Well, shovel me timbers! Shovel Knight, the retro platformer that started it all (it all being everything from a roguelike spin-off to a Dead Cells cameo) turns 10 this month, and Yacht Club Games are releasing a ultimate edition to celebrate. Entitled the ‘Shovel Of Hope DX’, this definitive-me-doo bundles in the original game with old and new features like saving and rewinding, over 20 playable characters, local and online co-op, and new modes. Grab your shovel and prepare to dig for the trailer, then look foolish as you realise it’s directly below this paragraph.
Super Smash Bros. creator Masahiro Sakurai has filmed the final video for his aptly named Masahiro Sakurai on Creating Games YouTube channel.
As reported by Nintendo Life, Sakurai revealed on X/Twitter the recording of the final episode was now complete, though assured fans it would still be a while before it’s released. The famed video game developer announced in January that he’d be quitting YouTube sometime in 2024.
No reason for ending the YouTube channel was given, though fans are already speculating its related to the next Super Smash Bros. game at Nintendo. Nothing has been announced, however, and Sakurai said previously he doesn’t know how the franchise can get any bigger or better than the Switch entry, which even includes characters from beyond Nintendo like Sephiroth from Final Fantasy 7, Sora from Kingdom Hearts, Joker from Persona 5, Steve and Alex from Minecraft, and many more.
Here’s a story to make any tea-drinking Englishman go red in the face. Officials at Liantang Port, Guangdong, have intercepted a passenger attempting to smuggle 350 Nintendo Switch cartridges through Chinese customs. Her method? Packing them into her bra. Oh my (thanks, Tom’s Hardware).
Wipe up the mouthful of Earl Grey we’re sure you’ve just spat across the room, it’s time for the details.
“Two’s company, three’s a crowd,” the saying goes, unless the first two are warriors and the third one is a priest, in which case the superior proverb is surely “three’s a moderately balanced squad, two’s a massive liability”? Here to put such kitchen wisdom to the test is BioWare’s Dragon Age: The Veilguard, which “only” allows you to bring two companions into the fray, one fewer than 2014’s Dragon Age: Inquisition. It’s another indication that this will be more biffy action game than thinky party-based RPG. The upside, assuming you find that last sentence disappointing, is that exploration and combat will be more “intimate”, and individual characters will have more screentime to bounce off each other and flourish as personalities. All this comes care of a BioWare Discord Q&A from late last week, which you can watch in full below.
Beloved friends, hated enemies – last week, we let the side down. Due to a shortage of hands at the pump and persistent clouds of Geoff Keighley activity, there was no weekly Maw liveblog, and this has bred disaster. Shaken, stirred and finally ignited for want of two-sentence updates about Dragon Age, the Maw emitted a full 13% of its cosmo-puissance into Mundus and took a grievous bite out of the ailing and fearful lasagne of reality itself. Hated friends, beloved enemies – I am very sad to say that the proud nation of Dimplexland is no more.
The list of impressive looking soulslike games on the horizon is long, with games like Phantom Blade Zero, Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn, and Wuchong: Fallen Feathers all having solid showings this summer event season. But there’s always been something extra special about Black Myth: Wukong. It’s stunningly gorgeous, the animations are incredibly fluid, it’s steeped in rich Chinese culture, and there’s just something immensely satisfying about playing as a Monkey King and beating up all sorts of mythical creatures with a giant extendable staff. While this isn’t the first time IGN has gone hands-on with the game, it is my own personal first time with it – and after two hours of playtime with the opening chapter, I somehow walked away even more excited for its August 20th release.
IGN China has already done an extensive preview on what Wukong plays like on a late game build with many techniques, stances, and transformations already unlocked, which is great because my two hours covered pretty much the very start of the game. The first thing that I noticed as I started playing was how fluid and fast Wukong feels to control. Many soulslikes are built on a foundation of slower and more methodical combat, but Wukong feels exceptionally quick and agile. From the beginning, there’s actually no block button. Wukong can twirl his staff to block projectiles, but as far as melee attacks go, everything must be dodged. To that end, there’s a Bayonetta-style dodge system where you can dodge up to three times very quickly, but after the third one, you’re punished with a lengthy recovery time to try and curb people from just mindlessly mashing the dodge button.
Wukong feels exceptionally quick and agile.
Perfectly timed dodges will reward you with extra focus, and once your focus bar has been filled, you get a focus point that allows you to chain a strong attack into your light combo string for a big chunk of damage. Later on, those focus points can also be spent on different types of special moves that you unlock in the skill tree, which we’ll get to later.
