Indie developers love making retro-styled games that look like PlayStation games you rented from Blockbuster and blitzed through in a feverish winter weekend. I’m glad, so here’s another. Cold And Afraid is a murder mystery that aims to channel the 1990s with chunky characters and lots of lovely dithering. You play a detective out to stop a serial killer with a grisly pattern who’s preying on the young women of an unnamed US city. On top of the obligatory tank controls, it aims to have “consequential dialogue choices” and a “Time Event system where you must meet certain people at specific times to forward different story threads”. Ah, forgive me, you’re here to see the chunky limbs. Here’s a recent trailer that shows ’em.
This Echoes of Wisdom Walkthrough will give you all the wisdom you need to explore Hyrule as Princess Zelda and complete the game, including Dungeon Solutions, All Clothing, All amiibo Unlocks, All Accessories, All Stamp Locations, plus Beginner’s Tips and guides on Every Boss in the game.
Sci-fi Extraction Shooter Synduality Echo of Ada Arrives January 23 – Pre-order Today
David AlonzoBrand Manager, Bandai Namco Entertainment America
Find a way to survive in Synduality Echo of Ada, a new online extraction shooter where humanity must rely on mechs and AI companions to rebuild.
After a massive toxic rain event brings terrifying creatures to the world and drives humanity underground, mankind has developed two technologies to survive – Cradlecoffin mechs to safely forage for resources on the unforgiving surface, and your humanoid AI assistant, a Magus.
Your job is to rise to the surface with your Coffin and Magus in tow to collect resources that improve your base. Can you ascend beyond mere survival when you never know if other players are friends or foe?
Your one constant in this world is your Magus companion. As advanced machines that can assist in various tasks, a Magus is bound to their human through the Three Laws of the Magi:
1. Law of Contract: A Magus shall form a contract with a single individual. Said contract cannot be terminated by the Magus itself.
2. Law of Friendship: A Magus shall stand by their contractor, like a friend of humanity.
3. Law of Growth: A Magus must grow alongside their contractor, as long as said growth does not contradict the first two laws.
Under these directives, the Magus bond adapts to their human’s playstyle, evolving new feedback and information through continued sorties to the surface.
Law of Contract
To form your contract with your Magus, you will first build and customize them.
You’ll select from four different models, each with a different personality type. From the encouraging big brother type to the unexpectedly witty, a Magus type with different communication styles exists for all humans. Once selected, Magus also have different System types. The Weather Gazer is environmentally-focused, displaying incoming toxic rain on the HUD and equipped with a skill to shield from it. The Anti-Cradle System on the other hand is combat-focused, making up for limited environmental resource scans with an ability to read the health of other Cradlecoffin and a skill to restrain them. More Systems exist with their own benefits and drawbacks for different situations.
Further customization of the face shape, hair color, and more ensures your Magus is well-suited to your own aesthetic preferences. After you’ve selected the body, system, and customized the Magus to your liking, your Magus will be optimized in both personality and skillset to best assist you in your quest to gather AO Crystal currency and other resources.
Law of Friendship
Friendship is scarce in a world where monsters and other players with unpredictable loyalties can mean losing everything you’ve gathered in a sortie. Though you may lose equipment, materials, and even your Magus in a fight, your Magus is the only thing that will always find their way back to base with you.
The base is where you’ll spend most of your time when you’re not fighting beasts and scavenging for goods on the surface. Here, you’ll catch glimpses of your Magus doing yoga, tidying up – even dancing. Not only this, but they can offer guidance on how to build up your base to improve your facilities. With the proper resources, you can create a craft station to make equipment and materials without journeying to the surface, and a pit area to focus on your Cradlecoffin.
But to truly ascend beyond survival, one needs more than just weapons and crafting stations. At the base, you can spruce up your Magus with new outfits, and even improve their living quarters – upgrading an empty warehouse into a lavish kitchen, and even building a shiny new shower to help clean up after particularly rough missions. Your Magus may be contracted to stand by your side, but there’s no reason why you can’t reciprocate their friendship with some creature comforts.
Law of Growth
As you continue to sortie, your Magus will learn more about your playing style and the environment, offering insightful advice on which enemies may lurk in certain areas or let you know if that special resource you need to upgrade your base is lurking nearby. They’ll also give you analysis on and off the field – filling your map with useful info as you explore more and even letting you know if that player in the distance has a history of taking out other players, so heed their advice because it might just save you!
Ruled by these Three Laws of the Magi, your Magus will assist you in every step of your way to rising in the world of Synduality Echo of Ada and with the Ultimate Edition, you’ll also get 7 days early access and one more exclusive Magus type – Mystere from the anime Synduality Noir! Unlike the others, she’s got a bit of a rougher personality, but her cool demeanor can help you in the heat of battle. Be sure to pre-order the Ultimate Edition today!
Synduality Echo of Ada arrives January 23, 2025 for Xbox Series X|S.
StarCraft: Remastered and StarCraft 2: Campaign Collection hit Game Pass from November 5, Microsoft has announced.
Blizzard’s sci-fi real-time strategy games are the latest from the company following Microsoft’s $69 billion aquisition of Activision Blizzard last year.
While the entirety of the original StarCraft and StarCraft 2’s multiplayer components are free-to-play, StarCraft: Remastered and StarCraft 2: Campaign Collection will be available to anyone with a PC Game Pass or Game Pass Ultimate subscription from November 5.
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.
