Nintendo Download: 3rd October (North America)

The Patrick Star Game! Mark of the Deep! Sky Oceans: Wings for Hire!

The latest Nintendo Download update for North America has arrived, and it’s bringing new games galore to the eShop in your region. As always, be sure to drop a vote in our poll and comment down below with your potential picks for the week. Enjoy!

Switch eShop – Highlights

SpongeBob SquarePants: The Patrick Star Game (Outright Games, 4th Oct, $39.99) – At long last, Patrick Star takes the lead in his very own game! Step into his shorts and create hilarious, physics-based mayhem in an open world playground that puts all of Bikini Bottom at your disposal. Hunt for buried treasure, release rage in Mrs. Puff’s Rage Room and get pulled into quests and challenges by Sandy Cheeks, Mr. Krabs and SpongeBob himself.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

Metal Gear Solid Delta’s Modern Camera Made the Game So Easy Konami Bumped Up the Difficulty

Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater (officially Metal Gear Solid Δ: Snake Eater) is a remake of the original Metal Gear Solid 3 that adds a full third-person mode to the game, but being able to run and gun made it so easy Konami manually bumped up the difficulty.

In an interview with Famitsu translated by Automaton, creative producer Yuji Korekado discussed the two gameplay modes available in Metal Gear Solid Delta: Legacy Style and New Style. The former is an exact recreation of the 2004 game, essentially a top-down camera with a fixed perspective, while the latter features modern gameplay in a third-person mode.

Another difference between the two modes is that New Style gives players the ability to move while aiming and shooting. This was technically possible in the original game (and thus will be in Legacy Mode) but hitting a target was practically impossible.

The difficulty of Metal Gear Solid 3 was therefore balanced to work with standing still before shooting enemies, essentially giving them a little bit more time to deal damage. When that time was taken away in the modern third-person New Style, Konami found taking them out made the game too easy.

“New Style provides a wider, linear field of view, and you can shoot your gun while moving Snake, which made the difficulty level lower than we had expected,” Korekado said. “However, if we were to adjust things to match the New Style, that would make the Legacy Style too difficult. That’s why we decided to split the two play styles.”

The different modes will therefore feel like the same difficulty, but that’s only because Konami has adjusted them to be different behind the scenes.

Metal Gear Solid Delta is still set for a 2024 launch despite the end of the year drawing closer and closer, with a release due on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and S, and PC.

Beyond the New Style and its third-person perspective, the game is otherwise shaping up to be an exact recreation of the original. “Metal Gear Solid Delta seems more like a very shiny HD remaster than the elegant remake it could have been,” IGN said in our preview. “It’s an admittedly beautiful nostalgia trip, but almost faithful to a fault.”

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

The latest Steam client beta tunes up Game Recording with ultrawide support and unlimited capture length

Yesterday, Valve dropped a Steam client beta update focused largely on Game Recording – the beta version’s recently added clip-capturing utility. It’s a pretty wide-spanning array of improvements, adding support for ultrawide monitor resolutions up to 32:9, the high-quality H.265 (HEVC) video codec – on Windows only for now, apologies to the Steam Deck – and the option to “record a specified game indefinitely with no specified time limit.”

Read more

Synduality Echo of Ada Preview: Mech-ing a New Friend

Synduality Echo of Ada is a curious game with a post-apocalyptic world, mechs, and idyllic AI companions. It even has its own anime tie-in called Synduality Noir. To be honest, it hadn’t even crossed my radar until recently, but after spending some time with this PvPvE extraction shooter and talking to the developers, I’m intrigued, to say the least.

I played the first hour or so of Synduality Echo of Ada, the same portion that was recently available during the closed network test. The game begins with a condensed history told with comic book-like storyboarding.

Many years ago, the world as we know it was destroyed after a poisonous rain called The Tears of the New Moon not only decimated the population, but spawned vicious monsters called Enders. Now, the last remaining dregs of society run on a rare resource called AO Crystals. It’s up to the Drifters, essentially mech-piloting freelancers, to face the dangers of the surface and collect these crystals. Drifters are never alone, though–they always have their highly customizable Magus (aka Human Duality Cognitive Androids) by their side, helping them manage missions and even pilot their mechs. Mechs, by the way, are called CRADLECOFFINS. No, I don’t know why, and yes, I should have asked.

