‘Nioh’: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know

The road to the eventual release of Nioh has been long, but it’s finally coming to an end.

Team Ninja (the devs behind the Dead or Alive and Ninja Gaiden series’) have spent years fine tuning the story and gameplay mechanics behind this action RPG. Now that it has transitioned from a PS3 title to a PS4 one, Nioh has been created to include the best elements of the Dark Souls and Onimusha games. After spending plenty of time with the game’s Alpha phase and subsequent demos, our excitement for it has grown exponentially. Come Feb. 7, everyone who’s enjoyed each small playable snippet of Nioh will finally get to enjoy its fully realized samurai journey.

Take a stroll with us through the demon infested and Samurai filled world of Nioh.

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1. Nioh Initially Began as a PS3 Project in 2004

Final Fantasy XV began life as Final Fantasy Versus XIII in 2006. The Last Guardian was first announced in 2009. Another long in development game just so happens to be Nioh, which came to life as a concept in 2004. The development hands dealing with the game went from Koei to Omega Force to finally Team Ninja. From a narrative standpoint, Nioh was supposed to be based on the script of an unfinished Akira Kurosawa film called Oni.

At first, the game was more akin to a Japanese RPG that eventually transformed into Dynasty Warriors-like concept. Nioh soon entered development hell due to the game’s general producer (Kou Shibusawa) not approving of what the game had turned into. Once 2015 rolled around though, Nioh got re-introduced to the world as a PS4 exclusive. This is when the game finally transitioned into a more hardcore action RPG.

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2. You __play as a Westerner Named William, Who’s Fending Off Demons in the 1600s

Nioh is based around a man who hails from the West named William. While it takes place in the early 1600s within Japan, it’s set in a more fantastical rendition of the Sengoku Period. Amidst all the war and bloodshed erupting during this violent time, the threat of demons called “Yokai” have begun to spring up and cause plenty of havoc. William is placed into Japan during this time as he’s set out out to confront one of his main enemies. Along the way, he’ll come into contact with all sorts of real world historical figures and original characters made specifically for the game.

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3. William Wields Various Weapons and Fights in Three Powerful Stances

What sets Nioh apart from the games its been compared to is its incredibly deep combat system. William can head into battle with all types of swords, spears, axes, hammers etc. William can also choose to pick off enemies from a distance through the use of an equipped bow & arrow or firearm. Like Dark Souls and Onimusha, you’ll use the souls gathered from defeated foes to upgrade William’s skillset and weapon mastery. Along with melee and ranged weapons, you can call upon the spirits of mystical animals who empower William with elemental powers.

When it comes time to fight enemies face-to-face, players can change William’s fighting stance. The High Stance focuses more on high attack/break power, but William’s dodging and blocking is more limited. The Mid Stance offers higher defense and more balanced stats for its overall attack strength. And finally, the Low Stance is much better suited to faster evasive maneuvers. You’ll need to change between each stance during battle in order to fend off the many enemies who can wipe you out in just a few hits. By utilizing the game’s online co-op feature, combating such beasts becomes a much more manageable task.

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‘Pokemon Go’ Nest Migration 12: What Spawns Are Different?

‘Pokemon Go’ is available for iOS and Android devices. (Niantic)

Yet another Pokemon Go nest migration has just taken place.

In the free-to-play mobile game from Niantic Labs, nests are places in the real world where a substantial number of the same Pokemon species can reliably be found. Every two weeks, though, the nests are altered to output a different Pokemon species. Sometimes the nests will also disappear entirely, and still other times new nests are added.

For the most part, changes to your local nests will be quite unpredictable; just because one Squirtle nest changed to a Charmander nest doesn’t mean this will happen to every Squirtle nest around the globe. There are usually some nest changes that are common, but you’ll only really be sure when you go check out a nest yourself.

You can also use The Silph Road to keep track of nest changes, though. This website has a giant Pokemon Go map where users report nests in their area and what Pokemon they spawn. What’s especially helpful is the fact that the website specifically tells you how recent the information is. For example, in the screenshot below, the nest is registered on The Silph Road as a Tentacool nest, but is that before or after the latest nest migration? Well, you’ll notice that this was reported as a Tentacool nest on January 26th, and so yes, this is the most up to date information.

If you’re wondering how the nest migration is affecting players around the world, here are some of the changes that have been reported by users of the Silph Road subreddit:

• Abra –> Voltorb
• Charmander –> Exeggcute
• Charmander –> Jynx
• Charmander –> Vulpix
• Doduo –> Abra
• Doduo –> Voltorb
• Drowzee –> Venonat
• Ekans –> Eevee
• Electrobuzz –> Sandslash
• Exeggcute –> Doduo
• Exxegcute –> Horsea
• Geodude –> Omanyte
• Horsea –> Drowzee
• Jigglypuff –> Pidgey
• Jynx –> Seel
• Kabuto –> Seel
• Magmar –> Gastly
• Magnemite –> Omanyte
• Mankey –> Sandshrew
• Nidoran (Male) –> Sandshrew
• Nidoran –> Growlithe
• Nidoran –> Rhyhorn
• Oddish –> Voltorb
• Omanyte –> Bulbasaur
• Omanyte –> Magicarp
• Omanyte –> Vulpix
• Onix –> Kabuto
• Onix –> Slowpoke
• Onyx -> Pikachu
• Pidgey –> Pidgey
• Pidgey –> Squirtle
• Pikachu –> Kabuto
• Pikachu –> Onix
• Pikachu –> Shellder
• Poliwag –> Ponyta
• Poliwag –> Voltorb
• Ponyta –> Geodude
• Rhydon –> Ekans
• Sandshrew –> Omanyte
• Scyther –> Jigglypuff
• Scyther –> Zubat
• Scyther–>Poliwag
• Seel –> Geodude
• Slowpoke –> Drowzee
• Squirtle –> Abra
• Squirtle –> Tentacool
• Staryu –> Abra
• Staryu –> Kabuto
• Staryu –> Shellder
• Tentacool–>Dratini
• Vulpix –> Jinx

Brendan Morrow is a Heavy contributor who covers news, politics, professional wrestling, and more. He has previously written about film for Bloody Disgusting, We Got This Covered, What Culture, and The Celebrity Cafe. Follow him on twitter @brendanmorrow.
January 26, 2017 11:05 am

‘WWE Champions’: Top Tips & Cheats You Need to Know

Here are the top 12 tips/tricks/cheats you need to know for WWE Champions.