Wukong also has access to a number of spells that consume his mana. I only really got to play around with the immobilize spell, which as you can imagine, stops an enemy in their tracks and allows you to sneak in a few free hits before the spell’s effect wears off. Stronger enemies and especially bosses are affected by the spell much less, and sometimes they were able to shrug it off entirely.
Even at just an early stage, combat was a fun dance of actively looking for opportunities to avoid enemy attacks and find openings to attack, keeping an eye on my focus meter so I could use a damaging heavy attack whenever I had a chance, while also managing my mana and cooldown for my immobilize spell. Eventually I got my first transformation, which turns Wukong into an absolute beast, with much stronger attacks, and a hugely damaging super attack that he can use out of a dodge if he manages to build up a focus point. One of his moves in this transformation is a lightning fast dash attack that made me feel like I had basically turned into the boss that I got the transformation from.
Later on I added another tool to my repertoire: the tower stance, which swapped out my chargeable overhead strong attack for the ability to stand on my staff and avoid damage on the ground as long as my stamina held out. If I managed to stay on the staff long enough for a focus point to charge, I could spend it to leap off the staff, flip it around, and come crashing down with a powerful strike that felt incredibly cool to pull off.
These stances, along with my general combat abilities, could all be upgraded through a level-up system that works a lot like Sekiro’s. As you defeat enemies, you’ll gain Will, which builds up a bar in the top right of the screen. When the bar is full, you gain a Spark, which can be used to purchase upgrades from one of your various skill trees. Once you fill the bar and bank a point, you can’t lose it. You can even add that skill point whenever you want, not just at a shrine, which serves as Wukong’s version of a bonfire-like checkpoint. However, if you die before you manage to fill the bar, a portion of that experience will be lost in typical soulslike fashion.
Don’t let that trick you into thinking that Wukong is an easy game though, because it certainly is not. Enemies are aggressive, bosses are relentless and even more so in their second phases, and you only have a scant few restorative potions to keep yourself alive. I also managed to find a secret boss room behind a waterfall that took me to a dragon boss that just absolutely wrecked me. Fortunately, you can teleport from shrine to shrine, so you can come back to him much later down the road once you’ve upgraded your gear and added some more points into your skill trees. And speaking of gear, I didn’t manage to find all that much, but I did find enough to at least know that there are sets of armor that grant extra bonuses for wearing multiple pieces of gear from that set.
Enemies are aggressive, bosses are relentless, and you only have a scant few restorative potions to keep you alive.
The levels themselves were fairly linear with a couple of branching points that led to some sort of treasure or item pickup. The real star of the show, though, were the boss battles. Even in just two hours I fought against a wide variety of bosses, from a speedy wolf boss that I snagged my first transformation from, to a mule-kicking frog in human clothes, to an extremely difficult two-phased battle against a snake man.
All in all, I greatly enjoyed my time with Black Myth: Wukong. Even in just two hours of playtime, I felt like I got to experience a lot of combat progression and am excited to see how things continue to evolve as the game goes on. We won’t have to wait much longer to see how the full game shakes out, as Black Myth: Wukong releases on PC and PlayStation 5 on August 20.
Sunday is officially here, and new deals are available as we head toward the end of the weekend. Whether you’re interested in purchasing a new tablet, monitor, or video game, we’ve got you covered with a wide selection of picks that you don’t want to miss. The best deals for Sunday, June 16, include the HP OMEN 31.5-inch monitor, the Ryzen 9 5900X Processor, Persona 3 Reload Collector’s Edition, RoboCop Rogue City, and more.
HP OMEN 31.5 Inch Monitor
Arguably, the best deal available today is this HP OMEN monitor, which normally retails for $379.99. This 31.5-inch monitor features a 165Hz refresh rate, a curved display, a 400 nit peak brightness, and more. You’ll also be able to take advantage of extremely smooth, tear-free images with FreeSync and G-SYNC support.
Ryzen 9 5900X for $249
The Ryzen 9 5900X is one of the most powerful processors that you can buy on the market right now. With 12 cores and 24 threads, you can expect top of the line performance in any game, regardless of the demand. Its top speed of 4.8 GHz is excellent for any device. The 5900X features AM4 support, so almost all modern AMD motherboards will support this chip.
Save $28 Off This 100 QT Igloo Cooler
Everyone can use a new cooler, especially in the summertime. Right now at Amazon, you can score this 100-quart Igloo Ultra Marine Cooler for $71.99. The cooler itself is rated for five days of ice retention performance, so your drinks won’t be getting warm inside this item. Whether you spend your summer at the lake, at the beach, or in the backyard, this Igloo cooler is the perfect companion to ensure your beverages stay cold throughout the heat.
