Author: Game Infliction

A brand-new vocation is coming to Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake

If you’re an RPG fan, you probably need no introduction to Dragon Quest III. This RPG is one of those rare, precious games that captured the imagination of players, critics, and creators alike, and changed the genre. If you’ve ever played a Japanese RPG, it likely owes a debt to Dragon Quest III.

So, it’s pretty exciting that this legendary game is making a return as Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake. The new game reimagines this classic adventure from the ground up, bringing its world and characters to life in the vibrant HD-2D visual style made famous by games like Octopath Traveler I and II and Live A Live.

But Dragon Quest III HD-2D remake doesn’t just look to recreate the past – it builds on it. The game includes new features that make the game feel fresh, modern, and deeper.

We’re excited to reveal just a few of these new additions.

New party customization

In Dragon Quest III HD-2D, you play as a young hero sent on a quest to do what your father could not: defeat the Archfiend Baramos. It’s not an easy task, but fortunately, you can get some backup to help you out.

You can form a team of up to four characters, including your hero, near the start of the game by visiting Patty’s Party Planning Place. In the original game, you could simply choose their vocation, which determines their role and skills in battle. Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake, however, gives you a lot more options.

For example, you can now change up how they look…

… with fourteen different hair colors to choose from.

You’ll also get to select what kind of voice they have – their appearance won’t limit the voice types you can give them.

Combined with the many different personalities, which affect characters’ strengths and weaknesses, it lets you create a party that’s easier to become attached to – after all, they’re distinctly yours.

Friends forever

What if you create your perfect party member? Once your adventure is done, is that bold recruit lost forever?

Not in Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake! The new game lets you register a volunteer so you can use them in another playthrough on the same account. They’ll even keep the attributes, level, and equipment they had when you registered them!

Meet the Monster Wrangler

Everyone in the party, your protagonist included, has a vocation. This determines what spells and abilities they’re capable of learning, how their stats will increase and the equipment they can use.

There are multiple vocations in the game, including classics like Warrior and Mage, but this remake adds a brand-new addition: Monster Wrangler!

Dragon Quest III features some of the most charming and iconic adversaries in gaming – even those new to the series will likely recognize the humble Slime, for example. Monster Wranglers know more than most about the world’s monsters and will help you befriend any creatures you find who looks lonesome.

They can also do battle with an array of monstrous abilities, from awesome attacks that hit multiple enemies at once, to helpful heals that can bring your party back from the brink.

Master the Monster Arenas

 As you play through the adventure, you may encounter monsters of a kinder disposition to those you take on in battle. They’re hidden all over the world – in towns, dungeons, and even secret areas on the world map.

If you scout these monsters, you can use them in another new addition to this remake: Monster Arenas.

You can use a team of three monsters in various arenas around the world, pitting their battle skills against those of other trainers. You can’t control monsters directly, but you can set their tactics to influence how they act. Each tournament has its own rank, so you’ll need a good team and a good strategy to overcome the tougher challenges.

It’s well worth it, as you’ll be richly rewarded with gold and other prizes!

That’s just a few of the new features coming in Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake. Of course, there’s plenty more to discover, including new voiceovers, illustrations and more. And, of course, that HD-2D visual style makes it all look positively gorgeous.

Dragon Quest III HD-2D launches for PS5 on November 14, 2024. Preorder now to enjoy the following in-game bonus items:

  • Equipment: Elevating Shoes – gain XP with each step!
  • Consumable: Seed of Strength x3 – permanently raises strength attribute
  • Consumable: Seed of Defence x3 – permanently raises defence attribute
  • Consumable: Seed of Agility x3 – permanently raises Agility attribute
  • Consumable: Seed of Life x3 – permanently raises HP
  • Consumable: Seed of Magic x3 – permanently raises MP

Mario & Luigi: Brothership Trailer Welcomes You To Concordia

Greetings!

Wowie zowie! Wrong Mario game, we know, but there’s been quite a deluge of Mario & Luigi: Brothership details over the last 24 hours. After last night’s new screenshots, Nintendo has dropped a brief but delightful new trailer for the upcoming RPG.

