apex Legends and FIFA 19. Lastly, Twitch will celebrate Prime Day itself on July 15-16 with “Twitch Sells Out,” a television-shopping-channel-style show featuring top streamers hawking gaming products that are on sale at Amazon. Although watching the esporting events and shopping show will be free, snagging the goodies and the Prime Day deals will require an Amazon Prime subscription. Check out the details below.

Free giveaways

On July 3, all Prime members will be rewarded with an exclusive Legend skin and weapon skin for Apex Legends. Then, throughout July and August, they will get three more Apex Legends skins, along with EA Sports content that has not yet been specified. As with other gaming subscriptions such as PS Plus or Xbox Live Gold, Twitch Prime also gives away free monthly PC games to subscribers, as an added bonus.

Twitch Prime Crown Cup

On July 13, the Twitch Prime Crown Cup comprises two separate events in both London and Las Vegas. Both events will stream for eight hours starting at 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET / 6 PM BST. In London, fans will watch athletes and celebrities compete at FIFA 19, including Olympic gold medalist runner Sir Mo Farah, footballer Thierry Henry, and X Games gold medalist street skateboarder Leticia Bufoni.

Meanwhile, over in Las Vegas, musicians and other celebrities will go head-to-head in Apex Legends, including producer Murda Beatz and DJ Dillon Francis. For that tournament, Twitch promises that subscribers in Vegas will have the opportunity to actually jump into the game and directly compete against the celebrity players.

Twitch Sells Out

On Prime Day itself (which is now two full days), Twitch will host two 12-hour streams from 10 AM PT to 10 PM PT in which top streamers will showcase gaming products and accessories on sale for Prime Day in the style of TV shopping channels, as a funny fusion of old and new media. The full roster of streamer hosts will be revealed on July 10. Twitch also promises to pepper the streams with previously-unseen demos and gameplay footage from anticipated upcoming titles. Co-streaming will be enabled for the entirety of both streams, allowing for any streamers to get in on that juicy affiliate revenue with the Blacksmith extension.

Twitch merch discounts

Prime members will also be able to save on hoodies, T-shirts, jackets, and other Twitch apparel and accessories from July 3-16. Use promo code PRIME2019 at checkout, and you’ll get 30% off your entire order. You can scope out everything that’ll be discounted at Amazon’s Twitch store.