Reality Bytes: Amid Evil VR is an intriguing experiment

Some games adapt to VR more naturally than others. Games that take place primarily in a cockpit, like Elite Dangerous or Euro Truck Simulator 2, need relatively little adjustment to make them enjoyable in VR. They don’t require the player to move around much, and their whole shtick about providing an authentic, immersive experience.

Games that require a lot of fast movement, or require the player to keep track of a lot of different objects, are generally harder to make work through VR Goggles. Hence why Amid Evil VR caught my attention. Shooters are common VR fodder, but they’re typically built as VR experiences from the ground up. Amid Evil, on the other hand, is a flatscreen retro shooter designed to be reactive, surreal, and above all, fast. It’s a game where you zip around arcane dimensions like a magic missile, splattering weird little armoured guys with enchanted swords and a staff that fires planets. It’s a brilliant game, one of the best old-skool shooters to emerge from the genre’s revival. But on paper, it’s about as VR friendly as Morpheus.

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Now Diablo 4 Is Out in the Wild, the True Horror of Its Costly Microtransactions Has Revealed Itself

Diablo 4 launched proper yesterday, June 6, and now all players can see just how pricey its microtransactions are.

Blizzard’s $70 action role-playing game leans heavily on in-game monetisation, with plans for various battle passes post-launch.

Available now, however, is the in-game shop, which has become a bone of contention among fans.

Diablo 4’s shop sells cosmetics only. There are no gameplay-affecting items up for sale. While that is very much a good thing, and in keeping with promises Blizzard made before launch, the pricing of some of these cosmetics has raised eyebrows.

Take the Triune Apostate armour set, for example. It weighs in at 2,500 Platinum. Platinum is Diablo 4’s premium in-game currency, and must itself be bought with real-world money. 2,500 Platinum will set you back £20.99 / $24.99 (2,500 plus 300 Platinum “free”).

The Cryptic Hunter mount costs £6.39. That’s a direct payment with real-world money. No need for Platinum.

And of course there’s horse armour for new mounts. The Three-Fold Nightmare Prestige mount and armour costs 1,500 Platinum, or just shy of £13.

If you want to buy all the cosmetics currently available in the shop, you’re looking at spending hundreds of dollars or pounds. One redditor worked it out, and came up with $357 to get everything in the most cost-effective way possible.

As you’d expect, the Diablo community has pointed out just how expensive these cosmetics are, and the fact armour sets are available for just one class only devalues your purchase somewhat.

But others point out that up to $25 for a bundle that includes a skin and a few minor cosmetics is pretty standard these days. Anyone who’s played Activision’s recent Call of Duty games, for example, will be familiar with this sort of pricing.

Of course, the true test of Diablo 4’s monetisation will come when its battle passes launch and we get a sense of whether Blizzard is paywalling the game’s best-looking armour sets, or if the base game itself includes fancy fits that hold their own.

Generally speaking, Diablo 4 has gone down well and enjoyed a smooth launch. It’s also a smash hit. Blizzard announced Diablo 4 is its fastest-selling game of all time. Two expansions are currently in development.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. Send news tips to wesley_yinpoole@ign.com.

Get your meaty hands on the Tetris Super Meat Boy spinoff on June 22nd

Tetris is grand, but it could do with more chainsaws. Thus (presumably) went the thought process of the developers behind Dr. Fetus’ Mean Meat Machine, a Super Meat Boy spinoff about lining up colourful meaty blobs while dodging buzzsaws and other grizzly hazards. Think Tetris meets match 4 meets Meat Boy slapstick.

A demo came out in April, but publishers Thunderful Games have just announced you’ll get to play the full thing on June 22nd.

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Square Enix Celebrates As Octopath Traveler II Ships 1 Million Units

“Thank you for your continued support”.

It’s incredible to think that Octopath Traveler II came out almost four months ago — how are we this far into the year already? But Square Enix is celebrating its HD-2D sequel today as it’s announced that the game has shipped over 1 million units since its release in February 2023.

Taking to Twitter via the official Octopath PR account, the publisher has shared some brand new art from the game’s lead artist Tatsuaki Urushihara featuring Osvald, Ochette, and Throné.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

Counter-Strike 2 Lets Players Refund Weapons

Counter-Strike 2 now lets players refund their weapons.

Developer Valve confirmed the feature, which Counter-Strike players have long-called for, in the tweet below.

“Bought the wrong thing? Meant to buy a different weapon, armor, or grenade? Sell your purchase back and buy again (during buy time).”

Currently, Counter-Strike does not allow refunds under any circumstances, which means if you buy a gun in error you either have to use it or fork out more cash to buy another.

It’s worth noting Counter-Strike rival Valorant, from Riot, does offer refunds.

The addition of refunds comes as part of a significant update for Counter-Strike 2, which is currently available to play as part of a limited test.

The update also includes a revised loadout system that lets players select 15 weapons from three categories (Valve demonstrated this in another tweet, below). Mirage has replaced Dust II on the test matchmaking servers, too.

Counter-Strike 2 is currently set for release on PC this summer.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. Send news tips to wesley_yinpoole@ign.com.

Winnie-the-Pooh mutates into a meaty abomination in Ring Of Pain studio’s next game

Everyone’s favourite hunny-yellow bear will mutate into a fleshy horror bristling with extra arms and eyeballs and glands in Winnie’s Hole, the next roguelikelike dungeon crawler from Ring Of Pain developers Twice Different. The earliest Winnie-the-Pooh stories are no longer under copyright in the US, see, meaning people can do whatever they want. Including this. Inevitably including this. Come see the horrible Pooh and his hole in the announcement trailer below.

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Wildfrost’s first big update makes life easier for players old and new

Out of all the roguelike deckbuilders that have followed in Slay The Spire‘s footsteps, Wildfrost is my second favourite. The cardplay never quite reaches the dizzy heights of Spire or Monster Train, but it’s far cuter than either of them and still absolutely splendid. Now’s a great time to pick it up, too, because its first big update is primarily aimed at clarifying rules to help new players avoid all the painful deaths I suffered through.

Developers Deadpan Games have released a roadmap, too, revealing a rough plan for what they’re working on next.

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Ding ding: Diablo 4 has its first Level 100 Hardcore player

Former Starcraft and Dota pro “cArn” has won the race to hit level 100 on a Diablo 4 Hardcore character, thus earning him a letter from the king and a nap. This is Diablo’s permadeath mode, where one death is enough to wipe your progress. He dinged his final ding on his Barbarian in the early hours of June 5th, just five days after the game’s early access launch, and he’s now been officially confirmed as the first Hardcore centurion. It’s a feat that sounds as impressive as it does exhausting.

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Sifu’s Free Arenas Expansion Update Expected To Arrive On Switch Soon

Will launch alongside content update 3.

The martial arts-inspired brawler Sifu will be getting will be getting a major update on the Nintendo Switch next week.

It’s the Arenas Expansion, which was previously released on other platforms in March of this year. According to Nintendo Everything, it will launch on 15th June 2023, alongside ‘update 3’ – excluding the Replay Editor.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

Sifu’s Free Arena Expansion Update Expected To Arrive On Switch Soon

Will launch alongside content update 3.

The martial arts-inspired brawler Sifu will be getting will be getting a major update on the Nintendo Switch next week.

It’s the Arenas Expansion, which was previously released on other platforms in March of this year. According to Nintendo Everything, it will launch on 15th June 2023, alongside ‘update 3’ – excluding the Replay Editor.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com