Titled ‘Greetings from Concordia’ — a slightly unfortunate name (and timing) given some extremely fresh Playstation game news — the new trailer gives us a look at the brand new world, that Mario and Luigi will be exploring.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

Walmart Still Has the Best Nintendo Switch Lite Deal (It’s Hard to Beat)

The best Switch Lite deal is back. Walmart is offering the Nintendo Switch Lite (Timmy’s and Tommy’s Aloha Edition) console for only $159. This is an outstanding deal because this particular bundle also includes a digital copy of Animal Crossing: New Horizons. A standard Nintendo Switch Lite console with no game still costs $199.

Nintendo Switch Lite with Animal Crossing for $159

The Switch Lite retails for $100 less than the original Switch and $150 less than the Switch OLED. It is compatible with most Nintendo Switch games and it runs off the same hardware, so performance is identical. The three main tradeoffs of the Switch Lite is that (1) the controllers are not detachable, (2) the console can’t be docked and played on a TV and (3) the display is smaller (5.5″ vs 6.2″ on Switch and 7″ on Switch OLED).

If you were intending to use the Switch solely as a handheld console, you might be better off just getting the Switch Lite. Even though the controls aren’t detachable, the Switch Lite does support wireless Bluetooth, so you can always purchase another pair of Joy-Cons, a Switch Pro controller, or a compatible third party wireless Switch controller, and you can still play untethered.

If you enjoy cozy games like Stardew Valley, Harvest Moon, or Minecraft, you’ll probably love Animal Crossing. It’s obvious that Nintendo put in a lot of love into this first party title and it’s certainly one of the best – and most relaxing – games for the Nintendo Switch. This is an excellent pick for gamers of all ages, even children. Check out our glowing IGN review for more details.

Other Nintendo Switch related sales and news that might interest you:

Feature: Blasphemous Devs Talk Switching From Metroidvania To RTS Stealth In ‘The Stone Of Madness’

“Failing is part of what makes this game fun”.

The Game Kitchen has been cookin’ good. With Blasphemous and Blasphemous 2, the Spanish developer quickly gained a stellar reputation thanks to some of the best Metroidvanias to emerge in recent years. Their prickly difficulty, moody gothic vibes, and disconcerting take on Andalucian Catholic folklore didn’t stop us from adoring both of The Penitent One’s challenging misadventures in Cvstodia.

With recently announced RTS stealth title The Stone of Madness, we’re set for a surprising change of pace if our recent Gamescom preview is anything to go by. Blasphemous’ high-stakes 2D combat is replaced by methodical exploration of a hand-painted monastery asylum that affords as much experimentation as its watchful guards will allow over the days, or even weeks, leading up to your freedom.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

An important update on Concord

Concord fans — we’ve been listening closely to your feedback since the launch of Concord on PlayStation 5 and PC and want to thank everyone who has joined the journey aboard the Northstar. Your support and the passionate community that has grown around the game has meant the world to us.

However, while many qualities of the experience resonated with players, we also recognize that other aspects of the game and our initial launch didn’t land the way we’d intended. Therefore, at this time, we have decided to take the game offline beginning September 6, 2024, and explore options, including those that will better reach our players.

While we determine the best path ahead, Concord sales will cease immediately and we will begin to offer a full refund for all gamers who have purchased the game for PS5 or PC. If you purchased the game for PlayStation 5 from the PlayStation Store or PlayStation Direct, a refund will be issued back to your original payment method.

Customers who purchased from other digital storefronts will also be refunded. More information about refunds from Steam and Epic can be found below:

Steam Store – Steam Store will refund players who bought the game over the coming days. Steam will send confirmation of the refund once it has been processed.

Epic Games Store – Epic Games Store will refund players who bought the game over the coming days and will contact each customer directly to confirm that the refund has been processed.

Other retailer refunds – For customers who have purchased a physical copy at a retailer location outside of PlayStation directly, please refer to the refund process of the retailer you purchased it from to obtain your refund.   

Once refunded, players will no longer have access to the game. 

We’ll keep you updated and thank you again to all the Freegunners who have joined us in the Concord galaxy.

* Refunds for PlayStation Store and PlayStation Direct purchases may take 30-60 days to appear on your bank statement. If your original payment source was unavailable, the purchase amount will be refunded to your PSN wallet.

