NLG - Next Level Gaming

Have you ever wanted to go on a turn-based RPG adventure with the League of Legends roster? Well, that dream will soon be a reality. Airship Syndicate's Ruined King: A League of Legends Story is coming in early 2021 to Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Switch, and PC. Click image thumbnails to view larger version                                                                                                                You will be able to upgrade to PlayStation 5 and Xbox One X/S for free. If you're a fan of League of Legends or even just a dabbler, you might recognize some of the characters involved in this trek across Bilgewater and The Shadow Isles. Players can expect to see Miss Fortune, Braum, Yasuo, Ahri, and more as they engage with a story-centric RPG experience. Check out the trailer below! Click here to watch embedded media  

Video game films are largely regulated to pure adaptations of existing games. Once in a while, though, you get films like 1UP , which uses gaming as a backdrop to tell a more personable story. The underdog comedy begins production this winter and centers on women in eSports, and the sexism that often surround it.  Per  The Hollywood Reporter,  the upcoming film stars Paris Berelc ( Hubie Halloween , Alexa & Katie ) as Vivian Lee, an eSports player who quits her college team after enduring sexist behavior from her male teammates. At the risk of losing her scholarship, though, she’s forced to assemble her own team led by an “enigmatic coach” played by Ellen Page ( The Umbrella Academy , Juno ).  The film is the first production by BuzzFeed Studios and is directed by Kyle Newman ( Fanboys, Barely Lethal ). The fledgling studio aims to produce “socially relevant and high-concept films” aimed squarely at millennial and Gen Z audiences. 1UP ’s script has been described as “being in

Ubisoft shared a blog post today explaining how cross-progression, cross-play, and backwards compatibility will work for certain games once next-gen consoles arrive. It’s an informative read, but one thing that stands out is that a handful of the publisher’s PlayStation 4 catalog, including several Assassin’s Creed games, won’t be playable on PlayStation 5.  While all Ubisoft Xbox One games will be backwards compatible on Xbox Series X/S, the same won't be true for the following PlayStation 4 games on Playstation 5: Assassin’s Creed Syndicate Assassin’s Creed Chronicles Trilogy Pack Assassin’s Creed Chronicles India  Assassin’s Creed Chronicles China Assassin’s Creed Chronicles Russia Risk  Space Junkies Star Trek Bridge Crew Werewolves Within The post doesn’t explain why these specific titles won’t work on PlayStation 5. Syndicate is perhaps the strangest entry, as it’s the only mainline AC game to get left behind (the Chronicles games are side-scrolling spin-offs,

Click here to watch embedded media Beyond Good and Evil 2 was finally announced after years of rumors during E3 2017, and while we've had a few additional looks at the game since then, it's been mostly quiet on the Ubisoft front. With the recent events of game creator/director Michel Ancel leaving the games industry altogether, for reasons that seem more complicated than what was first revealed , the future of the sequel doesn't seem as bright as many fans had hoped.  During a recent earnings call (which also revealed the delay of Far Cry 6 and Rainbow Six Quarantine ), Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot assured investors that the game is not stuck in development hell and that it is "progressing well."  Despite losing such a key name as part of the development process with Ancel's departure, Guillemot promised that "The game is progressing well. The world is really fantastic. As you can see, Netflix also decided to take that universe and create a movie with it

Click here to watch embedded media With the imminent release of Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales, the Game Informer crew sat down with Bill Rosemann, Marvel Games' Vice President & Head of Creative, to discuss and explore the comic book origins and inspirations behind Insomniac's upcoming PlayStation exclusive. Specifically, Bill shares how the team found a natural fit by focusing on an older Peter Parker and younger Miles Morales within the same story, talks about the importance of representation within Marvel-based media, and how it all goes back to the genesis of Miles and the intended purpose behind his creation less than a decade ago. Additionally, the Marvel Games vice president recommends the best comic books to learn more about Miles Morales and his supporting characters, as well as shares one of his favorite moments from The Amazing Spider-Man issue #33 and how it encapsulates the spirit of not only Marvel Comics, but the fast-approaching Spider-Man: Miles

Click here to watch embedded media Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment Developer: Insomniac Games Release: November 12, 2020 Platform: PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4 With the imminent release of Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales, the Game Informer crew sat down with Bill Rosemann, Marvel Games' Vice President & Head of Creative, to discuss and explore the comic book origins and inspirations behind Insomniac's upcoming PlayStation exclusive. Specifically, Bill shares how the team found a natural fit by focusing on an older Peter Parker and younger Miles Morales within the same story, talks about the importance of representation within Marvel-based media, and how it all goes back to the genesis of Miles and the intended purpose behind his creation less than a decade ago. Additionally, the Marvel Games vice president recommends the best comic books to learn more about Miles Morales and his supporting characters, as well as shares one of his favorite momen

