Raidou Reborn: How Atlus’ Newest Detective RPG Is So Much More than a Remaster
Michael CervenSenior Communications Manager, Atlus
Get ready to solve a mystery set in the Taisho era in Atlus’ supernatural action-RPG, Raidou Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army, which is available starting today on Xbox Series X|S.
Raidou Remastered marks the first time Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. The Soulless Army can be played on modern consoles. This fan-favorite Shin Megami Tensei spin-off combines action-packed gameplay with detective drama – and, as a standalone story, it’s the perfect game for new and returning Raidou and Shin Megami Tensei fans.
Raidou Remastered is a faithful recreation of the iconic 2006 RPG, but with additional bells and whistles afforded by modern technology, such as an overhauled battle system, enhanced graphics and full VO in the main story. While it’s technically a remaster, you’ll find we have so much more in store than your traditional touch-ups. Want to learn more about all the enhancements and quality of life updates you’ll find in this next-level remaster? This is the place for you!
Overhauled Battle System
Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. The Soulless Army was a unique entry in the Shin Megami Tensei series not only because of its mystery-driven narrative, but because it is a fast-paced, action-RPG. I know, quite a departure from the original Shin Megami Tensei combat style. Raidou Remastered takes the original game’s distinctive real-time action combat and evolves it with features from the game’s sequel, King Abaddon, as well as a host of new combat elements unique to this game.
Character progression is the key to success in Raidou Remastered. You can learn two types of Summoner Skills from your weapons – Combat Skills and Sword Skills. These skills take effect automatically when equipped and will give you a host of abilities and buffs. These skills can provide brand new, powerful attacks, increase your stats, and more. The difference between a student and a master detective is one who mixes and matches skills based on enemy weaknesses.
Raidou Remastered shifts the battlefield from 2D fixed camera angles to a 3D arena where you can move, dodge, and jump, adding a whole new level of strategy to combat. You’ll also now have two allies to battle by your side, with over 120 different new and returning demons to choose from. Quick side note: demons will not only fight by your side, but also help you crack the case as you investigate, so make sure you utilize your demons out in the world to find clues, eavesdrop, and more. Additionally, to save you the time and effort, if you are overleveled for particular demon battles, you will auto-defeat your enemies. Talk about efficiency!
Enhanced Graphics & Full Voice Over
If you played the original, you’ll quickly notice that the character models and 3D environments have been enhanced quite a bit. These adjustments add new detail and vibrance to the already gorgeous artwork, while still retaining the spirit of the original game. You’ll also notice the game’s user interface has received some much-needed streamlining, allowing you to summon, strike and search with ease.
One of the most exciting evolutions from the original game is that Raidou Remastered has full voice acting! This key update adds to the game’s drama and intrigue, making it so you can better immerse yourself in the story and world of Raidou Kuzunoha. You can also switch between English and Japanese voice over at your leisure. We recommend trying both – each cast is incredible! The voice cast features some familiar names, so keep an ear out and see if you recognize anyone.
… And More!
This is just the beginning of the improvements and updates you’ll find in Raidou Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army. There’s enhanced save game functionality, which gives you not only more save slots, but autosave and quick save abilities – phew! Raidou: Remastered also introduces five difficulty levels, including the most difficult “Detective Legend” mode, unlocked through New Game+. If you decide to take on the ultimate challenge and put your skills to the test with maximum difficulty, good luck! You will need it.
This is just a taste of a few of the upgrades and enhancements you can find in this next-level remaster. I don’t want to spoil all the surprises for you, so the only way to see for yourself is to pick up your controller and play!
To learn more about Raidou Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army, you can visit the game’s official website, and follow the official Atlus West pages on Facebook, Instagram and X. Raidou Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army is available now on Xbox.
RAIDOU Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army
The story of apprentice detective and Devil Summoner extraordinaire Raidou Kuzunoha XIV returns in this remastered classic! Call upon your demons to solve supernatural mysteries and dispose of enemies. As a special pre-order bonus, receive the cosmetic Raidou Glasses. With these glasses that were popular in the Taisho Era, his charm will increase beyond what one can handle. *The pre-order bonus will be given for purchases made before 00:00 local time, Thurs, June 19, 2025. Undertake the case of the century in this must-play classic from ATLUS. The studio behind Shin Megami Tensei remasters "Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. The Soulless Army" with revamped visuals, QOL updates, new VO, and an overhauled battle system! Taisho 20, in the Capital— A young heiress approaches the Narumi Detective Agency with a strange request…to kill her. Without any further explanation, the girl is kidnapped. Apprentice detective Raidou Kuzunoha XIV, who moonlights as a Devil Summoner assigned to protect the Capital, is on the case. Raidou investigates all across the city, which includes entering the Dark Realm—a dangerous juncture between the real world and the netherworld where demons abound. Become Raidou Kuzunoha and work with your allied demons to unravel the mysteries that block your path. What was once a missing persons matter soon spirals into a conspiracy that will shake not only the Capital, but the entire nation. KEY FEATURES An Enhanced Yet Faithful Remaster:
The supernatural action RPG classic returns, now revamped with visual, audio, and combat enhancements for modern consoles while staying true to the original game's style. A brand-new UI, full VO, expanded 3D environments, and more invites both veterans and newcomers alike to a nostalgic and thrilling gameplay experience. A Supernatural Detective Mystery:
Channel your inner detective in a gripping, supernatural adventure with a charming cast of complex characters. Uncover the truth behind collusion swirling around the Capital with unexpected twists and turns ahead. Use both your mind and the might of your demons to leave no stone unturned. A Fantastical Taisho Era Adventure: Navigate the historic streets of a fantastical 1930s era in Tokyo or delve into the haunting Dark Realm where demons lie in wait. With over 120 demons to summon, choose your allies wisely to prevent humanity from being consumed by darkness.
Get ready to unleash the supernatural in Atlus’ (Metaphor: ReFantazio, Shin Megami Tensei, Persona) upcoming action RPG, Raidou Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army, launching June 19, 2025 on Xbox Series X|S.
Raidou Remastered marks the triumphant return of 2006’s Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. The Soulless Army, a one-of-a-kind mystery spin-off within the legendary Shin Megami Tensei series. Originally released for the PlayStation 2, the game is set in a fictional Taisho-era Japan and combines action-packed gameplay with detective drama. Raidou Remastered is a faithful remaster of the iconic RPG, featuring an overhauled battle system, enhanced graphics and full VO in the main story.
If you want more details about the original game and what’s new in Raidou Remastered, you have come to the right place! Here’s what you need to know.
Story and Characters
The story starts off with a bang! In Raidou Remastered, a young heiress approaches the Narumi Detective Agency with a strange request…to kill her. Before she can explain further, the girl is kidnapped and disappears without a trace. Apprentice detective Raidou Kuzunoha XIV, who moonlights as a Devil Summoner assigned to protect the Capital, is on the case. Raidou’s investigation takes him across the entire city, including the Dark Realm – a dangerous, demon-filled juncture between the real world and the netherworld.
As you unravel the mystery of Raidou Remastered, you will encounter many complex, suspicious and intriguing characters. My personal favorite is a black cat named Gouto, who accompanies Raidou as his mentor on on his missions and provides helpful advice throughout the investigation. Every Atlus game needs an adorable companion!
Real-TimeBattles
One of Raidou Remastered’s greatest features is its engaging real-time RPG combat, where you’ll need to utilize your wits AND your powers to succeed. One key element to success in combat is the skillful utilization of MAG (Magnetite), the special bio-energy that powers demon skills. MAG can be recovered with “MAG Drain,” which steals MAG from attacked enemies. Make sure to balance weak, MAG-stealing attacks and stronger non-MAG-stealing attacks.
It’s worth noting that all demons, whether enemies or allies, have unique weaknesses and resistances, so keep your eyes peeled in combat! Attacking an enemy’s weakness will stun them, restricting their actions and allowing you to inflict critical hits to increase the amount of damage dealt and the amount of MAG drained. You will have a variety of combat abilities and attacks at your disposal, so make sure to develop a solid strategy.
Investigation and Exploration
To find clues and crack the case, you will cross between the Dark Realm and the real world, explore the Capital and seek answers from people and demons on the streets. To level up your detective skills, use demons with Investigation Skills. Abilities like ‘Read Mind’, which allows Raidou to hear other people’s thoughts, are key to helping Raidou connect the dots. In some instances, where there are suspicious locations that a human like Raidou cannot go, you can even command your demon to go on a solo investigation to retrieve new information. The demon is in the details!
The Art of Confinement and Demon Fusion
Demons can be recruited by using the “art of confinement” to catch them during the battle and make them allies. Conversations may occur when the art of confinement is successful. Choose wisely because demons will reward you by restoring your party or improving your stats.
The demons you have recruited as allies throughout the investigation can be fused at the Goumaden, a research facility run by a mad scientist by the name of Dr. Victor. Here, you can utilize the forbidden magic of demon fusion to combine your demons and form even more powerful ones!
What’s New?
Raidou Remastered is the most visually enhanced and immersive version of the fan-favorite mystery RPG. RAIDOU Remastered features a plethora of gameplay and quality-of-life updates to bring the title to the modern era, including an enhanced save game functionality – more save slots, autosave and quick save; difficulty settings – five difficulty levels to choose from, including the brutally challenging “Detective Legend” difficulty only selectable on New Game+; and voice settings – the option to switch between English and Japanese VO.
RAIDOU Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army
SEGA
☆☆☆☆☆
★★★★★
$49.99
The story of apprentice detective and Devil Summoner extraordinaire Raidou Kuzunoha XIV returns in this remastered classic! Call upon your demons to solve supernatural mysteries and dispose of enemies. As a special pre-order bonus, receive the cosmetic Raidou Glasses. With these glasses that were popular in the Taisho Era, his charm will increase beyond what one can handle. *The pre-order bonus will be given for purchases made before 00:00 local time, Thurs, June 19, 2025. Undertake the case of the century in this must-play classic from ATLUS. The studio behind Shin Megami Tensei remasters „Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. The Soulless Army“ with revamped visuals, QOL updates, new VO, and an overhauled battle system! Taisho 20, in the Capital— A young heiress approaches the Narumi Detective Agency with a strange request…to kill her. Without any further explanation, the girl is kidnapped. Apprentice detective Raidou Kuzunoha XIV, who moonlights as a Devil Summoner assigned to protect the Capital, is on the case. Raidou investigates all across the city, which includes entering the Dark Realm—a dangerous juncture between the real world and the netherworld where demons abound. Become Raidou Kuzunoha and work with your allied demons to unravel the mysteries that block your path. What was once a missing persons matter soon spirals into a conspiracy that will shake not only the Capital, but the entire nation. KEY FEATURES An Enhanced Yet Faithful Remaster:
The supernatural action RPG classic returns, now revamped with visual, audio, and combat enhancements for modern consoles while staying true to the original game’s style. A brand-new UI, full VO, expanded 3D environments, and more invites both veterans and newcomers alike to a nostalgic and thrilling gameplay experience. A Supernatural Detective Mystery:
Channel your inner detective in a gripping, supernatural adventure with a charming cast of complex characters. Uncover the truth behind collusion swirling around the Capital with unexpected twists and turns ahead. Use both your mind and the might of your demons to leave no stone unturned. A Fantastical Taisho Era Adventure: Navigate the historic streets of a fantastical 1930s era in Tokyo or delve into the haunting Dark Realm where demons lie in wait. With over 120 demons to summon, choose your allies wisely to prevent humanity from being consumed by darkness.
Shape your destiny as an Envoy chosen by a mysterious god, wielding divine powers to confront ancient threats, unravel hidden mysteries, and decide the fate of the Living Lands.
Forge your own playstyle with four expansive skill trees—Fighter, Ranger, Wizard, and Godlike—and fight using powerful weapons, magic, and unique abilities like Grimoire Snap and Blood Magic.
Your companions are more than just allies—their unique abilities, personal struggles, and choices shape not only your journey but the world of Eora itself.
The wait is finally over—Avowed, Obsidian Entertainment’s highly anticipated fantasy RPG has officially launched! Step into the breathtaking Living Lands, a wild and mysterious island located in the Pillars of Eternity world of Eora, and embark on a journey filled with danger, discovery, and adventure.
Play today on Xbox Series X|S, the Xbox app for Windows PC, Battle.net, Steam, and cloud, to experience Obsidian’s latest RPG adventure. Available day one on Game Pass!
A Land in Turmoil
The Living Lands is a frontier unlike any other. This rugged and untamed island has become a haven for exiles, dreamers, and adventurers seeking a fresh start. Its vibrant regions and scattered settlements pulse with life, each hiding untold stories and ancient secrets waiting to be uncovered.
But this land of promise is fraught with peril. The Dreamscourge, a devastating soul-plague, is driving settlers to madness and turning them against one another. The very land itself resists colonization, haunted by echoes of lives long past. As an envoy chosen by a foreign emperor and blessed by a mysterious god, you are thrust into the heart of this chaos. With divine powers at your fingertips and the will to shape your own destiny, you’ll confront ancient threats, unravel mysteries, and decide the fate of the Living Lands. Will you unite its people or watch as their struggles tear them apart? The choices you make will define the future of the Living Lands—and the person you become.