Concord Is Suddenly Getting Pulled Offline With Sony Promising Full Refunds

PlayStation hero shooter Concord will be taken offline on September 6, 2024 and all players will receive a full refund, Sony announced today.

Announced on the PlayStation Blog, director Ryan Ellis said “while many qualities of the experience resonated with players, we also recognize that other aspects of the game and our initial launch didn’t land the way we’d intended.”

Concord will therefore be taken offline so Sony and developer Firewalk Studios can “explore options, including those that will better reach our players.”

The game will be removed from sale immediately and anyone who purchased on the PlayStation Store or PlayStation Direct will be refunded to their original payment methods. Those who purchased on Steam and the Epic Games Store will be refunded in the coming days.

Physical refunds are a tad trickier but players can check with individual retailers to obtain a refund. Sony will presumably organise a system with them itself that allows all refunds to be processed fully. “Once refunded, players will no longer have access to the game,” Sony made clear.

Concord arrived August 23, 2024, meaning it has been removed from sale just 11 days after launch and taken offline for all players a mere two weeks after. Even those who bought Concord will no longer be able to play after September 6.

Its launch was nothing short of disastrous, with analysts telling IGN it has likely sold as few as 25,000 units. It debuted to a tragic 697 peak concurrent players on Steam, a number that made the 12,786 players of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice Leage, which was dubbed a disappointment by Warner Bros. Discovery boss David Zaslav and caused a $200 million hit to revenue, look like a titan.

This comes after eight years of development and presumably tens of millions, if not hundreds of millions, of dollars spent by Sony, a company already shifting gears away from a live service heavy future. Sony president Hiroki Totoki committed to launching just six of 12 live service games in development, and one based on The Last of Us has already been cancelled.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.

Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics Coming to Xbox After All

Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics is coming to Xbox after all despite controversially being announced for PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, and PC with no Microsoft console in sight.

The Marvel vs. Capcom X/Twitter account confirmed the game would be coming to Xbox One and will therefore be backwards compatible via the Xbox Series consoles. It was similarly announced for PlayStation 4 and not PlayStation 5.

Xbox fans will have to wait longer, however, as while other platforms are getting the collection — which brings seven fan favorite fighting games together on modern consoles — on September 12, 2024, the Xbox version has the vague release window of 2025.

“We’re excited to announce that after technical discussions with our partners at Microsoft, we can confirm that Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics will release on Xbox One,” the post said. “The Xbox One version will be out in 2025, so please stay tuned for more information.”

Xbox fans originally said it not releasing on the platform was a “gut punch” and the phrase “No Xbox” was even trending online. It’s unclear exactly what technical issues were stopping the fighting game collection from coming to Xbox, though it wouldn’t be the only game to skip Microsoft’s platform.

Another neat fighting game package, the Capcom Fighting Collection 2, was also announced in August 2024 for all platforms besides Xbox, but there’s no word on a change here just yet.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.

Star Trucker review: sci-fi escapism and oil-stained mundanity make for a muscular, purposeful driving sim

Keeping your eyes on the road isn’t easy when the horizon hosts crackling azure nebula; when the voluminous nightglow from the planet below makes even the gargantuan industrial indicators look like so many tiny, twinkling cat eyes. I, a terrestrial chump, cannot help be taken in by it all. But I get the sense all this spacey wonder is just so much unremarkable grease pooling at the rim of a diner plate for my Star Trucker. He’s seen a couple things, that’s for sure. Taken the long way round the spiral arm to slip past security checkpoints and offload cases of booze for off-the-record cash. Seen reduced-to-clear Ginster’s wrappers glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. Hummed that Freebird solo a thousand times while waiting for the traffic to thin out near the shoulder of Orion.

Read more

Random: Sakurai Used To Invite Devs’ Children To Play Test Upcoming Games

“you’ll always get their honest reactions”.

Here’s your wholesome story of the day, folks. According to Masahiro Sakurai’s latest YouTube video, the creator used to invite fellow developers’ children to the office to play test upcoming games.

Describing children as “the purest of the pure”, Sakurai states that allowing them to play a game that’s still in development would yield honest feedback that can help drive the team forward. Rather than asking the children directly on what they thought of the game, Sakurai would merely observe their bahaviour from a distance, making note of anything they happened to struggle with, along with moments that provided joy.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com