NLG - Next Level Gaming

Sea of Stars , the promising-looking retro RPG from the team behind The Messenger, is the latest title to get pushed out of 2022 .  Developer Sabotage posted a message stating it simply wants to polish up the adventure as much as possible without crunching its staff. As we are closing in on a very big milestone the road to launch becomes clearer, and we find ourselves here with a large body of text and our logos at the bottom. Keeping in mind our two main priorities – quality of life for our team and quality of the finished game – we can now confirm that Sea of Stars will be released in 2023. We understand waiting is a big ask, and want to sincerely thank our community for the overwhelming support and positive vibes. In the meantime, we are looking at options to get a playable slice out to everyone this year.  All the love, Saboteam While the delay is a bummer, we appreciate the team’s respect for the employee’s work/life balance and strive for quality. The idea of getting a demo t

Every so often, a game development studio comes up with an idea so good other developers insert it into their games. In Pow Wow Entertainment's newly announced racer, Stuntfest: World Tour, I'm hoping the unique ejector-seat functionality is so jaw-droppingly incredible that it becomes the next craze. In the game's first trailer, we see drivers rocketing out of their cars to bounce off pads or ignite a jetpack's thrusters. Stuntfest: World Tour is in development for PC with publishing duties handled by THQ Nordic sometime in 2022. We don't have many details yet, but a press release states that the player can assume the identity of a "punker granny" or a "famous streamer" with the hope of winning elimination-style stunt shows featuring 18 drivers. The competitions range from destruction derbies to glider racers. When the player hits the ejector button and their driver launches hundreds of meters into the air, they can be freely controlled and g

As previously promised , Halo Infinite’s long-awaited campaign co-op takes its first steps towards launch, thanks to a network beta flight scheduled for July.   Much like the multiplayer beta that proceeded Infinite’s launch last fall, this co-op beta, which runs July 11 to July 22, allows registered players to tackle the entire campaign alongside a buddy to ensure everything works as planned for the full rollout. Because this is a new campaign build that players must download, 343 states that no previous story progress carries over, so players will be starting from scratch. Progress made during the beta will also not transfer back to the retail version.  In a Halo Waypoint blog post , 343 lead software engineer Isaac Bender and lead world designer John Mulkey discussed the co-op mode’s features. A fireteam of four players can create separate campaign saves for co-op, and progress – such as completed missions, acquired collectibles, equipment, upgrades, and achievements – count towa

You'll soon have the chance to play EA's highly anticipated Skate sequel, but not in the way you would expect. Developer Full Circle and publisher Electronic Arts are looking for players who want to playtest the game and provide feedback on its development. You can sign up for this "insider" program here . As EA notes, you cannot share your videos or screenshots from your play sessions. If you are curious what Skate currently looks like or what you can expect from the gameplay, EA has released a trailer with the appropriate title "Still working on it." The first few clips focus on bails, which must have been captured early in development given how rough the animations are. As the trailer moves on, the animations smooth out and the series' skating realism returns and is on display in a handful of awesome sequences. Full Circle also looks to be upping the scale of the challenges through some wild clips featuring impossible grind opportunities and huge r

Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin is getting an expansion called Trials of the Dragon King. The DLC includes new gear, jobs, and enemies to fight. Check out the short trailer below; it's as deliciously chaotic as you'd expect.  There was once a group of warriors who attempted to defeat the darkness. This is the story of what came next. Stranger of Paradise @FinalFantasy Origin's first expansion Trials of the Dragon King launches July 20th. pic.twitter.com/YvGEwGh1ux — STRANGER OF PARADISE FINAL FANTASY ORIGIN (@fforigin) June 30, 2022 In Stranger of Paradise fashion, it's hard to parse through what's happening in the footage, but we see Jack and co. cleaving their way through armored adversaries ranging from shield-holding knights to winged beasts with dazzling blades of their own. In one scene, a kingly figure sits upon a throne – is it safe to assume this is the Dragon King? – and says, "You will die here, and I will live forever." We