Forge Your Own Path
In Avowed, the power of choice is yours. Create a character and shape your playstyle with four expansive skill trees—Fighter, Ranger, Wizard, and Godlike. Using two separate weapon loadouts, you can play as a stealthy sniper armed with dual pistols and a longbow or a spell-slinging barbarian wielding an axe and a grimoire, or whatever combination of loadouts you choose. This means that the possibilities are endless. Your choices define who you are and how you’ll tackle the challenges ahead.
But you’re not alone on this journey. Your companions each bring their own skills, personalities, and deeply personal stories:
Kai, the steadfast protector, whose calm demeanor and unwavering loyalty make him a dependable shield in battle.
Giatta, a brilliant animancer scientist, whose relentless curiosity drives her to uncover the mysteries of the Dreamscourge, even at great personal risk.
Marius, a lone-wolf hunter, whose sharp wit and tracking expertise make him an invaluable ally in the wilderness.
Yatzli, a fiery Godless expert, harnessing explosive magic and a rebellious spirit. Her disdain for the gods adds complexity to her character and your choices.
Their history, relationships, and perspectives intertwine with your story, adding depth and weight to every decision you make. Will you earn their trust, challenge their beliefs, or forge something more profound? How you guide your companions—and how they influence you—shapes the adventure in unexpected ways.
Your Living Lands, Your Way
Avowed is a game built to immerse you in its world. The Living Lands is a sprawling playground for adventurers, rewarding exploration at every turn. Traverse rugged cliffs, wade through winding rivers, and uncover unique hidden treasures—from ancient elemental weapons to fragments of God Shrine Totems that come together to create powerful new abilities.
Combat is equally immersive, offering a seamless blend of magic, melee, and ranged attacks. Unleash shockwaves with Grimoire Snap, trade health for devastating power with Blood Magic, wield weapons you have upgraded and enchanted, or mix and match abilities to create a playstyle that’s entirely your own. Every encounter is an opportunity to experiment, strategize, and push the boundaries of your party’s potential.
At the heart of Avowed lies its dedication to player choice. Inspired by the freedom of tabletop RPGs, the game puts the power in your hands. Your decisions ripple across the Living Lands, shaping alliances, influencing factions, and determining the fate of your companions. Whether you negotiate peace, spark conflict, or carve your own path through the chaos, your actions leave a lasting impact on the world of Eora.
This seamless blend of storytelling, exploration, and creativity makes Avowed an unforgettable RPG experience, one where every choice matters and every discovery feels personal.
Start Your Adventure Today
Whether you’re a longtime fan of Obsidian Entertainment or new to Eora, Avowed invites you to dive into a world of wonder, danger, and opportunity. With its vibrant setting, unforgettable characters, and deeply immersive gameplay, this is the role-playing experience you’ve been waiting for.
The Living Lands are calling. Gather your courage, forge your path, and let the adventure begin!
Avowed is available now for Xbox Series X|S, the Xbox app for Windows PC, Battle.net, Steam, cloud, and with Game Pass. Avowed also supports Xbox Play Anywhere, meaning when you buy the game through the store on Xbox or Windows, it’s yours to play on Xbox and Windows PC at no additional cost, and your game progress and achievements are saved across Xbox and Windows PC.
When you purchase Avowed on Battle.net or Xbox, or have an Xbox Game Pass membership (PC or Ultimate only), and connect your Battle.net and Xbox accounts, it’s also yours to play on Battle.net, Xbox and Xbox App for Windows at no additional cost. Avowed lets you pick up where you left off, bringing all of your saves, game add-ons, and Xbox achievement progress with you.
Avowed Premium Edition
Xbox Game Studios
☆☆☆☆☆651
★★★★★
$89.99
Premium Edition includes: – Avowed base game – Up to 5 days early access – Two Premium Skin Packs – Access to Avowed Digital Artbook & Original Soundtrack Welcome to the Living Lands, a mysterious island filled with adventure and danger.
Set in the fictional world of Eora that was first introduced to players in the Pillars of Eternity franchise, Avowed is a first-person fantasy action RPG from the award-winning team at Obsidian Entertainment. You are the envoy of Aedyr, a distant land, sent to investigate rumors of a spreading plague throughout the Living Lands – an island full of mysteries and secrets, danger and adventure, and choices and consequences, and untamed wilderness. You discover a personal connection to the Living Lands and an ancient secret that threatens to destroy everything. Can you save this unknown frontier and your soul from the forces threatening to tear them asunder? The Weird and Wonderful Living Lands
The Living Lands is a place that feels foreign yet somewhat intrinsic to you as it feels the island itself is calling out to you for help. Explore an island home to many different environments and landscapes, each with their own unique ecosystem. Visceral Combat to Play Your Way
Mix and match swords, spells, guns, and shields to fight your way. Dig into your grimoire for spells to trap, freeze or burn enemies, bash them with your shield, or use range bows to attack from a distance. Companions as part of your journey
Companions from a spread of species will fight alongside you, with their own unique set of abilities. From a former mercenary to an eccentric wizard, they will be part of your journey with your choices shaping them as you help them with their quests.
Avowed Standard Edition
Xbox Game Studios
☆☆☆☆☆560
★★★★★
$69.99
Welcome to the Living Lands, a mysterious island filled with adventure and danger.
Set in the fictional world of Eora that was first introduced to players in the Pillars of Eternity franchise, Avowed is a first-person fantasy action RPG from the award-winning team at Obsidian Entertainment. You are the envoy of Aedyr, a distant land, sent to investigate rumors of a spreading plague throughout the Living Lands – an island full of mysteries and secrets, danger and adventure, and choices and consequences, and untamed wilderness. You discover a personal connection to the Living Lands and an ancient secret that threatens to destroy everything. Can you save this unknown frontier and your soul from the forces threatening to tear them asunder? The Weird and Wonderful Living Lands
The Living Lands is a place that feels foreign yet somewhat intrinsic to you as it feels the island itself is calling out to you for help. Explore an island home to many different environments and landscapes, each with their own unique ecosystem. Visceral Combat to Play Your Way
Mix and match swords, spells, guns, and shields to fight your way. Dig into your grimoire for spells to trap, freeze or burn enemies, bash them with your shield, or use range bows to attack from a distance. Companions as part of your journey
Companions from a spread of species will fight alongside you, with their own unique set of abilities. From a former mercenary to an eccentric wizard, they will be part of your journey with your choices shaping them as you help them with their quests.
Die Living Lands sind voller aufregender Abenteuer, verborgener Schätze, fesselnder Geheimnisse … und Gefahren!
Wir haben einige unserer Lieblingstipps und -strategien zusammengestellt, um Dir die ersten Schritte in der Welt von Avowed zu erleichtern.
Avowederscheint am 18. Februar 2025 für Xbox Series X|S, die Xbox-App für Windows-PC, auf Battle.net, Steam und für die Cloud und wird direkt zum Release im Game Pass erhältlich sein. Fange noch heute an zu spielen, indem Du Dir die Avowed Premium Edition im Xbox Store, auf Battle.net und Steam sicherst. Mitglieder des Game Pass Ultimate, des PC Game Pass und Besitzer*innen der Standard Edition haben die Möglichkeit, das Avowed Premium Upgrade Addon zu erwerben, um ebenfalls frühzeitigen Zugang zu erhalten.
Die Living Lands liefern eine rasante Mischung aus Abenteuern und großen Gefahren – und wir sind hier, um Dir zu helfen. Wir kennen Avowed nun schon eine ganze Weile und während unserer Zeit mit Obsidians nächsten großen Rollenspiel konnten wir einige Tipps zusammengetragen, die die ersten Schritte erleichtern. Diese sind nicht als vollumfänglicher Leitfaden für die Living Lands gedacht, allerdings werden sie Dir an der ein oder anderen Stelle mit Sicherheit helfen.
Erkunde!
Avowed ist ein wirklich vielseitiges Spiel: Jeder Bereich hat etwas zu bieten – nicht nur die typischen Quests und Nebenquests, sondern auch versteckte Schätze, verborgene Überlieferungen und spannende Sehenswürdigkeiten. Wenn etwas ein wenig seltsam aussieht oder klingt, gibt es fast immer einen Grund dafür.
Hat dieser NPC gerade etwas Interessantes gesagt, als Du an ihm vorbeigegangen bist? Er hat vielleicht keinen Questmarker über dem Kopf, doch eine Zwischensequenz kann trotzdem ausgelöst werden, wenn Du mit Ihm sprichst. Sieht der abgelegene Balkon ein wenig zu auffällig aus? Wenn Du es schaffst, ihn zu erreichen, könnte es sein, dass ein Raum voller Geister und Schätze auf Dich wartet.
Und nicht nur das Festland steckt voller Überraschungen – auch die Gewässer der Living Lands sind reich an Schätzen. Geheimnisse warten auf dem Grund von Flussbetten, in unterirdischen Becken und manchmal sogar hinter Wasserfällen darauf, entdeckt zu werden. Es lohnt sich also, ein Bad zu nehmen, wo und wann immer Du kannst.
Wenn Du dem Drang widerstehen kannst, die Hauptgeschichte fortzusetzen, gibt es viel zu entdecken.
Vergiss nicht, Deine Ausrüstung zu verbessern
Anders als in vielen anderen Rollenspielen hängt Deine Fähigkeit, schwierige Quests zu bewältigen, mehr von der Ausrüstung als von Deinem Level ab – was bedeutet, dass Du der Werkstatt Deines Gruppenlagers häufiger einen Besuch abstatten solltest, um Deine Ausrüstung aufzuwerten. Quests werden in Deinem Tagebuch deutlich mit einem Totenkopf-Rating gekennzeichnet. Kein Schädel zu sehen? Das ist Ordnung. Ein Schädel bedeutet hingegen, dass es schwierig werden könnte. Und drei Schädel? Mache Dich gefasst auf eine bedrohliche Horde an Feinden.
Auch wenn Du auf Deiner Reise bessere Ausrüstungsgegenstände finden kannst, ist es oft effizienter, das zu verbessern, was Du bereits besitzt. Hierfür kannst Du Handwerksmaterialien verwenden, die Du überall in der Welt findest. Wähle Deine bevorzugten Gegenstände und verbessere sie, wann immer Du kannst, um Deinen Fortschritt so reibungslos wie möglich zu gestalten.
Hier ist ein Tipp, mit dem Du nach dem Sammeln oder einer Reise zum Lager schneller wieder zu dem zurückkehren kannst, was Du davor getan hast: Sobald Du alle Elemente gesammelt hast, die Du für eine Aufwertung benötigst, kannst Du schnell zu einem zuvor errichteten Gruppenlager reisen, um Deine Geschäfte von fast überall aus zu erledigen. Hierfür musst Du lediglich die Karte aufklappen. Wenn Du danach wieder auf Erkundungstour gehen willst, kannst Du am Adra-Stein oder Deinem bevorzugten Schnellreisepunkt die Option „Zum vorherigen Ort zurückkehren“ auswählen – schon kannst Du dort weitermachen, wo Du zuvor aufgehört hast. Ganz einfach!
Und vergiss nicht: Wenn Du zu viel Gepäck bei Dir hast, kannst Du jederzeit Gegenstände aus Deinem Inventar direkt an Dein Gruppenlager schicken, indem Du die X-Taste drückst. Außerdem kannst Du nicht benötigte Waffen oder Gegenstände abwerfen, indem Du im Inventar die X-Taste gedrückt hältst. Diese Option ist besonders dann hilfreich, wenn Dir Rohstoffe wie Holz oder Metall zur Herstellung von Gegenständen ausgehen.
Sprich mit Deinen Begleiter*innen
Im Partycamp hast Du immer die Möglichkeit, Dich mit Deinen Weggefährt*innen zu unterhalten – und das kann praktischer sein als Du denkst. Wenn ein Mitglied der Gruppe mit Dir sprechen möchte, erkennst Du das daran, dass am linken Bildschirmrand sein Icon mit einer Sprechblase erscheint. Wenn Du Dich ins Partycamp begibst, erfährst Du nicht nur mehr über die Hintergrundgeschichte Deiner Gefährt*innen – Du schreibst auch Deine eigene fort und profitierst vielleicht sogar von einigen Vorteilen.
So kann es zum Beispiel sein, dass Kai gleich zu Beginn sagt, dass er Deinen Kampfstil studiert hat und ein paar Tipps für Dich hat. Du kannst ihn bitten, Dich in seinem eigenen Stil zu trainieren, was zu dauerhaften Verbesserungen der Werte führt, für die Du sonst mehrere Stufen an Upgrades benötigt hättest. Das ist ein riesiger Vorteil, den Du nur dadurch erhalten hast, dass Du auf ein Schwätzchen vorbeigekommen bist.
Nutze die Fähigkeiten Deiner Begleiter*innen
Du bist nicht das einzige Mitglied der Gruppe, das aufsteigt. Mit jedem Upgrade erhalten auch Deine Gefährt*innen die Möglichkeit, eine neue Fähigkeit zu erlernen oder bereits vorhandene zu verbessern. Jede Fähigkeit, die sie erlernen, kann leicht im Kampf eingesetzt werden und auch wenn Deine Gruppenmitglieder sie für sich nutzen, empfehlen wir Dir, sie in Deine Kampfabläufe zu integrieren.