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• To improve your odds of victory, always ensure that your Superstar’s Talent is higher than the opponent’s Superstar.

• Never go into a match without healing your Superstar.

• Using the right Superstar Class in a match can give you a major advantage in the match. Click the class icons to access the class wheel to help you figure out who’s your perfect Superstar. Take note – Tricksters > Technicians, Technicians > Powerhouses, Powerhouses > Acrobats, Acrobats > Showboats, Showboats > Strikers and Strikers > Tricksters.

• Evolve and Enhance your Superstars whenever you can. Their efficiency in a match is greatly improved by doing do. Try to have at least one upgraded wrestler from every class, too.

• Explore side matches on tours – they have challenging opponents and great rewards to help boost your Superstar roster.

• Join a Faction to chat with other WWE fans. Additionally, that chosen faction can help heal your injured Superstars.

• Try and match gems that help power up your moves. Having access to moves earlier than your opponent can change the tide of the match. Matching up four gems leads to even more damage than usual, too. Try to match up with loot boxes if you can since they’ll award you with gifts like coins.

• Pay attention to your opponent’s moves and if they are close to being charged. Some moves have devastating consequences. Make sure you charge up your Finisher first.

• Pay attention to your opponent’s class and take special note of the gems they do the most damage with.

• Versus in WWE Champions is competitive. Keep upgrading your defense team as you rise through the leagues.

• Don’t forget to equip and use props; they are mini moves that allow you to change a bad turn into a good one.

• Explore different combinations of Superstars in tag team matches. Some Superstars get bonuses when used together.

Games Inbox: When to announce a new game, Resident Evil 7 vs. P.T., and Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag 2

God Of War – no release date in sight, but the hype is real

The morning Inbox relays more hopes and fears for Project Scorpio, as one reader applauds Classic FM’s new video game show.

To join in with the discussions yourself email gamecentral@ukmetro.co.uk

Early announcement

With all the talk of Microsoft vs. Sony’s line-up at the moment, not to mention the debacle over the Switch presentation, I’ve been looking through each company’s announced games and its pretty obvious to me why the PlayStation console is selling more. They might not come out for ages but Sony has announced so many games you actually know what to look forward to. God Of War, Days Gone, Death Stranding… who knows when we’ll get these but the reveals look great and that builds the hype.

Microsoft also has a decent line-up in theory but we haven’t really seen anything for Crackdown 3 to really get excited about, or Scalebound before it was cancelled. Sea Of Thieves also seems really vague as to what it’s really about. Even though they’ll probably be out before Sony’s games I don’t feel I’ve seen enough of them to get excited. All it needs is a good trailer but that’s something Nintendo clearly don’t understand.

As others have said they should’ve been blitzing us with game trailers, but instead they gave us as few as they could get away with. It makes me wonder how much of this is mixed up with the Bethesda policy of not revealing much about games until they’re out. It worked for Fallout 4 but not Dishonored 2 so I’m kind of surprised it’s still going on. Mass Effect: Andromeda seems worryingly short on hype or information for a big name game that’s out in two months. I mean worrying for EA, not me. I’ll just wait for the reviews.
Pete

Added expenses

Very mixed message on the Project Scorpio. Obviously it’s all guesswork and rumours at the moment but I hope Microsoft learn the lesson from Sony that you’ve got to explain why people need to get, beyond just the 4K stuff. I really hope that isn’t the focus because as others have said recently it really isn’t enough to justify a new TV and an expensive new console. Although now I think about it that is what Phil Spencer was focusing on in your interview with him.

I’m not to bothered about the idea of them dropping the idea of VR though, only because it’s another super expensive extra that I’m not going to shell out for. At least not at the same time. I don’t understand how these companies think the best way to acclimatise people to buying expensive mid-generation upgrades is having to buy something else super expensive at the same time to get the most out of it.

And yet I do want Microsoft to get a boost from Scorpio. They don’t deserve to be beating twice over by Sony and yet I don’t see anything in their current line-up that is going to make any big difference. The Scorpio needs to be a big deal and it needs to have games, normal games that don’t need some other new thing to work, that show it off to its best.
Gifford

Modern classic

Good on Classic FM for support video game music, really chuffed to hear about that. I guess they can’t do retro music because it’s not orchestral, even though it’s our equivalent of classical music!

I do actually listen to the station sometimes anyway, as it’s very relaxing. I got into classical music, to a degree, from listening to music soundtrack, especially Star Wars, and I think they obviously see that as way into the ‘hardcore’ classical music scene. Video game music is essentially the same deal, and a lot of movie composers actually work on the big games as well.

A nice feel good story that, and a positive sign that games are earning some kind of mainstream acceptance. If only it wasn’t on a Saturday night!
Onibee

E-mail your comments to: gamecentral@ukmetro.co.uk

Enough to be getting on with

Resident Evil 7 is great but it’s intense! I don’t think I could __play it in VR! I took a punt on Yakuza 0 and agree it’s a great game with loads to do, and the story and fighting is great. It feels like a Sega game. You don’t get many of them these days, so I’m sorry I missed out on this series for so long.

