Get a job: Insomniac Games, Deep Silver Volition, and more are hiring now!
Whether you’re just starting out, looking for something new, or just seeing what’s out there, the Gamasutra Job Board is the place where game developers move ahead in their careers.
Gamasutra’s Job Board is the most diverse, most active, and most established board of its kind in the video game industry, serving companies of all sizes, from indie to triple-A.
Here are just some of the many, many positions being advertised right now. If you’re a recruiter looking for talent, you can also post jobs here.
Location: Toronto, Ontario
4L Games is looking for a Game Producer to join us. This person will be passionate about the Video Game industry and will work within a fast-paced environment, managing the team and ultimately will be responsible for the timely delivery and final quality of a thrilling stealth game developed for consoles. This position is available immediately.
Location: London, England, United Kingdom
We’re looking for a games programmer with a passion for software creation and problem solving with a proactive, can-do attitude to overcoming technical challenges.
To succeed in this role you will need to have a strong foundation in software engineering and enjoy working on a wide range of diverse and challenging problems within a results focused mission driven team.
Location: Burbank, California
Insomniac Games is looking for a Lead Character TD (may be called a Rigger/Technical Animator) to join our studio. This role is for someone who is an expert in facial rigging and performance/motion capture pipelines. This lead will set the example by developing animation tools, demonstrating excellence and mentors a team of Character TDs. This role is responsible for the design, implementation and management of our technical animation and rigging pipeline. Our lead coordinates and participates in the entire in-game character creation process from concept to implementation.
Location: Oslo, Norway
Krillbite Studio is looking for a producer to work with us on current and future projects. This job entails taking ownership of our projects and helping to scope and guide them according to budgets, timelines and design decisions. The producer should have insight into all disciplines of game development and be able to coordinate between all departments and team members.
Location: Champaign, Illinois
Deep Silver Volition is looking for a Lighting Artist to join our studio for the development of our next exciting open-world game! This position requires an understanding of modern real-time lighting techniques and an eye for artistic excellence. The ideal candidate has deep knowledge of cinematography, color theory, storytelling and the physical qualities of light.
Contributing devs up in arms over Capcom’s use of the FB Alpha emulator
Licensing can be a complicated beast, something that’s very apparent when looking at reactions to Capcom’s recently announced Capcom Home Arcade.
The announcement for the Koch Media-manufactured plug-n-play arcade system earlier this week said that, in the interest of offering the most authentic arcade emulation possible, the Capcom Home Arcade is powered by an emulator called FB Alpha.
Now, in a series of comments spotted by Kotaku, developers that have contributed to the open-source emulator and other members of the emulation community are voicing concerns over the deal, with some arguing that FB Alpha can’t be licensed for commercial use.
Barry Harris, one of the leading devs behind FB Alpha, says that FB Alpha has been licensed for the Capcom Home Arcade, but some are arguing that he doesn’t have the authority to do so due to FB Alpha’s development history.
FB Alpha is an open-source emulator and distributed under a license that specifically notes “You may not sell, lease, rent or otherwise seek to gain monetary profit from FB Alpha.” As outlined later on in that same document, FB Alpha was based on the code of several preceding emulation projects, including emulators like MAME and Final Burn, which each come with their own licensing terms.
The FB Alpha license specifically notes that “due to the use of MAME code in FB Alpha, FB Alpha is also subject to the terms of the MAME license.” A similar disclaimer for Final Burn is found further down on the page.
We know you’re busy and might miss out on all the exciting things we’re talking about on Xbox Wire every week. If you’ve got a few minutes, we can help remedy that. We’ve pared down the past week’s news into one easy-to-digest article for all things Xbox! Or, if you’d rather watch than read, you can feast your eyes on our weekly video show above. Be sure to come back every Friday to find out what’s happening This Week on Xbox!