The June 2022 PlayStation Plus lineup of free games has arrived and it’s quite a good one, featuring Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time , The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan , and Arcadegeddon .  All three of these games will be available to download for free for all three tiers of subscribers to the newly revamped PlayStation Plus – Premium, Extra, and Essential. You can add each to your library starting July 5 and they’ll be available until Aug. 1. That means you have until July 4 (next Monday) to download last month’s free games: God of War (2018), Naruto to Boruto: Shinobi Striker , and Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl . You can read more about the June 2022 PlayStation Plus lineup here .  Enough about June, though – it’s old news! Onto July 2022! Here’s what PlayStation has to say about each of this month’s free games:  Crash Bandicoot: It’s About Time (PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4) “An all-new Crash adventure awaits! Dr. Neo Cortex and N. Tropy are back at it again and la

<p><img src="https://ift.tt/LGO1WFY" width="800" height="450" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-body-default" /></p> <p><a href="https://ift.tt/ZxDzmBi" target="_blank">Monster Rancher</a> was revived late last year with the release of the <a href="https://ift.tt/N1AbzZn" target="_blank">Monster Ranger 1&amp;2 DX</a> collection, and Bandai Namco isn't going to stop there. In fact, the series is going bigger. Much bigger!</p> <iframe width="560" height="315" frameBorder="0" allow="autoplay" allowfullscreen="true" src="https://ift.tt/qIBf4Mn> <p>The first trailer for Ultra Kaiju Monster Rancher asks a crucial question, "How would you like to raise your very own Ultra Kaiju?" To which I responded, "Yes, please. I'd very much like tha

We recently sat down with Takayuki Nakayama and Shuhei Matsumoto, Director and Producer of Street Fighter 6, respectively, for an interview about Capcom's upcoming fighting game. We learn about how they're pulling inspiration from the worlds of Final Fight and Third Strike, why Modern Control Type "is not an 'Easy Mode'" and should be used in tournament play, and finally, how the team is learning from Street Fighter 5's mistakes to ensure a vibrant future for the series.  

Tri-Ace and Square Enix have largely kept quiet about Star Ocean The Divine Force since its reveal last fall , but that changed in a big way today. In addition to dropping not one, not two, but three videos fleshing out the game's narrative, characters, and combat, we now know the JRPG launches in October.  The Divine Force arrives on October 27, exactly one year after it was first announced. The first trailer showcases the plot with a montage of out-of-context story clips that sets the tone for what's to come in the sci-fi action RPG.  The second video provides a more thorough walkthrough of Star Ocean's characters and combat. Players assume the role of one of two protagonists: Raymond Lawrence, a hot-headed merchant ship captain searching for his lost crew, and Laeticia Aucerius, a princess fighting to save her kingdom from destruction. The story unfolds differently depending on your chosen hero, and a ragtag party of allies accompanies each. The action-focused combat

Matrioshka Games and V Publishing’s fast-paced action RPG, Fallen Angel, hits Switch next month after a successful launch on Steam in 2020.  More specifically, Fallen Angel will hit Switch on July 19, meaning there’s already less than a month left until you can take the archangel experience with you on the go. If you aren’t familiar with Fallen Angel, you can get a look at what awaits you in it in the special Switch announcement trailer below:  As you can see in the trailer above, there are a lot of hellacious things going on, which makes sense considering you control Lucifer as he attempts to ascend from hell to get revenge on those who banished him from heaven.  “With no god in place, heaven is up for grabs, and it’s up to Lucifer to reclaim his birthright and battle fearsome archangels,” a press release reads. “The pearly gates aren’t what they seem, as Lucifer must venture through a variety of 2D locations from cyberpunk nightclubs to crumbling ruins. Utilize a vast arsenal of

Yesterday, Spellbreak developer Proletariat released a blog post detailing the future of its spell-based battle royale that launched years ago. In it, the studio revealed that the servers for Spellbreak will shut down in early 2023, effectively ending the run of this battle royale.  This shutdown likely had to do with the game’s low player count. Still, there might be more to it than that: Blizzard Entertainment, the studio behind franchises like Overwatch and Warcraft, is acquiring Proletariat and using its force of roughly 100 employees to staff up its World of Warcraft team, according to a new report from GamesBeat .  “We are putting players at the forefront of everything we do, and we are working hard to both meet and exceed their expectations,” Blizzard president Mike Ybarra told the publication in a statement. “A big part of caring for our teams is making sure we have the resources to produce experiences our communities will love while giving our teams space to explore even

