In the years since Castlevania: Symphony of the Night helped define the genre, "Metroidvania" has gone from a bold archetype to a bullet-point feature. Quite a few games have iterated and riffed on Metroidvanias. But Castlevania series producer Koji Igarashi isn't riffing on the genre with his latest project, Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, so much as returning to convention. But despite being relatively safe, Bloodstained is more than just its creator; its impeccable craftsmanship in level design and combat, quality-of-life improvements, and unique flavor help it stand on its own in a crowded landscape.Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night feels comfortable and familiar, even down to the color-coded map that reveals itself during the course of the game. Like its predecessors in the Castlevania series, your hero Miriam needs to strike even the most basic of enemies four or five times to defeat them, and the lack of agility at first can feel stiff and restrictive. This can actually seem discordant with memories of games like Symphony of the Night, but the familiarity will return as Miriam grows more powerful and the game becomes more recognizable along with her.This isn’t to say that Bloodstained has left the formula entirely untouched. A series of Techniques found in tomes around the castle teach weapon-specific move sets similar to a character-action or fighting game. With the increased emphasis on differentiated weaponry, the game introduces "Shortcut" loadout slots that allow you to quickly swap between different sets of equipment. It's a small quality-of-life touch, but it's smartly implemented.The biggest addition comes from Shards, or pieces of the demons and other monsters that imbue you with extra powers. The Shard system combines the Spells, Relics, and Familiars from Symphony of the Night into one system that’s more robust and versatile. Shards come in five forms: Conjure, Manipulative, Directional, Passive, and Familiar. Conjure summons a weapon or creature, while Manipulative makes more lengthy changes to your current state. Passive offers buffs and other benefits, and Familiars accompany you, giving aid. Directional has the most variety by far, offering tons of projectile-like weapons that can be pointed anywhere using the right-stick. Unfortunately, Directional shards are also used for a few abilities that are crucial to navigation, forcing you to manually swap them when needed or take up a couple of Shortcut slots.By the nature of its Shard system and other power-ups and abilities, Bloodstained isn’t often a terribly challenging game. Gaining a few more levels to take on a challenging new area or boss is quick and breezy, and the sheer variety of weapon types makes it easy to fit the game around your play style. Like many old-school games, seeing your way past the challenges requires patience in learning the enemy patterns, cheesing your way through with special abilities, or some combination of the two.Other additions like crafting weapons and cooking meals for permanent buffs add a little more nuance to Bloodstained, and a nice variety of ways to improve your stats. In general, the powering up only goes in one direction. You aren’t often forced to make tough decisions about trade-offs, aside from a point or two from one stat or another in choosing equipment. This feels unusual by modern standards, but helps drive home the idea that the genre is about empowerment. Going from weak and overwhelmed to a capable and professional monster slayer makes for more satisfying progression.Occasionally, Bloodstained does show slight technical issues. It suffers from slowdown at points, especially given certain Shard abilities, and some areas are noticeably more plain than the lush gable rooftops of Arvantville or the gaudy brilliance of the Dian Cecht Cathedral. The interior of the castle on the whole is gorgeous, and the disparate environments show a keen eye for design with differentiation. The less ornate parts of it stand out, but only because the rest is so well put-together. [Editor's note: The Nintendo Switch version fares worse, with a number of technical problems including reduced visual fidelity and an unstable frame rate that affects gameplay. Stay tuned for our separate Switch review.]True to its lineage, Bloodstained is full of secrets to uncover and nooks to explore. The castle design unfolds beautifully over the course of several hours, instilling a constant sense of curiosity and exploration. The layout is subtle and inviting; points that are meant to be accessed sometime later are clear without feeling restricted or frustrating, and it rarely leaves you at a loss for what to do next. A pin feature lets you mark points of interest to return to later, too (though its unintuitive button mapping means it’s easy to place a flurry of them accidentally). Accessing the "true" ending is a clever puzzle within this platformer formula, which opens up even deeper layers of the castle that beg to be explored.The castle design unfolds beautifully over the course of several hours, instilling a constant sense of curiosity and exploration.Being a Castlevania game in all but name places some restrictions on how explicit the game can be with its references and callbacks. Some are more blatant than others, but Bloodstained consistently impresses with creative solutions to raise the specter of Castlevania while skirting just on the right side of originality. From weapon descriptions to a hidden 8-bit-styled stage to one of the super-tough optional bosses, Bloodstained pays homage to its legacy with too many Easter eggs to count. These fun winks are clear messages to long-time fans, but not so obvious that they should be distracting for newcomers.That cheeky tone informs the entire game. While the story itself is bland and unremarkable, the style and trappings around it are anything but. This is gothic horror at its most silly, with demons occupying the castle