As for Forza Motorsport, 5 is a great game but 6 is basically the full fat version of 5 with far more cars, tracks, and modes. And everything is more refined, plus it has rain and night racing. Still, there’s a good amount of career mode races in 5 and a load of great cars, so plenty to get stuck into if you can pick it up cheap. But 6 is pretty cheap these days as well, and has a lot more in it.
Big Angry Dad82 (gamertag)/Big_Angry_Dad82 (PSN ID)

Alone in the dark

I finally managed to download P.T. on the PlayStation 4. Played it in the dark with the PlayStation 4 7.1 headphones on. What can I say except wow? For only a teaser/demo it was bloody scary. At one point I jumped so much I scared the wife, who wasn’t expecting it.

Pity Silent Hills fell through, could of been amazing. Now just wish I had the PlayStation VR for Resident Evil 7.
Standi01 (PSN ID)

A pirate’s life again

If there ever was a Black Flag 2 made, what would everyone do to make it stand out above other titles in the series?

I would merge the features of Unity, Black Flag, and Rouge into the game, as well as add a much bigger world map and gives this a storyline that would make good use of the features.

One other thing I’d do is let the player upgrade the ships in their fleet and utilise them a bit more in single-player.

I don’t know if we will ever see anything like this happen but hopefully Ubisoft might make another Black Flag title.
gaz be rotten

GC: It was one of the most popular entries, so you never know. But we suspect the next one will try to distance itself as much as possible from the rest of the series.

Going down

Just a quick message to say that Zelda: Breath Of The Wild for Switch has dropped in price by another £2 for non-Amazon Prime members. And the Switch Pro Controller has dropped from £99.99(!) to £64.99 on Amazon.

Although it is £59.99 on the Official Nintendo Store.
Andrew J.
Just completed: Lara Croft And The Guardian Of Light (Xbox 360)

Catch up on every previous Games Inbox here

Pity the poor pikmin

Listening to the pikmin wail as their souls leave their bodies after they’ve drowned, been engulfed, electrocuted, crushed or devoured has to be one of the most harrowing things I have ever experienced in all of gaming. The pang of guilt as a dozen or more pikmin succumb to an unfortunate demise is pretty inconsolable at times for me.

I feel like a monster for sending these cute, lovable fellas to an early grave and begin to feel all melancholic at how bad my digital parenting skills have been. These pikmin deserved to flourish I say to myself, before shaking off the malaise and soldiering on in Charlie, Alph, and Brittany’s quest to harvest fruit to save their species from certain doom and safely return home.

The sense of camaraderie with the pikmin is one of the defining strengths of the series, I’ve always felt Nintendo nailed this aspect from the inception, with the revelatory GameCube game. But now that you can __play as up to three characters, micromanage three groups of Pikmin to complete objectives more efficiently, and there are some more elaborate puzzles that require all the man power at your disposal to triumph, the gameplay in Nintendo’s exceedingly charming series has never felt more sophisticated and enriched.

Also, it still amazes me how masterfully Nintendo have repurposed pretty taxing real-time strategy elements and melded it with their own inimitable game-making philosophy; rendering this style of game as more inclusive and gamer-friendly than usual. Time and time again Nintendo have proven to be experts at hiding the medicine in the ice cream in their deliciously deep productions.

I don’t hear this aspect of the game touted much, but I staunchly believe Pikmin 3 makes some of the best, most intelligent use of the Wii U GamePad’s unique features. Perusing the map on the touchscreen – which, for the uninitiated, also pauses the game and doubles up as a bird’s-eye view of the action/strategy in real-time on the TV screen – is a very helpful tool and assists tremendously in becoming quickly accustomed to the level layouts, formulating plans, and marking itineraries with the hugely helpful ‘Go To’ automated mobilisation function.

And the stylus controls feel so amazingly tangible and fun to use. Commanding the pikmin with the touchscreen rivals the intuitiveness, immediacy, and immersiveness of the Wiimote controls for the Wii versions of Pikmin 1 and 2 for me. Visually and aurally Pikmin 3 excels as well, with some of the most splendacious sights and sounds I’ve ever experienced in a game to date.

Overall, I reckon Pikmin 3 does enough to warrant its existence due to the fantastic new pikmin types – shame the purple and white pikmin from the second game have been relegated to the challenge missions only – the excellent level design, the increased complexity and nuances of the strategies, and the exemplary use of the GamePad. Pikmin 3 is such a stunningly crafted video game, I hope the inevitable Pikmin 4 for the Nintendo Switch proves even more expansive and fruitful!
Galvanized Gamer

Inbox also-rans

Is there a PlayStation 4 community on the PS4 app on the main menu screen? If so then could anyone tell me what it is? If there isn’t then I’ve created one myself – GamecentralMetro – feel free to join!
Fokwok

Why oh why is the NES Mini still impossible to get hold off a month after Xmas? While Amazon and eBay are still charging ridiculous money. Nintendo sort it out.
Dan

GC: Does this mean that whole ‘manufactured scarcity’ conspiracy has been proven wrong? What a surprise.

Is it possible for the Nintendo Switch to be placed horizontally, because I’ve only seen it vertically?
stanley71

GC: So have we, we’ll just have to add this to the long list of unanswered questions about Switch.

Had to laugh at the Resi Weevil jokes – presidentweevil has been my gamertag since day one. Anyway, maybe that’s a more appropriate title for the current leader of the US. If anyone is interested I’ve got issues 1-120 of GamesTM to give away (they are a bit dusty but in generally v. good condition). You just need to be able to collect from the Maidstone area.
presidentweevil

GC: That’s very generous of you.