Click here to watch embedded media Watch Dogs: Legion is out and highly interactive adventure is all about hackers, revolution, and the freedom to play how you want. In a clever marketing move from Ubisoft, Watch Dogs: Legion is hacking its way over onto other Ubisoft big games like Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, and more.  Our own keen-eyed Brian Shea noticed something was a little off with Assassin's Creed Odyssey's cover art when looking through his gaming library and upon that discovery, there was a rabbit hole of hilarious marketing and Watch Dog crossovers to be found.  Watch Dogs: Legion places the player smack dab in the middle of a near-future London where a they will join the resistance. Unlike the previous two games , there is no main protagonist. Instead, players can recruit from hundreds of NPCs, all with their own skills, personalities, and even voice lines. Hacking, as is the franchise's staple, is key and what better way to showcase that than to have Ub

Click here to watch embedded media The original Final Fantasy VII catapulted JRPGs into the limelight and established a new standard for expansive gameworlds and emotional stories. Final Fantasy VII Remake is an homage to and reimagining of its predecessor's motifs: Eco-activism, classism, atonement, and companionship (among many other important themes).  We demonstrate how Remake's plot beats can be reevaluated with the themes of departure and reunion in mind. Square Enix plans to tell Cloud’s extensive story in parts but, because the first entry solely focuses on Midgar, Final Fantasy VII veterans get to experience the original game’s introductory setting and characters in more nuanced ways. The high stakes remain the same: The fallout from the Mako Reactor 1 and 5 bombings, the eventual destruction of the slums, and Sephiroth’s sudden and terrifying return. Our video essay considers these emotional moments and looks to provide other interpretations surrounding Remake’s m

Recently we wrote up about the returning Left 4 Dead 2 crossover to the first Dying Light. Immediately, the comments about "what happened to Dying Light 2" swarmed following several major changes happening behind-the-scenes. Following the in-depth look at the anticipated sequel during E3 2019, Techland has parted ways with key members of its team and placed the upcoming game under the 'delayed indefinitely' label. This begs the question: what is  going on with Dying Light 2?  The indefinite delay was announced back in January of this year where Techland revealed that the team's vision needed more time to make it a reality. CEO Pawel Marchewka later promised that there would be more news following the delay reveal, but then the world was thrust into chaos following massive wildfires, a global pandemic, and pretty much everything else this year could throw at us. With 'work from home' orders in place, the strenuous development progress presumably felt th

October is coming to an end, which means a new month ahead filled with even more games to enjoy. With the launch of next-gen gaming with the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S, November is an exciting month for diving into fresh adventures. Though some titles have been delayed, here are the biggest games releasing in November 2020.  Whether you fancy yourself a Viking conqueror in Assassin's Creed Valhalla or want to try your hand as a crime boss in the latest Yakuza game, November has a plethora of gaming experiences to choose from. When looking to allocate your time (and your wallet), here is everything you need to know about the month ahead.  Faeria ( PlayStation 4 ) – November 3 Jurassic World Evolution ( Switch ) – November 3  –  Read review Breathedge ( PC ) – November 5 YesterMorrow ( PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, PC ) – November 5 Dirt 5 ( PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC ) – November 6 Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit Remastered ( PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Swit

Click to watch embedded media When the Blair Witch game was first announced, fans of the iconic horror movie franchise were eager to see what the story would be like. When Layers of Fear studio Bloober Team was confirmed to be at the helm, that excitement grew. While Blair Witch as a game was met with mixed reception due to its length and its mechanics meant to confuse the player, this horror adventure carved a unique niche for itself within the genre.  Now that it's in VR , those scares are amplified and the in-game choices matter more than ever.  We sat down with Daniel Engelhardt, Lionsgate Senior VP of Interactive Venture & Games, to talk about how this partnership with Bloober came to be and why the jump to VR despite the mixed reviews. Usually, when two companies come together over an IP, the process is long, complicated, and full of negotiations. Engelhardt tells us that this wasn't the case with Blair Witch. In fact, it was coffee and mutual fandom that made this

Click to watch embedded media Cyberpunk 2077 has been delayed once more and with its new December launch, other studios with planned releases during that time are scrambling to make changes as to not compete with competition of that size. Because of that new release date, Everspace 2 is no longer releasing in December, instead opting for a January 2021 launch instead.  Rockfish Games took to its Kickstarter to "get the cyber elephant out of the room right away" with the delay news. "The Cyberpunk 2077 release has just been pushed back to December 10, which is a major blow to our planned EVERSPACE 2 Early Access release in mid-December. Not only will every media outlet and content creator cover the arguably most-anticipated AAA game in history throughout the entire holiday season (and not much else), we also know that there’s quite a bit of audience overlap within our community (and our team), so..." After a quick meeting with the studio's PR team, it was de