corridors alongside giant puppy heads and homages to the indie hit Shovel Knight. Even some of the dialogue is clearly in on the joke. A quest giver in the main hub has a comical level of bloodlust over her revenge quests. An undead ferryman drops an unsubtle hint about how you could open a path for him if you only had a giant hand. A demon barber who opens up cosmetic options is conspicuously named Todd. Bloodstained is full of little touches like these, which let you know that despite its dour name and setting, the game is comfortable enough with itself to be absurd.It’s that sense of comfort in its own skin that makes Bloodstained such a treat. This isn’t a bold modernization of the genre or a departure from its roots. It is exactly what it set out to be: a return to the style of a bygone era, with a few modern improvements. Its perception was always going to be affected by how well it invoked the feeling of a classic Castlevania game, but Bloodstained does that and better. With more flexible combat and level design that always beckons to check just one more room, Bloodstained shows that a modern Metroidvania can stand alongside its predecessors as an equal.Info from Gamespot.com

It might seem like the fighting game market of the current day is crowded with games looking to stand out, but it’s nothing compared to the early '90s. While Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat ruled the roost, everyone was trying to find a way to set their game apart. Among the competition was SNK’s Samurai Shodown, a weapons-based fighting game that emphasized careful movement, high damage, and rewarding patient, careful reading and reacting to your foe’s attacks--along with some fountains of blood from downed opponents for good measure. Over 25 years later, history is repeating itself as a new Samurai Shodown draws its blade, offering many of the same things that made it great all those years ago--only now it feels even fresher.The Samurai Shodown series is one of SNK’s most beloved properties, but also among its most inconsistent; the series has had some very high highs (Samurai Shodown II, Samurai Shodown V Special) and extremely low lows (Samurai Shodown III, Samurai Shodown Sen). Thankfully, the developers at SNK have understood the franchise’s mixed legacy, and worked to really focus on what makes Samurai Shodown special in the world of fighting games: the thrill of being in a high-stakes, life-or-death struggle where one wrong step could take you from a comfortable lead to lying on the ground with a sword in your gut.If you haven’t played Samurai Shodown before, the first thing you’ll notice is the relative simplicity of the game’s controls. You have four attack buttons (three strengths of weapon attacks and a kick), each of which has a very distinct feel when pressed; you’ll really feel the weight of a heavy slash’s slow, powerful arc as opposed to the quick hilt-smash of a light slash. Combinations of the buttons allow you to perform dodges, overhead slashes, and throws and even a special desperation-style mode. Special moves vary for each character, but are almost all easy-to-perform semi-circle, half-circle, and Dragon Punch-style inputs.Playing around with the various characters and seeing their unique moves and abilities really establishes just how good everything feels to control. The various attack weights feel substantial, and even basic standing, crouching, and dashing moves are a lot of fun to see executed onscreen as blades whoosh around in beautiful arcs--to say nothing of the flashy special moves. Simply doing things with your chosen fighter feels inherently enjoyable, even if you’re just getting the grasp of their moveset.Pressing buttons mindlessly might feel good, but you’ll soon discover that restraint is of the essence. Samurai Shodown was known in its heyday for extremely high damage, and if you’re coming off other fighting games, you’ll have a bit of a shock once you see how much life a well-placed heavy sword strike can chop off. Strong moves hit hard, and if you leave an opening for your opponent to take advantage of, you can very quickly find your life bar melting like butter in a frying pan under the pressure of their blade. If you try to go in furiously swinging, you’ll likely find yourself left open to a very, very painful counterattack as you’re stuck recovering from that heavy sword slash you just whiffed.To offset the high damage, there are a lot of defensive options that you can utilize. There’s good old-fashioned high and low blocking, but there’s also a special “Just Defend” block you can execute right as the opponent’s attack is about to hit that will very briefly stun them. There’s also a dodge attack, a universal parry, and multiple means to disarm your foes, leaving them weaponless and at a severe disadvantage. (Be careful, though--some characters are more capable when disarmed than others!) You also have forward/backward recovery when knocked down, allowing you to avoid a lot of pressure when getting up if used well.The big, flashy attacks and myriad defensive options combine to make a game with a much different focus than most other fighting games currently out there. Rather than mixups and combo strings (you’ll only rarely see double-digit combo hit counts), Samurai Shodown heavily emphasizes pacing, carefully reading and reacting to your opponent, and patiently waiting for the ideal opportunity to capitalize on your foe’s vulnerability. There’s not a lot of complex layered-on systems here, but that doesn’t matter; this isn’t about lengthy combos or executing multiple super attacks, this is about finding out how to make your opponent dead in the most effective way possible.The core gameplay, great as it is, is only part of a bigger package--one that might be a bit disappointing to those looking for a strong single-player experience. The roster is small in comparison to some other fighters, but it offers a lot of variety. Fans will appreciate seeing old favorite