The Automatons Season has not brought the surge in audience that was expected, but it hasn’t been such a catastrophe for the company to stop releasing limited-time events. The latest one is happening right now.
The third season of Diablo 4 has fallen flat and many fans have expressed their displeasure with what Activision Blizzard is doing with this new installment of the classic, understood, as it could not be otherwise, as a service. The Season of the Automatons has not brought the expected increase in audience, but it has not been such a catastrophe for the company to stop releasing limited events. The latest one, right now.
In this case, the Chinese New Year is just an excuse to launch a new event (Lunar Awakening) that will give greater rewards to players and will only last until February 20th. During these dates, there will be new effects in the Lunar Temples (which will replace the usual temples during these days), which will give a 50% experience bonus and increase speed by 30% while active. Quite something.
Come on, if you wanted an opportunity to level up XP at full speed, this is your moment, in which ‘Diablo 4’ will take the opportunity to bring new rewards, outfits, and of course, try to make money with exclusive items in the store. When this event ends, as always, we will have to wait for the fourth season in three months, with the almost impossible mission for the developers to make the escaped audience come back. Good luck.
The latest one, Rocksteady’s game meant to replace the Arkham series, has only accumulated misfortunes: ‘Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League’.
When ‘Fortnite’ and ‘Diablo IV’ started to be sold not only as games, but as endless services to which to continue adding content over the years, many producers began to rub their hands thinking about the possibilities. And since then, they have only occasionally hit the mark. The “game as a service” is a wrapper that holds great successes, yes, but also terrible failures that we are seeing day by day. The latest one, the Rocksteady game meant to replace the Arkham series, has only accumulated misfortunes: ‘Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League’.
From the beginning, Rocksteady has refused to classify their game as a service, claiming that it is something completely different. But once the cat is out of the bag, and seeing that the current selling experience only lasts nine hours (waiting for more content to arrive), we will say that it is closer to the legacy of ‘Marvel’s Avengers’ than to that of ‘Fortnite’.
Well, in fact, the game of Marvel had more luck than this one. To give some data: while that one crashed, at least in the week of its release it had up to 31,165 people playing at the same time. The Suicide Squad game, on the other hand, has barely reached 13,459 as a peak… And dropping.
To get an idea of what these numbers mean, ‘Palworld’ has around one million daily players and at its peak it reached two million. At the time of writing the article, ‘Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League’ is ranked 191st among the most played games on Steam, below others like ‘Marvel Snap’, ‘Hogwarts Legacy’ or even ‘Plants vs Zombies’. Phew.
There can be many reasons for its failure, such as “superhero fatigue”, but it is inevitable to blame the famous “games as a service”. Considering that the public has stuck with the idea of “battle passes”, it doesn’t matter what objections they may have. If something is white and tastes like milk, it’s usually milk.
And it’s time for all those who had planned their games with “later expansions” to start trembling, even if it’s just a little. Currently, 65% of studios are making a game as a service… Aware that the chances of getting rich are not many and, in fact, it is very likely that, seeing the speed at which the game from DC is being returned, they will all end up losing a lot (more) money.
And maybe it’s not such a good idea to bury the simple game, without the need for add-ons or season passes, ahead of time, because the same thing will happen as with Netflix and its competitors: we can pay for one, two or three. But at the moment when everyone wants to profit and make us pay for every party and every event month by month, we end up not wanting tickets anymore. Today it was the Suicide Squad, but it looks like many more will fall soon. It’s the law of life.
Version 1.15, now available on Xbox, PlayStation, and PC, will allow you to smoothly skip the terrifying flashes during the game.
Have you tried playing ‘Alan Wake 2’ but every time a scary scene comes up, you hide under the sheets? Do you want to dive into Remedy’s new game but are afraid of ending up traumatized? Don’t worry, because the new update is specifically designed for you. No, the game won’t suddenly turn into a Teletubbies version, but you will be able to play without constant fear.