Wenn Du zum Beispiel hauptsächlich Magie anwendest, kann das zur Folge haben, dass Du zwar viel Schaden verursachst, aber auch viel Schaden einsteckst. Kais Fähigkeit, auf einen Feind zu springen, kann diesen nicht nur betäuben, sondern auch verspotten. Für Dich bedeutet das, dass Du Dich aus der Klemme befreien kannst, indem Du den Zorn auf ihn umleitest. Diese Möglichkeit hat uns schon mehrere Mal den Hals gerettet.
Deine Karte ist Dein Wegweiser… und Deine Einkaufsliste
Die Living Lands sind eine farbenfrohe, vielfältige Welt, die neben atemberaubenden Sehenswürdigkeiten auch viele andere Dinge zu bieten hat, die Du auf jeden Fall übersehen solltest. Der beste Weg, um das Signal vom (schönen) Grundrauschen zu trennen? Deine Minimap.
Zu Beginn des Spiels liegt die größte Hürde für Upgrades in der Paradies-Leiter – diese praktischen Pflanzen sind normalerweise in Ritzen und außerhalb von Siedlungen zu finden, sehr gut versteckt. Wenn Du Dich schwer damit tust, sie zu finden, behalte die Symbole auf dem Marker im Auge, die entweder nach oben oder nach unten zeigen. So erhältst Du einen besseren Überblick darüber, wo genau Du suchen musst.
Zurück zur Minimap: Sie zeigt nicht nur die Standorte der sammelbaren Pflanzen an, sondern enthält auch ein spezielles Symbol für die Paradiesleiter (und spätere noch mächtigere Varianten wie Hyleas Talon) Es sieht aus wie folgt:
Du kannst gelegentlich einen Blick auf die Karte werfen, um das zu finden, was Du suchst. Doch verliere bloß nicht das aus den Augen, was Du ohnehin schon anziehst: die Gefahr und die Schönheit der Living Lands.
Lerne alle Fähigkeiten kennen
Die Entwicklung Deines Charakters und die Zuweisung von Fähigkeiten stehen sinnbildlich für die umfangreichen Anpassungsmöglichkeiten von Avowed. Und auch wenn Du Dich vielleicht für einen bestimmten Build-Typ wie Fighter, Ranger oder Wizard entschieden hast, solltest Du wissen, dass in diesem klassenlosen Spiel eine Vielzahl von Fähigkeiten warten, die Dich als Abenteuer*in noch vielseitiger machen.
Ein Beispiel: Auch wenn Du Dich für den Fighter-Zweig entscheidest, kann sich das Parieren, bei dem es sich um eine passive Fähigkeit des Ranger-Zweigs handelt, als wertvoller Skill erweisen. Es lohnt sich also, sich etwas Zeit zu nehmen und wirklich alle Fähigkeiten unter die Lupe zu nehmen, die Dir zur Schaffung eines ausgewogenen Charakters zur Verfügung stehen. Wenn Du später feststellst, dass Du Deinen Build anpassen möchtest, kannst Du alles zurücksetzen, indem Du Deine Skeyts ausgibst.
Wende verschiedene Kampftechniken an
So viel Spaß es auch machen mag, wild auf Feinde einzuschlagen, so haben die Kampfhandlungen in Avowed doch eine strategische Komponente. In den Living Lands ist es überlebenswichtig, Angriffen ausweichen zu können, sie zu blocken oder sie meisterhaft zu parieren, um den Stun-Meter nach oben schießen zu lassen.
Einer der wichtigsten Indikatoren, auf den Du im Kampf achten solltest, sind die farbigen Kreise, die über Deinen Feinden erscheinen. Hier kann es helfen, Punkte in Deine Wahrnehmungsfähigkeiten zu stecken. Wenn beispielsweise ein roter Kreis über einem Gegner erscheint, der Dich gerade attackiert, ist dieser Angriff nicht abwehrbar. Du musst also mit der A-Taste ausweichen. Wenn Du eine weiße Raute über dem Kopf Deines Gegners wahrnimmst, während Du mit einem Gewehr, einer Pistole oder einem Bogen auf ihn zielst, ist dies eine Schwachstelle, auf die Du Dich bei Deinem Angriff konzentrieren solltest.
Wechsle zwischen den Waffen
Dieser Abschnitt ist für all diejenigen, die (wie wir) so schnell wie möglich in die Welt von Avowed eintauchen wollten und deshalb den Teil des Eröffnungslevels übersprungen haben, in dem erklärt wurde, dass man durch das Betätigen der Y-Taste auf dem Controller oder der U-Taste auf der Tastatur zwischen zwei Waffen-Builds wechseln kann. Nun, da dieses Eingeständnis aus dem Weg geräumt ist, können wir uns diesem sehr wichtigen Aspekt zuwenden, den Du unbedingt beherrschen solltest. Es kommt ganz darauf an, wie Du spielen willst und bietet Dir große Flexibilität bei der Herangehensweise in Kampfsituationen.
Zu unseren Lieblingskombos zählt die Kombination aus Arkebuse, Schwert und Schild, die sich hervorragend für weitläufige Gebiete oder enge Höhlen eignet. Ebenfalls spannend ist die Kombination aus Pistole, Schild, Zauberbuch und Zauberstab, die eine Mischung aus magie- und projektilbasierten Angriffen bietet (mit einem Schild, das beim Laden der Pistole vor Angriffen schützt). Wenn Du es lieber etwas ruhiger angehen möchtest, kannst Du auch eine Kombination aus Zweihandbogen, Zauberstab und Zauberbuch wählen, mit der Du Deine Feinde heimlich ausschalten kannst, bevor sie merken, dass sie entdeckt wurden.
Begib Dich auf Schatzsuche
Eine gute Möglichkeit, die üblichen Pfade zu verlassen und mehr von Eora zu sehen, besteht darin, Kopfgelder zu kassieren oder Schatzkarten auszugraben. So kannst Du nicht nur Deine Taschen mit neuen Waffen und Handwerksmaterialien füllen – Du erhältst auch ein besseres Gefühl für die Welt um Dich herum. Man weiß nie, worüber man stolpert, wenn man tiefer die Welt der Living Lands eintaucht. Einmal entdeckt, hinterlassen die Schatzkarten nicht bloß einen einfachen Marker auf Deiner Karte, oh nein. Stattdessen wird ein Gebiet auf künstlerische Weise illustriert – vielleicht eine Höhle, ein Pfad oder ein Fluss – mit einem klassischen X an dem Ort, an dem der Schatz vergraben liegt. Präge Dir das Bild gut ein, denn die einzige Möglichkeit, den Schatz zu finden, besteht darin, aufmerksam zu sein. Selbst dann solltest Du allerdings nicht erwarten, dass die Truhe einfach am Strand liegt. Die Karte wird Dich so nah an das Verstreck heranführen, dass Du das verräterische Funkeln des Schatzes spüren kannst.
Nutze Deine Umgebung
Es gibt eine Logik in den Living Lands, die Du nur dann wahrnehmen kannst, wenn Du Dir die Zeit dafür nimmst. Siehst Du vor Dir ein paar Xaurips, die von hohem Gras umgeben sind? Vielleicht wäre eine heimliche Annäherung das Beste. Siehst Du die Backsteinmauer, die umzustürzen droht? Eine gut geworfene Granate oder ein gezielter Schuss auf ein Fass in der Nähe können Dir einen Überraschungsvorteil gegenüber Deinen Feinden verschaffen. Du entdeckst eine geheimnisvolle eisähnliche Pflanze über einem Gewässer? Schieße sie ab, um eine Eisplattform zu schaffen, auf der Du Dich bewegen kannst.
Ein weiteres Mantra, das sich während unserer Erkundungstouren durch die Living Lands oft bewahrheitet hat, besagt „alles außer der Eingangstür“. Es gibt oft einen offensichtlichen Eingang zu einem Gebäude oder einem Gebiet, doch der Gebrauch könnte Dich ein paar wertvolle Dietriche kosten. Statt diese direkt zu Beginn des Spiels zu verbrauchen, solltest Du den Ort lieber erst auskundschaften. Vielleicht gibt es ein verstecktes Fenster, durch das Du einsteigen kannst oder eine instabile Wand, die Du zerstören kannst. So sparst Du nicht nur Dietriche, sondern verschaffst Dir möglicherweise sogar einen Vorteil gegenüber den Feinden, die dort lauern.
Es geht darum, sich nicht mit dem Kopf zuerst in jede Situation zu stürzen (obwohl das auch Spaß machen kann). Vielmehr können wir verstehen, wie die Welt funktioniert, um daraus einen Vorteil zu ziehen. In der Freiheit der Spieler*innen liegt definitiv das Herzstück von Avowed und all diese Möglichkeiten, sich ihr zu nähern, sind beabsichtigt. Also viel Spaß beim Experimentieren mit den Optionen, die Dir in Avowed geboten werden.
Vergiss Dein Grimoire nicht
Selbst wenn sich Deine Fähigkeiten eher auf den Zweig eines Fighters oder eines Rangers beziehen, wirst Du feststellen, dass es sich immer als nützlich erweisen wird, Zugriff auf ein Grimoire der Elemente zu haben (das Du zu Beginn Spiels kostenlos erhalten hast).
Ja, es kann sich im Kampf als effektiv erweisen, doch es ist auch sehr nützlich, um unterschiedliche Rätsel zu lösen. Zum Beispiel, wenn Du Blitze zaubern kannst, um einen elektronischen Schalter zu aktivieren, oder wenn Du Spinnenweben verbrennen kannst, um eine Abkürzung freizugeben, die es so vorher nicht gab.
Selbst wenn Du Dein Grimoire nicht immer benötigst, solltest Du ihm einen kleinen Platz in Deinem Inventar einräumen. Man weiß nie, wann man es brauchen wird – fest steht nur, dass Du es brauchen wirst.
Avowed erscheint am 18. Februar 2025 für Xbox Series X|S, die Xbox-App für Windows-PC, auf Battle.net, Steam und für die Cloud und wird direkt zum Release im Game Pass erhältlich sein. Avowed unterstützt Xbox Play Anywhere, was bedeutet, dass Du das Spiel nur einmal kaufen musst, um es auf Xbox und Deinem Windows-PC spielen zu können. Deine Spielfortschritte werden beim Wechsel der Plattformen übernommen.
Wenn Du Avowed auf Battle.net oder für Xbox erwirbst, beziehungsweise eine Xbox Game Pass-Mitgliedschaft (nur PC oder Ultimate) besitzt, kannst Du Deine Battle.net- und Xbox-Konten verknüpfen, um das Spiel ohne zusätzliche Kosten auf Battle.net, Xbox und über die Xbox App für Windows zu spielen. Sämtliche Spielfortschritte und Add-Ons werden im Zuge dessen gespeichert und übernommen.
Avowed kann derzeit im Xbox Store, auf Battle.net und Steam vorbestellt werden. Die Premium Edition (oder das Premium Upgrade Addon für Game Pass Ultimate- und PC Game Pass-Mitglieder oder die Standard Edition) bieten bis zu fünf Tage Vorabzugang, zwei Premium-Skin-Pakete und Zugang zum Avowed Digital Artbook & Soundtrack.
The Living Lands are full of exciting adventure, hidden treasure, captivating secrets… and danger!
We’ve compiled some of our favorite tips and strategies to help you on your first steps into the world of Avowed.
Avowedis launching February 18, 2025, for Xbox Series X|S, the Xbox app for Windows PC, Battle.net, Steam, cloud, and will be available on day one with Game Pass. Start playing today by picking up the Avowed Premium Edition on the Xbox Store, Battle.net, and Steam. Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass members, and standard edition owners can purchase the Avowed Premium Upgrade Addon for early access.
The Living Lands is ripe with adventure, excitement, and a significant amount of danger – and we’re here to help. We’ve been exploring Avowedfor a while now and throughout our time with Obsidian’s next great RPG, we’ve come away with a few tips to share with new adventurers who are about to take their first steps into this new corner of Eora. These are not meant to be an all-encompassing guide to the Living Lands, but we think you might benefit from one or two of these to help you on your journey.
Explore!
Avowed is a deeply inviting game – each of its open zones are truly dense, not just with the typical quests and side quests, but hidden treasure, buried lore, and points of interest. If something looks or sounds a little odd, there’s almost always a reason for that.
Did that NPC just say something interesting as you passed? They might not have a quest marker over their head, but that doesn’t mean it won’t kick off a cutscene when you talk to them. Does that out-of-the-way balcony look a little too conspicuous? Work out a parkour route to it and you might just find – to take an example – a room full of spirits and treasure.
And it’s not just solid ground that is brimming with treats – the waters of The Living Lands are also ripe with goods. Secrets are scattered across the bottoms of riverbeds, underground pools, and most importantly, nestled behind waterfalls, making it worth your while to take a dip wherever you can.
If you can resist the urge to plough on with the main story, there’s so much to discover here.
Don’t Neglect Upgrades to Your Equipment
Unlike a lot of RPGs, your ability to tackle tougher quests is tied to your gear more than your level – which means you should be thinking about upgrades to your equipment often at the workshop in your Party Camp. Quests are clearly marked in your Journal with skull ratings. No skull showing? You’ll be fine. One skull? It might be tough but be careful and you’ll make it through. Three skulls? Here be some ferocious enemies.
While you can find better equipment as you travel, it’s often more efficient to simply upgrade what you have, using crafting materials you’ll find all over the world to incrementally improve your weapons and armor. Find your preferred items and keep levelling them when you can, and your progression will keep feeling smooth.