characters like wild-haired samurai Haohmaru, determined Ainu warrior girl Nakoruru, and even somewhat more obscure picks like the multi-sword-wielding Yoshitora and ethereal trickster Shiki. The game also introduces new characters to the franchise: hard-drinking, razor-sharp shipwright Darli Dagger, clumsy but deceptively cunning Wu-Ruixiang, and the bird-themed, aerial-attack-heavy Yashamaru.The big, flashy attacks and myriad defensive options combine to make a game with a much different focus than most other fighting games currently out there.But even though there's plenty of characters, the story mode is pretty weak, giving each character only an intro, ending, and few simplistic cutscenes, along with a final boss who doesn’t seem to have anything to do with a lot of the cast. (Said final boss can also be incredibly challenging if you don’t find an AI exploit with your chosen character--the term “SNK Final Boss Syndrome” exists for a reason.) There are training modes, along with gauntlet (fight every character) and survival (fight a bunch of characters on a limited lifebar), but beyond that, you’re going to need to either invite a friend over or hop online to truly enjoy what Samurai Shodown has to offer.Online play is a cornerstone of modern fighting games, and Samurai Shodown’s online dueling could be described as "pretty okay." The netcode is input-delay-based, so the quality of your online experience will mostly rely on the distance and connection quality of you and your opponent. Ranked mode allows for character switching after matches if you rematch, which is a nice consideration. Lobbies, however, are rather chaotic, forcing you to manually queue to play and spectate each match.Dojo mode allows you to download a player’s "ghost" data and play against a CPU fighter that mimics their play style--a novel concept. At the time of this writing, however, there’s not much to grab yet, and it’s hard to gauge the accuracy of ghost opponents if you haven’t played them live for a good amount of time. You can play against your own ghosts, which is an interesting experience, but it’s not recommended until you’ve spent a lot of time with a single character and given the game sufficient data. Samurai Shodown is a great reboot. It captures what made the original fun and unique, but also at a time when high-damage, high-stakes fighters like this are a rarity, making its combat feel both fresh and familiar. Its accessibility and easy-to-grasp gameplay belie a lot of strategic depth that makes for very intense, bloody struggles. While the single-player experience is a bit lacking, it doesn’t drag down the whole significantly--Samurai Shodown is a fighting experience well worth taking up the sword for.Info from Gamespot.com

Unless you're a Mercedes fan, you might feel that Formula 1 in 2019 is a bit stale with the team's dominance of this year's world championship. But Codemasters' F1 2019 is anything but stagnant, presenting an exciting, if idealized, version of the world's premier motorsport. It sticks mostly to the familiar cadence of previous titles with its massive career mode and loads of classic content. However, big additions like the FIA Formula 2 World Championship and scheduled online racing add even more to an already burgeoning title that's filled to the brim with enjoyable things to do--all revolving around driving some of the fastest racing cars in the world.Anyone familiar with the series will feel immediately at home with F1 2019. Functionally the menus are borrowed from previous years, so finding the mode you want to play is thankfully easy because there is just so much here. Solo play consists of the brilliant career mode, Grand Prix weekends for single races and time trials for leaderboard junkies, numerous championship scenarios--extra if you've got the Legends Edition--and the official F1 and F2 World Championships. And that's before you dig into multiplayer, which adds player-made leagues and scheduled event racing. Amazingly, none of it feels like filler, with each mode offering something different and enjoyable overall. But like in previous years, it's the career mode that gives you the fullest and most rewarding experience, venturing further into the realm of sports fantasy than it has in the past.In previous career modes, you'd simply select an F1 team to race for, set some contract goals, and go. But F1 2019's career opens with more of a throwback to Codemasters' Race Driver series, allowing you to start in the newly added Formula 2 Championship before making the step up to the big time. It's not a full season but a series of scenarios where you clash against two fantasy rivals, Lukas Weber and Devon Butler. While this opens the career with a series of cutscenes developing the competition between the three of you, once you all enter Formula 1, those personal moments don't come back; they're replaced with the comparatively lifeless email transcripts of their media interviews. It would've been nice to have more of these characters around to add some more flavor.Another big addition to the career mode is driver changes between teams. All the drivers on the grid can trade places, doing so automatically based on their prior performances. Early in my career, both McLaren drivers found themselves out of a job thanks to their poorly performing car, with Carlos Sainz booted partway through and replaced by Kimi Raikonnen, and Lando Norris making way at the end of the season for a then-jobless Pierre Gasly. It leads to some fascinating shifts in the power dynamics between current F1 teams, leading to some surprising results and a consistently intriguing run to the title. While it's jarring to see drivers replaced, especially by fantasy drivers, it adds more to the game than it takes away.You can choose to not have the fantasy drivers, but that means skipping the feeder series entirely, and the Formula 2 cars are way too much fun to do that. Smaller, less powerful, and easier to drive, the Formula 