This intro video is presented by the Drifter Support Association and immediately reeks of propaganda. It’s hosted by an adorable rabbit-looking plushy named Yoshio with a disturbingly deep voice, who says things like, “I heard all the cool kids want to be Drifters. You’re cool, right?”

The video’s goal is, obviously, to recruit (or peer pressure) folks into becoming Drifters, and prefaces the Drifter Support Association’s final section of the Drifter Selection Exam, which acts as a tutorial.

Though the story hook left me curious, especially about the Magus origin and purpose and the potentially nefarious Drifter Support Assocition, it isn’t as important as the core gameplay loop. As a new Drifter, your garage is, to put it as lightly as possible, a complete dump. It needs a lot of repairs if you want to craft freely and live comfortably. To repair the base and craft supplies, you need to collect materials and resources, and to make money, you need to complete missions. Both of these goals can be accomplished by deploying on Sorties out into the world piloting your CRADLECOFFIN and accompanied by your Magus.

Expeditions to the surface can almost be described as methodical and calming, but with bursts of action. Sortie to the map. Scan surroundings with the help of your Magus. Extract AO Crystals and collect materials needed for quests, crafting, or base upgrades, and then get the hell out–all while dealing with hostile Enders, other players that may be friend or foe, and the toxic rain that eats away at your CRADLECOFFIN’s armor.

So yes, you can kidnap other players’ waifus or husbandos, and have your own kidnapped, too.  

Avoiding the poisonous rain is more difficult than it looks at first glance–I found myself trying to seek shelter in ruins that looked protected yet were apparently not. Luckily, I was able to recover, and I’m sure I’d learn of safe resting spots if I played more. But I can’t say I wasn’t annoyed by the lack of shelter from what would have blocked the rain for me in real life.

The main enemies, Enders, come in a wide variety, but I only saw three when I played. They ranged from simple nuisances to dangerous foes to be avoided, especially when in numbers. Still, even with scarier Enders about that forced me to retreat at times, the real difficulty of Synduality seems like it could be determined by the other Drifters–real players like you.

As you explore, you can spawn at many different points, and other players will be looking for resources on the same map. They, or you, can choose to hunt other players, ignore them, or help out. You can’t turn off friendly fire, and that applies to things like your Magus’ healing AOE’s, too.

It was nerve-wracking when my Magus told me another Drifter was nearby! Would they be friend or foe? When I did encounter someone, they emoted a friendly wave and said to cease fire… before they immediately turned on me when I let my guard down.

If you’re defeated before making it to an extraction point elevator, you’ll leave behind everything on you, all of which can now be taken by other players. This includes the parts that make up your CRADLECOFFIN and equipment, and even your Magus, who you’ll have to get back by paying a large ransom, the developers told me. So yes, you can kidnap other players’ waifus or husbandos, and have your own kidnapped, too.

You can somewhat prepare for this by getting insurance for different items, or putting something in a safety pocket. And, as a last resort, you can hold a series of buttons to bail out with your Magus. You’ll lose everything else, but at least the two of you will escape with your lives.

Encountering hostile players sounds like it could get incredibly frustrating, especially if you encounter players at a much higher skill level than yourself, when playing an otherwise not-too-difficult yet enjoyably challenging game.

The developers assured me that, at least in the beginning, you’ll be grouped more often with players similar to yourself–PK’rs with other PK’rs, and peaceful players with other peaceful players.

As far as difficulty in general, the director of Synduality, Yohei Kataoka, said feedback from players points to Synduality being as at a “good” level of difficulty and they can see from their end that missions have a high clearance rate. The controls are easy to master and the more you play, the more you’ll learn, Kataoka explained. I can definitely corroborate that the controls were very intuitive for anyone who’s played a third-person shooter, and they felt good, too, for simulating piloting a mech.

I asked them to compare Synduality to the notoriously difficult extraction shooter Escape from Tarkov, and Kataoka said: “If you’re comparing [Synduality] to Tarkov, this game’s easy.”
Though the rewards seem disproportionately high for being a player killer, there are also some consequences to going after fellow Drifters. The Drifter Support Association looks down on hunting other Drifters, and will stop issuing quests to adamant player killers, among other consequences that are yet unrevealed. The developers also told me your Magus would even start offering different advice if you’re a player killer, like if someone on the map is an easy target. Interesting!