With Atari's 50th anniversary happening this week, the company has revealed Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration. This classic compilation of games stretches beyond the standard game-collection bundles we've seen in the past, with aspirations of serving as a virtual, interactive museum to paint a picture of just how influential and important Atari was, particularly through the nascent years of the video game industry. I went hands-on with Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration to see how well it accomplishes that lofty goal. At its core, Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration delivers more than 90 playable games in one $40 package. Players can expect classic and retro titles from six hardware platforms (Atari 2600, 5200, 7800, ST, Jaguar, and Lynx), all with emulation created by renowned retro revivalists Digital Eclipse; this is the first time Jaguar and Lynx games will be playable on modern consoles. The team at Digital Eclipse, best known recently for its work on Mega Man

You’ve probably heard of or played Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes, the character-collecting adventure set in a galaxy far, far away. The mobile game launched in 2015 and, in the years that followed, amassed a substantial fanbase that continues to get support from sizeable roster updates. The creators behind Galaxy of Heroes recently formed Azra Games. And the studios’ debut title will appropriately be a collectible and combat RPG called Legions & Legends.  Azra Games CEO and co-founder Mark Otero excitedly spoke about the announcement of the new game: “This will be my ninth collectible and combat RPG, one that builds upon and perfects the genre I’ve spent my entire career developing. I truly believe that we’ve cracked the code for a captivating gameplay experience built around the joys of collecting toys and taking them to battle against each other, just as we used to do when we were kids. At Azra, we’re looking to bring back that excitement of the toy box and playing with friends

With Atari's 50th anniversary happening this week, the company has revealed Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration. This classic compilation of games stretches beyond the standard game-collection bundles we've seen in the past, with aspirations of serving as a virtual, interactive museum to paint a picture of just how influential and important Atari was, particularly through the nascent years of the video game industry. I went hands-on with Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration to see how well it accomplishes that lofty goal. At its core, Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration delivers more than 90 playable games in one $40 package. Players can expect classic and retro titles from six hardware platforms (Atari 2600, 5200, 7800, ST, Jaguar, and Lynx), all with emulation created by renowned retro revivalists Digital Eclipse; this is the first time Jaguar and Lynx games will be playable on modern consoles. The team at Digital Eclipse, best known recently for its work on Mega Man

The Mighty Thor, Jane Foster’s godly alter ego, swoops into Marvel’s Avengers today. Crystal Dynamics released a pair of videos showcasing her thunder-based abilities, giving fans a look at how she compares to her original male counterpart. Jane arrives as a free character in all versions of Marvel’s Avengers. The narrative explains that Jane was torn from an alternate reality in which she is the one and only Thor. Odinson renounced Mjolnir following A-Day, and though Jane developed cancer, her transformation into the Goddess of Thunder halted the disease as she battled to protect Inhumans from persecution. One day, a Tachyon Strom caused by AIM opened a portal that dropped Jane into the game’s universe. She joins up with the Avengers to uncover the cause of the rifts and figure out how to return home.  The Mighty Thor wields Mjolnir with more precision than Odinson and sports new abilities that highlight her increased finesse. You can watch the War Table video below for a complete

One of the most requested titles is finally coming to Switch later this year. Nier: Automata quickly found a large fan base when it launched in 2017, with many praising the storytelling, action, and soundtrack of the Platinum Games-developed title. Now, more than five years later, the heartfelt story of 2B and 9S comes to Nintendo Switch. Nier: Automata The End of Yorha Edition includes previously released content and new costumes that will be available at launch. We don't know much else about what appears to be an "ultimate" or "game of the year" edition of the title, but the game's inclusion in the Switch library is noteworthy. When Nier: Automata launched in 2017, it received critical and fan acclaim, with the PlayStation 4 version garnering an 88 out of 100 score on reviews aggregate website Metacritic. Nier: Automata The End of Yorha Edition arrives on Nintendo Switch on October 6. For one  Game Informer 's opinion on why you need to play Nier: A