2 cars in F1 2019 are surprisingly enjoyable given their comparatively slower pace. Over-drive them and they'll slip and slide, teaching you how to find the edge of grip. As such, they make for a perfect place for beginners to grasp how to race a light and nimble car without having to step straight into the might of an F1.There's a reason they only let the best drivers in the world behind the wheels of these carbon fiber beasts; modern F1 is about much more than just driving fast. You have to manage tires, hybrid deployment, fuel usage, race strategy, and the gaps between your competitors--there's not a moment's rest for the mind, if that's how you want it to be. But the option for hugely robust assists makes it possible for both ardent fans and inexperienced players to get something out of a race. For sim fans, there are layers of strategy and car management while jostling for position, on top of driving these beautiful cars at unimaginable speeds. For everyone else, there's the thrill of close racing against their favorite drivers because of AI that gives space when needed but also fights hard to pass you when given the opportunity to pounce.The AI in last year's game was already racy, pushing for gaps and fighting back when it thought it had a chance. But F1 2019's is a further refinement of this, reacting in ways that feel like you're racing against other human players. They'll go wheel-to-wheel and defend their position by driving you to the edge of the track, sometimes making mistakes and causing incidents, and sometimes pulling off incredible overtakes by getting into your slipstream and out-braking you into a corner. F1 drivers aren't pushovers, and it's great to have that reflected in the on-track action.The cars themselves feel great to drive with both a racing wheel and a gamepad, with both feeling fast and responsive. When you're in the cockpit, it's captivating. The race engineer will talk to you during a race, keeping you informed of all sorts of important information. With a microphone you can ask them questions about pit stops or the condition of your tires, or simply tell them to shut it and they'll keep updates to a minimum. It works flawlessly, offering lots of pertinent information at the end of a button press. The weather can roll in and soak a dry track, then dry out again, adding a further layer of drama to the mix. There's a lot that can go on, especially during a longer race. A quick five-lap burst can be fun, but the longer races are where things like race strategy can really play out in satisfying ways.For sim fans, there are layers of strategy and car management while jostling for position, on top of driving these beautiful cars at unimaginable speeds. For everyone else, there's the thrill of close racing against their favorite drivers.Leagues are a welcome inclusion, allowing you and a group of like-minded folk to take part in a multiplayer season of your own making. Community leagues have formed around the F1 games for years, but having it included directly in the game is a welcome nod to those who've been running these leagues externally. Scheduled events are also a nice new feature, letting you practice and qualify whenever you like, then running races around scheduled times to encourage competition. Also new is player customization that lets you tweak your car livery, racing suit, gloves, and helmet. Some designs are free while others can be unlocked using an in-game currency earned from racing online, though annoyingly, the most interesting options will cost you real money.Where F1 2019 falls short of other racing titles is in its track accuracy. Graphically, courses are superb, with some lovely trackside details and fabulous new lighting that helps the night tracks look eerily realistic. But in terms of accuracy compared to the real-life tracks, they're still missing a lot of the character in the road surface, like the small bumps and cracks you get from a laser-scanned track. The final chicanes at Spa and Montreal are wrongly profiled, and there's a really nasty bump entering the front straight at Suzuka that's definitely not there on the real circuit. Most players outside of a handful of hardcore sim racers would never notice this, but with titles like iRacing and GT Sport offering high-fidelity versions of many of these tracks, these inaccuracies begin to stand out more over time.F1 2019 is yet another strong step forward for the now decade-long franchise, with a ton of refinements over last year's game as well as some great new features to help elevate it to a new level. The Formula 2 cars are superb to handle, and the new additions to career mode, like driver swaps, add some much-needed drama and excitement that real Formula 1 has been missing for some time now. F1 2019 is a masterclass in how to make an engaging and alluring racer, and once again stands tall on top of the podium.Info from Gamespot.com

Apex Legends Season 2 begins in just a few days, on July 2, and we already know a fair amount about what's in store. A new hero named Wattson will debut in Season 2, which will also bring a bunch of balance changes, a revised battle pass, and a new gun. However, thanks to a leak, we now have a few more clues as to what Season 2 will offer, and there's a glimpse at what appears to be another brand-new character.A pair of trailers set to hype up Season 2's launch have leaked ahead of their apparent premiere on Thursday. Significantly, there seems to be a glimpse of a new character--not the previously revealed Wattson, but another fighter named Crypto. This hero has been rumored for some time and can be seen in the trailers below.Considerable map changes are also on the way, it appears. The trailers show a number of new buildings and structures, as well as hazards in the form of pterodactyl-like monsters and a bigger dinosaur named the Leviathan. (Apex's E3 showing at EA Play teased that a giant creature of some sort was coming, and recently, dragon-like flyers began