Here’s a tip to speed up the gather/trudge to camp/upgrade/return to what you were doing process: Once you’ve gathered what you need for an upgrade, you can fast travel to a previously established Party Camp to do your business from almost anywhere by popping open the map. Then when you’re ready to get to exploring, select Exit to Previous Location at the Adra Stone or preferred fast travel point, to pick up exactly where you left off. Easy!
And remember: You can easily send items directly to your Party Camp from your Inventory at any time by pressing the X button if you become over encumbered. And you can break down any unused weapons or items by holding down the X button from your inventory – helpful if you’re coming up short on crafting ingredients like wood and metal.
Speak to Your Companions
At the Party Camp, you’ll always have a chance to catch up with your travelling companions – and this can be more practical than you might think. You’ll know when a party member wants to speak to you when you see their icon pop up with a speech bubble on the left of the screen. Once you head to Party Camp, aside from learning their backstories (and filling out your own), you may even stumble on some real benefits.
For instance, early on, Kai may bring up that he’s been studying your fighting style, and has some pointers. You can ask him to train you in his own style, leading to permanent stat buffs that would have taken multiple levels’ worth of upgrades to get. It’s a huge bonus, simply for stopping for a chinwag.
Pay Attention to Companion Abilities
You’re not the only one levelling up in your party – for every few of your levels, your companions will also open up the opportunity to learn or upgrade an ability, and some of these can be gamechangers. Every active ability they learn can be accessed easily in combat, and while your party members will use them on their own, we highly recommend working them into your combat loop.
For example, if you’re playing primarily as a magic user, it may mean you do a lot of damage but also take a lot of damage. Kai’s ability to leap onto an enemy can not only stun them but taunt them as well, meaning you can get out of a pinch by redirecting their ire onto him, letting you step back and drop ice knives out of a blizzard without fear. It’s saved us more times than we can count already.
Your Map is Your Guide… and Your Shopping List
The Living Lands are a colorful, visually dense world, filled not only with awe inspiring sights, but lots of stuff you’re going to want to pick up. The best way to separate the signal from the (beautiful) noise? Your minimap.
In the early game, the biggest limiter to your being able to upgrade is the ‘Paradisan Ladder’ – these handy plants are usually hidden away in crannies in and outside of settlements, just out of sight. And if you’re having trouble locating them, make sure you check for an up or down icon on the marker. That will give you better insight on where to look.
Back to that mini-map: it not only shows the location of harvestable plants, but there’s a specific icon just for that Paridisan Ladder (and later, its more potent varieties like Hylea’s Talon). It looks like this (left). Now you can spare the occasional glance at the map to get what you need, but keep your eyes focused where they’ll already be drawn to: the danger and beauty of The Living Lands.
Examine All of the Abilities
Building out your character and assigning abilities is one of the highlights of customization in Avowed. And even though you may start approaching combat as a specific build type, like Fighter, Ranger, or Wizard, you should know that as a classless game, there are many complimentary abilities hiding within each of these trees that can help you become a well-rounded adventurer.
For example, even though you may be going down the Fighter branch, one of the most helpful abilities that you can get early on is Parry, which is located under the Ranger branch as a passive ability. So, it’s worthwhile to take some time and look over all the abilities afforded to you which can be helpful in creating a balanced character as you set out on your adventure. And if you find that you’d like to change your build later, you can reset everything by spending your skeyts.
Utilize Combat Techniques
As much fun as it could be to just swing wildly at your enemies, there is a strategic flow to battle in Avowed where being able to step aside from attacks, blocking them, or masterfully parrying them to run up the stun meter are key to your survival in the Living Lands.
One of the key indicators you want to pay attention to in combat are the colored circles that will appear on enemies – putting points into Perception can help here. For example, if you see a red circle on an enemy as they’re about to attack, that’s unblockable so you should be nimble and dodge (A button) that attack. Or if you see a white diamond hovering over the location of an enemy while aiming with a rifle, pistol, or bow, that’s a weak point you should focus your attack on.
Weapon Swapping
This is for those of you who (like us) were so dang excited to jump into Avowed, that you somehow breezed through the section of the opening level that explained that you can hot-swap between two weapon builds by tapping Y on your controller or hitting U on your keyboard. Now that admission is out of the way, this is one of the more important aspects of combat for you to utilize and master, and it all comes down to how you like to play, giving you flexibility in how to approach a variety of enemies and combat situations.
A few of our favorite combos include pairing an arquebus with a sword and shield, giving us a great option to use in wide open areas or while navigating narrow caverns. Another pairing we like is having a pistol and shield mixed with a grimoire and wand, providing a mix of magic-based and projectile-based attacks (with a shield to help guard attacks as you load your pistol). Or if you prefer a quieter approach, we were also partial to wielding a two-handed bow in one loadout setting and a combination of a wand and grimoire in the other, which helped for stealthily picking off enemies before launching into a flurry of aggressive magic after being discovered.
Go Treasure Hunting
A good way to get off the beaten path and to explore more of Eora is to pick up bounties or unearth treasure maps to not only line your pockets with new weapons and crafting materials, but to get a better sense of the world around you – and you never know what you’ll stumble upon as you dive deeper into the Living Lands. Once acquired, treasure maps won’t simply drop a marker on your map, oh no. They artistically illustrate an area – maybe a cave, a path by a river, etc, with a classic X marking The Spot. Commit that vista to memory, because the only way you’ll find that treasure is by paying attention. And even then, don’t expect a chest to just be sitting on the beach, but the map should get you close enough to hear the telltale twinkling of treasure. My precious!
Use Your Environment
There’s a logic to the lay of the Living Lands if you take the time to assess what’s in front of and around you. See some xaurips up ahead surrounded by tall grass? Perhaps a stealthy approach could work best. Notice that brick wall that’s hanging on by a thread? A well-thrown grenade — or, if you’re lucky, a well-aimed shot at a nearby exploding barrel — can give you a surprise advantage against a group of enemies. Mysterious ice looking plant located above a body of water? Shoot it down to create an ice platform for you to jump on.
Another mantra that has been repeating for us as we explored pockets of the Living Lands was ‘anything but the front door’ – there is often an obvious, visible entrance to a building or area, but entering could cost you a fair few lockpicks. Instead of using up those precious picks in the early game, consider scouting around the location you’re exploring – perhaps there’s a hidden window to crawl through or a weak wall that you can destroy. This often offers an alternate route in that saves your lockpicks and may even give you an upper hand on any nasties lurking inside.
The point here is to not always rush into every situation (although that too can be fun) but recognize the way the land and world is presented to you for your adventure. Player freedom is at the heart of Avowed and all these unique ways to approach it is intentional. So have some fun experimenting on the ways to utilize the environment to your advantage.
Don’t Forget Your Grimoire
Even if you find yourself focusing your abilities as more of a Fighter or Ranger, you’ll discover that always having access to a Grimoire of Elements (which you get for free at the start of the game) will come in handy more times than you can count.
Yes, it can be effective in battle, but it’s also very useful at helping you solve many of the environmental puzzles. For example, being able to cast lighting spells to activate an electronic switch or being able to burn away a batch of cobwebs that could reveal a shortcut that wasn’t available to you before.
So even if you’re not wielding it in your off-hand, make sure you give it a little spot in your inventory. You’ll never know when you’re going to need it (spoiler: you’re going to need it).
Avowed is launching February 18, 2025, for Xbox Series X|S, the Xbox app for Windows PC, Battle.net, Steam, cloud, and will be available on day one with Game Pass. Avowed also supports Xbox Play Anywhere, meaning when you buy the game through the store on Xbox or Windows, it’s yours to play on Xbox and Windows PC at no additional cost, and your game progress and achievements are saved across Xbox and Windows PC.
When you purchase Avowed on Battle.net or Xbox, or have an Xbox Game Pass membership (PC or Ultimate only), and connect your Battle.net and Xbox accounts, it’s also yours to play on Battle.net, Xbox and Xbox App for Windows at no additional cost. Avowed lets you pick up where you left off, bringing all of your saves, game add-ons, and Xbox achievement progress with you.
Avowed is currently available for pre-order on the Xbox Store, Battle.net, and Steam. The Premium Edition (or Premium Upgrade Addon for Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass members or standard edition) offers up to five days early access, two premium skin packs, and access to the Avowed Digital Artbook & Soundtrack.
Collect and play as over 600 characters, many in never-before-seen outfits.
Enjoy a story mode that lets you relive the adventures of Ichigo.
Play alone or with up to 5 friends to defeat formidable foes.
Hello, Bleach fans! We’re thrilled to announce that as of today, our 3D action game Bleach: Brave Souls is available on Xbox consoles.
As Bleach fans ourselves, we dreamed of what it would be like for so many of its characters to be playable in a single game. To that end, every character in Bleach: Brave Souls is voiced and has a Special Move showcasing their prowess in battle. You can take control of Ichigo and use his Getsugatensho to get through the battlefield, choose Uryu to shoot enemies down from afar with a Quincy bow, or pick from many, many more.
How Does Bleach: Brave Souls Work?
In Bleach: Brave Souls, you’ll face off against enemies in a variety of single player and co-op quests using normal attacks, strong attacks, and a special move that can often deal devastating damage! However, button mashing isn’t always the answer – you’ll need to evade attacks by using your character’s Flash Step and manage the cooldown times of your character’s strong attacks.
To come out on top you’ll need to prepare. All playable characters and enemies have Attributes and Affiliations with strengths and weaknesses. For example, an enemy may have the “Power” Attribute and belong to the “Hollow” Affiliation. In this situation, it’s good to bring a character with a Speed Attribute, as they are strong against Power, and a “Hollow killer”, as this increases the damage dealt to Hollow Affiliation enemies.
It may seem simple at first, but to defeat more powerful enemies you’ll need to think about power-ups such as Link Slots, which let characters Inherit skills and boost their stats, as well as Transcendence, Ascension, and other mechanics that can be adjusted to bring out the best of your characters.
Play as All Your Favorite Characters
Bleach: Brave Souls‘ story mode starts from the first arc of the Bleach anime, “The Substitute Soul Reaper” arc, and goes all the way through to the events depicted in the newly released “Bleach TV Animation Series: Thousand-Year Blood War”. Along the way, you can enjoy 3D action where you take control of your favorite characters to fight enemies in scenarios based on the anime, as well as 2D cutscenes containing stills from the anime, through which you can relive your favorite moments from the Bleach story.
Ever Wondered What Your Favorite Character Would Look Like in a Different Outfit?
While we’ve taken care to faithfully reproduce the characters’ looks from different points in the story, Bleach: Brave Souls also features a great number of characters in never-before-seen outfits. You can play as a parasol-toting version of Rukia, a cyberpunk-themed version of Ulquiorra, and many more exciting recreations! With over 600 characters in the game, you’ll be able to see a whole new side to your favorite characters.
Learn More About the World of Bleach
The “Spirits Are Forever With You” and “Can’t Fear Your Own World” novels, which also take place in the Bleach universe, may not have not had their stories told in the anime, but their characters are playable in Bleach: Brave Souls.
You can play as the “Spirits Are Forever With You” version of Toshiro, who has unlocked a power greater than Bankai, or the “Can’t Fear Your Own World” version of Shinji, whose Bankai became the talk of fans around the globe!
Play with Friends as your Favorite Characters
Bleach: Brave Souls has a lot of solo content, but we wanted to make sure that Bleach fans could play and enjoy the game together.
One of the game’s co-op modes is called Epic Raids, where you are tasked with defeating a powerful boss with a team of up to 6 players for great rewards.
Whether you and your friends launch into action as Ichigo and his companions, or as a more unlikely band of allies, the options are almost endless thanks to the roster of characters that have been carefully designed to fit into the world of Bleach.
Release Date and a Special Gift for Xbox Players
Bleach: Brave Souls is out now, and free-to-play on Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One.
And we’ve got an extra gift for you: if you download the game on Xbox Series X|S or Xbox One you will get a free in-game pack that contains items which are ideal for new players, such as a 5-star Summons Ticket and an accessory that increases your character’s exp. points. Jump into Bleach: Brave Souls now to experience the world of Bleach.
Bleach: Brave Souls Anime Game
KLab Inc.
☆☆☆☆☆227
★★★★★
Tite Kubo’s hit manga and TV anime series BLEACH comes to life in this 3D hack-and-slash action game! The game faithfully reproduces the story of the BLEACH anime, Shonen Jump manga, and novels in loving detail with fantastic graphics and all-action gameplay. DIVE INTO THE ACTION-PACKED WORLD OF BLEACH
From the human-populated world of the living to the Soul Society, home of Soul Reapers and the spirits of the dead, the bleak realm of Hueco Mundo, where evil spirits known as Hollows reside, and the depths of Hell, final resting place of sinners, the endlessly imaginative BLEACH universe is recreated in high-quality 3D graphics. Relive all your favorite scenes and special techniques from the hit anime! A CAST OF COLORFUL CHARACTERS
Your favorite characters from the 13 Court Guard Squads, the Espada, Xcution, Stern Ritter, and the Thousand-Year Blood War are all here! Unleash Ichigo’s Getsugatensho, Aizen’s Kyoka Suigetsu, Byakuya’s Senbonzakura Kageyoshi, and all the other epic BLEACH moves, all fully-voiced with amazing animations! ENTER THE ARENA
Go online and take part in epic 3-on-3 battles with players from all over the world in real time! In some regions, you have an option to choose a World (server) at the start of the game. However, there is no difference between the different servers except for the languages offered and certain purchasable items. Official Site
https://www.bleach-bravesouls.com/en/ X
Account: https://twitter.com/bleachbrs_en
Hashtag: #BraveSouls Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/BleachBS.en/ Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/bleachbravesouls_official/ Recommended For
– Fans of the original BLEACH anime and Shonen Jump manga who want to relive the BLEACH story!