Usually, your Magus will dish out advice as it learns by going out on expeditions with you. It will remember things like where you found a rare resource, so it can automatically mark those points on your map if you have a quest for it or wishlist something that requires it. It will also warn you if you enter an area you previously died, among other things.
The devs easily landed on “Magus” when asked what the most difficult part of development was. Not only was it difficult to determine how much information the Magus should relay to the player (they are quite chatty as they are, currently), but from the production side, it makes for a lot of different dialogue lines that need to be recorded by many different voice actors.

“There is no other title that has something quite like this, you know, a Magus, a helper, side-by-side with the player,” Futami explained. “Maybe it’s because it’s difficult, a hassle, to do… So having Magus itself is one of the stronger points of Synduality.”

Magus also provide moral support, another unique benefit. Futami explained that AI in Synduality will be together with you at good times and bad. Usually, in extraction games, you lose everything, which can be very demoralizing. But in Synduality, Futami said your AI will be by your side to support and encourage you to try again.

I can already tell you some people would probably get annoyed by their Magus constantly confirming hits or telling you where to go or what to do, but universally I think players will enjoy their Magus between Sorties. They greet you when you return and are seen puttering about in the base. When I upgraded an area, my Magus cleared the area of weeds and cooked me dinner with them–it was cute! They’re fun touches that break up the monotony of menus and any potential repetitive expedition-going.

I’m told there’s a lot more to the Magus, too, but we’ll just have to find that out as we play. Synduality’s theme that “you’re never alone” is entirely made possible by the existence of the Magus. Though you’ll technically be playing with other people, they won’t necessarily be helpful, and you won’t be able to team up with any particular person online.

Futami explained that they chose to not include co-op because not only would it entirely throw off the balance of the game, but because losing a human partner can be difficult to deal with. Magus is a better substitute, and is always available to play with, unlike adults with sporadic free time.

Synduality is a full-price, full-experience standalone game, but there will be season battle passes with different missions, goals, and rewards, and some monetization that includes cosmetics, like for the Magus, that won’t affect gameplay. I didn’t get a good look at this system myself, unfortunately, but I was told the first season focuses on rising up from zero–out of the starting hub covered in vegetation.

It’s hard to say if the gameplay loop might become repetitive sooner rather than later after such a short amount of time with it, but Synduality’s hook definitely left me wanting more. The structure lends itself to a mindset of, “I have time for one Sortie” that would easily lead into “but just one more.” I had fun exploring and fighting, and I wanted to learn more about the customization options I could unlock for my CRADLECOFFIN and Magus–it looks like there are plenty.

Synduality Echo of Ada will be released on January 23, 2025 for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S.

Mask Quest is a deceptively gimmicky platformer where you must press A to breathe while avoiding the cops

Out 17th October on Steam, Mask Quest is a platform game in which you hold and release a button to refill your character’s lungs while dodging police batons, bullets, gas grenades and drones. Neglect to do so, and you’ll pop your clogs. It’s the kind of mechanical tomfoolery you’d associate with Peter Molydeux, but in this case, it’s all the fine work of Stephen’s Sausage Roll developer increpare and Quadrant developer undef. The developers have somehow gotten 50 levels out of this meme-ish premise, and it looks like quite an elaborate hop-and-bopper with some less-cheerful political overtones. Here’s the trailer.

Read more

Tales of Graces f Remastered Hands-On: A Tasteful Modernization of a Classic RPG

Tales of Graces f is often heralded as having the best combat of the long-running action-RPG series, and it’s unfortunately been “stuck” on the PS3 – at least over in the West, since its initial release here in 2012. Bandai Namco only just announced Tales of Graces f Remastered, and it’s being released on pretty much all platforms–Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S|X, and PC. I had the chance to go hands-on with Tales of Graces f Remastered and talk to the game’s producer, Yuki Ishikawa.

In Tales of Graces f Remastered, Asbel Lhant makes many lifelong friends as a child. There’s Hubert Lhant, his brother; Sophie, an amnesiac; Cheria Barnes; a girl from his village; and Richard, a prince from a neighboring kingdom. Drama and trauma send Asbel astray from his would-be life of a lord to a knight academy, and after seven years, he reconnects with many of his childhood friends. There’s plenty of political drama, transformative character growth, and the power of friendship to be had in Graces’ story.

Ishikawa emphasized that the core concept or core value of Tales of is storytelling, specifically focusing on character drama. “So even though it’s a very straightforward kind of story (in Tales of Graces f)–do you choose friendship or do you choose to save the world–…it’s something that resonates strongly with me,” Ishikawa explained.