Microsoft Store Spring Sale: Great Deals on Games, Consoles, and Xbox Game Pass The Microsoft Store Spring Sale kicks off today, so now is the perfect opportunity to score great deals on all things Xbox including the best deal of the year on Xbox Game Pass. Take advantage of Spring deals on Xbox and PC games, Xbox Game Pass and Xbox Live Gold… Read more
The Freedom Update for Furi is Available Now on Xbox One Hello, fighters! We’re happy to launch a free update today to Furi we’re calling the Freedom update. If you haven’t played Furi yet, it’s an all-boss fighter with a unique mix of fast-paced sword fighting and dual-stick shooting. You face one guardian after another… Read more
Dangerous Driving Brings Aggressive Racing Back to Xbox One I just got home after spending the past week showing off Dangerous Driving on Xbox One at PAX East. It was incredible to meet all the hardcore arcade driving game fans that stopped by our booth to get some hands-on time with our game. We had a huge 4K TV… Read more
Tune-In to Sea of Thieves at Twitchcon Europe This weekend, the crew from Rare will be dropping anchor in Berlin for TwitchCon Europe. We’d love to meet up with as many fellow pirates and streamers as possible, so if you’re heading to the Berlin City Cube be sure to visit stand number F25 to say hello… Read more
Strategic and Hardcore RPG For The King Lands on Xbox One May 10 Hello, Xbox Wire readers! I’m incredibly excited to let you know that our smash hit strategy game For The King is coming to Xbox One on May 10! Chaos has befallen Fahrul and the kingdom is on the brink of disaster. Avenge the murder of your King and restore order… Read more
April’s Inside Xbox Has the Scoop on E3 2019 Tune in to an all-new episode of Inside Xbox on Tuesday, April 16, at 2 p.m. PT / 5 p.m. ET for the latest news on E3, including Xbox FanFest and more. Our hour-long April episode will explore some exciting Xbox Game Pass news, new details on the much anticipated… Read more
Make Your Own Video Game at Free Microsoft Store Summer Camps Summer Camps don’t all have to be the same! If your child likes Fortnite just as much as crafts and enjoys Rocket League as much as going camping, then Microsoft Store has the camp for you. And it’s free! This year, Microsoft Store is announcing two new gaming camps… Read more
Creating New Horizons in the World of Skyforge When designing new things for the ever-expansive world of Skyforge on Xbox One, we strive to observe all aspects of what we know in real life, to give it a much more personal touch. We want to give players a chance to, when logged in, feel awe and see expert… Read more
Frostpunk: Console Edition – A Tale of Society at the Brink of Extinction There was a long journey from a tale about harrowing life of civilians in war – This War of Mine – to a game of society survival and city-builder in Frostpunk. Why am I mentioning the first game in a story about the latter? Because creating the first one was a great lesson for us… Read more
Next Week on Xbox: New Games for April 15 to 18 Welcome to Next Week on Xbox, where we cover all the new games coming soon to Xbox One! Every week the team at Xbox aims to deliver quality gaming content for you to enjoy on your favorite gaming console. To find out what’s coming soon to Xbox One… Read more
Hulu: New Movies And TV Shows Coming And Going In May 2019
The new month is almost upon us, and Hulu users are probably looking for some new content to watch on the streaming service. Luckily, Hulu has revealed what's coming for May, and there are plenty of movies and TV series for you to check out.
On May 1, Hulu will be releasing a bunch of movies, many of which you've probably seen and want to watch again. Sacha Baron Cohen's Borat comes to the service that day, and in the 2006 mockumentary, Cohen plays the titular character, a Kazakhstan TV host who heads to America to learn about the country's culture and to marry Pamela Anderson. Other movies of note are the 1994 Kevin Smith film Clerks, the sci-fi thriller Twelve Monkeys, and the '80s classic Wargames. Shaquille O'Neal plays a magic genie in Kazaam, and you can see it for yourself on May 1 as well. Something you can never see is Sinbad playing a genie in the movie Shazaam because it doesn't exist.
If you're looking to binge-watch a TV series, Hulu has many options for the month. On May 4, the first half of Season 6 of Comedy Central's Drunk History comes to the service. On that series, comedians under the influence of alcohol tell stories from world history and actors reenact the stories, which includes many drunken ramblings.
On May 14, Season 15 of The Bachelorette premieres on Hulu. On that show, a person who wants to be on TV takes other people who want to be on TV on a series of dates and eliminates them one-by-one until only one camera-hungry person remains. There is also Bobby Flay’s Barbecue Addiction Season 4 coming on May 15. While I've never seen the series, I'm sure it's about one of two things: chef Bobby Flay cooking different types BBQ or a personal dive into Flay admitting his deep love of BBQ and getting the help he needs.
Hulu will be pulling a bunch of movies from its service on May 31, including Waterworld, which no one will miss. But if you're looking to watch a really expensive movie about people in the ocean and see Kevin Costner with gills, you might want to watch it sooner rather than later. Also leaving the service that day are Office Space, Small Soldiers, Edward Scissorhands, and more.
Below, you'll find the full list for everything coming and leaving Hulu in May. Mark what you're looking forward to on your calendars and please, watch Office Space again.