– BLEACH fans who want a new way to enjoy the universe they love!
– Anyone wanting to recap the BLEACH story before the long-awaited anime release of the climatic Thousand Year Blood War story arc!
– BLEACH fans who want to enjoy new, original stories set in the BLEACH universe!
– Anime and manga fans looking for an action-packed game with a deep and engaging setting!
During a recent livestream, Atlus showed a brand-new trailer for the upcoming Metaphor: ReFantanzio.
Get a first look at gameplay, with developer commentary, as segments of the game are explored.
Metaphor: ReFantanzio is set to launch on Xbox Series X|S on October 11, 2024.
A special developer livestream, titled “Atlus Exclusive,” took place today for Metaphor: ReFantazio, revealing brand new details about the upcoming RPG. Studio Zero Director Katsura Hashino, who you might know from Shin Megami Tensei III — Nocturne, Persona 3, Persona 4, and Persona 5 — introduced the first hands-on gameplay for the title with a 30-minute livestream (dubbed and subbed in English), discussing his development vision and creative inspirations as he explored various segments from the game.
During the livestream, Hashino-san started by introducing viewers to the premise of the story and acquainting them with the protagonist, and his fairy companion Gallica. The game is filled with interesting allies, rivals, and terrifying monsters that will come across his journey.
After displaying some of the introductory parts of the game, the first stop of the journey is shown with the Royal Capital Grand Trad. This is where you can start getting a sense of scale of the game as you walk through the city and view the maps. Fans were also given a first look at another local, Martira, a town that hasn’t been shown before.
As Hashino-san moves through dungeons and locations, he dives deeper into the gameplay systems and the journey the game takes you through. At the heart of it is the Gauntlet Runner, a fun and cool vehicle that can travel safely across wastelands, that also doubles up as your home base and HQ. The Gauntlet Runner is quite spacious with numerous functions, so use your time as you please!
Another important element of the game is Archetypes, which lies in the job system. The Archetypes are a special power that can awaken in various forms. A few Hashino-san highlights are the Seeker, the Mage, and the Thief, which were put on display in a dungeon. Archetypes can be used by your other party members, giving countless options in forming your party.
Throughout the livestream, Hashino-san also shared interesting information about the music, concepts behind the art and design, and teased some of the story, as well as insights into combat strategy, enemy analysis and more!
Metaphor: ReFantazio is a massive game, with much more to share throughout the coming months. Notably, one of the most exciting news from the livestream: we have a launch date to share! Metaphor: ReFantazio will launch on October 11, 2024 on Xbox Series X|S and Windows PC.
Physical pre-orders for the title are now open at participating retailers, with a special physical Collector’s Edition for those looking to commemorate this exciting launch. To accompany this exciting announcement, the team shared a new trailer, The King’s Trial, for Metaphor: ReFantazio highlighting much of what is to come – you can watch it below!
Since it’s been 35 years since Atlus released its first title, we see Metaphor: ReFantazio as a culmination of everything that makes Atlus what it is — distinctive style & UI, cutting-edge combat, engaging characters and legendary stories. We can think of no better way to celebrate this momentous occasion than releasing Metaphor: ReFantazio for all the old and new Atlus fans alike.
If you want to learn more, please watch the full livestream on the Atlus YouTube channel or wish list the game here on Xbox. That’s all the team has to share for now but please keep an eye out for more information and reveals as we start the countdown to October 11! Also stay tuned to the ATLUS West official channels Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
Metaphor: ReFantazio
SEGA
☆☆☆☆☆
★★★★★
Metaphor: ReFantazio is a fantasy RPG that takes players on a thrilling adventure in a world where eight tribes live in strife and the throne sits empty after the king’s assassination. With no heirs to wear the crown, the will of the late king decrees that the kingdom’s next monarch will be elected by the people, and thus begins your fight for the throne… and the future. Featuring an epic storyline with fierce turn-based battles against powerful foes and other candidates vying for the crown, you’ll customize your party from endless combinations of classes, dive into the deepest dungeons, and come face to face with this world’s greatest threats – humans. From the creative minds behind Persona 3, 4, and 5 comes Metaphor: ReFantazio, a unique fantasy world, where your protagonist will journey alongside his fairy companion, Gallica, to lift the curse from the kingdom’s lost prince. Control your destiny, face your fears and awaken magical „Archetype“ powers that lie dormant in your heart. By awakening to an “Archetype,” you will unlock the power to channel and combine the abilities of unique job classes. Strengthen your bonds and build your party to take down powerful foes and discover the kingdom’s true nature.
Critically acclaimed RPG Grandia HD Collection is out now.
Two timeless adventures with iconic casts of characters.
E nhanced UI, visual improvements to cinematic videos, updated language support, and more.
I am excited to announce that the remaster of the classic role-playing series, Grandia HD Collection, has launched on Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S! Whether you are returning to these iconic games or entering these worlds for the first time, the series’ dynamic attack system, rewarding magic and skill progression, and immersive storylines offer dozens of hours of heroic adventures.
Getting You up to Speed on All Things Grandia
The Grandia HD Collection brings two role-playing games that have defined the genre for decades to come to contemporary audiences.
Grandia
Grandia follows Justin, a young adventurer who fatefully inherits a magic stone and thus sets out to uncover the mysteries of a lost civilization. In his search, he attracts all types of attention. Some good, in that he meets other adventurers who aid him along on his quest. However, some are bad, like the Garlyle Forces who work to keep him from unraveling the truth of the past.
Meet the Crew
Justin – Driven by his curious and fearless nature, Justin often dives headfirst into situations without thinking. He possesses the mysterious Spirit Stone—an artifact passed down through his family—which plays a pivotal role in his adventures.
Sue – Justin’s childhood friend from the town of Parm. She often joins him on his misadventures, bringing to them her courageous optimism and unexpected maturity that balances out Justin’s impulsiveness. She is almost always accompanied by her flying ball of fluff Puffy, who is as mysterious as he is adorable!
Feena – The most well-traveled of the bunch, Feena has an independent spirit and impressive skillset that garners the respect of those around her, especially Justin. As the journey unfolds, players delve deeper into her multifaceted character and mysterious past.
Grandia II
Grandia II acquaints us with Ryudo, a Geohound who does odd jobs to get money alongside his loyal eagle companion, Skye. One fateful day, he receives a request from the Church of Granas to serve as a bodyguard to one Elena, Songstress of Granas. Together, they bring out pieces of each other that neither of them knew existed amidst their journey to rid the world of Evil in the form of Valmar, God of Darkness.
Meet The Crew
Ryudo – A mercenary with a tough exterior and noble heart. He takes on various jobs for money—despite the moral implications—and is accompanied by his trusted bird companion, Skye.
Elena – The epitome of innocence and purity, Elena’s world is opened wide when she begins to journey alongside Ryudo.
Millenia – Uninhibited, playful, and mischievous, Millenia is a force to be reckoned with. Her origins and the nature of her existence cause her relationship with the party to take many interesting and unexpected turns.
Key Destinations
On your journey, you’re bound to visit many enticing cities. Here are just a few of the places you will come across on your travels:
Grandia
Port City of Parm – Our protagonist Justin’s hometown. The century of adventurers has ended, and the century of the industrial revolution has begun. Once a port of departure for adventurers, Parm City has now developed into a metropolis with two faces, the birthplace of modern industry and a center of trade. This city, where the pleasant sea breeze and the smell of coal coexist peacefully, is full of bright energy of residents striving for a better tomorrow. Order in this city is protected by the Garlyle Force, the Industrial Foundation’s private army. As a port city, Parm’s main food source is fish; the city is comprised mainly of metal houses with sparse vegetation.
Gumbo – A charming village facing the Sea of Mermaids located in a volcanic region with an everlasting summer climate. The land of love with a beautiful emerald green sea, white sand coastline, and many frogs. This is truly a place of relaxation, especially for young lovers. However, a dragon settled on the top of the volcano and began absorbing the volcano’s power, subsequently cooling the surrounding area.
Grandia II
Cyrum Kingdom – A vast colorful kingdom that finds itself along the coast. In the center of this kingdom sits Cyrum Castle, the key to the Cyrum people’s dark history. In Valmar and Lord Granas’ historic battle, the Cyrum people—or People of Darkness as they were once known—served Valmar. However, once he was sealed away, they renounced their commitment to darkness.
St. Heim Papal State – thehome to Pope Zera and impressive Granas Cathedral.
This cathedral sits atop a looming mountain overlooking St. Heim. The Granas Cathedral is the largest church to Lord Granas, making it a place of religious significance for his followers.
What’s New
Embrace the collection and unlock your childhood nostalgia—now with enhanced UI, sprite, and texture art details. Watch cult-favorite cinematics, now visually improved along with widescreen support. The collection also has updated language support for English, French, German, Japanese, Korean, and Chinese (simplified and traditional). You can also play the games in entirely English or Japanese audio!
The Grandia series is known by its loyal fanbase for its unique Skill Point system, turn-based combat, incredible world-building, melodic compositions, and more.
The Grandia HD Collection can be downloaded from the Microsoft Store for $39.99 USD.
Grandia HD Collection
GungHo Online Entertainment America, Inc.
☆☆☆☆☆31
★★★★★
$39.99
The highly-anticipated Grandia HD Collection for Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S are here! Get your hands on two games that changed the landscape of RPGs forever, in beautiful HD graphics. GRANDIA: Dive into the captivating journey of Justin and his allies as they race against the sinister Garlyle Forces. Unravel the mysteries of a forgotten civilization and immerse yourself in an RPG hailed as a timeless classic, inspiring generations of games to come. GRANDIA II: Step into the shoes of Ryudo, a jaded Geohound with a heart, as he embarks on a magical quest alongside a group of unlikely allies. Their journey is riddled with twists and turns as they seek a divine weapon to save the world. Delve deep into this tale where the line between good and evil blurs, and everything is open to question…
A step beyond scratching the Baldur’s Gate 3 itch.
Synchronous turn-system.
Fast-paced tactical co-op combat.
Stolen Realm is a game that’s been partly inspired by the work of Larian Studios, via the fantastic Divinity: Original Sin games, so while we’ve been finishing up Stolen Realm over the last few months, it’s been fantastic to see Baldur’s Gate 3 explode and show there is a huge appetite for games like ours. If you’re one of those Xbox fans looking for a new game to scratch that Baldur’s Gate 3 itch, we hope Stolen Realm will do that for you. However, we also want to tell you about the unique twists our game has that helps speed up combat, keeps you making fun choices and makes it perfect for co-op.
Stolen Realm has a synchronous turn system. This means that all the players on your team can all take their turns at the same time, the enemies likewise. With this system, our game offers the same kind of tactical combat you’d expect from the likes of Baldur’s Gate 3 and Divinity: Original Sun, but with combat encounters that move at a far quicker pace. This means that when you’re playing co-op with your friends, there’s no waiting around for your turn while your buddy ponders his next move. You’ll be onto the next step of your adventure in no time, so you can spend less time waiting and more time having friendly argument about whether you should go for another combat encounter, a special event, or some treasure as you move through our games diverse fantasy environments.
Speaking of co-op, we’ve built a really flexible six-player drop-in/drop-out system that means it’s super easy to see your friends playing on Xbox Live, jump in for a few rounds and then leave again. The game automatically balances itself based on how many people are playing, so the game will simply adapt the experience to make sure that you’re coming up against the right level of challenge based on how many of you are playing together at any given moment. Friction-free multiplayer is something Xbox has always been good at, so we think Stolen Realm fits in perfectly in that respect!
Our approach to combat is something that we’ve tried to implement across the whole game. We’ve designed Stolen Realm to be an RPG that focuses on the best part of RPGs: making choices. Whether it’s what move you will make next in combat, what skill you’re going to take next, what to do when a demon offers you a deal in one of our attribute-altering D&D style special events, or whether to switch out your armour and weapons based on what you’ve looted in your latest encounter. We’ve opened up those choices with a highly-flexible class system that lets you take abilities from any class-tree you wish (there are over 300 skills in the game), so you can make some really creative builds. We’ve also got over 700 unique items to discover, each of which can be customised with modifiers. These include the epicly-named Abbadon the Soul Crusher, a mace that raises slain enemies as skeletal warriors to fight for you and The Bloodletter, a cursed sword that grants additional power at the cost of your lifeblood, to give you a small taste of what you can discover! Basically, there’s a lot of fun ways your choices can impact your character and your adventure and Stolen Realm keeps you making those fun choices as often as possible.
When it comes to choice, we’ve also built a few of modes for you to choose from! Stolen Realm has a full campaign (with six difficulty levels), a hardcore mode for those who want to deal with permadeath, and even a roguelike mode. In roguelike mode, you gain a level after every battle and can choose from a set of random skills and items, making every run unique. Even if you fail, each run helps towards permanently unlocking new characters and passive skills for future runs.