This week’s Hot Topic

The subject for this weekend’s Inbox is the same one we always use at the end of January: what were your three favourite games of last year?

Send us a list of your three picks, with explanations of why you liked them, and we’ll compile a reader’s top 20 of 2016. For reference, you can find our top 20 of 2016 here and the 2015 reader’s top 20 here.

The only restriction on what you vote for is that it has to have been released in the UK during 2016. But do also let us know what you thought of the year’s crop of games in general, and how you think it compares to previous years.

E-mail your comments to: gamecentral@ukmetro.co.uk

The small print
New Inbox updates appear twice daily, every weekday morning and afternoon. Letters are used on merit and may be edited for length.

You can also submit your own 500 to 600-word 4Player viewer features at any time, which if used will be shown in the next available weekend slot.

If you need quick access to the GameCentral channel page please use: www.metro.co.uk/games

Rise & Shine review – if looks could kill

Rise & Shine (XO) – go back to sleep

It’s one of the best-looking 2D games of the year, but does this homage to old school shooters __play as well as it looks?

We don’t think we’ve ever been more in love with a game’s graphics, and more bored by its gameplay, than we have with Rise & Shine. Even now, sorting out the screenshots and videos for this review, we keep imagining the game we wish it had been, rather than the one we ended up having to sit through. Given how it snuck out earlier in the month without out any publicity it can’t really count as some sort of No Man’s Sky scale disappointment. But if we’d known about it before that, then it might have seemed that way.

Rise & Shine is a 2D scrolling shooter that takes its cues from a number of retro classics, including Contra and Metal Slug. That much is obvious from the screenshots, but what isn’t is the fact that this is meant to be a parody of those games, and gaming culture in general. But parodies are not something video games have ever been very good at, and as usual this is just an obnoxious conveyor belt of witless references, with very little in the way of actual jokes.

Sitting through the game’s attempts at parody is like choking on an overdose of memberberries, as the game hurtles through homages to Mario, Zelda, Portal, Pac-Man, Flappy Bird, and more. All of which is about as funny as an election night special.

The plot, such as it is, involves protagonist Rise, and his gun Shine, defending the world of Gamearth from invading aliens. Who the bad guys are and what they want we never really understood, and although characters who look like they should be providing exposition do wander in and out of the narrative they never really explain what’s going on. The poor storytelling doesn’t matter though, not even the bad attempts at parody. But what does matter is that the gameplay itself is just as muddled and lacking in entertainment.

Most 2D shooters pride themselves on their stripped-down simplicity, but Rise & Shine thinks it knows better. The actual side-scrolling action is fine, but the game’s also a twin stick shooter, which isn’t really necessary for this sort of thing. Or at least not when the controls are this imprecise and difficult to judge. But the game doesn’t just try to channel retro shooters. It also attempts to implement a Gears Of War style cover system. This again feels like an unnecessary complication, and only seems to be there because the developer thought it’d be cool to shove every kind of shooter gameplay into one foul-tasting blend.

And just to over-egg the pudding, and mix a metaphor, this is also a bullet hell shooter as well. Which means the screen is constantly filled with bullets you have to avoid or shoot out of the sky, which is always more difficult than it should be when the controls feel like they’re working for the enemy. There’s a reason most bullet hell games have you flying instead of walking, and Rise & Shine shows why in the most unentertaining way possible.

Rise & Shine (XO) – do you ‘member R-Type?

Perhaps we’re being a bit unfair on Rise & Shine, but it’s frustrating to __play such a badly designed game when its graphics look as gorgeous as this. The hand-drawn artwork is exquisitely detailed, and the animation extremely good for a game that we can only assume did not have a very large budget. The soundtrack is excellent too, and continues the video game homage theme with what sounds like lost tracks from Halo and Gears Of War.

To be fair there are a few good ideas in Rise & Shine, particularly the different shot types that allow you to use explosive or remote-controlled ammo. The latter results in a few divertingly clever puzzles and really should have been the focus of the game, because it’s the only unique and interesting thing in it. Instead the game hoses down any remaining enthusiasm by upping the difficulty to levels that the control system is completely incapable of coping with.

Rise & Shine is pretty short, at around two hours, but the price reflects that. It certainly would’ve been fine if the game played as good as it looks but it doesn’t come anywhere close. It seems a bit early in the year to be giving out awards, but we certainly hope we won’t be seeing another game this year with such a vast gulf between the quality of its graphics and its gameplay. Rinse & Shine is most definitely not worth getting up for.

Rise & Shine

In Short: Gorgeous graphics but gormless gameplay leaves you wishing you were playing any of the dozens of other games this indie dud attempts to parody.

Pros: The 2D graphics are superb, and so is the soundtrack. The remote-control bullet feature is neat, and should’ve been expanded on.

Cons: A hotchpotch of different shooter genres, hobbled by an unreliable control system and unreasonably high difficultly level. Painfully unfunny script and wasted homages.

Score: 3/10

Formats: Xbox One (reviewed) and PC
Price: £11.99
Publisher: Adult Swim Games
Developer: Super Awesome Hyper Dimensional Mega Team
Release Date: 13th January 2017
Age Rating: 16

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Infinite Warfare DLC goes back to the 90s with Kevin Smith

So is the next DLC going to be set in the 2000s?

The next Zombies map for Call Of Duty will feature the director of Mallrats and Clerks, as well as judicious use of the word ‘gnarly’.

The big gimmick of Zombies mode in Infinite Warfare is that it was set in the ‘80s, with David Hasselhoff as a DJ and lots of terrible 80s fashion. And now the new slice of DLC is moving on a decade, to feature a whole lot of neon and… Kevin Smith.