appearing in the game.) In addition, an EMP blast has seemingly changed the previously barren wastelands area in the east into a thriving area of wildlife and vegetation. [Update: The first of these trailers, a cinematic that showcases Wattson and teases the impending map changes and Leviathan, has now been officially released. The second trailer has also made its official debut, and you can see that at the top of this post.]Apex has been criticized for not introducing enough content, no doubt due in part to the rapid pace of updates for competitor Fortnite. However, Respawn has said it doesn't plan to meet that cadence but will be receptive to the feedback it received from the game's first Battle Pass. Season 2's Battle Pass will focus more about challenges, much like Fortnite's.We awarded Respawn's battle royale game a 9/10 in our Apex Legends review. Critic Phil Hornshaw wrote: "Apex Legends is a mix of smart shooter ideas that makes for a competitive, team-based game that gets at all the best parts of battle royale while addressing a lot of the weaknesses. Respawn's intense focus on team play makes Apex more than just a worthy addition to the genre; it's an indicator of where battle royale should go in the future."Info from Gamespot.com

The Pokemon Company capped off its Pokemon 2019 Press Conference last month with the reveal of Pokemon Masters, a brand-new smartphone game developed in collaboration with DeNA (the studio behind Super Mario Run, Mario Kart Tour, and most of Nintendo's other mobile titles). Few details about the game were shared at the time, but we've now gotten a closer look at it as part of an online video presentation on Thursday, June 27.While there's still a fair amount for us to learn, like how its free-to-play microtransactions will work, we do know a variety of new details about what to expect from Pokemon Masters.Release Date WindowPokemon Masters still doesn't have an exact release date, but The Pokemon Company confirmed it will release this summer. It'll be available for both iOS and Android, though it's unclear if the platforms will see a simultaneous launch.Pokemon Masters Release Date Window Revealed--And It's SoonGameplay And Story DetailsMasters takes place on a new island region called Pasio, and it sees you assuming control of a team of trainers who are each paired with a specific Pokemon, known as Sync Pairs. Using them, you'll engage in 3-on-3 battles against the AI to earn Gym badges.Pokemon Masters Gameplay And Story Details RevealedTrainersThose Sync Pairs include combos like Cynthia and Garchomp, Iris and Haxorus, and Brendan and Treecko. 65 Sync Pairs in all will be available at launch (with more coming down the line), and we've rounded up all the confirmed ones for the game so far.Pokemon Masters: All The Trainers Spotted So FarWhere To WatchThe Pokemon Company broadcasted the Pokemon Masters stream on its official YouTube channel. It clocked in at just over eight minutes, and you can rewatch the entire presentation for yourself below. We also got a new Pokemon Masters trailer, which can be viewed above. Info from Gamespot.com

Another week has elapsed in the world of Fortnite and, sure as Kilimanjaro rises like Olympus above the Serengeti, we've been blessed with new challenges. We know you'll be seeking to cure what's deep inside (the need for Battle Stars that will level up your Battle Pass and unlock new cosmetics), so we've put together a quick breakdown of what you'll need to do to get them.Fortnite challenges can be tricky, occasionally asking you to find some old forgotten words or ancient melodies, but this time, it's fairly easy stuff--nothing that a hundred men or more would be required to do. However, it's gonna take some time to do the things you never had (ooh, ooh), but if you take a look below you'll be able to prioritize and get through it quicker.In the free section (challenges that anyone playing can do), you'll need to apply shields, visit a few clocks, and eliminate enemies in Snobby Shores or Mega Mall. That last one might be tricky, so instead of growing restless and longing for some solitary company, try grabbing a few friends and team up to take on opponents.If you've got a Battle Pass, you'll be able to do some exclusive challenges. If you haven't got one and want to get all the cosmetics this season, it's worth getting one as you'll get more challenges and thus more opportunities to get Battle Stars. A Battle Pass can be purchased using V-Bucks from the in-game store--hurry boy, she's waiting there for you.Battle Pass-exclusive challenges will ask you to do damage with assault rifles, visit a few specific locations as part of a multi-stage challenge, use a Volcano Vent, Air Vent, and a Zipline in a single match, and then get eliminations outside of named locations.Week 8 ChallengesFreeApply Shields (400) -- 5 Battle StarsVisit different clocks (3) -- 5 Battle StarsEliminate opponents in Snobby Shores or Mega Mall (7) -- 10 Battle StarsPremiumDeal damage to opponents with Assault Rifles (500) -- 5 Battle StarsStage 1: Land at Paradise Palms -- 1 Battle Star Stage 2: Land at Neo Tilted -- 1 Battle StarStage 3: Land at Mega Mall -- 1 Battle StarStage 4: Land at Pleasant Park -- 1 Battle StarStage 5: Land at Junk Junction -- 1 Battle StarUse a Volcano Vent, Air Vent, and a Zipline in a single match -- 10 Battle StarsGet eliminations outside of named locations (5) -- 10 Battle StarsIf you stop an old man along the way, he'll no doubt tell you that Fortnite also has a set of additional challenges available as part of the 14 Days of Summer event. These challenges usually involve a themed objective, and we've been creating guides for those. The latest asks you to bounce a giant beach ball in different matches, and there are some shortcuts you can take, so make sure to read the guide before attempting it.Info from Gamespot.com