And it turns out that version 1.15, already available on Xbox, PlayStation and PC, will allow you to smoothly skip the terrifying flashes during the game. From now on, you can choose whether you want to play in a way that scares you with an audio intensity that makes you sleep poorly (either you or your neighbors with the screams) or simply set aside one of the great novelties of this sequel and compare it with some of the best slashers in the history of cinema. No jumpscares. That’s how things are.
It’s not the only thing that this new update brings, which allows the game to run better, it includes a chapter selector and a field of view selector on PC. ‘Alan Wake’ is a franchise that has been completely forgotten for decades, but after the success of this sequel, everything points to us having a trilogy very soon. Those monsters are not going to die on their own, after all.
The good news is that it has finally been released on Sony’s console, and fans can play it right now. The bad news is that it has been a surprise even for the developers, who are still wondering what on earth has happened.
You may not have heard of ‘Ultrawings’, but if you have the PS5 virtual reality headset (the PSVR), you were probably aware that the open-world airplane game had been teasing its sequel for a while, called, in a burst of originality, ‘Ultrawings 2’. The good news is that it has finally been released on the Sony console and fans can play it right now. The bad news is that it has been a surprise even for the developers, who are still wondering what the hell happened.
It’s not that no one could play the game before, of course: it had been released for PC and Meta Quest, but there was still no release date for PSVR2. Fans were waiting when, suddenly, it appeared in the available Store. A wild and unpredictable release to grab attention? A successful marketing tactic? Neither one nor the other: after the release, there is a producer scratching their head not understanding anything.
Bit Planet Games, who have only made the two parts of ‘Ultrawings’ and the unknown ‘The battle of Sol’ so far, have reacted to the release on Twitter saying “Releasing ‘Ultrawings 2’ as a surprise on PSVR2 today was not on our 2024 bingo card, but well, here we are”. In fact, this version has “relatively minor issues” that they have fixed with a patch that was going to be released with the game but now will have to wait a few more days. What a disaster.
There is no need to look for black and conspiratorial hands: at Bit Planet they believe that it was Sony, by pure accident, who released the game, which didn’t even have an internal release date. It is understandable that the developers are not happy with how things have happened, but on the other hand, I also didn’t have ‘Ultrawings 2’ on my bingo card for this year. They have gained something.
That’s right, they promise it will be three unforgettable months. It was the only thing missing.
You may not be among the many fans of ‘Love Live! School Idol Festival 2 Miracle Live’, an anime-style rhythm game that, after almost a year (since April 2023, to be precise) waiting for it to be released outside of Japan, has finally arrived. But hold your excitement before rushing to buy it in February, because its servers will be shut down, well… in May. This year.
The game itself has given both good and bad news in a tweet where it made it clear that on May 31, 2024, its doors would close and it will not allow any more in-game purchases. However, they promise that it will be three unforgettable months. It was only missing. ‘Love Live! School Idol Festival 2 Miracle Live’ may not have been released at the same time as in Japan, but it will die at the same time. Take that, global system.
Does it make sense? Is there really someone who is thinking right now “Well, at least I’ll be able to play for three months”? Or is it really enough for some people to see idols in cute outfits dancing to catchy pop songs? Their audience will have if they are going to make the extremely strange effort of localizing and distributing a game for less than a hundred days.
‘Love Live! School Idol Festival 2 Miracle Live’ will be released for iOS and Android, which means that you won’t have the physical game to be able to play without online functions. When it’s over, it’s over. It is also true that there are enough fans of ‘Love Live!’ and its vast collection of manga, anime, short novels, video games, and even movies to compensate for the effort in some way.
Oh, and ‘Love Live!’ continues to release albums through different groups of teenage singers who have released a total of more than 159 singles in less than thirteen years (not to mention compilations, soundtracks, live albums, and much more). Looking at it closely, it may be that a game that only lasts for three months is profitable. Japan is Japan.
For years, we have bitterly wondered why there has never been a true sequel to the game, instead of those with the same title as the franchise but set outside the universe that were released later.
Do you remember ‘Life Is Strange’? It was an indie hit from Square, which had two possible endings (in case you don’t know the ending) and has slightly expanded through comics… but not through video games. And for years, we have wondered, bitterly, why there has never been a true sequel to the game instead of those with the same title of the franchise but outside the universe that were released afterwards.