Smith does not necessarily seem the most agile of Call Of Duty characters but his is only a supporting role, not one of the four main playable characters.

The whole abandoned summer camp thing is clearly a reference to the Friday the 13th movies, which is a little odd as Jason Voorhees has already appeared in Call Of Duty: Ghosts by the same developer. (Oh, no wait… that was Micheal Myers. Maybe they couldn’t afford Jason. Although that seems unlikely.)

The Zombies map is called Rave in the Redwoods and will be released as part of the Sabotage DLC pack, which is being released on January 31 on PS4 – and a month later on Xbox One and PC.

Sabotage will also include four normal multiplayer maps, the official descriptions for which are below:

Renaissance – Set in Northern Italy, Renaissance pits players against each other on the narrow streets of Venice surrounded by classic architecture and buildings that promote continuous action through the canals and neighbourhoods of this iconic city.

Dominion – A re-imagining of the classic Afghan map from Modern Warfare 2, now set on Mars, Dominion retains all the memorable landmarks and gameplay of the original, anchored by the crashed ship in the centre, with a few enhancements designed to take advantage of the new movement system.

Noir – A dark, grimy city map inspired by futuristic Brooklyn at night, Noir is a classic three-lane map set against a backdrop of a dystopian future, filled with cafes and parks surrounding a brutal downtown warzone.

Neon – A virtual training centre designed for urban warfare, Neon is a unique, digitized battle arena where cars and other structures spawn out of thin air and enemies dissolve into hundreds of pixels when defeated. Middle lane sightlines will cater to long-range players while the outsides of the map allow for quick counter-attacks in close-quarter action.

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Pokémon Duel out now on iOS and Android, but will it be as big as Pokémon GO?

Pokémon Duel – gotta catch ’em all, again

There’s a new Pokémon app out for mobile devices, but this time it’s a board game style strategy title with collectable statues.

It’s probably going to be a long time before any game invades the public consciousness in the way Pokémon GO did, but that’s not going to stop anyone trying. Least of The Pokémon Company themselves (as ever, Nintendo has little to do with anything not on their consoles).

Pokémon Duel almost certainly isn’t going to be the same order of mega hit, not least because it was already released in Japan last year, as Pokémon Co-master, and didn’t break any records there.

That’s not too surprising though, as this is a much more involved game than Pokémon GO, where you move little board game style counters around as you try to take over your opponent’s territory.

You start with a team of six pokémon, who you can use to either move towards your opponent’s goal or block their attack on yours. Battling is very simple and involves spinning a ‘Data Disk’ to decide what kind of move they’ll use.

There is a bit more to it than that, but even if it’s still relatively simple it does at least allow you to fight other players – which you still can’t do in Pokémon GO.

Pokémon Duel is a free download, but you can buy extra boosters and in-game items with real money. You still have to collect new pokémon yourself though, which come in the form of neat-looking virtual statues.

Pokémon Duel – this looks a lot more complicated than Pokémon GO

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WATCH: ‘Injustice 2’ Watchtower Live Stream (01/24/17)

Update: the new reveal that dropped during this livestream was the debut of Robin. You can check out his trailer below.

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Netherrealm Studios tends to be pretty open with their community of fans. Before and after their smattering of DLC support for Mortal Kombat X, the development studio constantly posted up live streams that delivered info on their latest fighter. It looks like that trend will continue with Injustice 2. This latest “Watchtower” live stream presentation will undoubtably provide us with new details on the game’s deeper mechanics. We’re prepared to see and hear more about the armor customization system and the game’s plot. Plus, we have a feeling that we’re going to get a sneak peek at one of the game’s newest roster additions. Chill out with us right here as we find out what’s coming next from Injustice 2.

League of Legends NA LCS 2017: Live Stream, Tickets, Schedule

The 2017 League of Legends NA LCS begins today, with two match-ups kicking off the Spring Split from Los Angeles, California.

At 8 p.m. ET, TSM will face Cloud9 in the first action of the Spring Split. Directly after, at approximately 11 p.m. ET, Echo Fox will close the season’s opening day against Phoenix1. Fans in the Los Angeles area can get tickets to the competitions held at the NA LCS Studio.

A go-to provider of esports content for millions of fans, Twitch is providing a free live stream of the action. Fans can view Twitch’s stream on their desktop/laptop on Twitch’s website or on mobile devices and gaming consoles via Twitch’s app.

Twitch app for iOS

Twitch app for Android

Twitch app for Amazon Fire

If users prefer, LOL Esports’ YouTube channel also has a live stream of the competitions from Korea. Again, fans can view the action on a myriad of devices thanks to YouTube.

Desktop/laptop

Download the YouTube app for your device: iOS, Android.

Finally, LOL Esports’ own website also carries a live stream that fans can watch on their desktop/laptop devices.

Several teams in the NA LCS had strong off-seasons, such as Immortals and Phoenix1. Who will be able to translate that success into actual wins during the Spring Split? Fans will begin to discover the answer to that and many other questions tonight.

‘Digimon World: Next Order’: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know

Digimon have been making quite the underrated comeback lately.

Those cutesy yet powerful digital monsters have returned in new films and other associated media. 2015’s Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth gave fans something worthwhile to enjoy on the video game front. That lengthy JRPG provided a nice dosage of monster collecting and battling while also making you a trusty gumshoe. 2017 looks to be another year that Digimon followers will look back on fondly. That statement looks like it’ll ring true thanks to the impending launch of Digimon World: Next Order, a dungeon crawler that lets you save the world with hundreds of Digimon by your side.

Before you amass your new army of digital monsters, allow us to give you a preview of what’s to come from Digimon World: Next Order.