Coming to Hulu in May
Available May 1
Anger Management (2003)
Bait Shop (2008)
Billboard Dad (1998)
The Big Kahuna (2000)
The Birdcage (1997)
Black Rain (1989)
Borat: Learning of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation Kazakhstan (2006)
Breakdown (1997)
Bully (2001)
The Burrowers (2009)
Catacombs (2007)
Cecil B. Demented (2000)
Center Stage (2000)
Chocolat (2000)
Chuck & Buck (2000)
Clerks (1994)
Dazed and Confused (1993)
Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo (1999)
El Pantra (2018)
The English Patient (1996)
Fair Game (2010)
Fatal Attraction (1987)
Flashdance (1983)
The Green Mile (1999)
Ground Control (1998)
Happy Endings (2005)
Happy-Go-Lucky (2008)
Hardware (1990)
Harsh Times (2006)
Hoodlum (1997)
Hunt for the Skinwalker (2018)
Imagine Me and You (2005)
Julie & Julia (2009)
Kazaam (1996)
The Krays (1990)
Kygo: Stole the Show (2017)
Laddie: The Man Behind the Movies (2017)
Larger than Life (1996)
The Landing (2018)
The Last Animals (2017)
Le Divorce (2002)
The Lucky Ones (2008)
Made (2001)
Major League (1989)
Man of the House (2005)
Mermaids (1990)
My Five Wives (2000)
New Guy (2002)
Nick of Time (1995)
The Night We Never Met (1993)
Passport to Paris (1999)
Possums (1998)
The Pursuit of D.B. Cooper (1981)
Repo! The Genetic Opera (2008)
Rollerball (1975)
Rollerball (2002)
Shaolin Soccer (2001)
Show of Force (1990)
The Sicilian (1987)
Slow Burn (2000)
Spirit (2002)
Star Kid (1998)
Steak this Movie (2000)
Switching Goals (1999)
The Time Machine (2002)
The Toybox (2018)
Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her (2001)
Thirteen (2003)
Twelve Monkeys (1996)
Twice Upon a Yesterday (1999)
Under Siege (1992)
Wargames (1983)
Welcome to Mercy (2018)
Zombieland (2009)
Available May 2
Dies Irae: Complete Season 1 (DUBBED) (Crunchyroll)
Available May 3
Into The Dark: All That We Destroy: Episode 8 Premiere (Hulu Original)
Don’t Believe the Hype: Complete Season 1(Complex)
Everything’s For Sale: Complete Season 1 (Complex)
Jobs Unlisted: Complete Season 1 (Complex)
Price the Hype: Complete Season 1 (Complex)
The Yellow Handkerchief (2008)
Available May 4
Drunk History: Complete Season 6A (Comedy Central)
Painkillers (2018)
The Clovehitch Killer (2018)
Available May 6
Crash (2005)
Unicorn (2018)
Available May 7
My Hero Academia: Complete Season 3A (DUBBED) (Funimation)
Available May 8
Hillbilly (2019)
Available May 9
Action Point (2017)
Available May 10
Dinosaur 13 (2014)
Available May 11
Marvel’s Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D: Season 6 Premiere (ABC)
Above Majestic (2018)
Driver X (2018)
Funny Cow (2017)
One Million American Dreams (2018)
Swimming With Men (2018)
Available May 12
Claws: Complete Season 2 (TNT)
Available May 13
Angels of Death: Complete Season 1 (DUBBED) (Funimation)
Available May 14
The Bachelorette: Season 15 Premiere (ABC)
The Romantics (2010)
Available May 15
Big Bad BBQ Brawl: Complete Season 2 (Cooking Channel)
Bobby Flay’s Barbecue Addiction: Complete Season 4 (Food Network)
Frost Reveal Completes The Mortal Kombat 11 Launch Roster
In the lead-up to the release of Mortal Kombat 11, NetherRealm Studios has been sharing reveal trailers for each of the fighters on a regular basis.
In the latest Kombat Kast live stream, the team showed off Frost – the final launch game character. Frost was introduced to the series in Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance as Sub-Zero’s apprentice and since then has turned into an evil cyborg.
Can you feel the chill in the air? Frost makes her long-awaited return to kombat in #MK11
While we’re at it, here’s the Kombat Kast:
So, after about four months of character reveals, we now know the entire base game roster. Of course, more fighters will be added as paid DLC over time. The first of the six is the master sorcerer, Shang Tsung. For more information about the Kombat Pack, click here.
Mortal Kombat 11 is now available in North America and arrives in Europe this May.
Have you tried out the game on the Switch yet? Tell us down in the comments.
