If you’re fond of the fairly specific blend of doomy theology, rich art direction and Soulslike-tinted metroidvaning encapsulated by Blasphemous, you might also enjoy Saviorless from Cuban team Empty Head Games and publisher Dear Villagers, which now has a PC release date of 2nd April.
Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts, and more.
We love a good Switch eShop sale, and Square Enix has a pretty solid one on offer right now for both Europe and North America (and likely in other major regions, too).
There are some really decent games on offer here, including the likes of Tactics Ogre: Reborn, the criminally underrated PARANORMASIGHT: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo, and of course, the original Final Fantasy VII (still the best version – fight me).
Read the full article on nintendolife.com
Helldivers 2 is a game that revolves around co-op across various levels of difficulty, some really hard. The PC and PlayStation 5 shooter is designed to be played with teammates who join forces to complete missions set on planets infested with alien bugs or overrun by terrifying robots. Helldivers 2 is always wonderful fun, but it can also be a brutal experience. That’s where Skull Admiral .atasu comes in.
It began with a reddit post. “I am that level 50 guy,” declared .atasu, using the Mountain-Leader2722 reddit name. Yep, level 50, after more than 200 hours of play just a month after Helldivers 2’s explosive launch. Having unlocked pretty much everything the game has to offer and with Super Credits the only resource of value left to farm, .atasu went in search of a more rewarding experience. He found it shining bright on the galaxy map.
In Helldivers 2, players can use an SOS Beacon Stratagem to call for help, like firing a flare high into the sky except in this case viewable from orbit. Doing so displays your lobby on the galaxy map alongside a ping. “I like answering distress calls,” said .atasu in the reddit post.
Other redditors remembered playing with someone going by the name Skull Admiral .atasu, confirming the story. “I’ve ran with you too, couple of weeks ago when I was a level 32,” said Mucking_Fagical. “You came onto my ship after the game, ‘Blade of the Stars’ probably don’t remember me, but I appreciate you saving my arse on that hellhole of a mission. My first venture into level eight and two guys had left, called down an SOS Beacon and five minutes later you came in like a pissed off Master Chief and made those emotionless bots learn fear. Now I’m a Skull Admiral too and kept with me what I learned from you that very night, pleasure diving with you.”
Speaking to IGN in a follow-up interview, 28-year-old .atasu explained how he now plays Helldivers 2. “If I’m on an SOS run, I start with level 3-4 difficulty,” he said. “If everything till level nine is free of SOS signals, I start my own level 5-7 operation, so anyone in a search for a group could join and after we can go to higher difficulties.” Once out in the field, .atasu helps other players by providing them with high-tier equipment, tips, and completing objectives. Some of Helldivers 2’s best Stratagems are restricted to high-level players (the recently released mech Stratagem is available to buy at level 25). But you can call them in during a mission and let your teammates use them instead.
If .atasu joins a group of three players clearly struggling, he’ll sometimes head towards the main objective, clearing all the places of interest he comes across and saving all the samples he finds. Once the objective is complete, he’ll head to the extraction zone and tell his teammates they’re free to do whatever they’d like with the remaining time. He’ll wait for them.
Helldivers 2 doesn’t do a great job of explaining how it works, perhaps deliberately so on the part of the developers at Arrowhead. So .atasu often finds himself dishing out tips like a live tutorial narrator. He said he’s helped players understand key mechanics not covered in the basic training, pointing out on multiple occasions that resources found by players are shared. He’ll even teach players how to drop things, how to switch weapon mods, and how to complete certain tasks such as the E-710 minigame that activates pumps. .atasu works as a private tutor in real life, so is already used to helping others learn. “It is very rewarding,” he told IGN. “Also, I remember being a cadet and trying to figure out how to kill a Charger [perhaps Helldivers 2’s toughest enemy]. Now if I see someone struggling with something, I try to reach out and help them.”
Most players, .atasu has found, are initially hesitant to use the high-tier gear he offers them after dropping into their game. To break the ice, he’ll sometimes play a game of rock, paper scissors using Helldivers 2’s emote system. During one rescue mission, .atasu decided to make things just a little bit more fun by using the rock, paper, scissors emote to decide which teammate would activate a Hellbomb [big boom objective specific Stratagem].
.atasu said he’s already answered over 100 SOS signals already. Feedback is positive so far, both in and out the game. Like a 500KG bomb, .atasu’s reddit post blew up, with some players getting in touch directly. On the battlefield, .atasu gets the occasional message of thanks. (“Sometimes people say or write in a chat things like ‘thank you’, or ‘HELL YEAH’.”) .atasu has even started streaming his adventures on Twitch, where there’s already plenty of footage of his rescue operations.