Ishikawa pointed out Graces f’s battle system is its other best feature, as many series fans call out as well. Though it’s different from the praised combat in the most recent Tales of Arise, Graces f’s battle system is highlighted as the feature that “powers the whole experience, pumping constant action and rewards to the forefront” in IGN’s review.

I only briefly looked at the many, many things you can do to customize your party in Tales of Graces f Remastered, which included massive skill trees and loads of equipment, and I felt as if I barely scratched the surface of the battle system during the hour I played. There’s a lot to learn here, and though I picked the combat up easily enough, I felt far from mastering the real-time action battles that allowed me to swap between up to four distinct characters.

When I wasn’t battling, I was traversing the charming overworld and finding people to interact with and items to discover around every corner, helped by quality-of-life improvements.

Tales of Graces f Remastered is enhanced while staying completely true to the original. Ishikawa said the team’s priority with the remaster was making Tales of Graces f accessible to a wider audience and, specs-wise, improving the framerate to fit current standards. They appear to have succeeded on both fronts, the first obviously so considering the laundry list of platforms Tales of Graces f Remastered was announced for and the expanded language options. As for performance, it looked sharp and ran smoothly at 60 FPS on the PS5 when I played (and should run at 60 fps on every system but the Nintendo Switch, which I didn’t get to experience). It retains every element of the original and fans can experience it as it was by toggling off or ignoring the quality-of-life additions, but they’re a pretty enticing bunch of features.

Some of the most important additions, in my opinion, are destination icons that point you in the right direction as you explore; an overworld dash that makes getting around and backtracking much faster; and an enemy encounter toggle function that lets you avoid battles entirely.

For me, these features keep Tales of Graces f Remastered from feeling like an outdated JRPG, and bring it closer to modern standards.

You can also skip cutscenes and skits, there’s auto-save, and “certain skits in the original version’s DLC that were only available in Japanese will now be available in other languages and with English voice-over in the remastered version.”

Speaking of language options, subtitles will now be displayed in battle and post-battle, an especially useful update for those who prefer to play with Japanese voiceover. I played with the English voiceover, and to be honest, it sounded a bit dated when I’m so used to modern-day’s often excellent anime dubs, so being able to switch between English and Japanese voiceover in the options is a welcome feature, too.

There really is a lot that was added to Tales of Graces f Remastered (which you can read a full list of here), but I’ll leave it with the news that DLC from the original game will be included – although this sadly does not include the licensed content. (Sorry, no Hatsune Miku Sophie or Lelouch from Code Geass Richard.)

You can also skip cutscenes and skits, there’s auto-save, and “certain skits in the original version’s DLC that were only available in Japanese will now be available in other languages and with English voice-over in the remastered version.” 

“Unfortunately, we are restricted by legal concerns,” explained Ishikawa. “Then of course there is certain content that is exclusive to platforms; obviously we can’t bring something that is a PlayStation-licensed item to Nintendo, for example.”

A lot of the DLC that is included, though, like costumes and item packs, are conveniently available from the start. To unlock the costumes, you’ll have to accept the DLC, equip the Title it’s attached to, then level that Title up so you can change into the costume. It’s potentially an arduous task if you want to equip every costume available, but there’s a fun reward at the end.

Overall, it looks like Tales of Graces f Remastered was made with both veteran fans and newcomers in mind.

Silent Hill 2 remake devs Bloober want to make more fully third-person horror games with minimal jump scares

As I type these words, specialist wifeguy assessor Brendy is rambling through the fog of Bloober’s Silent Hill 2 remake. Knowing Brendy, he’ll be sauntering down Neely Street like a gentleman dandy from 1920s Oxford, throwing out his cuffs and elbows and winking merrily at all the shambling depression metaphors who are trying to chew his legs off. While we await his verdict, here’s another excerpt from a chat with Bloober earlier this summer, in which I pop the extremely imaginative question of what they’ll do after remaking Silent Hill 2. The answer, in brief, is more games with a manual third-person view that rely on ambience, suspense and the thrill of the unknown, rather than monsters going “boo!”

Read more

Random: Moustachioed “Super Mario” Plumber Picks Up Silver At The “Olympics”

No, not the sport ones.

Well here’s a little sweetness to brighten up your Thursday, Mario has just nabbed the silver medal at the Olympics.