Michael Koch, director of the first game, has now stated that they only intended to release that one, which had a subsequent problem: they did not think about sequels when writing the story and characters. “When the game was a success, Square Enix asked us for a second part. We managed to fit Life Is Strange 2 into the same universe, and even create interesting connections, but we could never create intricate and complex connections or sequels between the games.”
And the problem, in part, was Square’s own fault: “We would have loved to have more freedom to decide where the characters and plots were going to go”. So, Square, who owns the rights and intellectual property, decided what was going to be done… And what wasn’t.
Or in other words: “Square Enix planned and supervised the expansion, they hired Deck Nine to make other games in the franchise apart from ours, they found authors to write the comics and created their own plan for this universe.” So yes, if ‘Life Is Strange’ is not going as you want… it’s Square Enix’s fault.
It has been quite a surprise because he was recently destined to be a filler secondary character: the great Eddy Gordo will move to the rhythm of samba, expanding the roster of fighters.
The new ‘Tekken 8‘ has not been released yet and we already know which will be the first character to arrive through DLC in the first season. There will be one in each season of the year, and it has been quite a surprise because he was recently condemned to be a filler secondary character: the great Eddy Gordo will move to the rhythm of samba expanding the roster of fighters.
Interestingly, on that same day, just before its announcement, the famous Spanish account Chocu made a viral rap dedicated to the character (“Nina y Ana, las hermanas peleonas, ante mi capoeira solo son espectadoras“), and it was only the beginning of Twitter remembering the legacy of a character that we have all taken at some point when, instead of learning the combos, what we wanted was to pound buttons and see if, by chance, we could defeat much more experienced opponents.
The most talked about issue with the new Eddy is a braided hairstyle that many have compared to Michael B. Jordan in ‘Black Panther’ and others have said it has made him more sexy. The reactions on the Internet, of course, have not left anyone indifferent, and there are those who believe that it’s all a smoke screen and he will be able to have the traditional hair style by customizing him. Cheap controversies? Of course. What would video games be without them?
In addition, ‘Tekken 8’ has shown its introduction video, which has nods to ‘Tekken 5’ and introduces, one by one, all the characters ready for the fight so far. There will be more, of course: How are they going to let go of the golden goose? Meanwhile, we’ll have to count the days until we see Eddy Gordo again. Who would have told us that he was the true star of ‘Tekken’ after all this time?
The change has been positive; the world seems to agree that its gameplay is fabulous. However, all that glitters is not gold.
The release of the new ‘Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown‘ has surprised everyone because, suddenly, it has pulled out of its hat a Metroidvania that has reignited the excitement among gamers for a saga long forgotten in time. Not in vain, its first installment is from 1989, and it had been without an original game since 2010. The change has been positive; the world seems to agree that its gameplay is fabulous… But all that glitters is not gold.
In reality, it’s a very minor but hilarious oversight: when programming the game, the developers decided to use robotic voices for some characters (the famous text-to-speech widely used, for example, on TikTok, replacing the traditional Loquendo), and later replace them with the voices of the real actors. So far, so good and quite standard.
However, there’s a character lost in the sands that slipped through. Meet Kalux, a Wak-Wak tree that restores your health and helps illuminate your path in the Catacombs. It’s only eight lines, but they sound robotic, no name is associated with him in the credits, and they clash with the polished perfection of the rest of the game. Of course, Ubisoft has already rushed to say they will fix it as soon as possible with a patch.
It must be said that, indeed, it is a minor oversight: there are 12,000 lines of text in total in five different languages, with a good handful more of subtitled languages. It will be at the end of January or the beginning of February, so if you want to listen and find the slip-up yourself, you still have time. Just make sure that the game is in English, because the rest of the languages are perfectly implemented!
The problem is that Solfalia’s father was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, and, in all likelihood, he wouldn’t make it healthy to the premiere of ‘Baldur’s Gate 3’.
By now there is no doubt that Baldur’s Gate 3 is going to be one of those games that will be remembered for decades. Larian Studio has become one of the most important developers to consider today, and fans have surrendered to the violence, possibilities, and of course, the romances, that the game proposes. But there are hidden details that until now only a few knew (and that will make your throat tighten).