Nintendo kicked off its Direct Mini presentation today with a new trailer for Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak. The expansion, available this week, delivers a hearty amount of content by adding new biomes to explore and creatures to track down/battle. However, Capcom isn't stopping there, as the new trailer gave way to a roadmap of free title updates for players over the next several months. The first title update hits in August, adding Seething Bazelgeuse, Lucent Nargacuga, and several other monsters. That update also adds rare species monsters, special species monsters, and a new locale in the Forlorn Arena. Later this fall, a second free title update adds more rare species monsters, subspecies monsters, and powered-up monsters. A third free title update is scheduled for this winter, promising several special species monsters and powered-up monsters. Finally, Capcom says a fourth free title update will arrive in 2023, but it isn't ready to say anything about what to expect wit

When Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle arrived on Switch in 2017 , it was an unlikely success that blended the worlds of Nintendo's Super Mario franchise with Ubisoft's zany Rabbids. The result was a turn-based tactical title starring the Mushroom Kingdom's finest and the most unpredictable characters in Ubisoft's stable. Announced during Nintendo's E3 2021 Direct , Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope promises to carry forward the legacy of that fan-favorite title, but it's been a while since we've heard anything about that game. That changed today during the Nintendo Direct Mini, which shined the spotlight on the company's third-party partners. Otherworldly enemies have suddenly appeared, trying to take the energy possessed by Sparks, who appear to be Rabbid versions of the Lumas from Super Mario Galaxy; this would make sense seeing as how Rosalina appears to play a big role in this sequel. To combat this, Mario and his friends once again join forces with the

Last year, the team behind Fallout: London, a “DLC-sized mod” for Bethesda’s Fallout 4, released a reveal trailer that showcased what to expect across the pond in the world of Fallout, and it looked great. Today, the team released another video spanning almost five minutes that highlights some of the well-worn and lesser-known locales of London that players can visit when the mod is released.  And speaking of release, today’s trailer revealed that Fallout: London will be released in 2023, as reported by IGN . The release window comes after a stunning four minutes of in-game footage. Had I not known Fallout: London was a mod, I probably would have assumed it was a brand-new chapter in the franchise – that’s how good this looks! Check it out for yourself below:  As you can see in the trailer, players can expect to see Tower Bridge, Big Ben, and more. Plus, the trailer hints that players won’t win every battle with bullets – they might be going medieval in some quests, donning a knig

Former Sega of America president and Sony Computer Entertainment America founder Bernie Stolar has died at 75. Below is an obituary written by Steven L. Kent, author and gaming journalist, sent to Game Informer for use, in full:  Bernard “Bernie” Stolar, a former top executive at Atari, Sony Computer Entertainment America, and Sega of America, passed away at the age of 75. “Bernie was a low-key guy. He kept his ego in check,” remembers Vince Desi, founder of Running with Scissors. “I’ve known Bernie for a long time, and I’ve never heard him raise his voice. He was a gentleman in an industry where there really aren’t many.”  Stolar’s introduction to the video game business came with the 1981 release of an arcade game called Shark Attack. Created by Pacific Novelty and manufactured by Game Plan—an Illinois-based pinball manufacturer, Shark Attack was a game in which players controlled a white shark as it ate its way through groups of skindivers.  Stolar was given the unenviable ta

Nintendo has revealed that a Direct Mini: Partner Showcase is happening tomorrow.  As many have predicted and expected, Nintendo is hosting a Direct tomorrow, but it's not the typical Direct many were hoping to see happen sometime this month to coincide with the rest of the big June gaming showcases . That's because it's a Direct Mini that's also a partner showcase. This means it will be a smaller-scale Direct (see: mini) focused on third-party titles. However, this doesn't necessarily mean we won't see anything from Nintendo's first-party studios because surprises can happen – just don't go in expecting it.  "A new Nintendo Direct Mini: Partner Showcase is on the way! Watch on-demand via our YouTube channel beginning Tuesday, June 28 at 6am PT for roughly 25 minutes of info on upcoming third-party Nintendo Switch games."  A new #NintendoDirectMini : Partner Showcase is on the way! Watch on-demand via our YouTube channel beginning Tuesday,