Last weekend, Team Hare took on Team Tortoise in the Splatoon 2 SpringFest. The votes have now been tallied up:
The #Splatoon2 #SpringFest numbers are in, and #TeamHare rewrites the story with a 2-1 win! Thanks to all the rabbits and turtles that joined in this #Splatfest, and be sure to grab your Super Sea Snails in Inkopolis Square!
Did you participate in the SpringFest? Were you on the winning side? Let us know in the comments.
Posted by: xSicKxBot - 04-23-2019, 05:46 PM - Forum: Windows
- No Replies
‘Minecraft Village & Pillage’ update now available
Did it take a village to finish Minecraft’s biggest update yet? Oh pah-lease. It took so much more! It took hardworking developers, pixel artists, that wonderful person who keeps the office fridge stocked, far too many employees to thank here, and most of all – you! – the players, giving us your constant feedback every step of the way. You helped make Village & Pillage an update we couldn’t be more proud of.
Best of all, we get to release it today! Xbox One, Windows 10 Edition, iOS, Android and Nintendo Switch players will find the update ready to be installed either right now, very soon, or in the recent past – in fact, why not check your chosen Minecraft platform now and see if you’re ready to join all new-villages, fight all-new mobs, and discover tons more all-new all-great features!
You’ll find a full changelog below, but while you’re still up here, I’ll highlight some of my favourite new features:
Pillagers! What can I say? I love a good scrap, and so do the newest mob to enter Minecraft, even if they’re not too bright. Quick, craft a brand-new crossbow before they attack you with theirs!
The Wandering Trader! A mysterious merchant who travels the lands in search of sales. Sure, I could waste more of my life telling you all about this sales savant, but why bother when I can just link you to this ace video all about the Wandering Trader instead? Or this brilliant article written by Per ‘you better mention I also worked on that video’ Landin?
New villager trades! You’ll find villagers busy beavering away at their new jobs in each village you visit, and we’ll have a deep dive into all their new occupations this Saturday!
Keep checking Minecraft on Xbox One, Windows 10 Edition, iOS, Android and Nintendo Switch for the update, and enjoy!
Want to chat with us about the update? Join us on the official Minecraft Discord at discord.gg/Minecraft
Known Issue: some mobs are bugged and might look like new villagers in some Marketplace maps. We’re working on a hotfix and we want to get it out to you as soon as we can – please don’t open these worlds until then. See aka.ms/brokenworlds for more information.
Please note that there is a bug that currently affects HD texture packs on mobile devices. Using these texture packs may cause your game to crash. Until we get this bug fixed, we advise you to not use HD texture packs on mobile devices. We hope to get this bug fixed soon!
FULL CHANGELOG
Village
Updated Villages
Many new building types and enhanced village generation
Biome specific architecture for plains, desert, savannah, and taiga
New Villagers
Villagers have new clothing to indicate their level, profession, and biome
Added Mason and Nitwit villagers
Villagers now sleep in beds
Villagers now visit their job sites during the day and go home at night
Greatly improved villager pathfinding
Villagers in existing worlds will convert to new villagers (if they are not part of a template world)
Zombie Villagers now have biome-specific and profession skin layers
Village Job Sites
Villagers can now take on a new profession when near a job site block
While villagers claim these sites, they also have functions for players
Cartography Table – Provides an easier way to copy and enlarge maps. Maps can be locked by using glass panes
Grindstone – Used to repair weapons and tools, plus disenchanting
Barrel – Stores items like a chest but can still be opened with blocks on top of it
Smoker – Cooks food much faster than a furnace
Blast Furnace – Faster ore smelting
Composter – Adding enough crops will produce bone meal
Stonecutter – Easy crafting for stone and cobblestone items
Smithing Table and Fletching Table – Functionality coming in a later update
Villager Trading
Added brand new villager trades (169044)
Villagers now have a visual based trading system and will hold up an item they wish to trade if the player is holding something they want
When villagers make trades, they gain experience. When they gain enough experience, they level up. Leveling up unlocks new trades
Villagers will resupply their trades when arriving at their job site (172559)
Wandering Trader
A villager mob that will appear at a village’s gathering site periodically and stays for a period of 2-3 game days
This trader offers items from a wide variety of different biomes, random dyes, and other rare materials
Accompanied on their journey by two fancy llamas!
Bells
When rung, all villagers will run into their houses
Bells ring when players interact with them or are powered by redstone
Pillage
Pillager Outposts
The new tower hangout for pillagers that generate in the same biomes as villages
Pillagers will respawn around the tower
Clear them out and score some loot!
Illager Captain
Raids
When a player enters a village with Bad Omen, a raid will be triggered
Pillager enemies will attack a village in waves
Players that successfully defend a village from a raid will receive the Hero of the Village effect, giving a steep discount on trades with villagers
Ravager
A powerful, new enemy mob found in illager patrols and during village raids
When running, it can destroy some blocks like crops so watch out!
