Month: April 2022

Malenia is arguably the toughest boss in Elden Ring, and a major part of her difficulty is that she can heal herself by hitting you with her sword attacks. However, there’s a problem with the game that makes Malenia even more difficult: a bug in the game means she can heal herself by hitting you with her sword attacks, regardless of whether or not you are actively trying to contact her.

Let Me Solo Her, the premier expert on being summoned to fight Malenia, has posted a video of this bug from patch 1.04. Around the 8:30 timestamp in the video, you can see Let Me Solo Her fighting Malenia, and it’s quite a battle as she continually heals, even while Let Me Solo Her flawlessly dodges all of her attacks.

Let Me Solo Her is still able to kill her — after all, there’s a reason this player has become a legend in the Elden Ring community — but other players have noticed the bug as well. This could be due to lag, or an online server discrepancy. Elden Ring may have detected the attack hitting but not fully. Reddit user EX-Eva had the following theory :

I haven’t seen anyone post this happening in offline, which leads me to believe this is a result of the multiplayer stability improvements mentioned in the patch notes. As others have pointed out, you were likely hit in the hosts world but not on your screen, which would register a heal but not damage.

This is consistent with her offline healing. If she attacks you after your death, you will notice that she heals when she crosses over your body, even though she hasn’t done any damage.

FromSoftware have been patching Elden Ring since the game’s launch; there have been numerous bug fixes in recent patches, including one that nerfed its extremely scary blood dogs.

There’s a moment in any good action-RPG where things start to click. It’s when numbers, percentages and colored loot all come together to form a strategy. It is clear what you are expected to do and how you can fulfill those expectations. In Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands, I arrived at that moment when I realized I could role-play as John Wick.

Gearbox Software has just released their newest game. It combines Borderlands’ “guns meet Diablo” strategy with the flexibility and storytelling of a tabletop role playing game. It is an explosion of narrative right turns and explosions. There are also plenty of systemic nods to classic TTRPGs, two of which — dual classing and melee weapons — upended my longstanding Borderlands habits.

As is the case with most action-RPGs, you begin Wonderlands by selecting a character class. The Spellshot is a spellcaster who focuses on magic curses and guns, and can end a firefight within seconds. The Graveborn, along with their demi-lich friend, sacrifice their health in order to use powerful dark magic attacks. Then there’s the Spore Warden, a long-range hunter class who can summon icy tornadoes while their bipedal mushroom friend poisons foes up close.

Grid View

Although I never planned it this way, I’ve built almost identical characters in every previous Borderlands game. I preferred long-range summoners who could keep their distance while calling friends in to help. These abilities were in perfect sync with my ability to maneuver firefights: I was able to summon a rocket-firing Turret to cover one side and hop between the points of cover on each other.

I assumed Wonderlands‘ firefights would unfold just like those in its numbered predecessors, so I chose the Spore Warden for my first foray. I could keep my distance as usual, with a host of elemental attacks to tie up my enemies while I picked them off with sniper rifles, assault rifles, and rocket launchers.

The thing is that Wonderlands doesn’t feel like any Borderlands game. Its early chapters are awash in melee-minded opponents, whose ranged companions hop between cover too frequently to be effectively flanked. My underpowered mushroom ally was unable to help me as I was constantly surrounded and overwhelmed by squads. What’s more, by Level 12, I hadn’t spent any of my skill points on melee upgrades. I went into Borderlands’ signature “Fight For Your Life” mode in almost every encounter.

Clearly, my old habits weren’t working!

Image: Gearbox Software/2K Games via Polygon

I restarted and respec’d. This time, I ran counter to my old preferences: I chose the Stabbomancer, a rogue whose focus on melee attacks and critical-hit chance reminded me of Brick, Krieg, and Zer0 — characters whose close-quarters play styles had pushed me away in the past games. Regardless, playing the Stabbomancer would be my attempt to meet Wonderlands halfway.

It was a total blast. I still am. The Stabbomancer’s ability to vanish into thin air before shooting enemies up-close does wonders for my survivability, and their bevy of critical-hit upgrades can make them into a one-shot machine. They’re also a perfect conduit for Wonderlands‘ renewed emphasis on melee combat. Wonderlands adds a melee weapon slot to replace the generic pistol-whip animations used in Borderlands. It means that I have the ability to equip myself with 4 guns and a mace or longsword or a khopesh. It’s the same excitement I get when I discover a Legendary shotgun, as it is whenever I am able to summon a poison-spewing Hydra and restore my health with every hit.