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker is a beloved game in the long-running Zelda series, but when it was first revealed, the reception was mixed. Some were completely on board, ready for this new take on the franchise, while others weren’t too happy about the visual style of the game. The latter party apparently included Legend of Zelda creator Shigeru Miyamoto.  According to a translation of an old issue of Nintendo Dream Magazine by DidYouKnowGaming , Wind Waker director Eiji Aonuma said Miyamoto “literally cringed” when he first saw the game’s visual style, as reported by Video Games Chronicle .  “If I had gone and talked to him from the very beginning, I think he would’ve said ‘How is that Zelda?'." Aonuma said in the magazine. “Miyamoto had trouble letting go of the realistic Link art style until the very end. “At some point, he had to give a presentation against his will. That’s when he said something to me like, ‘You know, it’s not too late to change course and mak

The Boys is one of the most popular shows on television right now, with Season 3 currently underway. It’s a brutal show, with hilarious satire and multiple wild characters, but it seemingly didn’t hold the interest of Metal Gear Solid and Death Stranding director Hideo Kojima.  That’s because he quit after watching three episodes of Season 1, but the reason might have to do with more than just interest in the series. In a new series of tweets first spotted by Video Games Chronicle , Kojima has revealed that at one point in the past (likely 2019, which is when the first season of The Boys aired), he was making something similar in concept to The Boys . In fact, he put it on hold because of its similarity.  “ The Boys , which I quit after 3 episodes of Season 1. I thought I’d watch the rest of the show. Actually, I watched a few episodes that were delivered at the time when I was about to start a project that I had been warming up for a long time and put on hold because the concept

With its approachable gameplay and chess-like complexity, Into the Breach has been an incredible strategy option for PC and Switch owners . With its upcoming Advanced Edition expansion, new content is getting pumped into the mech tactics games where it can already be played. Even better still, mobile versions are landing the same day with the new DLC bolted right in from the start. Subset Games, which also developed the space-faring rogue-lite FTL, is releasing the Advanced edition on July 19. It comes new units, weapons, pilots, abilities, and more. For expert players, there will be a more challenging difficulty mode to contend with, along with new bosses and enemies to learn to defeat efficiently and effectively. Here are some bullet points of what to expect in Into the Breach's Advanced Edition Update: Five new mech squads Nearly 40 new weapons Four new pilots and new pilot abilities New enemies, bosses, and missions More challenging difficulty mode Seven new language

In the movie Jurassic World Dominion , we see a company called Biosyn operating at full capacity, creating dinosaurs and other dangerous critters at an alarming pace. In Jurassic World Evolution 2's new expansion, Dominion Biosyn, you play through this corporation's first days and learn how its hunger to bring back never-before-seen dinosaurs takes a turn for the worse. My time in Biosyn's sprawling dinosaur sanctuary was short yet rewarding. The new campaign flows harmlessly from mission to mission, allowing for success with little pushback. Some dinosaurs get sick or may misbehave, but this is essentially a stress-free playthrough that lets you interact with a handful of fantastic new dinosaurs within just an hour or two. All of the Biosyn dinosaurs are fantastic additions, bringing the rage of the Pyroraptor and the odd shuffling grace of the Dimetrodon to your parks. The Giganotosaurus and Quetzalcoatlus also bring some size to the hunting trails and are animated in

In an interview with 4Gamer.net , Elden Ring director and president of From Software, Hidetaka Miyazaki, revealed some information about the studio's next project and even left some room for the possibility of an Elden Ring sequel. Translations of the interview are courtesy of Google translate, so please forgive if they are a little rough. Regarding the next From Software project, 4Gamer inquired about three games that were in the pipeline when Sekiro was in development. At the time, two of the titles were unknown to the public, with one ending up being this year's smash hit Elden Ring. As for the other, we seemingly don't have to wait too long to see what it is. When asked whether that other game was still in development, Miyazaki responded, "Yes. Development is in its final stages."  Miyazaki doesn't show his cards on what the game may be, but rumblings in the industry point towards a resurgence of another From Software franchise, Armored Core. Trading t