Can be ridden into battle by illagers
Pillager Patrols
New Features
Campfire
A new light source to cozy up your village
Works great as a fireplace in a home, with no fire spread to worry about
Throw some food on it and become a campfire cooking pro!
Sweet Berries
Bamboo Jungle
New Achievements
Plethora of Cats – Befriend twenty stray cats (20G)
Kill the Beast! – Defeat a Ravager (30G)
Buy Low, Sell High – Trade for the best possible price (50G)
Disenchanted – Use a Grindstone to get experience from an enchanted item (20G)
We’re being attacked – Trigger a Pillager Raid (20G)
Sound the Alarm! – Ring the bell with a hostile enemy in the village (20G)
I’ve got a bad feeling about this – Kill a Pillager Captain (20G)
Roaming Skin Choice
When choosing a skin from a skin pack, the selected skin will now be selected automatically on other Bedrock devices using the same account
Some skin packs may not be eligible for roaming selection
Accessibility Features
Text to Speech can now be enabled to read in-game chat
UI Screen Reader can be enabled to say the name of interface controls and their current state
Accessibility features can be enabled in Settings
Changes
Note on World Generation: In order to deliver the coolest generated villages possible, some world seeds may have villages generate in different areas than they used to before this update
A fresh new batch of seeds are now available in the Seed Picker when creating a new world
Added even more new textures to blocks and items, including stained glass
Increased the amount of scaffolding that can be placed out from its initial support
Changes to the way cats spawn in villages:
Cats now respawn based on number of beds in the village
The number of cats = 1/4 the number of beds
Cat total caps at 10 cats per village
Lecterns now emit a redstone signal when turning pages
Darkened portions of the game’s menus to provide stronger contrast for accessibility
Posted by: xSicKxBot - 04-23-2019, 11:33 AM - Forum: Lounge
- No Replies
Pokemon Go: Shiny Meltan Event Returning This Week For A Limited Time
If you missed the chance to catch a Shiny Meltan in Pokemon Go back when it first appeared this past February, you're in luck. Niantic is bringing the Meltan event back beginning this Wednesday, April 24, which means players around the world will soon have another opportunity to capture the Shiny form of the Mythical Hex Nut Pokemon. But you'll need to act quickly, as it'll only be around for a limited time.
Unlike other Pokemon, Meltan will only appear in Pokemon Go if you've opened the Mystery Box, an item you get in the mobile game after you've transferred a Gen 1 Pokemon to Let's Go Pikachu or Eevee on Nintendo Switch. Typically, the Mystery Box will close after 30 minutes, and you'll need to wait seven days before opening it again; during the Meltan event, however, you'll be able to re-open it after three days, allowing you to find Meltan much quicker than usual.
You'll also have a chance of encountering a Shiny Meltan each time you open the Mystery Box. You can tell the Shiny variant apart by its darker head and blue tail. If you manage to catch a Shiny Meltan and evolve it into Melmetal, it'll retain its Shiny coloration. However, you'll only be able to find Shiny Meltan until May 5, so you'll want to act fast if you're hoping to get one. You can read more on how to catch the Mythical Pokemon in our Meltan and Melmetal guide.
Meltan isn't the only Shiny Pokemon appearing in Pokemon Go soon. To celebrate the inaugural Safari Zone event in Singapore, the rare Gen 2 Pokemon Shuckle will be appearing around the world from April 20-21. During that time, players will also have their first chance to find Shiny Shuckle. Shiny Latios is also available as part of a special Raid event, which is set to end on April 22.
Not long after the Meltan event ends, Niantic will be holding Pokemon Go's next Community Day. That event is scheduled to take place on Sunday, May 19, and this time around the featured Pokemon will be Torchic, one of the three starters from Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire. You'll also be able to earn triple the usual amount of Stardust for every Pokemon you catch during May's Community Day.
While Capcom actually has a firmer grounding the world of RPGs than we give it credit for – Breath of Fire, anyone? – the company’s name doesn’t instantly spring to mind when discussing the genre; that’s what made the release of Dragon’s Dogma in 2012 such an unusual event. Following hot on the heels of FromSoftware’s critically-acclaimed (and thematically-similar) Dark Souls, Capcom’s action role-player had the hallmark of a hastily-assembled clone, released solely to capitalise on the gaming public’s newfound interest in the fantasy genre, but in actual fact, it had been in development since 2008 and shares some similarities with studio stablemate Monster Hunter. Still, the comparisons with Dark Souls – and other action RPGs – did Dragon’s Dogma absolutely no harm whatsoever, and it quickly sold over a million copies globally; no mean feat for an entirely new IP.