Resident Evil 4 for $29.99
2023’s Resident Evil 4 is one of the best titles Capcom has ever released. With its revamped action and gorgeous environments, each minute of Resident Evil 4 (2023) is captivating like never before. For $29.99, this is a must-play title if you’re a fan of action, survival, or horror titles. Additionally, it’s perfectly acceptable to start with Resident Evil 4, even if you’ve never played a Resident Evil title before.
RoboCop Rogue City for $35
Woot has RoboCop Rogue City available for just $34.99 right now. Released in November 2023, Rogue City brings an all-new story to the world of RoboCop that is intertwined with the narrative of the films. Peter Weller even returned for this game, providing an authentic RoboCop experience. In our review, we stated, “RoboCop: Rogue City is the video game equivalent of a B movie in the best way, with the look and over-the-top action to capture the essence of the series.”
Demon Slayer -Kimetsu No Yaiba- Sweep the Board! for $39.99
Sweep the Board! is the latest game from Demon Slayer – Kimetsu no Yaiba-, focusing on a fun, party-like title that is extremely similar to Mario Party. You play as Tanjiro, Nezuko, Zenitsu, Inosuke, and the rest of the Demon Slayer cast as they traverse through multiple party boards and complete minigames against each other.
ASUS ROG 65W Charger Dock for $29.99
Best Buy currently has the ROG 65W Charger Dock available for $29.99. This device is the perfect accessory if you’re looking to play with your handheld PC on the big screen. With its minimal size, you can easily pack it in a bag with no issues. This device works with both the ROG Ally and the Steam Deck, as it just requires a USB-C port to pass through both power and display.
Persona 3 Reload Collector’s Edition for $99.99
Persona 3 Reload launched earlier this year as an expanded and enhanced version of Persona 3 for modern platforms. The game features remade character assets and sprites, unique combat animations, updates to gameplay, and more. The Collector’s Edition features an art book, soundtrack, and an exclusive Aigis figure.
WarioWare: Move It! for $30
WarioWare: Move It! is discounted to just $30 at Walmart this weekend. If you’ve yet to pick up the latest title in the series, you can expect to find dozens of fun microgames and shenanigans. This entry utilizes features of the Joy-Con like motion tracking and HD Rumble, which adds new twists and moments to returning and new microgames.
Spider-Verse Box Set for $65.97
This Spider-Verse Box Set includes 4K UHD blu-rays of both Across the Spider-Verse & Into the Spider-Verse. There’s also a 7-inch vinyl record that includes two songs by Metro Boomin from Across the Spider-Verse. Plus, you even get a replica of the sketchbook that Miles uses in the two movies, which makes this a must-own set for any Spider-Verse fan.
48” UltraGear UHD OLED Monitor for $699.99
This massive 48″ LG 4K OLED gaming monitor is the ultimate display for any gaming setup. Equipped with a 4K OLED anti-glare display, your games will look sharper and more vibrant than ever. There’s no compromise on features either, with a 120Hz panel, HDMI 2.1 support, and G-Sync/FreeSync compatibility. While this monitor is certainly expensive, you’ll be challenged to find a better deal on a gaming OLED monitor. This one normally sits at $1,499.99, which makes this an $800 discount.
“I think it will be a while before it is released”.
Super Smash Bros. creator Masahiro Sakurai has previously mentioned how he planned to wrap up his YouTube channel, and now he’s shared another update about this on social media. According to a rough translation, he’s now finished recording the final episode. Just don’t expect to see it any time soon, as it will apparently be a while before it’s released.
Until then, you can continue to enjoy his regular uploads like his most recent video focused on attack collision in games. Throughout his channel’s lifespan, he’s also shared plenty of other tips and insights about game design – covering areas such as sound, graphics, controls, animation, and various other interesting topics related to this subject.
Hello reader who is also a reader, and welcome back to Booked For The Week – our regular Sunday chat with a selection of cool industry folks about books! Books obviously come in many different sizes, but did you know that there’s an obscure law that dictates the legal limit for how long a novel can be? It’s measured in ‘George Martins’. If your story is more than three ‘Georges’ wide, you’re swiftly escorted to a cell and made to eat any bits of book that reference more than three characters in a scene with the same surname. This week, it’s developer and writer of the legendarily good Radiator Blog, Robert Yang! Cheers Robert! Mind if we have a nose at your bookshelf?
It’s Direct season, and Summer Game Fest has done a good job of whetting our appetite for hearty Nintendo announcements sometime soon. It’s been a little quiet recently on the Switch front, which may have something to do with the small amount of correspondence we received this month. Perhaps you’re all out enjoying fine weather and great video games, but Mr. Postman had just a handful of letters in his bag for us. Publishable ones, at least.