Myself and the team want to take the time to thank you for reading about our game, as well as our awesome community for the feedback that’s help make Stolen Realm a better game (and made us retain talking bears as a feature), as well streamers like Sacriel, Shroud, Anthony_Kongphan, Strippin, Sequisha, Fairlight_Excalibur and lots of others who we can’t mention because it would make this list too long, for singing the game’s praises and raising the profile of a debut game made by a tiny team. I hope our words about the game have made you eager to begin making your own choices and jump into Stolen Realm with your friends. Enjoy your adventure, available right now on Xbox!
Stolen Realm
Burst2Flame Games
☆☆☆☆☆30
★★★★★
$19.99
TURN-BASED STRATEGY MEETS ACTION RPG IN THIS DUNGEON CRAWLING LOOTER Stolen Realm is a simultaneous turn-based tactical dungeon crawling looter with action RPG elements where you control up to 6 heroes, solo or through online co-op, venturing forth in adventures set in a high-fantasy, low-poly world. Stolen Realm features an innovative turn-based combat system where simultaneous turns allow every team to take their actions at once, creating quick combat encounters that blend the tactical depth of titles like Divinity: Original Sin with the thrill of a fast-paced action RPG. Every battle scales based on the number of players involved, so you can easily jump in and out of the game even in the same playthrough! With a highly customisable class system, Stolen Realm allows you to create traditional RPG classes or break the mold to forge a unique champion of your own as you draw from a pool of hundreds of possible skills. Make a spell-slinging assassin, a priest born of frost, or a shadow-infused knight. Further customize your build by earning and reforging loot that truly changes the way you play: wield Abbadon the Soul Crusher, a mythic mace that raises slain enemies as skeletal warriors to fight for you, or unsheath the Bloodletter, a cursed sword that grants additional power at the cost of your lifeblood. D&D-like events where attribute-based rolls will have permanent effects on your character add yet another layer to building a character that is truly your own. Anything is possible in this title that keeps compelling choices at the forefront of your experience. Keeping the core appeal of RPGs at its forefront, Stolen Realm ensures you spend all your time, fighting, building your characters and making compelling choices that determine your immediate path or effect your character, rather than getting bogged down in side quests and other RPG-bloat. After each battle, pick your path between story events, resource gathering, shops and treasure rooms, until you get to the final boss of each procedurally generated adventure. If you’re up to a challenge, crank the difficulty up with 6 different difficulty levels – or pick Hardcore Mode with permadeath, where every battle can be the last! Also features Roguelike Mode, a fast paced version of the game where you can mix and match builds that are simply not possible in the traditional campaign! Carve a place in history with your sword and magic. Rise to honor and glory in the battlefield. Recover the Stolen Realm.
Chaotic intensity from complex natural systems and wild magic: ice meteors, volcanic craters, electrified lakes, and more.
Explore a vast, beautiful archipelago by boat, wing, and paw in this open world adventure.
Available for preorder now on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and the Windows Store.
Hello Gamers and Goblin Enthusiasts,
I’m Badru, Tenderfoot Tactics‘ director, and I’m writing this post to introduce you to the game which we just announced as coming to Xbox platforms and is available to preorder today ahead of its full release on February 21st.
Tenderfoot Tactics takes advantage of both Play Anywhere and Smart Delivery so you’ll be able to carry your squad of goblins across a variety of platforms, such as the Xbox Series S|X where you’ll be exploring the archipelago at 60fps with a native 1440p and 4k resolution (respectively).
I’ve been playing it again on my Series S and it’s such a joy to be reminded what a curious, distinctive, and gripping game it is. So, what is it?
A Rowdy, Chaotic Tactics Game with No Random Chance
Before everything else, Tenderfoot Tactics is a game about strategic thinking in small scale grid-and-turn-based combats. The battles are fast, tricky, and wild. One mistake can spiral out into a huge number of consequences, but clever play can recover a seemingly impossible battle and turn it into a win. In line with its goblin-brained ethos, it encourages risky, aggressive tactics.
Unlike most games of this type, in Tenderfoot Tactics, skills always do exactly what they say: there are no damage ranges or hit chances. You’ll never have to restart a combat because of a random number generator. Nevertheless, the battles are anything but predictable.
Chaos rom Complexity: Natural Systems
Water flows downhill, pools in valleys, and soaks into soil.
Plants propagate and draw moisture out of the soil.
Fire spreads through dry plants (and goblins).
Like in the real world, Tenderfoot Tactics’ natural systems are deterministic, but so richly interdependent that the results of an action are impossible to really know, and beautiful to watch unfold.
At the start of the game, your goblins will be relative outsiders to magic, but as you grow in power you’ll be able to evolve them into advanced breeds: Wizards and Woods Witches, Liches, Elementalists, and other strange creatures. Before long you’ll be calling down meteors, raising mountains, electrifying lakes, opening volcanic chasms, and much, much more.
Exploring the Archipelago
Again unlike most games of this type, Tenderfoot Tactics takes place in a tremendously large world, and has a lightweight, exploratory, nonlinear story.
Very early in the game, you’ll find yourself with an objective that is both distant and vague, and you’ll have to set your own route towards it. Don’t worry if you feel lost. Take some time to sail around, looking for landmarks or interesting features. Gather birds and use them to soar higher and further afield.
As you roam, your goblins will express their impulsive desires: to follow their nose to a nearby herb, or maybe to visit that town on the horizon. Take whatever cues seem interesting to you. There’s no wrong way to spend your time in the archipelago.
Tips for New Players
The tutorials are all available in your pause menu at any time. Don’t be nervous about skipping them if they’re too much to read at first, but do go read them eventually! The game is much more enjoyable with a full understanding of its systems, which are fairly simple.
You can change your goblins’ skills at any time out of combat, and for the starting breed, the base ‘goblin’, doing so is completely free.
The game features dynamic difficulty adjustment, and very few consequences for fleeing a battle, so if a fight is too hard for you, just run!
Okay thanks! Have fun with Tenderfoot Tactics! I think it looks, sounds, and plays beautifully on my Xbox Series S. It’s a strange game, and one I’m very proud of. I hope it gets its nasty little hooks in your brain like it does mine.
Tenderfoot Tactics
Ice Water Games
☆☆☆☆☆
★★★★★
$14.99
MODERN TACTICAL RPG, INSPIRED BY THE CLASSICS
A novel, deterministic combat system, with easy to grasp rules and astonishing depth. No random miss chances. No damage ranges. Manipulate the elements to turn the battlefield to your advantage, but beware the consequences, as nature is complex and fickle. Open chasms, raise mountains, boil lakes, drain rivers. Start fires you later regret. VAST OPEN-WORLD EXPLORATION
Unearth ancient ruins, discover strange artefacts, and meet new friends, in a lush, painterly world. Explore the reaches of the archipelago by boat. Take to the skies as a bird to survey the landscape and plan the best route forward. For a generation, the terrible Fog – one vast, voiceless, and cruel spirit – has been eating the once-thick forests of the mainland. Now, with nowhere left to call home, and granted magic by the friendly spirits of the archipelago, one small party of would-be adventurers sets out. Find a way to save the many goblin towns of the rocky coast, discover the truth of the Fog, and, if possible, put an end to it.
“For us, creating these choices, like the big ones that affect the outcome of a quest, or the wellbeing of certain characters or communities are just as important as the smaller choices that you make in navigating a dialogue and, in subtle ways, influencing your relationship with another character,” said Patel. “All of it is really centered around letting the player be the main character in this setting.”
It’s important to note that for all we’ve now seen of Avowed, there’s much, much more to explore throughout the Living Lands. In fact, the specific quest in Shatterscarp we covered “is entirely discoverable, which means it’s also entirely missable.” In terms of scope of the game, Paramo compares with another recent Obsidian title, “it’s open-zone, size comparable to The Outer Worlds areas on the larger side, and [with] multiple paths essentially to tackle combat situations, or avoid them.”
According to Patel, sharp-eyed players will have much more to seek out throughout their time with Avowed: “One of the big delights of being a developer on a game like this is creating so much for players to find, and knowing that not everybody’s going to seek it out, and not everybody’s gonna find it, but knowing that the players who do are really going to enjoy the secrets they discover.”
Avowed launches this fall on Game Pass, Xbox Series X|S, and Windows PC – for more information please visit the Avowed website.
Avowed
Xbox Game Studios
☆☆☆☆☆
★★★★★
Welcome to the Living Lands, a mysterious island filled with adventure and danger.
Set in the fictional world of Eora that was first introduced to players in the Pillars of Eternity franchise, Avowed is a first-person fantasy action RPG from the award-winning team at Obsidian Entertainment. You are the envoy of Aedyr, a distant land, sent to investigate rumors of a spreading plague throughout the Living Lands – an island full of mysteries and secrets, danger and adventure, and choices and consequences, and untamed wilderness. You discover a personal connection to the Living Lands and an ancient secret that threatens to destroy everything. Can you save this unknown frontier and your soul from the forces threatening to tear them asunder? The Weird and Wonderful Living Lands
The Living Lands is a place that feels foreign yet somewhat intrinsic to you as it feels the island itself is calling out to you for help. Explore an island home to many different environments and landscapes, each with their own unique ecosystem. Visceral Combat to Play Your Way
Mix and match swords, spells, guns, and shields to fight your way. Dig into your grimoire for spells to trap, freeze or burn enemies, bash them with your shield, or use range bows to attack from a distance. Companions as part of your journey
Companions from a spread of species will fight alongside you, with their own unique set of abilities. From a former mercenary to an eccentric wizard, they will be part of your journey with your choices shaping them as you help them with their quests.
About ten hours into my Starfield playthrough, I started collecting ‘Earth books’ for fun. I thought it would be a fun personality quirk; my celestial cowboy scuttling across systems looking for long-lost literary links to the past. Forget precious ores and mysterious celestial relics, I wanted art, and Starfield’s cluttered landscapes allowed me to cram my cargo hold full of whatever junk I desired.
For as long as I can remember, I (and many others) have been sprinting around in Bethesda’s vast, open worlds, hoovering up every form of trinket and treasure we can find. Often it’s something useful, like a rare or valuable resource. For the most part, it’s just junk – it’s worthless, you can’t consume it or craft with it, whether it’s books, weird ornaments or far more potatoes than you could ever need.
Why is it all there? How is it made? And perhaps most importantly – why has Bethesda stuck to its guns on filling its RPGs with endless items, and why are we so compelled to collect them?
To answer these burning queries, I sought out the best possible representatives for Bethesda’s art of clutter. John Valenti, Lead Set Dressing Artist and Robert Wisnewski, Lead Props Artist, have worked together to create thousands of assets for Bethesda’s roster of mammoth titles, from The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion right up to Starfield. If anyone can explain how this stuff works, it’s them.
So, where do they start? Wisnewski laughs and says while this question might sound simple, it really isn’t. The short answer is, Bethesda began with a huge list of items that Starfield absolutely needed, but by the end of development, that list was about 20 times bigger than their original estimate. One of the main things that guides this ever-growing list of objects is lore created by the wider team.
“We try and learn about the people that inhabit these cities, settlements, and outposts, including factions,” Valenti explains. “What are they like? How do people live and what items would they need to survive? What types of jobs would people have out in the settled systems? What items would they need to use to complete their tasks?”
The research gets even more granular; the team starts to consider the personalities of the individual NPCs that inhabit a particular space, be it a politician, an outlaw, or a miner. What objects would a worker have on their desk? What tools would a medical professional have? What personal items would they keep? All of these small questions contribute to the larger picture of these environments, that are all deeply personal to the characters that live within them.
With thousands of different little items to contend with, a management system is needed. This is where ‘clutter sets’ come in – groups of objects that are organised in some way, be it individual assets that can be used to form other objects – kind of like game dev Lego – or, for smaller items, bits that are pooled together by a theme. Wisnewski tells us that it’s not viable to make unique clutter for every single space in a game as expansive as Starfield, so objects are created with multiple uses in mind.
Setting The Scene
All of Starfield’s environments are populated by hand. There’s a system that can randomly generate important gameplay loot, such as ammo, healing items, and thematic objects for quest rewards, but anything considered ‘non-essential’ – every mug, every coffee stain, every scuff mark on the floor – is placed with intent, and with a personal touch.
“Set dressing is best when artists are doing the work and making the decisions about what should go where,” Wisnewski says. “We generally feel better when things are done that way. I feel there’s no better source material than what you see in the real world. I look at ceilings and lights. Some of the pipework and cables in the Zenimax building were inspiration for ceilings in Starfield. Stains on buildings. Construction sites. Airports. Recycling centers and landfills are a goldmine for ideas to me.”
Wisnewski adds that he often envisions himself in game locations before populating them, and the pair have even added easter eggs from their real lives to Starfield‘s environments. One example is a set of plushies arranged like the cover of The Ten Apples Up on Top by Dr Seuss, which Wisnewksi highlights as a nod to his children. This arrangement of objects appears randomly inside Starfield’s abandoned research towers.
“We could probably write a book about all of the little easter eggs that appear in our games,” he says.
We give our artists the creative freedom to make believable and lived spaces, and I believe that this is what makes our games so special, and it is why I love working on them.
John Valenti
Valenti adds that it’s his goal to use miscellaneous objects to create a scene that has meaning, but is also open-ended enough for the player to come up with their own conclusion based on their own unique perspective. This is where that earlier research of environments and who occupies them comes in.