Fast forward to the present day, and Nintendo players are finally getting to find out what all the fuss is about. Despite meeting with critical and commercial success at the time of release – and getting an updated release in the form of Dark Arisen – Dragon’s Dogma has never been blessed with a proper sequel, outside of the Japan-only spin-off Dragon’s Dogma Online. Capcom has instead been content to simply reheat the Dark Arisen update, which was first released in 2013 and has since seen its way onto the Xbox One and PlayStation 4. That’s the version we’re getting today on Switch, six years after the original game hit the PS3 and Xbox 360.
So yes, this is another ‘remaster’ release of an old title that Sony and Microsoft fans have played (and perhaps even replayed) years ago – but before you judge it too harshly, it’s worth noting that Dragon’s Dogma has rightfully earned its reputation as one of the finest action RPGs of recent memory, and even a straight port – which this effectively is, as the additional content is meagre at best – is cause for celebration, especially as we can now explore the rolling expanses of Gransys on the move.
You assume the role of the titular Arisen, a customisable human avatar who is plucked from obscurity following an early encounter with an apparently malevolent dragon. Accompanying you on your quest are up to three ‘Pawns’; versatile (and, with the exception of your first Pawn, whom you create from scratch) totally interchangeable warriors who lack the free will to make them truly human. While you don’t have the ability to directly control these AI companions, you can issue them basic instructions during battle, such as coming to your aid or simply urging them to fight.
The level of Pawn you can ‘hire’ is tied to your current level, so you’ll want to visit the many Riftstones dotted around the landscape to swap them out for stronger characters from time to time – or keep an eye out for wandering Pawns as you walk the roads of Gransys. You can also exchange Rift Crystals to hire Pawns that are above your current level, which is a sound tactic when you need a powerful helper for an especially tricky quest. The really cool thing about Pawns is that they are created by other players, just as you create your ‘main’ Pawn, giving the game a sense of community even though there are no traditional multiplayer options present. You can even share Pawns using your Nintendo Account without the need for a Nintendo Switch Online subscription, which is a nice touch.
The Pawn system – and the combat mechanics which tie in with it – set Dragon’s Dogma apart from other games of this type. We dare say that since its initial launch in 2012 many people will have gazed at screenshots of the game and dismissed it as another boring fantasy RPG, but that couldn’t be less true. While it has all the staples of your traditional role-playing epic – consumable items, a crafting system, experience points, upgradeable equipment (which, like other items in your inventory, adds to your overall weight, slowing you down the more you carry) and loads and loads of NPCs to chat with, many of whom sound like they’ve wandered in from a local amateur stage production of well-known Shakespearean works – Dragon’s Dogma’s combat system is a joy to behold.
Whereas titles like Skyrim boast enjoyable yet clunky combat, Dragon’s Dogma puts Capcom’s experience in the realm of action titles to good use; director Hideaki Itsuno worked on the Devil May Cry series, and it shows. At its most basic level, you have a weak and strong attack, and these can be used to create simple combos. The game does a decent job of making sure you’re locked onto the nearest enemy, and battles tend to be pretty swift affairs, making this feel more like a hack-and-slash brawler than a slow-paced RPG. However, the combat engine has surprising depth thanks to the fact that you have different abilities mapped to the L and R buttons. Hold one of these down, and the Y, X and A buttons become assigned to certain skills, such as dashing attacks, grapples and other special moves. All of these skills are linked to your current ‘Vocation’, which is Dragon’s Dogma parlance for character type, and using them consumes stamina, which takes a short time to recharge (running also eats away at your stamina gauge, and draining it down to zero leaves you breathless and exposed).
You start the game with the ‘Basic Vocations’, such as Fighter, Strider and Mage, and as you gain experience through combat you boost not only your base level (which of course means your stats increase) but also your Vocation level. Growing your Vocation level opens up more skills, which can be unlocked using Discipline Points earned in battle by speaking to certain NPCs (usually at inns or points where you can sleep and recover). Visiting the same NPCs allows you to switch out your skills and even your Vocation, and a massive part of the game’s appeal is changing to a different character type and exploring fresh battle strategies. Even when you’ve arrived at your preferred Vocation there’s ample room for experimentation and customisation as you chop-and-change your assigned moves and abilities to find the perfect balance for your own personal playstyle.