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1. The Digimon World Series Got Its Start on the PlayStation One

Ever since Digimon got introduced to the States, they’ve appeared in a host of new films and TV shows, plus their likeness has appeared on toys, virtual pet devices and various other products. When it comes to interactive media, Digimon have become playable avatars within fighting games, racers, card battlers and RPG’s. One of the main RPG franchises that’s been dedicated to those digital monsters is the Digimon World series. The very 1st game in that series got introduced to gamers back on the PlayStation One in 2000. You can check out all of the other games within the series down below:

– Digimon World
– Digimon World 2
– Digimon World 3
– Digimon World 4
– Digimon World Re:Digitize

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2. The Game’s Main Plot Revolves Around the Digital Journey of Two Heroes

So the Digital World is currently under the threat of Machinedramons. Two main characters you can choose from (Takuto and Shiki) end up getting transported to that world and becoming a part of solving the mystery behind it. They end up aligning themselves with the Digimon who’ll end up assisting them during their adventure – Agumon, Gabumon, Biyomon, Palmon etc. Takuto and Shiki set out to save the Digital World alongside Digimon and a few of their classmates who have partner monsters of their own – Kouta Hirose/Guilmon and Himari Ōbuchi/Salamon.

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3. Collecting Digimon and Giving Them Commands in Battle Make Up the Basis of This New Adventure

As a Digimon trainer, you’ll be entrusted with gathering over 200 different creatures. While traversing the Digital World, two monsters will follow you and defend you during battle. You’ll be able to issue strategic commands to both Digimon as they face off with their foes, but their actions will mainly be controlled by the AI. Succeeding in battle helps further develop the bond between you and your chosen Digimon. Outside of battle, it’s your duty to raise, train, feed and discipline your roster of fighting monsters. You’ll get to venture within your own digital village, where it’s possible to perform all those aforementioned tasks and compete in PvP Network Battles.

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‘Pokemon Duel’: Top Tips & Tricks You Need to Know

Pokemon Duel, a brand new mobile Pokemon game, has just been released in North America.

Duel is unlike almost every other Pokemon installment that has been released, and quite different than the most recent mobile entry, Pokemon Go. While Go is quite self-explanatory and easy to pick up and play, Duel is a bit more complicated than it sounds.

Here are some of the key tips and tricks you need to know as you start playing Pokemon Duel.  

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1. Always Check Messages & Daily Missions

Pokemon Duel players can obtain additional boosters in the game’s shop by trading in gems. You can purchase gems with real world money, or you can just get them through regular gameplay,

However, it’s not immediately clear at the start of the game where you get these free gems. Well, right off the bat, you’ll get a bunch of them as a reward for completing the tutorial, except they don’t just show up in your inventory automatically.

Instead, from the Leagues screen, hit the menu button (the one with six squares arranged in two rows of three). Then go to messages, and you should have a handful in there already. Open any one of these messages and there will be a gem bonus which you can now take, and this will be added to your inventory.

You can also get coins by completing daily missions, but once again the coins don’t just show up in your inventory. You have to go to “Daily Missions,” then select the mission that you have completed, and the coins will be added to your bank.

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2. Surround a Pokemon to Defeat It

There’s a much easier way of knocking one of your enemy’s Pokemon off the board than actually battling it.

All you have to do is surround an enemy Pokemon on both sides, and the Pokemon will automatically be removed from the board without you having to do anything at all.

This is also something important to keep in mind as you __play the game and plan out your moves: make sure you opponent never comes close to cornering you with two Pokemon. It’s for reasons like these that just thinking out your moves in advance is much more important in this game than you might initially expect.

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3. Blue > Gold > Purple > White

One other aspect of the game you’ve got to get down right away is the different types of attacks and what the hierarchy is.

The lowest tier attack is white; these are most of your standard attacks, and when both players land on a white attack, the winner is simply whoever winds up with the larger point total.

Then there are purple attacks. These have some sort of special effect associated with them, such as putting the enemy Pokemon to sleep or poisoning them. If both you and the opponent get a purple attack, the winner is whoever has the purple attack with the most stars.

Next are gold attacks; these are like white attacks except that they take priority over purple attacks, whereas purple takes priority over white. However, at the very top is blue, which includes defensive moves like protect and doge. These take priority over everything.

Though you might be used to memorizing Pokemon effectiveness from previous games, in Duel, that is not relevant, and the hierarchy of the four main colors is more important.

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4. Use Yveltals & Weaviles in the Same Deck

North American gamers are still finding their away around Pokemon Duel and trying to develop strategies, but some gamers who have been playing since the app was released in Japan have shared some useful advice.

One Reddit user named EpicMew2, for instance, shared a strategy they developed around the use of Weavile. Basically, Weavile has an ability called Team Play, which means that “for each Weavile in play, this Pokémon’s attacks do 20 more.” Then there’s Yveltal, who has a two star purple move in which “until this Pokémon leaves the field, your Dark-type Pokémon do +10 damage to their battle opponent.”

You can have a limit of three Pokemon of the same type on your team, but if you build a team of three Weaviles and three Yveltals, these two effects combined will substantially increases the attack power of Weavile.

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5. Use Salamence & Rayquaza in the Same Deck

Another strategy is to pack your team with Pokemon who can jump over their opponent, like Salamence and Rayquaza. As described by Reddit user suprjohn, if your opponent is using this strategy, the best way to fight back is to defend your base with Pokemon that have yellow moves.

Another common strategy is to stack your team with ghost Pokemon that can move through your opponents, in particular Ghastly. If your enemy is using this strategy, you should really work harder to defend your base than usual and avoid actively engaging in battle.