By the time I got to choose my secondary class, I knew exactly what I wanted: The Clawbringer. They added magic to my close-quarters weapons; they gave me lightning with every swing of the sword. Their wyvern companion was able to harass my enemies while I went in for the kill.

By Level 20, I was sprinting around firefights with the agility of a 49-year-old Keanu Reeves, shooting and punching and maiming whatever happened to be in front of me. I still use sniper rifles, grenade launchers, or whatever weapon the occasion calls for — John Wick used a book, after all — but I largely stick to pistols and submachine guns. Their mobility and handling make it easy to aim down sights at a moment’s notice, or fire off a few hip shots when an enemy surprises me from behind. The video above is me embracing my role as a fantastical John Wick in a mid-game shootout with a squad of skeletons.

I’m always impressed when a developer can shake up a series in its supposed twilight years. Hitman 3 is my favorite in IO’s stealth/comedy trilogy because of how often it throws level-design curveballs. Metroid Dread is remarkable in how it brings back the tension and fear of one our most beloved franchises. And I consider Halo: Reach, Bungie’s farewell to the iconic series, to also be the series’ magnum opus.

Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands may not completely reinvent the Borderlands wheel. It does, however, reinvigorate some aspects of the combat. It alters the foundational rhythm of the action-RPG franchise so well that I questioned — and ultimately eschewed — my 13-year-old habits. Now, I think I am the Baba Yag.

Overwatch 2 is making some big changes to the team shooter, including reducing team sizes from six to five. With this new composition, tanks are more important than ever; each team will have two support heroes and two damage heroes, and tanks are tasked with protecting them all.

There are two major hero reworks coming to bolster the tank class, Blizzard says: One is the centaur omnic Orisa, who has an almost entirely new kit, and the other is damage-dealer Doomfist, who has been shifted into the tank class. These changes were detailed by Blizzard on Wednesday.

Doomfist is an infamously irritating damage-dealer, and he’ll keep a couple of tools from his old Overwatch kit. He will now have more health (increased from 250 to 450), and while he’s lost his Uppercut, he’s gained an ability called Power Block to protect himself from frontal attacks. Seismic Slam and Rocket Punch do more damage but still give Doomfist to the center of his enemy team.

Image: Blizzard Entertainment

Doomfist’s ability to lock down opponents makes him difficult to balance as a damage class, Blizzard explained.

” We were at a fork. Geoff Goodman (Overwatch’s lead hero designer) said that he needed a slight rework, possibly even a major rework, as a DPS in order to function properly without giving you crowd control and killing you. “He’s very threatening and he causes you to be in positions you don’t want to be in, especially on maps where there’s a heavily fortified defensive position like a ledge. He’s really good about breaking up those fortifications.”

Orisa, on the other hand, is losing almost all of her old kit. She no longer has Halt!, Supercharger, or Protective Barrier. Instead, she has Energy Javelin, which forces her enemies back — and they take extra damage if they hit a wall. New ability Javelin Spin propels Orisa forward, destroying projectiles in front of her, and knocking back enemies in her path. Terra Surge is her new ultimate. Orisa can channel it to drive enemies toward her. Terra Surge lasts for three days and Orisa becomes immune to crowd control.

“Overwatch could have this tendency to get really bogged down with these defensive abilities,” says Goodman. “Playing against a double-barrier combo of Orisa and [Reinhardt] and you’re like, ‘I never even get to shoot at players anymore. I’m just shooting all these barriers.'”

Image: Blizzard Entertainment

Orisa’s centaur form and her defensive kit also led to a mishmash; her new form is an “engaging, brawly tank,” according to senior hero designer Brandon Brennan.

“The kit she had before could have worked in 5v5,” Brennan said in the same interview, citing Sigma as an example. “But the way she looks and the way she played, they didn’t really match. We wanted to try to resolve that, so that if you saw Orisa and what she was doing, things just made more sense. The brawly engagement style works well for someone who is, as her community refers to it, “the centaur horse lady “.

The Overwatch 2 team tried many takes on a new Orisa, developers said, including a new model in a bipedal form, but ultimately they chose to stay true to her horsey roots. She’s now an aggressive tank who will dig into the backlines to eliminate the enemies squishies, making her one of the best passive tanks in the game.

Overwatch 2‘s beta is set to go live on April 26, and it will include these two new reworks. The beta also includes new hero Sojourn and a host of other balance changes and quality-of-life additions.