Pokemon Sword and Shield might be launching for Nintendo Switch in November, but there'll be another new Pokemon game coming before then. Pokemon Masters, which was announced just ahead of E3, is a new title coming to iOS and Android, and we now know it will launch in "Summer 2019." You can watch a new trailer below.The Pokemon Company shared more details about the upcoming game in a recent livestream, which you can re-watch below; it's just over eight minutes long. The game appears to be a battle-focused, story-driven title in which your Pokemon are pitted against famous trainers from previous games in the series. It will be "free-to-start with purchasable items," though which items will be purchasable was not elaborated on.The game takes place in a new region, an island named Pasio. You'll embark on an adventure in a similar vein to those seen in mainline games, traveling the region to collect gym badges. However, rather than controlling one trainer, you'll take charge of three, each with their own Pokemon partner. You'll control these "sync pairs," as they're called, in three-on-three battles against AI opponents throughout the story.Contrary to the turn-based mainline games, Masters' three-on-three battle system works in real-time using a move gauge that fills up over the course of the battle and is depleted when you fight. In another Pokemon first, trainers also have moves in Masters: "Trainers provide support in battle by using moves that heal Pokemon or raise their stats," said the game's producer, Yu Sasaki.Masters is being developed DeNA, which previously made Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp, Super Mario Run, Fire Emblem Heroes, and Miitomo. The Pokemon Company will publish the title, which will come to the App Store and Google Play this summer.Info from Gamespot.com

As promised, The Pokemon Company shared some more details about its brand-new Pokemon smartphone game, Pokemon Masters, during its June 27 livestream. The game, which is being developed in collaboration with DeNA (the studio behind Mario Kart Tour and other Nintendo mobile titles), is slated to launch this summer, and now we've learned a bit more about its story and how its gameplay will work.Pokemon Masters is set on a new island region called Pasio, where famous trainers from all around the Poke-world are gathering to take part in the Pokemon Masters League tournament. This time around, however, each trainer travels with only one partner Pokemon (known collectively as a Sync Pair). As you make your way around the Pasio region, you'll be able to team up with other Sync Pairs, then control the entire team in three-on-three battles against AI opponents and collect Gym badges.In contrast to the mainline Pokemon games, battles in Masters unfold in real time. Your move gauge features two attacks and will gradually fill up over time; once full, you'll tap on an attack to unleash it. You can also unleash powerful and flashy Sync Moves for more damage. Pokemon aren't the only ones able to use moves during battle, either. Trainers can also use support moves to heal Pokemon or raise their stats.Nearly every major character, Gym Leader, and rival from throughout the series appears to be in the game. The Pokemon Company says there will be 65 Sync Pairs at launch--including Cynthia and Garchomp, Iris and Haxorus, and Brendan and Treecko, among many others--with more to come post-release.Pokemon Masters is launching for iOS and Android devices Summer 2019. The game will be free to download and have optional microtransactions, although The Pokemon Company hasn't yet elaborated on what those will be. You can rewatch the Pokemon Masters livestream here.Of course, Pokemon Masters isn't the only new Pokemon game coming this year. Pokemon Sword and Shield are also launching for Nintendo Switch on November 15. The upcoming Gen 8 titles take players to the brand-new Galar region, where they'll battle and raise a variety of new and returning Pokemon. Also new in Sword and Shield is Dynamax, a new battle mechanic that can supersize Pokemon for a limited time during battles. The games will be compatible with the upcoming Pokemon Home service, allowing you to bring over your old Pokemon from previous titles; however, you won't be able to transfer every old Pokemon.Info from Gamespot.com

Fortnite's Week 8 challenges for Season 9 are now available, and among them is one that will require a little extra effort. It's in the free section, so it's available to all Fortnite players, and it directs everyone to visit three different clocks in exchange for five Battle Stars. If you know the Fortnite island like the back of your hand you may immediately know exactly where to go, but if you need a helping hand, take a look below. Here's a complete guide to the clock locations, including a map of confirmed locations; you can also check out our video guide above.The clocks you need are located in Junk Junction, Happy Hamlet, and Neo Tilted. There's also a sundial in Sunny Steps--this one may be essential to visit, as some players have reported an apparent bug with the challenge causing the Hamlet clock to not register progress. (Fortbyte #97 is also apparently not working as intended.) A fifth can be found in between Fatal Fields and Paradise Palms. All you've got to do is find and approach them; once you're close enough, a pop-up update to the challenge will be triggered to indicate that you've made progress.The clock in Junk Junction has seen better days but can be found on the bottom left of the area at the foot of the broken tower--somehow it still works. Head to Neo Tilted and, once again, at the southwest of the location you'll see the large tower with the time digitally projected around the top. Finally, at Happy Hamlet, there's a nice, rustic clock tower in its center. You can also watch the video above to see us complete the challenge.Fortnite Clock Locations (Season 9, Week 8)Junk Junction: At the foot of the destroyed clock towerNeo Tilted: Top of the tower with the time projectionHappy Hamlet: Clock tower in the middle of the locationSunny Steps: In the middle of the area, you'll find a sundialFatal Fields/Paradise Palms: Along the G9/H9 border With that challenge done, the rest should be breezy work. However, there's also the ongoing 14 Days of Summer event, which includes unique challenges and, of course, more rewards. The latest challenge asks players to bounce a giant beach ball in different matches, which is easier said than done. We also have a guide to finding the beach parties you need to visit for another challenge.If you still have outstanding challenges from previous weeks, head over to our complete Fortnite Season 9 challenge guide, which keeps track of every week and compiles all our handy guides in one place. If there's a challenge giving you trouble this season, we'll have a guide for it there.Info from Gamespot.com