Click to watch embedded media Twas the Replay before Halloween, and all through the house, the Necromorphs were waiting, just ready to pounce. As we found out last week , the Dead Space series still holds up for its chilling jump scares and its ridiculously precise gunplay. But do those same sentiments still hold true for the third entry in Visceral Games' horror series? Join Andrew Reiner, Ben Reeves, Blake Hester, and me as we answer those questions and save the universe from the grotesque nightmares that are the Necromorphs in Dead Space 3!  We'll be going live at 2 p.m. CT, so be sure to end your week the right way and join us in the chat! If you can't get enough of our live shows, remember to subscribe on  YouTube ,  Twitch ,  Twitter , and  Facebook  to get notified when we go live each week! If you're enjoying our frightening looks at scary games be sure to check out what horror movies you should watch for the holiday and our livestream where we play Phasma

Hey there, true believers! We only have a couple weeks to go before swinging into Insomniac’s latest Spider-Man game, and we heard that a few baddies are already making trouble in Miles’ neighborhood. It's up to you to stop them. But in order to defeat your enemy, you first need to know your enemy. My uncle Ben once told me that. So, with that in mind, let’s take a closer look at the Tinkerer and the energy company Roxxon, so we can see what makes those goons tick. Here is everything you need to know about the villains in Miles’ upcoming game. Meet Roxxon:  First appearance: Captain America #180 (December 1974) Creators: Steve Englehart, Sal Buscema Base of Operations: One Roxxon Plaza, Manhattan, New York In the comics:   First introduced in the ‘70s, Roxxon Energy Corporation is primarily an oil and gas company with offices around the world. One of the largest conglomerates on Earth, the company generates billions of dollars in profits each year. However, over the deca

Sony's interest in Crunchyroll is nothing new, but it looks like the mega-company may be ready to make that final movie for the popular anime streaming service for a cool $1 billion. Earlier this month, Microsoft announced a special partnership with Funimation as an incentive to buy into the Game Pass Ultimate membership. The Sony deal with Funimation's now-competitor, due to a split between the two streaming services back in 2018 , is an interesting counterpoint leading into the world of anime and gaming.  Nikkei Asia reports that Sony has been negotiating exclusive rights with Crunchyroll for a while now but is in a position where that interest may solidify into a done deal soon. For $1 billion, Sony would amass the community of over three million active subscribers to the streaming service. With the negotiations now in the "final" stages, it looks like a partnership is likely just in time for the next generation of gaming to kick off with the PlayStation 5.  Wi

On November 11, Genshin Impact gets its first substantial update. The 1.1 update features new characters, a seasonal event, the final chapter of the Liyue questline in the main story, a new reputation system, and PlayStation 5 compatibility. That's a lot! Some of the big new characters coming on the five-star front are Childe and Zhongli. Childe is a Hydro archer, Zhongli is a Geo polearm user, and they both have a lot of new tactics and skills to bring into combat. New four-star characters are also coming with Xinyan and Diona, and as we all know from running Fischl and Xiangling for the last month, four-stars can be incredible characters as mains or supports. During the first seasonal event, Unreconciled Stars, players take on various challenges over a two-week period to earn special rewards and participate in co-op challenges. Among the rewards is a copy of Fischl, so if you don't yet have the Electro princess unlocked, this is a great chance to score a free character.

Click here to watch embedded media We’ve seen a few of the costumes coming to Spider-Man: Miles Morales , and they’re pretty rad. However, I think I speak for many fans when I say the one we all wanted from the beginning is his suit from 2018’s acclaimed Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse . Thankfully, Marvel and Insomniac recognized this lay-up as well, revealing players can swing around Harlem rocking Miles' iconic film look. Much like the comic-shaded outfit from the first game, the Spider-Verse suit is more than a simple re-skin. For one, it changes Miles’ figure to match his scrawnier model from the film. The coolest touch by far, though, is that the suit features the same, limited-frame animation style from the movie and comic-style onomatopoeia attacks. In short, it looks cool as heck.  The suit is a launch-day bonus, meaning players who pre-ordered will have it available from the beginning. Before anyone panics, Insomniac confirmed the suit can be unlocked in-game, same

Click here to watch embedded media Season 7 of Apex Legends releases next week, and in advance of the big launch, we got to spend time with some behind-the-scenes content to see what the future holds. Here are the awesome features on the horizon for Respawn’s multiplayer online shooter. Olympus Is Apex Legends’ Most Ambitious Map Yet That unidentified floating object just outside of the Kings Canyon Airbase has been revealed. Pack your things, champions! We’re going to Olympus – a flying metropolis that overlooks the planet Psamathe. Olympus is larger than Kings Canyon and smaller than World’s Edge. Nevertheless, the city is brimming with vibrant shopping centers, lavish estates, industrial docks, and glass skyscrapers. There’s also the Rift, a location that will likely draw your attention the minute you load into a match. The Rift is a large, unstable singularity that players can use to teleport themselves to select locations across the map. With a variety of architectural structur