Brendan Morrow is a Heavy contributor who covers news, politics, professional wrestling, and more. He has previously written about film for Bloody Disgusting, We Got This Covered, What Culture, and The Celebrity Cafe. Follow him on twitter @brendanmorrow.
January 24, 2017 10:47 pm

League of Legends EU LCS 2017: Live Stream, Tickets, Schedule

The 2017 League of Legends EU LCS begins today, with two match-ups kicking off the Spring Split from Berlin, Germany.

At 1 p.m. ET, Origen will face H2K. Directly after, at approximately 4 p.m. ET, G2Esports will see its first action of the season against Fnatic. Fans in the Berlin area can get tickets to the competitions held at the EU LCS Studio.

A go-to provider of esports content for millions of fans, Twitch is providing a free live stream of the action. Fans can view Twitch’s stream on their desktop/laptop on Twitch’s website or on mobile devices and gaming consoles via Twitch’s app.

Twitch app for iOS

Twitch app for Android

Twitch app for Amazon Fire

If users prefer, LOL Esports’ YouTube channel also has a live stream of the competitions from Korea. Again, fans can view the action on a myriad of devices thanks to YouTube.

Desktop/laptop

Download the YouTube app for your device: iOS, Android.

Finally, LOL Esports’ own website also carries a live stream that fans can watch on their desktop/laptop devices.

Will G2 Esports prove to be worthy of its status as the team to beat in the Spring Split or will another team show fans that the prognosticators were wrong? Fans begin to discover the answer to those and other questions today.

‘Gravity Rush 2’: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know

If you’ve kept your PS Vita around for this long, then we’re sure you kept the 1st Gravity Rush in heavy rotation.

When it arrived on the PS4 in remastered form, we’re sure plenty of curious gamers who didn’t __play it before finally gave it a chance and came away amazed. Kat’s vibrant world, quirky personality and unique gravity-defying powers made her and her game instantly lovable. Now that 2017 is in full swing, Kat is ready to make her return in a sequel developed exclusively for the PS4. Gravity Rush 2 will transport her and her closest friends into a much larger world. Along with a new location comes Kat’s new powers, more enemies and fresh mysteries to watch unfold.

Don’t know much about thus early 2017 game launch, huh? Let us bring you up to speed on the Jan. 20th release of Kat’s next grand ordeal.

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1. Gravity Rush 2 Takes Place in the New City of Hekseville

Gravity Rush 2 transports Kat and her closest friend Raven into a brand new ariel city by the name of Hekseville. When they arrive, the city is in the middle of reconstruction due to a massive weapons incident that came at the hands of former mayor D’nelica. Kat, Raven and their male police officer counterpart Syd soon come upon a strange gravity disturbance. After all three of them are caught in a huge gravity storm and get sucked into a gravitational whirlpool, they are transported to a new mysterious locale. Seeing as how the game’s world is 2.5-times larger than the 1st game’s map, Kat and her friends will have to perform even more tasks as they attempt to save the world.

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2. Kat Now Has Two Other Fighting/Movement Styles at Her Disposal

Kat gets back into the swing of things with her myriad of kicking attacks and gravity bending abilities. Along with her original style of floating/fighting from the 1st game, Kat can utilize two new powers. Her speedier, lighter attacks come courtesy of her “Lunar” powers, while her more heavier and harder hitting abilities comes from her “Jupiter” form. Lunar lets Kat jump even higher, but her Jupiter style make her descents feel more impactful when she lands on solid ground. You can activate either one of Kat’s three forms just by using the touch pad.

Kat sill has to fend off those strange Navi creatures and human foes who also utilize giant mechs. During huge battles within the game’s more vibrant environments, Kat has to tap into all of her powers to defeat everything in her way. Raven (who’s controlled via the AI) sometimes pops up to lend her aid to Kat by fighting on her own or using team-up attacks with her. Besides fighting, Kat can take on all types of side missions, collect forms of energy that upgrade her abilities and simply explore every nook and cranny of her current locale.

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3. There’s an Original Anime Based on the Series That Takes Place Between Both Games

Final Fantasy XV built upon its huge story arch with animated episodes that focused on the prior adventures of Noctis and his friends. The same process of storytelling has been applied to Gravity Rush 2 with a single episode that takes place between the 1st and 2nd game. Feel free to watch both episodes (the 1st episode is posted above and the 2nd part of it is posted down below) right here.

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WATCH: New ‘Injustice 2’ Cinematic Story Trailer

So the battle lines have been drawn once again.

Injustice 2 (which has been announced for a May 16th, 2017 launch date) unveiled a brand new cinematic story trailer that delves into the latest struggle within the DC Comics universe. From the footage we’ve seen, it looks like a bunch of new faces will be set up as playable characters – Robin (Damien Wayne?), Poison Ivy and Braniac. Bane looks like he’ll be making his return, plus we got a glimpse at the previously leaked pre-order bonus character Darkseid. Besides the reveal of new roster members, this new trailer gave us a peek at what’s at stake for this latest superhero/super villain conflict.

Be sure to check out the trailer posted above to see all the newest details regarding Injustice 2.

Injustice 2 also made sure to announce that three different editions of the game will be available. The Standard Edition comes with Darkseid if you pre-order the game. You can also obtain Superman’s nemesis if you also pre-order the Digital Deluxe or Ultimate Edition of the game. The Digital Deluxe Edition comes with three extra DLC characters, a “Defender Shader” Pack and a special outfit for Supergirl. The Ultimate Edition offers up even more goodies – nine DLC fighters, new costumes for Supergirl, The Flash and Green Lantern plus “Destroyer” and “Defender Shader” Packs.

You can check out all those special bonuses in the pic posted below:

Pre-order Injustice 2 here.

Pre-order the Ultimate Edition of Injustice 2 here.