But .atasu is keeping his boots firmly on the ground. “I want to clarify, I’m not flawless,” he said. “I usually kill myself with my Scorcher a few times per operation. And the best thing is when someone you came to help aids you and saves you from a Bile Titan that suddenly appears behind you.”
If .atasu’s exploits sound familiar, it’s probably because they rekindle memories of Let Me Solo Her, the hero who became legend for standing outside the doorway to Elden Ring’s most difficult boss, Malenia, and offering to take her down on behalf of players who were struggling to do it themselves. .atasu has a long way to go before achieving the same status as Let Me Solo Her, but word is spreading. From aboard the Song of Redemption, the hero of Helldivers 2 watches for SOS Beacons, ready to save the day. Perhaps one day, he’ll save you.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
Pocketpair have popped up a trailer for Palworld‘s first new raid battle boss, Bellanoir, who is “coming soon” to the monster-catching survival game in a big old Palworld update that will also include some fixes and additional anti-cheating measures. First impressions: it’s an evil Goth girl with a jellyfish where her legs should be.
This being a Palworld story, the (SFW) reactions I’ve read on social media and reddit fall into two categories. Firstly, which Pokemon is this one based on? The consensus seems to be that it’s a moodier version of Gardevoir, though in Pocketpair’s defence, comparisons are also being drawn with Palworld’s own Lyleen Noct. And secondly, what work suitability does this one have? Because there is no Pal so magnificent and terrible that it can’t be beaten up, Palsphered and demoted to chopping wood or tending a furnace.
🚨Attention Pal Tamers🚨A powerful evil Pal has appeared and is laying siege to the Palpagos Islands! Only the most skilled Pal Tamers stand a chance against her…Palworld’s first raid, Bellanoir, is coming soon! pic.twitter.com/jZ4iWVl1Qk
And crossplay, too.
A recent datamine of Riot Games’ popular free-to-play shooter Valorant has supposedly revealed references to Switch.
It’s led to speculation a Nintendo version of the game could be in the works. Some other theories suggest it might just be specific controller support for the game. Additionally, there are crossplay references in there and some other findings include evidence of Linux and Steam Deck versions. This was originally spotted by PC_Focus on social media.
Read the full article on nintendolife.com
“We experienced critical errors with our network infrastructure”.
Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection arrived this week and as you may have seen, the launch has been troubled with all sorts of online issues.
Developer Aspyr has now released an official statement via its forums, explaining how its network infrastructure has experienced “critical errors” and it is currently working to address these issues. You can see the full statement below:
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The previous one was delivered in April 2022.
Although the Switch Online battle royale Tetris 99 is still receiving regular events, it hasn’t actually received a new game update since 2022. That’s all changed this week though with the arrival of Version 2.4.0.
There’s not much to go off, but Nintendo is apparently still making changes to improve the overall gameplay experience. Here are the latest patch notes for Version 2.4.0. Keep in mind you’ll need to update your copy to continue playing online.
Read the full article on nintendolife.com
Final Factory has already impressed via a couple of demos. It’s effectively ‘Factorio in space’: you construct space bases by chaining together machinery, protect by commanding ships and turrets to fight off alien invaders, then explore the galaxy to secure more resources.
It’s now got an Early Access release date: April 9th.
We’ll say this up front for those of you still exploring Final Fantasy VII Rebirth’s vast world: there are no late-game story spoilers here. As seen in its pre-release debut via a new trailer late last year, the action RPG’s theme song “No Promises to Keep” is performed in-game by Aerith. Behind the scenes though, the track was composed by Nobuo Uematsu, the legendary composer behind the iconic soundtracks for much of the Final Fantasy series, including Final Fantasy VII Remake. The song’s vocals were performed by American singer Loren Allred, who brought her spellbinding singing voice to the track, augmenting the beautiful—yet tragic—world of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth and the epic story told within it.
The two musicians sat down for an exclusive interview to delve into the behind-the-scenes stories of the creation of this celebrated ballad, inspired by Aerith.
Nobuo Uematsu
Nobuo Uematsu is a Japanese composer whose prominent career started in 1986 when he joined Square, a Tokyo-based video game studio. During his 18 years of tenure as a composer for Square, he contributed to many game scores, including the Final Fantasy series, Final Fantasy Legend, and Chrono Trigger. In 2004, he left Square to establish his own production companies, SMILE PLEASE and Dog Ear Records, where he continued to work on various game music projects. In 2020, Uematsu composed a theme song for Final Fantasy VII Remake, which won the Japan Gold Disc Award for “Soundtrack Album of the Year.” Besides his renowned game scores, he has entered a new realm of global success by producing and directing orchestra world tours. More recently, he has held Nobuo Uematsu conTIKI SHOW, featuring various style performances by Nobuo Uematsu himself and his band, a live performance by his band, and a live reading of “The Story of Blik-O,” an original work for which he wrote both the story and the music.