I reckon I’ve got quite a strong long term memory. For instance, I can recall that time I read Stoner on a backpacking trip through Italy and realising that I particularly like sad books. I can also recall the delicious taste of a Mars Delight chocolate bar. But my short term memory, whew. Yeah it’s not so good. And the demo for Disposition, a liminal escape room game where you’ve got to remember how things are arranged in rooms, has hammered this point home.
A year and a day after wonderful horror visual novel Slay The Princess first released, the promised Pristine Edition is arriving this October on the 24th. Like a very loud sticker on a very large bag of crisps, it promises to have “roughly 35%” more stuff in it. It’s a great game, and this sounds like the perfect time to pick it up, especially if you previously pirated it after the devs said they didn’t mind.
To celebrate the arrival of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom on the Nintendo Switch this week, Nintendo has launched a new round of icons for Switch Online users.
In case you missed it, the Arc System Works fighter Guilty Gear Strive is on its way to the Nintendo Switch next year.
Ahead of this launch, the developer has shared a “first in-game look” at Queen Dizzy, a new Season 4 DLC fighter launching on 31st October 2024 in existing versions of the game. The Switch version will launch with 28 playable characters.
Monster Hunter Wilds, the next entry in the popular hunting action game series is set to release on February 28 on PS5. I had an opportunity to play the Story Quest at the Tokyo Game Show 2024, where I immersed myself in the gameplay from the introduction of the new story to the intense battle against a frog-like amphibian monster, the Chatacabra.
Monster chase in Windward Plains
The Story Quest kicked off with the enjoyable process of creating my character. I had the freedom to customize every detail of the hunter’s appearance and even that of the hunter’s trusted partner, Palico.
As the story began, I found myself traversing Windward Plains in a sand ship with the Forbidden Lands Research Commission. Through flashbacks you’ll learn how your character became a part of the commission. Suddenly, the scene cut to a nerve-racking chase, where a herd of desert-dwelling Balaharas are in hot pursuit of a girl riding a Seikret. Without a moment of hesitation, I leaped onto a Seikret and gave chase to rescue the girl.
Balahara chase
During this chase scene my Seikret was on autopilot to catch up to the girl. However, with some freedom to control the camera view and my ridable partner, I immersed myself in the action as I jumped over boulders and slalomed through the air to close the distance.
When I finally caught up to the girl, it was my turn to be pursued by the hordes of formidable Balaharas in a heart-pounding chase. They were relentless, closing in on us from every possible direction as I dashed through the desert, attacking them with my slinger to fire sonic bombs.
Seikret joy ride
Upon discovering that the young girl was separated from her brother, the hunter decided to find him. To gain more insight before embarking on the mission, I sought the advice of the Handler, Alma. She gave me a valuable recommendation on which one of all 14 available weapons I should take on the journey.
Luckily, the girl’s Seikret remembered the scent of her missing brother so it knew exactly where to go. Though I was guided to the location automatically, having complete control over the Seikret’s movements was liberating. I could accelerate and decelerate using the R1 and R2, respectively, while holding them made it dash forward or come to a quick stop. With the left stick, as expected, I guided my mount in the direction I wanted it to go. From time-to-time, I made detours, stopping off at places that grabbed my attention. I even took advantage of the hands-free ride to gather hunting items, materials, and wield my weapon.
New wound system and SOS flare in the Chatacabra hunt
Soon after arriving at the locale, a simple mission of searching for the brother quickly escalated to a hunt for a formidable foe as I found the girl’s brother in imminent danger from a Chatacabra’s attack. Leveraging the new wound system, I attacked the same weak point persistently to inflict significant damage. Also new to Monster Hunter Wilds, Focus mode is activated by holding down L2 to display a reticle on the screen for guidance on where to attack, and a red highlight on the monster’s wounds for easier aiming. The ability to change the target point, even during the attack motion, allowed me to effectively attack the weak point despite using a weighty, slow-motion weapon like the Great Sword.
By pressing R1 in Focus mode, I uncovered the strategic Focus Strike. This special attack works by connecting with a wound or weak point, and it proved to deal massive damage and stun the foe. Undoubtedly one of the most satisfying moments in the game was when I managed to destroy multiple wounds with a single Focus Attack.
During hunting, you can summon your Siekret by pressing the directional key for swift mounting. Once mounted, I strategically drank a healing potion to restore my health and used a whetstone to sharpen my weapon.
Another unique feature is the SOS Flare, a tool that calls in aid from NPC support hunters. The monster’s rage is likely to be redirected when other hunters join the fray. This is an excellent way for novice players of this series to divert damage. Although this feature wasn’t available during the offline single-player demo, I learned that you can recruit other players while summoning support hunters while online.
New stories unfold in the Forbidden Lands
After defeating the Chatacabra, I hurried back to the camp with the rescued brother. The main mission in the first chapter concluded with the newly reunited siblings sharing tales to catch up.
The Story Quest was rich in content, from the gripping Balahara chase scene to leveraging the wound system and Focus mode in the challenging hunt for the elusive Chatacabra. As players step into the main mission, I’m convinced new hunters and those about to uncover the series for the first time will find themselves mesmerized by the world that unfolds when Monster Hunter Wilds launches February 28 on PS5.
The Nintendo Museum looks amazing but it’s located in Japan and not everybody will be able to make the trip. So, is there a chance of Nintendo opening more museums outside of its homeland?
Well, as you can see in the headline, according to Miyamoto it won’t be happening. In a recent Game Watch interview, the Nintendo legend mentioned how the company had “no intention” of expanding the museum to other locations.