“I work with the designer to figure out who is inhabiting the location, run through the quest and get an idea of who they are, and [then] set dress and design that location based off their preferences and personalities,” Valenti explains. “If the location is unoccupied, I create my own characters – who occupies this location? – and flesh out their personality with things like what hobbies they have or what types of food they prefer. My approach to an occupied office or home will differ from an unoccupied one. People separate work from personal life, living differently from office to home. The office may be more minimalist, organized, and clean, while a home may be a bit more dishevelled, densely cluttered and have knickknacks scattered around on display.”
“We give our artists the creative freedom to determine what goes where and let them have fun with it to make believable and lived spaces, and I believe that this is what makes our games so special, and it is why I love working on them.“
Life Off Earth
One particularly prevalent theme in Starfield is the fate of Earth, and the story of its demise is represented in the artifacts that made their way from the now-abandoned planet into the Settled Systems. There are a number of different museums scattered across the galaxy that make a point of archiving a number of ‘key’ Earth objects, in the same way any real-world museum would, from everyday household items to historical milestones.
“The first location that pops into my mind regarding old Earth clutter is the NASA Museum,” Valenti tells me. “It was important for us to preserve and pay homage to early space flight in this museum, so we kept many of the museum model displays intact, so that they were not only recognizable to the player but also helped tell the main quest’s story.”
This location also gave players a chance to pick up interesting, thematic rewards that feed into the story about Earth. Valenti adds: “I felt like these items may not have been important enough for humans to take during the time of evacuation, but are important and interesting enough for the player to see as a collectable and worth taking home, whether that be their ship or outpost, for decoration.”
A second example stems from a Starfield sidequest, which follows the story of a colony ship that has been floating around in space for 200 years. The fate of the ECS Constant and its crew is up to the player, but the clutter found aboard the ship deftly weaves a tapestry of a small group of people suspended in time, and quite literally, space.
“We wanted to have some historic pieces on the ship, objects that we still use and hold dearly to this day – things like baseball trophies and basketballs – as well as some Earth produce that would be used throughout the Settled Systems,” Valenti explains. “It made sense to have some Earth-related clutter on the ship passed down [within families], and it made everything feel a bit more personal. These items are relatable and normal to us, and to the Constant members, but for other characters that live throughout the Settled Systems, these objects may have been ancient artifacts, or even ‘alien’. I find that to be a very interesting spin.”
Both the NASA Museum and the ECS Constant feel like very different locations, telling very different stories – and so much of that feeling comes from the clutter spread around within them. You might not notice it in the moment, but it’s clear that Bethesda Game Studios puts a huge premium on creating a vibe through junk alone.
Architectural Ingress
Starfield‘s environments, both interior and exterior, begin as empty architectural shells, to which level designers and artists add a wide variety of medium and large objects to. This includes everything from machinery, electronics, light fixtures, containers, displays, shelving, rugs, furniture, signs – allobjects that a player can’t directly interact with.
Once those elements are in place, the smaller set dressing objects are used to further define and personalize the locations. This is the ‘clutter’ that the player can interact with; food, medical items, tabletop decorations, tools, sculptures, games and toys, minerals and inorganic objects, ammo boxes, switches – thousands upon thousands of different assets in total according to the pair.
Deciding which items should be immovable and which can be picked up is described by Valenti as a “challenging and interactive process” throughout the course of development. This is down to the sheer number of objects, how they interact with one another, and what feels right as a player. An item’s scale, value and functionality helps the team decide which category it should slot into.
“There is a visual component to these decisions as well.,” Valenti adds. “For example, if a storage box or a barrel is closed with a lid, it can be assumed that it is filled with something and that it is too heavy to move, so we make it a static object. Collectable objects are typically eye-catching items that are small enough to grab and go. If I want to place it in my outpost, I want to be able to loot it!”
Some larger items that don’t quite fit into those categories are marked as movable statics – objects that will, for example, fly across the room if they’re subject to an explosion. Wisnewski adds: “We make those items so environments seem more lively when gameplay physics occur: explosions, projectiles, powers, and NPCs/players bumping into them.”
Traditionally, Bethesda strives to give players the opportunity to loot as many things as possible from extremely interactive environments, and Wisnewski adds that the decision comes out of a very simple conclusion – players like to do it.
“Many people, myself included, love collecting objects in games, and lots of players love to use lootable items as decorations in their ships and outposts, or just for fun.” Wisnewski says. “For me, I do everything possible to find ways to exploit our systems during our testing phases in order to keep obscene amounts of items. Allowing our players the freedom to do absurd things with [physics-enabled] objects to make themselves and others laugh is really important to us.”
Allowing our players the freedom to do absurd things with [physics-enabled] objects to make themselves and others laugh is really important to us.
Robert Wisnewski
“And oh boy, do our players really like pushing that limit! Our programmers work miracles in optimizing code so that players can largely do as they please. Jamie Mallory’s sandwich collecting is a perfect example of this.”
Perfectly Balanced
All of this work is a delicate balancing act in a number of ways. While Bethesda enjoys giving players freedom to collect practically any junk they want, there shouldn’t be so many shiny trinkets on offer that players feel overwhelmed.
“Too many items can make inventory management difficult, and that’s something we had to consider as well” Wisnewski says. “Densely cluttered environments vs ‘too much stuff’ to carry is a constant balancing act during development.”
Clutter Consistency
It’s rare for modern games to include such a gargantuan number of non-essential items, but for Bethesda, it’s a core part of the flavor of RPG they are known and lauded for.
“Having interesting settings where the player can find lots of items – and come up with stories as to why the objects are there and who lived in those spaces – is as important to us as having gameplay reasons for having those objects,” Wisnewski says. “Game mechanics aren’t always the primary reason as to why we do things like this… sometimes it’s just because it makes the game more fun.”
Valenti says that Bethesda has stuck with this formula because it makes their worlds feel more believable, and adds: “We want to empower players to play however they want and make the game their own, and having interactive objects allows for some magical things to happen.”
That’s a sentiment that many players share. In the rolling peaks of The Elder Scrolls, the quirky wastelands of Fallout, and now, the awe-inspiring retro-futurism of Starfield – that intricately placed clutter is what makes the environments we spend hundreds of hours wandering through so special. Every hand-crafted bedroom, office, abandoned outpost, is a microcosm of Starfield‘s incredible universe, full of characters, history and hope. It’s also a symbol of player agency; the freedom to horde cheese wheels, or sandwiches, or in my case, 37 copies of War of the Worlds. It’s your story.
I couldn’t leave the conversation without finding out what these two masters of clutter favored above all else. Valenti’s answer is prompt and sweet: My Friend Wilby, a series of collectible crochet creatures. For Wisnewski, it’s the paper airplane, which he describes as a “small easter egg” relating to the Frontier. He adds: “Someone will eventually figure it out.”
Hi buddies! Welcome to Born of Bread, a home-cooked turn-based role-playing adventure full of fun characters and charming stories for children and adults alike. Beings from another age are causing havoc across the land and their mischief comes as a great threat for everyone. The unlikeliest hero, Loaf, a golem born of bread who possesses a never-ending childlike wonder, finds himself and his newfound friends in the middle of a drama that’s thousands of years in the making. Adventure awaits!
Today we’d like to give folks a gander at Born of Bread’s unique take on turn-based combat. You play as the doughy golem Loaf, a being made of flour by the culinary crackerjack Papa Baker. Just as bread is tasty on its own but requires other ingredients to make a sandwich, Loaf needs companions to really get cooking. It’s up to you to build up a party of allies in Loaf’s quest to stop the unruly invaders wreaking havoc about town.
His friends include Lint the racoon, a neurotic aspiring writer with a penchant for digging and the ability to attack with his tail and manuscripts; Yagi, a talented goat martial artist who can materialize ethereal platforms by mediating, and land flaming strikes on enemies; and Chloe, a young aspiring detective with a lantern that can burn obstacles, and who can use her deduction skills to inflict status ailments.
Battles are largely tactical, though you’ll need precise timing to really get the most out of your attacks. For basic moves, like walloping a foe with a ladle or tail, you’ll need to hit a button the moment a needle crosses the green part of a meter to deal extra damage. More powerful blows, like using the dreaded Druidic Sickle, require you to rock the joystick as quickly as possible to fill up a meter for maximum damage. These cost Will Points, however, so use them wisely. For rare emergencies you can deploy Special Attacks using rare Resolve Points. For example, Loaf’s Roast special will prevent him from taking any damage at all. Simply hold A to heat up – but be careful not to overheat. Nobody likes burnt toast after all!
Just as important as a good offense is a strong defense, and you can mitigate damage by pressing A the moment an enemy makes contact with you. Quick reflexes are also crucial to kicking off combat encounters, as a good smack to an enemy during the game’s exploration phase will ensure that you get to take the first turn in battle.
As important as timing is, it will take wits as well as reflexes to come out victorious. Every enemy has its own strengths and weaknesses. In the early parts of a battle you’ll want to use your Type Sight boon to display enemy weaknesses and resistances. Husky Hornets are weak to normal attack types, like your ladle or a pickaxe, while Spidusts will be weak to leaf attack types, like Lint’s tail ability, but they resist slashing attacks like Loaf’s druidic sickle. You’ll have to manage your maneuvers carefully to efficiently obliterate your opponents before they crush you into crumbs!
Of course you’ll want to prepare for a rumble even during peaceful times, so make sure you’re managing your Hit Points, Will Points, and Resolve Points during your breaks between fisticuffs. Feed your party with apples, chocolate cakes or croissants (don’t think too hard about the fact that Loaf is eating baked pastries) to replenish your points, and defeat foes to level up for permanent upgrades.
That should be enough to get you started on your journey. You won’t have to wait long to see what further adventures Loaf and his buddies have in store, as Born of Bread emerges from the oven onto Xbox platforms on December 5. Bon appetit!
Treachery in Beatdown City Ultra Remix is a Dark Comedy Brawling Action Tactics game. Think Double Dragon meets Fallout VATS meets Key and Peele, which might seem funky, but when you play it, you’ll understand!
Our fights are more personal, driven by a deep fighting system against enemies that are a bit different than typical brawler fair. Growing up in 80s/90s New York, we saw first-hand the city that many beat ‘em ups (and action movies) got their inspiration from. And as fans of those games and movies, we designed our enemies to be somewhere in between. So, you get to get into angry conversations, and then fight enemies ranging from terrible tourists, abusive cops, washed up wrestlers, entitled influencers, affluent punks, shouting hipsters, ninja terrorists and more all while freezing time, building large custom combos, and unleashing them on your enemies!
Spreading out across several levels, you’ll travel to spots like the way too hip SoNo district, the windy streets of Chinatown, City Hall in lock down, the grimy subways, TV station offices, rooftops, and so much more on your way to getting to the bottom of the treachery in Beatdown City. All the while nodding your head to the timeless tunes by Inverse Phase, our favorite chiptune artist (whose tracks were the basis for our rap beats).
Setting the stage is an 80s/90s trope-heavy story where the president, Blake Orama, is kidnapped by Ninja Dragon Terrorists. The billionaire Mike Moneybags decides to put his security firm in charge of the investigation and shuts down the police, which is suspicious to everyone. This is where the players come in – Lisa Santiago, a fierce Boxer and MMA fighter, Bruce, a playful practitioner of jeet kune do and capoeira, and Brad Steele, a quick to temper former professional wrestler, come in.
Your group of heroes is on the case, but for some reason instead of fighting ninja terrorists, the group has to get into increasingly more ridiculous fights with an ever-growing bunch of habitual line steppers on the streets who start fights for the stupidest reasons.
Inspired by the comedy of “Key and Peele” and “Chappelle’s Show”, with a nod to the ridiculousness of action games and movies of the 80s and 90s, Treachery in Beatdown City Ultra Remix takes you on a ride through a dense city packed with even denser people.
Treachery in Beatdown City Ultra Remix is an innovative Dark Comedy Brawling Action Tactics game. FIGHT THE POWER The US president Blake Orama has been kidnapped by Ninja Dragon Terrorists! Three unique heroes, Lisa Santiago, Bruce Maxwell and Brad Steele, must use their distinct fighting styles and combat skills to fight everyone under the sun in order to rescue him. Use Lisa’s icey boxing style to throw punches and strike fear into your enemies with her MMA skills; throw your opponents like ragdolls with Brad’s professional wrestling moves, or let your Glow shine with Bruce’s deadly Jeet Kune Do martial arts and capoeira style. BRING THE PAIN Select from a huge variety of attacks designed to lay your enemies out flat. Mix them up with completely unique custom combos filled with grapples and finishers, and inflict an array of status ailments to finish them off. Corrupt cops, entitled joggers, affluent punks, preppy jocks, angry socialites, bikers, ninjas, terrorists, ninja terrorists (?) and over 100 more distinct class based enemies will learn what it’s like to be on the corner of Mess Around Ave. and Find Out Blvd. MEAN STREETS Explore the streets of Beatdown City. Tread through murky underground subways, the overbearing indulgence of Times Square, the winding streets of Chinatown, all the way to the top of the pristine Moneybags News Network building. KICK OUT THE JAMS Take back the power while listening to new and original tracks by Inverse Phase, creator of albums such as Pretty Eight Machine and The Chipping Of Isaac.