Heavy, Inc. is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by linking to Amazon. Our product recommendations are guided solely by our editors. We have no relationship with manufacturers.

League of Legends LPL 2017: Live Stream, Schedule

The 2017 League of Legends season is officially underway, as LPL has begun regular season competitions for its Spring Split. Royal Never Give Up is currently in action against I May, and at approximately 9 a.m. ET Invictus Gaming squares off against OMG to conclude the first day of the season.

Fans have three options in terms of ways that they can watch the action online on a myriad of devices.

A go-to provider of esports content for millions of fans, Twitch is providing a free live stream of the action. Fans can view Twitch’s stream on their desktop/laptop on Twitch’s website or on mobile devices and gaming consoles via Twitch’s app.

Twitch app for iOS

Twitch app for Android

Twitch app for Amazon Fire

If users prefer, LOL Esports’ YouTube channel also has a live stream of the competitions from Korea. Again, fans can view the action on a myriad of devices thanks to YouTube.

Desktop/laptop

Download the YouTube app for your device: iOS, Android.

Finally, LOL Esports’ own website also carries a live stream that fans can watch on their desktop/laptop devices.

After a strong off-season that included adding Lee “Duke” Ho-Seong, Invictus Gaming is favored by many to be the team to beat in this Spring Split. Will they earn that status or will another team prove the experts wrong? Fans begin to discover the answer to that question today.

‘Pokemon Go’ Version 1.23.1 & 0.53.1: What Did the Update Change?

‘Pokemon Go’ is available for iOS and Android devices. (Niantic)

A new Pokemon Go update has just been released.

Version 1.23.1 for iOS and 0.53.1 for Android contains just a few changes. The first one only concerns Apple Watch users: the screen will now be able to display eggs that are obtained from PokéStops.

The more significant update is that the distance tracking has been changed to, as the patch notes say, “better account for GPS drift.” GPS drift occurs when the game registers you as moving when you actually aren’t, and players would often take advantage of this in order to rack up distance traveled while sitting at work or school. Now, it seems, Niantic has fixed this, and GPS drift will no longer occur.

It’s been a while since the last Pokemon Go update was released; Niantic generally puts one out every two weeks, but the previous update came almost a full month ago. The long delay was almost certainly just due to the holidays, but this still created a lot of expectations among players who hoped that when an update finally arrived, it would be quite significant. So when it was announced that this week’s patch would simply adjust the Apple Watch app and remove the one glitch players actually liked, fans were not exactly thrilled.

“Wow I hope they didn’t work too hard on this update,” one Reddit user sarcastically commented.

Fans aren’t really angry that the update doesn’t have any new content, such as additional generation two Pokemon; rather, they were hoping that the patch would fix some of the glitches that persist in Pokemon Go, including the one that causes the game to freeze when players enter a gym.

However, these updates often tweak things without making mention of that fact in the patch notes. In the past, it has often been the case that Niantic does not say in their notes that they have fixed a glitch, but players soon realize that the update did exactly that. Also, these updates frequently feature lines of code that tell us what Niantic is planning further down the line, such as when players noticed references to “buddy” Pokemon in an update before that feature was even announced.

That has once again happened here, as in the hours after the update was originally released, the folks as The Silph Road discovered that there are lines of code related to 38 new moves in the latest update. These moves aren’t accessible right now, but clearly it won’t be long before they’re brought into the game. Those new moves are: Counter, Powder Snow, Charge Beam, Volt Switch, Dragon Tail, Infestation, Struggle Bug, Astonish, Iron Tail, Fire Spin, Bullet Seed, Extrasensory, Air Slash, Hex, Snarl, Close Combat, Dynamic Punch, Focus Blast, Aurora Beam, Wild Charge, Zap Cannon, Avalanche, Brave Bird, Sky Attack, Sand Tomb, Rock Blast, Silver Wind, Night Shade, Gyro Ball, Heavy Slam, Overheat, Grass Knot, Energy Ball, Futuresight, Mirror Coat, Outrage, Crunch and Foul Play.

The update also feature code related to evolution items, which are items used to evolve certain Pokemon. Once again, none of this is accessible in the game quite yet, but the fact that the code is here indicates that Niantic plans to launch this feature sometime soon. The evolution items in the update are Sun Stone, Kings Rock, Metal Coat, Dragon Scale and Upgrade.

Plus, the update’s code suggests a news feature may be coming soon, in addition to avatar customization, shiny Pokemon, and Pokemon genders.

Here are the full patch notes from Niantic:

Trainers,

Pokémon GO is in the process of being updated to version 0.53.1 for Android and 1.23.1 for iOS devices. Below are some release notes and comments from our development team.

Updated Apple Watch to display Eggs obtained from PokéStops
Changed distance tracking to better account for GPS drift
Minor text fixes.

—The Pokémon GO team

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Read more about Pokemon Go in Spanish at AhoraMismo.com:

‘Hot Wheels: Race Off’: Top Tips & Cheats You Need to Know

Here are the top eight tips/tricks/cheats you need to know for Hot Wheels: Race Off.

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• Take care of your free gifts – they’re going to be very important in the long run. So daily logins are necessary to progress much faster.

• If your ride tends to do wheelies – invest in stability.

• Don’t always go full speed – some hills require very careful driving in order to conquer them.

• Don’t miss the boost – if a boost is available make sure that you don’t jump over it or hit it poorly.

• Be aware of the rocks – sometimes you need a rock in order to build a bridge to overcome an obstacle.

• Take care to fill up your stunt box daily in order to get your special reward.

• Try to land on your back wheels in order to lose as little speed as possible. Staying on the ground as much as possible is the best way to record a fast time.

• Try different rides for different levels – what seems impossible with ride A can be very easy with ride B.