After a while, you unlock Hybrid and Advanced Vocations, such as Magik Archer, Mystik Knight, Assassin, and Sorcerer, and these not only allow you to carry over other skills you’ve unlocked elsewhere (for example, any skill tied to the use of a sword will be available from the off when you switch to another sword-based Vocation) but you also get the chance to gain more powerful skills exclusive to that Vocation, as well as access to exclusive weapons and gear. Vocations like the Assassin allow you to mix ranged bow attacks with robust blade skills, while assuming the Mystik Knight Vocation means you can support your Pawns with spells without sacrificing your melee potential. Because so many of the Vocations have abilities that apply to other character types, slowly but surely expanding your skill base – which also includes ‘Core’ skills which are activated immediately, and ‘Augments’ which bestow special talents – becomes an incredibly addictive pastime. It also means that every single enemy encounter in the game is worthwhile, as it not only gives you the chance to boost your Vocation level but also gain Discipline Points which can be used to unlock more skills, starting a whole new cycle of experimentation as you swap out existing skills for freshly-obtained ones.
Of course, even the most satisfying of combat engines will lose its appeal if you don’t have a wide and varied selection of foes to dispatch, and Dragon’ Dogma certainly does not disappoint in this regard. Sure, there are certain weaker enemies you’ll encounter regularly (the lizard-like Saurians and a host of goblins spring to mind) but occasional encounters with larger opponents – such as the Griffin, Troll, Chimera and Cyclops – give off more than a slight whiff of Monster Hunter, another of Capcom’s famous franchises. Using the ZR trigger (which also allows you to grab smaller enemies and restrain them while your Pawns finish them off) you can grapple bigger foes and climb onto them, delivering as many devastating, targeted blows as your rapidly-depleting stamina will allow.
Facing off against Dragon’s Dogma’s bigger monsters is a real thrill, especially as your Pawns begin to grow in experience and learn the correct tactics to take down certain beasts. The Cyclops, for example, is covered in tough armour which must be picked away to reveal its tender flesh, but its true weak spot is its single eye. The Crimera, on the other hand, has the head of a lion, goat and snake, each of which has its own energy bar. Silence the goat, and the monster’s ability to use magic is removed, making the confrontation easier. While these epic battles aren’t quite as nuanced as those in Monster Hunter, they’re still surprisingly deep and very enjoyable.
The thoroughly rewarding feedback loop afforded by the Vocation system would be enough to encourage hours of play, but its appeal is buttressed by the fact that the world you inhabit is so vast and rich in detail. Gransys is massive; it takes a considerable amount of time to walk from one end to the other, and while fast travel items are available, more often than not you’ll find yourself moving on foot so you can comb the forests, beaches and caves for valuable items and get into as many brawls as possible to earn more experience points. A day-and-night system is also in place, and travelling in the dark is made more difficult by the fact that your most trusted source of illumination – an oil-based lamp – needs to be constantly restocked.
Progress in Dragon’s Dogma is underpinned by an evolving story which sees you journeying to Gran Soren – Gransys’ capital city – to meet with Edmun Dragonsbane, the current ruler of the kingdom and a former Arisen himself, before striking out into the wilds in different directions from this main base. As is often the case with these games, you’ll find that things aren’t strictly as they seem, but along the way, there are a staggering number of side-quests and missions to undertake, all of which offer items, money and experience points as reward. Some even have ramifications on other quests later in the game; a character you aid early in the game may prove pivotal at a later juncture, for example.
On your initial playthrough, you will almost certainly invest tens of hours into Dragon’s Dogma; even if you decide to rush through as quickly as possible (a speedrun mode is included, in case you were wondering), you’ll still be expending many, many hours. A complete run – where you try to finish as many quests as possible – could see your time in Gransys creep over 100-hour mark, and once you’re done, there’s the NG+ mode to consider. Longevity is not an issue with Dragon’s Dogma, and let’s not forget the inclusion of Bitterblack Isle, a super-tough dungeon exclusive to the Dark Arisen update which will test even the most dedicated of players.
What could be an issue is the fact that the game does become slightly repetitive over time; while Gransys is undeniably massive, you’ll end up seeing some parts of it more often than others, purely by virtue of the fact that there are only a handful of major settlements to speak of and missions tend to be focused around these bustling bastions of humanity. Other parts of the kingdom remain criminally underused, perhaps only seen during a single quest before being forgotten. It’s a minor issue admittedly, but one that does tend to stick out after you’ve spent a large amount of time in Gransys.