High-octane action RPG features multiple playable characters, stunning anime-style visuals and fast-paced combat
Designed for fans of the anime and new players alike
Producer Takumi Kasai shares more about bringing this anime adaption to life
Launches on Xbox Series X|S September 28
Get ready for one of the most exciting and stylish action RPGs of the year: Infinity Strash: Dragon Quest Adventure of Dai arrives on Xbox Series X|S and PC next week!
This new game presents a fresh take on the legendary Dragon Quest series, with exciting action-based gameplay and anime-infused visuals that capture the kinetic style of the beloved manga and TV series it’s based on. Take a look at the trailer and you’ll see what we mean.
Ahead of the game’s launch, we thought we’d tell you a little about the game to give you a preview of what to expect and share some information direct from the game’s Producer Takumi Kasai!
But first, we should probably address a question some of you have.
What is Dragon Quest The Adventure of Dai?
Many of you may already be familiar with Dai and his friends from the acclaimed anime TV series and long-running manga. However, for some of you, this may be your first introduction to Dragon Quest The Adventure of Dai. I have to imagine many have never had the pleasure.
The good news is that no prior knowledge is needed to enjoy the game. It follows the story of the anime series, so you’ll be introduced to the world and its characters naturally over the course of the adventure. You’ll learn to love Dai, Popp, Maam and the gang just as fans did through the series.
That said, we’re sure many of you are curious about the franchise, so allow us to provide a brief introduction.
In 1989, writer Riku Sanjo and illustrator Koji Inada launched a new manga in Japan: Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai. Inspired by the popular videogame series, it told the ongoing tale of a young man – the titular Dai – who dreams of growing up to become a hero.
The story ran until 1996 over 37 volumes, and among the best-selling and most highly regarded manga series of all time. It also inspired the acclaimed anime series of the same name in the 1990s, and a remake which started in 2020.
Infinity Strash: Dragon Quest The Adventure of Dai adapts the first 41 episodes of this new series for the game, charting his rise from humble beginnings to a true hero.
Ask the Producer: Why make Dragon Quest The Adventure of Dai into a game?
Takumi Kasai: The project was originally started to go along with the start of the new animated series.
While a new anime series for ‘The Adventure of Dai’ was to be adapted, this story had never been made into a console game before. Since it bears the name Dragon Quest, Square Enix felt that a game adaptation was in order, so we initiated the game project at the same time as the anime.
We’re very pleased to have been able to adapt this fascinating work into a game and present it to the world!
So, what do you do in the game?
Your first port of call will be Story Mode. As the name implies, this is where you’ll experience the narrative, an adventure that takes you through multiple, varied stages. You’ll explore areas full of classic Dragon Quest monsters, take bosses on in epic one-on-one battles and more.
Every playable character has their own playstyle, able to deal out unique combos and special skills. Some like Dai, for example, are all about getting in close and taking enemies apart with powerful sword techniques.
Others, like Popp, specialize in magic, and are able to take on enemies at a distance with flashy ice and fire attacks. Meanwhile Maam can provide both melee and long distance attacks as well as healing support.
The variety of characters and abilities means there’s an incredible depth to combat, especially when you factor in more advanced skills like parries and perfect dodges. It looks great too, with incredible effects and animations that directly reference the anime. It all makes for combat that feel incredibly exciting to engage in.
As you play, you’ll also collect accessories known as Bond Memories. Not only do these augment the stats of the character you equip them to, they also unlock scenes from the original manga for you to enjoy!
The Temple of Recollection
If you want to take a break from the story, experiment with different characters or just make your heroes stronger, you should head to the Temple of Recollection.
This ever-evolving, repeatable dungeon changes every time you play it. As you take on each dangerous floor, you’ll earn valuable rewards, including some enticingly powerful Bond Memories that can make your heroes even tougher.
The deeper you delve into the dungeon, the more dangerous it becomes… but the greater the rewards become too. Of course, you can only keep your prizes if you exit the dungeon, which you can do every five floors. You’ll have to decide whether to leave when given the chance, or gamble it all on what may lie ahead.
It’s classic risk/reward, and it makes for one heck of a compelling loop!
Ask the Producer: How did you approach production of this new game?
Takumi Kasai: Since there was an existing anime and manga for Dragon Quest The Adventure of Dai, I felt that the most important thing was to create a game that has the utmost respect for the source material.
To that end, I was not only responsible for supervising the production, but also thinking about what would really make the fans happy. I thought it was very important to create a game that would please those existing fans.
But we also wanted to attract new fans too. We have prepared plenty of exhilarating action and challenging dungeons, so we hope that people who are not familiar with the anime will play this game and get to know the world of ‘The Adventure of Dai’!
Ask the Producer: How does the game differ to the anime and manga series?
Takumi Kasai: Since the original Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai has a very well-thought-out narrative, it wasn’t very challenging to make the game story follow the original narrative.
However, because the story is so seamless, there were parts of the game where the storytelling became overly long. So, with the approval of the original author, we altered the story in these parts to keep a good pacing for the game.
We also adjusted the way we present the story to make the experience unique to the game – such as using voice dialogue during battle to progress the narrative and incorporating a storyline before we switch to the battle phase.
It was challenging, but we’re hopeful that this part of the game will be accepted by fans. If you’re new to the series and want to know more about the world of Dragon Quest The Adventure of Dai, we hope it inspires you to see the new anime!
Infinity Strash: Dragon Quest The Adventure of Dai preorder bonuses
Infinity Strash: Dragon Quest The Adventure of Dai releases September 28 for Xbox Series X|S and PC via Windows Store. There’s still time to preorder and claim some awesome early purchase bonuses for all editions:
Dai’s special outfit “Legendary Hero”
The Bond Memory “The Hero’s Tutor”.
In addition to the Standard Edition of the game, there’s also a Digital Deluxe Edition, which contains the following bonus items:
Legendary Mage – Popp Outfit
Legendary Priest – Maam Outfit (Warrior Priest)
Legendary Martial Artist – Maam Outfit (Martial Artist)
We can’t wait for you to experience all the intense action that Infinity Strash: Dragon Quest The Adventure of Dai has to offer. To find out more head over to the official website and follow us on social media:
Hello everyone – this is Koichiro Sakamoto, Producer of Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition. I’m excited to announce that our new remastered version of this classic RPG is out tomorrow on PlayStation 4!
In addition to the original adventure, the new release includes some additional features, including the never-before released in the West: Radical Dreamers – Le Trésor Interdit.
Working on this remaster has been a real labor of love for both me and the team, but you may be wondering, “how exactly do you remaster a game as beloved as Chrono Cross?” To celebrate the game’s release, I thought it would be interesting to give you some insight into how it all came together.
Mastering the remaster
Some gamers might expect that creating a remastered version is simply a case of taking a game from one system and moving it onto another – but it’s far more difficult than that! I’ve worked on a number of remaster projects, and they’re often very challenging.
For example, original PlayStation games – especially late-era games like Chrono Cross – really pushed what the hardware was capable of. Developers used their technical knowledge and skills to overcome barriers that hardware presented them with, which makes it difficult to break that code down and analyze what it’s actually doing.
It is at least typically easier to port original PlayStation games than PlayStation 2 titles (the chip inside the PS2 is really unique, and difficult to emulate well), but we faced an additional challenge when it came to Chrono Cross, as the game program and graphical data weren’t preserved in a complete form.
That meant across the start of development, it was impossible to recreate the original version of the game across multiple platforms. We had to pore through the data that had been preserved and play through the original game ourselves to work out what was missing and restore it.
That required an enormous amount of effort from all the companies involved in development.
Still, there were some upsides to it too, of course, including the fact that Chrono Cross has always been a great game – so playing though it again was actually quite a lot of fun.
Scars of time
Another big technical challenge that we faced on Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition came from the static backgrounds used in the game.
To offer up a little history lesson: when the original PlayStation first came out, it was exciting for a lot of developers. Many of us imagined that they could now use polygons to create more realistic worlds – but we soon discovered there were a lot of obstacles to overcome.
Not only were there the limitations of the hardware itself, there were also serious issues when it came to loading times. As a result, there often had to be a balance between 2D and 3D elements.
Take a game like Final Fantasy VII, for example, which has 2D backgrounds. I think that if you tried to create them in 3D, and then have characters in 3D and a movable camera, it simply wouldn’t be possible with the original PlayStation hardware.
At the same time, just having an old-fashioned 2D background wouldn’t feel like much of an evolution from the previous generation of consoles.
As a result, what we did back then was to create a 3D image, and then take a still capture of it. By using a still image for the background and moving the polygon characters around, we were able to depict depth and make it feel like a 3D space. It was a compromise between the realism that people wanted, and what we could realistically achieve with the hardware.
This is an approach the developers of Chrono Cross also took, but unfortunately, like many games of that era, the original 3D data before the prerender is no longer available – and that’s a problem.
Static shock
What we had to do when working on this Chrono Cross remaster was to take each existing pre-rendered image to as high a resolution as possible. We then upscaled that and manually built on some of them at an even higher resolution.
It’s a very difficult task. We used AI to help to sharpen the images, but that’s not perfect – everything still comes down to having manual processes or the “human touch” to make sure it all looked appropriate.
The backgrounds you see in the final release is the result of a lot of effort from the team – something I’m very grateful to them for.
Boosting battles
While remastering Chrono Cross is a big job, it’s also been an extremely exciting one – particularly in the potential to add additional features.
For previous remasters I’ve worked on, such as Final Fantasy VIII Remastered, we implemented features like invincibility, speeding up time, and the ability to turn off random encounters. These have been popular with players – particularly those who don’t want to spend as much time playing games, and those who want to play through the games again once they’ve completed them.
In a similar spirit, we’ve added some amazing new battle enhancement features that make the game even more convenient to play. You can now auto-battle, turn off enemy encounters, change the game speed right from the beginning – and there’s even a Battle Boost option that makes battles easier.
The last one was an interesting one to develop because it raised a lot of questions about the balancing of the game, and whether these new features made it too easy.
The Battle Boost does make the game easier – that’s the point after all – but we wanted to ensure it didn’t also make it feel uninvolving. In previous remasters, we’ve included an invincible mode, but for Chrono Cross we have instead implemented a system where the enemy’s attack has a high chance of missing.
That way, combat is made easier, but still requires involvement from players.
Radical dreams
Speaking of new features, I’m also thrilled that we were able to include Radical Dreamers – Le Trésor Interdit.
This text adventure is something that many players never got to experience, as it was released exclusively for the Satellaview in Japan. However, one of the scenarios included in the adventure connects to Chrono Cross (and Chrono Trigger), so it’s something that fans will definitely want to play. I’m very proud of the fact that now they can.
I hope you enjoyed reading that insight into the development of Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition.
From me and everyone on the team, thank you so much for your support and interest in the game – I hope you have a great time playing it. Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition launches tomorrow on PS4.
Vive Studios and Square Enix’s Popular Card Battle RPG is Now Available in Four English Speaking Territories
Today, Vive Studios and Square Enix have launched the English version of Million Arthur VR: Character Command RPG for HTC Vive. Made available in Japan and China earlier this year, now Vive owners in the US, UK, Canada and Australia can begin the quest to become the one true King Arthur in this flashy card battle game.
In this single-player experience, four heroes – a mercenary, a thief, a merchant, and a diva – have all drawn King Arthur’s Excalibur from the stone (among a million others) and are vying to rule Camelot. However, an outside invading force soon derails their plans of sitting on the throne as the four heroes must face these threatening and otherworldly adversaries.
With ten chapters to complete, Million Arthur VR offers players hours of gameplay in their quest to defend Britain. Optimized for HTC Vive, Million Arthur VR can be played seated or standing and takes advantage of Vive’s room-scale technology throughout the game.
Million Arthur VR: Character Command RPG is now available in English on Steam for $39.99.
Nun ist es endlich soweit – die Invasion beginnt am 26. April 2016 exklusiv auf PlayStation 4!
Um die Vorfreude noch weiter zu vergrößern und den Durst nach buntem Alienblut weiter zu steigern, ist ab sofort ein nagelneuer Gameplay-Trailer zu Alienation auf dem deutschsprachigen Blog sowie dem offiziellen deutschen YouTube-Kanal zu sehen.
Turn-based RPG Acaratus Brings a Novel Take on Tactical Genre With Randomized Maps, Highly Customizable Battle Suits and Collectible Cards
“Winning the Game Concept Challenge to make Acaratus a reality means so much to us as a team”, said Martin Kupski, Creative Director at Nodbrim Interactive. “We’ll continue to listen to what our steadily growing community wants in order to give them the truly unique strategy experience they deserve”.
Acaratus challenges players with multiple layers of strategy, urging them to plan a few steps ahead. Players have to construct their own mecha units from highly customizable modular attachments and decide between ranged, melee, boosters and defensive parts. Weapons range from war hammers to longer ranged projectile-based weapons, such as cannons. Ability card decks are also used by players as attack, defence or skill boosts to support their unique play styles and help them succeed in deep tactical turn-based gameplay. Combat takes place in a beautiful medieval steampunk setting with randomised maps, and players can also fight each other in the battle arenas.
Early Access will support both single and multiplayer modes. While single player mode will be limited only to skirmish, tutorial and a campaign teaser during Early Access, the full game launch will include an extensive campaign mode with a rich story and many more features that will be announced closer to the release date.
Acaratus is now available through Steam Early Access, priced at $24.99/£17.99/€20.99. Stay tuned for future updates at the Nodbrim Interactive dev blog: http://nodbrim.tumblr.com
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