Okay, not quite. Firstly, this isn’t Mario; it’s Welsh plumber Ruben Duggan, who is jokingly referred to as “Super Mario” by his customers on account of his moustache (and, you know, the plumbing). Secondly, it’s not the Olympics — at least, not those ones. This is the WorldSkills competition, known as “the skills Olympics,” to those who take part, and it’s a pretty big deal.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

Metro Awakening adapts classic gameplay mechanics for PS VR2

Hi everyone, it’s Samar Louwe here, game director at Vertigo Games. Just last week during State of Play, we were thrilled to finally announce that Metro Awakening is coming to PS VR2 on November 7. Today, we’re excited to share another glimpse into the game with a new video showcasing extended gameplay on PS VR2.

We’ve crafted a journey that intertwines gripping storytelling with deeply immersive gameplay. In Metro Awakening, you’ll confront the mysteries and dangers of a post-apocalyptic world, where survival and exploration are more critical than ever. As you navigate both familiar and new locations, each filled with supernatural threats, you’ll uncover the origin story of Khan, one of the Metro series’ most enigmatic characters. 

Become what you fear…

At the heart of Metro Awakening lies the powerful story of Serdar—a doctor searching for his missing wife. Throughout his journey, Serdar undergoes a profound transformation that leads him to awaken as Khan, a mystic figure who plays a recurring role throughout the Metro series. Known for his deep connection to the supernatural, Khan appears at critical moments, offering guidance to Metro’s protagonist, Artyom, and all who dare to navigate the dangers of the tunnels.

This standalone narrative was crafted by series creator Dmitry Glukhovsky and explores the events that shaped Khan into who he is, immersing players in the philosophical struggles defining his path for the first time. As a prequel to Metro 2033, it also serves as an excellent starting point for newcomers to the franchise, while offering longtime fans a story that complements the rich lore they have come to love.

Classic Metro mechanics

In Metro Awakening, we’ve translated the series’ iconic elements to VR. You’ll engage with classic mechanics, including the wristwatch, gas mask, flashlight, universal charger and lighter—each playing a key role in stealth and survival. 

The watch not only shows whether you’re in the light or in the dark but also counts down the time until your gas mask filter needs replacing. The mask, in particular, requires constant attention; fogged lenses require you to physically wipe them during tense moments, while the watch’s timer beeps in a countdown, warning you before your filter clogs with radioactive dust, adding to the mounting pressure.

Charging your flashlight is also essential for survival. When darkness envelops you, you’ll need to wind it manually using the universal charger, increasing the stakes as every action pulls you deeper.

The lighter is extremely important for burning through cobwebs and illuminating tight spaces when your flashlight is no longer enough to keep the darkness at bay.

These mechanics create a great immersive experience on PS VR2, making every interaction feel immediate and vital, and drawing you even more into the atmosphere of the Metro universe.

Elevating Metro Awakening with PS VR2

Immersion is the essence of both VR and the Metro series, and the PS VR2 elevates this experience.

As the story unfolds, you’ll dive into the mysterious, supernatural aspects of Metro. VR allows us to amplify these moments, enveloping players in eerie atmospheres and using spatial audio to draw you into the unknown.

Every shot fired is intentional. With adaptive triggers, you’ll add weight and precision to your actions. Combat isn’t just about pulling the trigger; it’s about survival. The subtle resistance of the triggers heightens the tension, making every shot count when resources are scarce.

Headset feedback introduces a new level of physicality to gameplay, immersing you in your environment. You’ll feel the impact of debris from explosions or when you’re hit by enemy attacks, amplifying your experience.

Metro Awakening thrives on contrasts—light and dark, hope and despair. The PS VR2’s 4K HDR display brings this to life, especially in haunting locations. Dynamic lighting enhances the atmosphere. Using your headlamp to navigate dark tunnels or strategically shooting out lights to sneak past mutants adds a tactical layer to gameplay. While visibility is key, mastering the shadows can give you a strategic edge in your encounters.  

We designed every interaction in Metro Awakening to feel natural and grounded. From wiping your gas mask to managing your backpack, every action in VR is a manual endeavor. With no on-screen UI to rely on, you must adapt and survive as you would in real life.

We can’t wait for you to step into Metro Awakening on PS VR2 starting November 7—or pre-order the Deluxe Edition to begin your journey early on November 5.