Loren Allred
Loren Allred is a singer and songwriter who gained acclaim for her astounding vocal performance of the multi-platinum song “Never Enough” from the Oscar-nominated and Grammy award-winning “The Greatest Showman” soundtrack and film. Although she wasn’t a familiar face to the public, in April 2022, Loren appeared on Britain’s Got Talent, where she performed “Never Enough” and received a Golden Buzzer, sending shockwaves throughout the industry. Loren is widely regarded as one of the industry’s greatest voices and has collaborated with Michael Bublé and toured globally with recording legends Andrea Bocelli and David Foster.
Uematsu knew Allred’s singing voice was “it”
PlayStation Blog: As you composed the theme songs of both Remake and Rebirth, what are your feelings about having to work on Final Fantasy VII scores today?
Uematsu: The original Final Fantasy VII was released 27 years ago. I highly doubt that the music from my 30s will resonate with fans today. So, I feel very grateful to be invited back to work on the game scores. Very fortunate, indeed.
To compose “No Promises to Keep,” what kind of communication did you have with the creative director, Tetsuya Nomura, and the scenario writer, Kazushige Nojima?
Uematsu: I think the three of us unanimously had a predetermined vision to go with a ballad. Since I am typically inclined to write ballads, I was hoping for a ballad as it would allow me to create melodies as my heart desired. And it turned out everyone was on the same page. As we watched a provisional scene of Aerith singing, the three of us agreed a classic ballad would be a perfect fit.
Did Mr. Nomura make any specific requests for the song?
Uematsu: No, not really, since we all agreed on a ballad fairly smoothly. However, he did say that he wanted Loren Allred to sing the theme song.
What was your first impression after hearing Loren’s singing voice?
Uematsu: Although I didn’t know her name at that time, I immediately knew she was “it” when I heard her voice. Then I listened to “Never Enough” from “The Greatest Showman” and thought, “She is great. She’s the one we’re looking for!” But we couldn’t get ahead of ourselves because this was before we even contacted her and knew she’d be on board.
What was the inspiration behind No Promises to Keep?
Uematsu: Since it is a ballad, I wanted to make it absolutely electrifying. I was asked to make the song so that the key phrase would play in repetition, and that’s when Harry Nilsson’s “Without You” came to mind. I took inspiration from it and decided to repeat a key phrase in the chorus.
Loren: “Without You” is one of my favorite songs.
Uematsu: Mine, too. But it turned out that no one repeated the key phrases in the lyrics after all [laughs].
Does that mean you started composing the music without Mr. Nojima’s lyrics?
Uematsu: That’s correct. I first composed the melody and gave it to Mr. Nojima and the team. From there, they came up with the lyrics. When I was writing the song, I wanted to make the song memorable and catchy, the same key phrase being repeated again and again.
Loren: So, even though you (Mr. Uematsu) didn’t write the lyrics, you had already envisioned a structure where the chorus would be repeated to make the song more pop?
Uematsu: Yes. I thought repeating key phrases would make the song catchy.
Loren: Cool! That’s interesting!
Mutual trust: how they overcame challenges during recording
So, Loren, please tell us how you felt when Square Enix contacted you.
Loren: It was two years ago when I received an email from Square Enix. However, the message was very vague. I immediately started looking and learned that it was for a game title and that it was a song by Mr. Uematsu. I was already familiar with his work, and I was thrilled to learn that it was for the Final Fantasy franchise. As someone who knew about Aerith’s character growing up, this really meant a lot to me.
What was your prior impression of the Final Fantasy series?
Loren: Final Fantasy is a highly imaginative fantasy game series featuring very complex, engaging characters, and of course, I knew Mr. Uematsu was the composer. Both the story and music are essential aspects of the game.
Uematsu: I am happy you feel that way.
How did you feel when you first listened to “No Promises to Keep?”
Loren: The melody was very prominent. I could palpate sweet and epic moments of the story through the melody and feel the elevation of the song. I thought how amazing it would be to experience all these dynamic sensations in the game. Also, I knew this would be a paramount platform for Aerith to reflect her inner character through lyrics and express it to the fans, as it was her first time singing.
Uematsu: This is the first time I’ve heard this, and I’m glad she sensed exactly what we were aiming for. “No Promises to Keep” is a love song. I wanted it to exude a sweet feeling, but at the same time, evoke the complex feeling as Aerith confessed her feelings. I tried to build up the song as it climaxed, exactly as Loren described.