This is the story of Solfalia, a user of the forumsof Larian who once told how his father, one of the first journalists to buy a computer, introduced him to the world of computers and video games. At the age of four, they were already playing ‘Battle Chess’ together. Both became avid fans of ‘Baldur’s Gate 2’ to the point that his father bought another computer so that everyone in the house could have access. And it’s something that continued over the years.
Solfalia moved to France for work, but still came back every Friday night to play with his father, who was in the United Kingdom. “We played together all night, sometimes even until the next morning”, he comments. The problem is that Solfalia’s father was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and probably wouldn’t make it to the release of ‘Baldur’s Gate 3‘. At least he was able to play it during its early access.
There wasn't a dry eye in the house when we read that letter, and I volunteered to write Golbraith (I'm not super writer btw, and I'll respect their privacy unless they want to reveal themselves). Really happy we got to honour the mighty mindflayer hunter ❤️ https://t.co/FefUkkbpWu
“Early access means that this Christmas I will be able to go on one last adventure with him, and I know he will enjoy it. The fact that the villains are Mind Flayers is the icing on the cake”. As they read the story, something touched the developers’ hearts (as it couldn’t be otherwise) and they offered him something incredible: to have his father appear in ‘Baldur’s Gate 3‘ as a way to remember him forever.
That’s how Golbraith was born (the honored one always used the syllable “Gol” in the name of his characters), a hunter of Azotamentes, something as paradoxical as beautiful, considering the situation. Golbraith spends his days writing, hoping to pass on his wisdom to the next generations. The most important thing for Solfalia is that the appearance was similar to that of his father, and his phrases in the game made sense to him, just like the stack of letters between him and his son.
Solfalia’s father couldn’t play because he is currently in a nursing home, but he heard everything from his son… And he still talks about it when they get together weekly. “Every time I mention Golbraith, he stands up and smiles. He has that face he puts on when he’s particularly proud of something, and I’m really happy to be able to see him like that. I admit that I use Golbraith as a cheap tactic to see that face from time to time“. I’m not crying, you’re crying, okay?
‘Rock Band,’ specifically its fourth installment, has not abandoned you. The proof is that in 2024, it continues to release songs. More specifically, on the 25th, it will launch a DLC with the latest songs, bringing the total to around 3000.
Do you remember ‘Rock Band’? Yes, that game you got obsessed with and for a while it became an unavoidable appointment to play with your friends every week. The same one. Maybe you moved on and got into new gaming adventures, but ‘Rock Band’, specifically its fourth installment, hasn’t abandoned you. And the proof is that in 2024 it is still releasing songs. More specifically, on the 25th it will release a DLC with the latest ones, which will complete a total of about 3000 songs.
Eight years have passed since the release of ‘Rock Band 4’ and Harmonix has continued to release weekly songs. In case you have any doubts, yes: you will still be able to play any song you want and the online modes will continue to work, but there will be no more updates. If you want to play these 3000 awesome songs, you have plenty of content.
That doesn’t mean, of course, that ‘Rock Band’ is over and Harmonix’s musical dream with it, far from it: now they are giving it their all in their version of ‘Fortnite’ (the famous Fortnite Festival), where songs can be played for free… And soon they will include the possibility of doing it with the original game instruments. The truth is that compared to the use that, for example, Nintendo gives to its add-ons, it is enviable.
So far, the latest ones to be uploaded have been songs by Elton John (‘Goodbye Yellow Brick Road’), Foo Fighters (‘Breakout’) and Beastie Boys (‘So Wat’cha want’), but they have promised that the latest ones will be a tribute to the players who have endured for so long and to the friends we made along the way. In other words, the community. So, it’s possible that you’ll strum your guitar with a tear appearing in your eye.
By the way, in 2025 it will be ten years since the last ‘Guitar Hero’, and maybe, with a couple of improvements here and there, it’s time to bring it back, right? Playing a guitar and feeling like we’re in the middle of a concert, honestly, beats any other gaming experience.