WWE television is making a few changes, and that includes creating two new roles working directly under CEO Vince McMahon. Paul Heyman will become executive director of Raw and Eric Bischoff will serve in that same position on Smackdown Live.In these newly-created positions, the two men will be a part of creative development, overseeing it across WWE's platforms. A press release stated that this position will allow WWE to progress as a "global brand" while giving each of the company's flagship shows a "distinct creative process."Heyman and Bischoff should be familiar names for anyone who follows wrestling and WWE's brand of sports entertainment. Paul Heyman currently appears on a regular basis on WWE programming as the manager/advocate for superstar Brock Lesnar. However, Heyman's legacy in the industry comes from the time he was president of ECW from 1993-2001. ECW's brand of wrestling filled a void many wrestling fans felt they couldn't get from WWE or WCW at the time, and in a sense, this show was the spark for what would become the Monday Night Wars between WWE and WCW.As for Bischoff, he's worked on and off with WWE in the past, but he's most known for being the president of WCW, helping create iconic storylines--like the NWO--and was a major part of securing WCW's TV deals: Monday Nitro on TNT and WCW Thunder on TBS. Bischoff was the face of WCW for years, as he inserted himself into storylines, becoming a major part of the NWO, alongside Hulk Hogan, Scott Hall, and Kevin Nash.Looking forward, it's apparent Vince McMahon will be taking a step back--but not completely away--from weekly programming as we move closer to the relaunch of the XFL, in 2020. Hopefully, having two different directors for both Raw and Smackdown will help give each show a distinct look and feel, since the newly created Wild Card Rule--where superstars from each show can crossover to the opposite--has made the brand split feel pointless.Info from Gamespot.com

The first trailer for Charlie's Angels is here. The latest movie version of the iconic female crime-fighters stars Kristen Stewart, Naomi Scott, and Ella Balinska, and hits theaters in November.The trailer introduces the new Angels--Stewart plays highly-trained agent Sabina Wilson, Balinska is former MI6 operative Jane Kano, while Scott is scientist and computer whiz Elena Houghlin. The trio are brought into Charlie Townsend's crime-fighting agency, which is now a global spy network, by Bosley, played by director Elizabeth Banks. Patrick Stewart and Dimjou Hounsou also appear--as other spy bosses using the Bosley alias--and it looks like a great mix of action, intrigue, and wise-cracking comedy. Check it out above.Charlie's Angels is Banks' second directing credit after 2015's Pitch Perfect 2. The movie isn't actually a remake of either the original '70s TV show or the two movies from the 2000s, but a continuation of the same story. It releases on November 15.In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, Banks spoke about how she approached this latest version of Charlie's Angels. "It was important to me to make a movie about women working together and supporting each other, and not make a movie about their romantic entanglements or their mother they don't call enough," she said. "When I'm at work, I don't talk about those things. I get on with my job. It felt important to do that for the Angels, to treat them with the respect their skill set demands."For more, check out GameSpot's guide to the biggest upcoming movies of 2019.Info from Gamespot.com

The epic storytelling of the Final Fantasy series of games will soon transition into television. Sony Pictures Television and Hivemind Productions have revealed they are partnering with Square Enix to develop a live-action adaptation of Final Fantasy XIV.The TV series will be set in Eorzea, the same setting as the 14th main installment of the video game series. The show will feature many elements that players are long familiar with, including Chocobos and the live-action debut of Cid.Final Fantasy XIV is an MMORPG, following all the standard aspects from the franchise, such as godlike beings, impending doom, magic, airships, and protagonists trying to save the world from being blown up. Following a rough launch in 2010, FFXIV was re-released in 2013 and has since established itself among the subscription-based MMOs on the market. The news of a TV show comes just ahead of the launch of the game's next expansion, Shadowbringers."Final Fantasy XIV and Eorzea are the perfect gateway into Final Fantasy for longtime fans and newcomers alike," said Sony Pictures Television Co-President Chris Parnell. "This show is about embracing and embodying all of the elements that have made the mythos such an endlessly captivating phenomenon, and it's an immense honor to be bringing all of Eorzea's iconic characters, settings, and concepts – including fan-favorites like Cid and, of course, the chocobos--to life for a television audience."Ben Lustig and Jake Thornton will write for the series and serve as executive producers alongside Jason F. Brown, Sean Daniel, and Dinesh Shamdasani of Hivemind. This isn't the only piece of TV content being produced by Hivemind at the moment. Aside from Amazon's The Expanse, the production company is also working on an adaptation of The Witcher for Netflix, which will reportedly release on the streaming service this fall. The series will star Freya Allan (Into the Badlands) as Ciri, Anya Chalotra (Wanderlust) as Yennefer, and Henry Cavill as Geralt of Rivia. The first season is currently in production in Hungary.Final Fantasy was previously adapted for the animated movie Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within. Released in 2001, it was widely panned and performed poorly at the box office. In 2017, there was also the live-action TV mini-series Final Fantasy XIV: Dad of Light, following a father and son connecting through the MMORPG.Info from Gamespot.com