Loren: One of my initial thoughts was how challenging it would be to sing the song. As a vocalist, I find it easier to sing higher notes with an open mouth to produce the “aa” sound, but many lines of the song ended in the “ee” sound [laughs].
Uematsu: You’ll have to take that up with the English songwriter [laughs].
Was there anything you paid attention to when singing “No Promises to Keep”?
Loren: I wanted to get to know Aerith well, and I also wanted to depict her relationship with Cloud. So, for me to channel her fragile and pure personality, I needed to change certain elements of my natural vocals to match up with her character.
Loren: But I also enjoyed singing the band version* because it allowed me to be me, adding more riffs and fun things.
Uematsu: I agree with you. You seemed to have enjoyed singing the band version more. You nailed singing the orchestral version used in the game, but you were very lively when you were singing the band version. It was fascinating to watch you perform differently, and it made me happy to see two different versions of youself.
Loren: I have done similar work on “The Greatest Showman,” where I provided my singing voice for a character. So, in a way, both of these experiences are like acting. However, since I have my own style outside of movies and games, I’m humbled to hear that you also enjoyed my style of singing.
Were you, Mr. Uematsu, in the studio during the recording sessions?
Uematsu: The Tokyo team and the U.S. team were working remotely during the recording process. Loren was recording in the U.S., and I was in Tokyo, so we didn’t get to work together in person.
Do you have any memorable moments during the recording process?
Loren: I worked remotely with the Japan team. But we had some internet problems and got disconnected occasionally. The line got dropped just as an interpreter translated what had just been said, leaving me to imagine what was being said. When the connection was restored, the call dropped again as I got ready to speak. Because this happened frequently and became a time-consuming process, I asked if they would trust me to sing the song as I saw fit and submit the best recording version. They readily agreed. I was immensely touched by the trust they placed in me. I had a video crew from London with me that day, and it was after 2am when we finally finished shooting, but it was a great experience [laughs].
Uematsu: It wasn’t like we just told her to sing however she was pleased from the get-go; we had communicated precisely and in entirety about how we wanted the song to be sung, like, “I want you to sing this part like this.” We had already discussed and confirmed details when we decided we couldn’t continue with the unstable connection. At that point, we had already established the trust for her to sing independently, so it wasn’t like I offhandedly threw the whole thing over to her [laughs]. So, while I wasn’t there with her to actually watch her sing, I listened to the final version when it was ready.
What did you think when you listened to “No Promises to Keep” by Loren?
Uematsu: One word; amazing! I will never forget it. I received an overwhelming number of emails from different staff members at Square Enix, marveling at the song. Even Kazushige (Nojima) could not hide his excitement. I have written many songs for Final Fantasy, but the reaction we have seen for “No Promises to Keep” is unprecedented. There is something about her singing voice that is truly captivating.
Loren: I’m truly honored. Thank you.
Loren, was there anything different about singing a song for a video game?
Loren: It’s completely different. First of all, since Aerith is a fictitious character, it wasn’t like I could meet her to get to know her. I had to spend a lot of time online to learn about her instead. To top it off, since Final Fantasy has a cross-generational, long-standing fanbase, it’s not the same as singing for a new movie. I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to sing for a game title, as I know how unique and fascinating the gaming world is.
Uematsu: You are absolutely right about being unable to talk to Aerith. As a composer, I have someone to consult with, like the director. Still, Loren, being so far away from Japan, probably found it difficult to ask questions to get more insights and immerse herself in the world of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth.
Loren: I did a lot of research on YouTube and Wikipedia and read so many articles.
Finally, do you have a message for the Final Fantasy VII Rebirth fans?
Loren: I am truly honored to have worked on such a well-loved game title and be the singing voice for a beloved character. I cannot wait for everyone around the world to play the game and listen to “No Promises to Keep.” I know many people were anticipating the release of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, and I could not be more thrilled to imagine how the scene of Aerith singing the song would touch fans.
Uematsu: This marked another milestone in my book to have written one more song for the Final Fantasy series that I am genuinely proud of. Both the orchestral version and the band version are amazing, and I can’t wait for everyone to listen to the song. I hope “No Promises to Keep” will be loved for a very long time, just as much as the memories of Aerith.
“No Promises to Keep” will be available on Spotify, Apple Music and other streaming services from March 20. There is also a Final Fantasy Spotify playlist, featuring classic tracks from across the franchise, that you can listen to here.
*The single also includes “No Promises to Keep” band version.
As if colony sim RimWorld doesn’t already have enough ways for your sci-fi frontier adventurers to die, a new expansion titled Anomaly is goiong to add “all manner of monstrous, mysterious, and maddening threats”. It’s out in around a month, and will be paired with a free 1.5 update for the base game.