Another problem is the fact that even in 2012, Dragon’s Dogma looked a little rough around the edges. While the landscape is incredible and you’ll never grow tired of the amazing sunsets and vistas which go on for miles in the distance, this visual beauty is balanced out by the fact that some environmental details pop-in awkwardly as you get close to them, and many of the game’s motor-mouthed NPCs look primitive and goofy. Like Dark Souls, Dragon’s Dogma nails the grim fantasy aesthetic the majority of the time, and we suspect the two call upon some of the same influences (Kentaro Miura’s ultra-violent medieval fantasy Berserk being one obvious example), and, like FromSoftware’s seminal series, actually ends up being a more convincing western fantasy than many games created by western developers; still, in places it does look and feel like it could do with a little more polish. And did we mention that the constant, incessant chatter of your Pawns during battle can become utterly maddening? There’s only so many times that we need to be told that “Wolves hunt in packs!” and “Fire works well!” before it sinks in.
Like the PS4 and Xbox One update of Dark Arisen, this is a largely untouched update. The visuals haven’t been polished up, so you’re getting pretty much the same experience as was available back at the time of the original launch. The Switch version runs well enough, with only a slight drop in performance when there’s a lot of on-screen activity – and this is only really noticeable when playing in handheld mode. You could argue that getting the likes of DOOM and Wolfenstein II running on Switch is a far more commendable achievement, but cramming a world as large as Gransys into a portable system feels – to this writer, at least – just as impressive; while it’s not as huge as Hyrule is in Breath of the Wild, it’s arguably richer and detailed.
Posted by: xSicKxBot - 04-23-2019, 05:32 AM - Forum: Lounge
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Trine 4 Is A Return For The Series
There was a lot of uncertainty surrounding the fate of the Trine series after 2015's divisive Trine 3: The Artifacts of Power. That game marked a bold step for the burgeoning franchise, eschewing the 2.5D gameplay that defined its predecessors for full 3D environments. But developer Frozenbyte's ambitions came at a steep cost; the game's budget exceeded $5 million, nearly triple the amount it took to develop Trine 2, and the studio consequently had to pare the scope of the adventure back, leading to criticism that it felt unfinished.
Since then the series has largely lain dormant, but it is set to reemerge later this fall with the release of Trine 4: The Nightmare Prince, the first new installment in four years. Frozenbyte has evidently taken the criticisms leveled at Trine 3 to heart, as The Nightmare Prince brings the series back to its 2.5D roots. As the studio explained during a recent hands-off demo session, the impetus behind this decision was twofold: the developers found that the 2.5D gameplay was a better fit for the game's puzzles, and fans had wanted to see the series return to the style of earlier titles.
Just as in the previous games, The Nightmare Prince follows the adventures of three heroes: Pontius the knight, Zoya the thief, and Amadeus the wizard. This time around, the trio have been dispatched by the Astral Academy to retrieve a missing prince who's suffering from a curious affliction: his dark dreams are able to manifest in the real world and terrorize the people of the kingdom. As before, each of the three protagonists has their own unique abilities, which you'll need to utilize fully on your quest to rescue the prince: Amadeus is able to conjure up large boxes that can be used to press down on switches or reach inaccessible areas; Zoya can fire arrows and tie objects together; and Pontius is capable of deflecting projectiles and rays of light with his shield.
You're able to freely swap between all three characters on the fly as you play--and in fact you'll need to do just that in order to progress through the adventure, as you'll often come across bosses and environmental obstacles that can only be overcome by using the heroes' abilities in tandem; a chasm, for instance, can be crossed by first conjuring a block with Amadeus, then using Zoya's arrows to tie it to another object, creating a makeshift tightrope that you can walk across. Boss battles will likewise have puzzle elements to them; in the demo we witnessed, the rotund Pontius came face to face with a hulking undead knight. The creature was impervious to standard attacks, so Pontius had to first clear the vines choking the room's windows to allow light to filter in, then reflect the beams at the foe.
While the entire adventure is playable solo, the series is best as a cooperative experience, and just as previous installments, Trine 4 allows other players to jump in and join the journey at any time locally or online. According to Frozenbyte, some of the game's puzzles will even differ depending on if you're playing alone or with friends, and you'll be prompted whether you'd like to encounter the solo or co-op versions of the puzzles when in a multiplayer session. The developer also confirmed that the robust skill trees from the first two installments are returning in Trine 4, adding another layer of depth to the adventure.
After the ambitious missteps of Trine 3, Trine 4 is a clear reset for the beloved puzzle-platforming series. Frozenbyte is drawing heavily from the formula established by the first two Trine games for its latest installment. For fans of those titles, however, that is likely assurance enough that the series is returning to form. Trine 4: The Nightmare Prince launches for PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC via Steam this fall.