Crunchyroll has announced Mob Psycho 100 II: The First Spirits and Such Company Trip - A Journey that Mends the Heart and Heals the Soul's international premiere will occur at Crunchyroll Expo 2019. The original video animation (OVA) is the follow-up to the second season of Mob Psycho 100, which was one of the best anime to watch during the Winter 2019 season.The screening will premiere on Sunday, September 1. Following the viewing, Mob Psycho 100 director Yuzuru Tachikawa, character designer Yoshimichi Kameda, and voice actor Setsuo Ito will hold a panel to discuss the creation of the anime. Ito voices the titular Mob, the main protagonist of the anime. For those who can't make Crunchyroll Expo, the OVA will publicly release on September 25.Crunchyroll describes the plot of the OVA as follows: "Mob, Reigen, Dimple, and the newest member of the Spirits and Such Consultation Office staff, Serizawa, take a trip up to a secluded hot spring called Ibogami Hot Springs in Zebra Prefecture. Reigen happened to get a request from the matron there to discover the truth behind the strange rumors going around there and save the inn. Ritsu and Teru also join in on this trip and the six of them head out on this super relaxing trip to the hot spring. But on their way there, Reigen and Serizawa start nodding off on the train and somehow get sucked into an eerie parallel world."Made by the same folks behind the original season of One Punch Man, Mob Psycho 100 follows the hilarious yet action-packed misadventures of Mob, a middle-school boy who also happens to be one of the world's most powerful espers. Because of the uncontrollable nature of his powers, Mob needs to keep his emotions in check at all times, which can be difficult when you're juggling a part-time job as an exorcist and the everyday struggles of being a teenager. Where Season 1 was good, Mob Psycho 100 II raises the bar to tell one of the most beautifully wholesome anime stories of 2019.Mob Psycho 100 II is available on Crunchyroll and VRV. This year, Crunchyroll Expo--the company's annual celebration of anime, gaming, and cosplay--will be held August 30 through September 1.Info from Gamespot.com

The ensemble in the new Ghostbusters movie, a direct sequel to Ivan Reitman's Ghostbusters (1984) and Ghostbusters 2 (1989), has gotten a little bit bigger. Ant-Man actor Paul Rudd is set to star alongside Stranger Things' Finn Wolfhard in the upcoming fantasy comedy.Rudd (Avengers: Endgame, Captain America: Civil War) made the announcement via Twitter, where he posted a video of people taking photos in front of the "magnificent" Ghostbusters Firehouse building in New York. "I can't wait to join the cast this fall for Ghostbusters," Rudd said toward the end of the video. Ghostbusters is scheduled for 2020.Look who accepted the call. #GB20 pic.twitter.com/QwYSiw5pBq — Ghostbusters (@Ghostbusters) June 27, 2019Along with Rudd, Ghostbusters stars Carrie Coon (Avengers: Infinity War, Gone Girl), Finn Wolfhard (Dog Days, It), and Mckenna Grace (Captain Marvel, Fuller House).Jason Reitman is sitting in the director role, while his father Ivan will serve as the producer. According to Jason, this new Ghostbusters movie is "the next chapter in the original franchise, not a reboot." Details are scarce, but we did get a teaser trailer back in January 2019, which you can check out above.Ghostbusters is set to debut on July 10, 2020Info from Gamespot.com

The Steam Summer Sale is in full swing, and while you can currently find thousands of PC games discounted at Steam and Steam key providers like Fanatical, there's also a new free game available from the Epic Games Store. Starting June 27 and running through July 4, Last Day of June is free for Epic Store users, and once you claim the game, it's yours to keep forever. All you need is an Epic account, which is also free to create.Last Day of June is a story-driven experience that follows Carl and June, two lovers who are relaxing at their favorite spot by the lake when a series of events leads to a tragic accident. The story takes a Groundhog Day-esque turn, and you must figure out the exact order of events and key decisions that will prevent the tragedy and save June's life.In GameSpot's Last Day of June review, the game earned a 6 for its dreamy, watercolor-like visuals, compelling characters, and thematic approach to free will and fatalism, although critic Alex Newhouse took issue with its long loading times, unskippable cutscenes, and overall repetitiveness of the gameplay loop. "This repetitiveness is mitigated in part because of touching, relatable side characters and because Last Day of June explores the philosophical struggle between determinism and free will in a way that's fairly rare in video games," he wrote.Get Last Day of June for free »Create a free Epic Store account »The main story is only a few hours long, so you might as well grab Last Day of June while it's free now--you can always come back to it later. Next week's free game is Overcooked, a fantastic co-op game with up to four players who work together in a kitchen to churn out various recipes in time, all while navigating shifting stages, kitchen fires, and other obstacles.Info from Gamespot.com