Resident Evil 4‘s virtual reality rework for Quest 2 headsets is getting a free update, one that will add the beloved Mercenaries mode from the original game. The Mercenaries VR was announced Wednesday by Oculus Studios and Capcom along with developer Armature Studio at the Meta Quest gaming show. Today’s update is now available.

The VR version of The Mercenaries for Resident Evil 4 VR features online leaderboards and 20 new challenges for players to experience. These challenges unlock new features such as a Big Head Mode and a classic black-and white horror mode. Players can also get golden gun skins by completing these challenges. Those unlocks will be accessible in the main game, after acquiring them in The Mercenaries.

Oculus Studios, Capcom, and Armature Studio released Resident Evil 4 VR in October 2021. The game reimagines Capcom’s classic survival horror action game in first-person. According to our colleagues at The Verge, it plays better than expected.

In the Mercenaries, players battle waves of enemies while given limited time and ammo, chaining together kill combos for higher scores. Resident Evil 4 VR‘s version of The Mercenaries includes playable characters Leon S. Kennedy, Ada Wong, Hunk, Jack Krauser, and Albert Wesker.

Capcom introduced The Mercenaries as a bonus mode in the original Resident Evil 3: Nemesis. The mode wasn’t present in 2020’s Resident Evil 3 remake — Capcom opted for the 4v1 multiplayer game Resident Evil Resistance instead — or in Resident Evil 7 biohazard, but Capcom brought back the combo-focused, beat-the-clock mode for Resident Evil Village.

Resident Evil 4 was first released in 2005. Initially a GameCube exclusive, RE4 later came to Android, iOS, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Wii, Windows PC, Xbox 360, and Xbox One. Capcom previously experimented with VR in 2017’s Resident Evil 7 biohazard.

Arataki Itto, a club-wielding warrior from Genshin Impact, can rock black nails and red eyeliner like nobody’s business. Hebo is a rambunctious and sarcastic himbo who refers to himself simply as “numero uno” in a humorous way. And now, Itto has stolen the show in Genshin Impact‘s newest event, the Irodori Festival, and it’s all because this bitch accidentally drank a drink with soy in it. And as everyone in the world knows, Arataki Itto is allergic to beans!

[Editor’s note: This post contains spoilers for Arataki Itto’s and Thoma’s quest in the Irodori Festival.]

Itto’s new story comes as part of the 2. 6 “Zephyr of the Violet Garden” update. The Irodori Festival, in the realm of the game is an opportunity for Inazuma’s region to promote cultural exchange. In the brief but delirious quest tied to the event, the Traveler (the generic name for the protagonist of Genshin Impact) and their familiar Paimon help organize the event and are tasked with stopping Itto and his friends from hogging a tanuki-themed photo cut-out board.

When approached by Traveler, Itto has no interest in leaving the little cut-out board, which is when Thoma steps in. Thoma is both the Kamisato Clan’s housekeeper and manager, making him a bit heavier. After a brief fluttering of eyes, and an acknowledgement of their “bromance” from Paimon, Thoma suggests Itto solves his problems with a life-or-death “volunteer off.” Whoever wins gets the festival’s free signature drink, a cocktail inspired by a popular light novel.

Itto initially had no desire to volunteer. He discovers that the drink is possible and he says “Thoma,” then he retorts and adds, “Thoma bro, my man, my dude. Maybe I didn’t understand properly.” Then he asks for more information about the way to win the light drink. It is a brief, rambling moment but Max Mittelman’s portrayal of Itto helps make it come to life. Fans loved it even more when they learned that the line was entirely improvised.

Mittelman has a reputation for portraying offbeat characters such as Saitama in One Punch man. On Twitter, responding to a Genshin Impact fan account, he said, “it always tickles me when productions let me go off script.”

Upon winning the volunteering competition, the previously starry-eyed Itto gets a cold hard dose of reality when he realizes the cocktail has soy milk in it. Panic arises, as characters shout, “He’s allergic to beans!” And the great warrior falls to the ground with stomach pain.

It is a delightful and joyful little escape from all the tedious tasks that come with the festival. It’s an exciting highlight of the update. You can experience the joy of the mission with Arataki Itto or Thoma by completing the quest “About that Time We Saved the Tanuki Photo Board” under the “Hues of the Violet Garden” event.

DeveloperTribute Games (Mercenary King Dotemu, the publisher, announced Wednesday that Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles : Shredder’s Revenge , will be available this summer. It will feature performances from the voices of the beloved 1987 animation TV series.