There are a lot of characteristics of magic at play in Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, just like there are in the Wizarding World of the books and movies. One of them is the creation of potions, which can give you a serious edge in battles against wizards and magical creatures, speed your progress through the game, or help you capture the most difficult Foundables (we've got lots more Harry Potter: Wizards Unite coverage on that stuff, too). You'll get lots of potions as you play the game, but like any Hogwarts student, you can also brew your own.Brewing potions is pretty simple at first--if you have the ingredients, you just push a button to start cooking. But there are actually a few nuances to the system that aren't immediately apparent. If you know what you're doing, you can make sure you get the right ingredients to make every kind of potion without having to rely too much on random chance. You can also brew your potions more quickly, with a little extra care.Here's everything you need to know about potions, including how to get the right ingredients and all the Master Notes.Ingredients: Find Them, Pick Them, Grow ThemIngredients are the essential part of your potion-brewing process, obviously. There are lots of locations where you can find ingredients out in the world of Harry Potter: Wizards Unite. First, you'll find plenty of ingredients spawning out on the map around you as you walk around playing the game, and you can just pick them up by tapping on them.Using a Greenhouse presents a more reliable way of getting the specific ingredients you need. Tapping on any Greenhouse takes you inside, where you can interact with the building and get a random supply of ingredients (you also get a chance at some Spell Energy), more or less just like an Inn. You're presented with three potted plants in a Greenhouse, and pulling out one of the plants gives you some smattering of potion-brewing stuff. You won't know what you'll receive until you get it, which makes planning difficult.If you need an ingredient in particular, you can use a Greenhouse to grow your own plants. You do that with Seeds and Water, which you'll also find spawning on the world map. Tap into the Greenhouse and flip to the tab in the bottom right corner of the screen. There, you can use your seeds and any water you've found to start growing something. You'll have to return when the seed is fully grown in order to claim your ingredients.Stir It UpOnce you start a potion, you're stuck waiting for it to finish brewing--usually at least a couple of hours. You can speed up that timer, however, if you know the Half-Blood Prince-like secrets to master potion-brewing. There's a system of stirs and taps that, like in the Harry Potter movies and books, is not immediately apparent to the novice potion maker, even in the game.When you brew a potion, tap the wooden spoon sticking out of the cauldron once the recipe has been started, when the liquid is swirling in place. You should get a closer, top-down view of the potion as it's cooking. This is when you can start your master brewing. In order to speed up the recipe, you'll need to try various touch gestures on the potion. These include things like a clockwise stir, a counter-clockwise stir, tapping on the potion, shaking your mobile device, and drawing vertical or horizontal lines.You'll need to do all the gestures for the potion in order, but once you find the correct one, it'll be revealed in the Master Notes at the top of the screen. Brew the Master version of the potion correctly three times, and you'll get the Master Notes unlocked automatically, so you won't have to try to remember the gestures you used. Master Notes only speed up your brew times, so don't expect better version of your potions just because you're a Snape-level potions master. We've got the full list of Master Brewing notes below.Use Potions For EverythingPotions are very useful in Harry Potter: Wizards Unite. The ones you'll use most often are probably the Healing Potions, which can keep you alive during battles and Wizarding Challenges in Fortresses, and the Exstimulo Potions, which make your spells more effective against Confoundables and in battles. But there are a bunch of other kinds of potions as well, which can increase your Focus in battle, raise your experience gains as you play, and help you keep Confoundables from fleeing when you try to catch them.You can only carry 50 potions at the start of the game (you can buy more space with Gold if you like), and you'll quickly fill that up with potions you get from leveling up and completing Achievements and other objectives. Especially as you get further into the game, you'll face harder challenges that will require potions--but they're easy to come by, so don't save them up. Use them, and keep brewing more.Master Brewing NotesHere's a rundown of the Master Brewing notes for each potion recipe.Exstimulo Potion: Vertical line, vertical line, clockwise stir.Invigoration Draught: Horizontal line, vertical line, vertical line, zoom out gesture.Baruffio's Brain Elixir: Clockwise stir, pinch gesture, vertical line, vertical line, zoom out gesture, shake.Healing Potion: Zoom out gesture, clockwise stir, tap, pinch gesture.Strong Exstimulo Potion: Vertical line, vertical line, counterclockwise stir, clockwise stir.Potent Exstimulo Potion: Vertical line, horizontal line, vertical line, counterclockwise stir, clockwise stir, counterclockwise stir.Dawdle Draught: Shake, clockwise stir, counterclockwise stir, counterclockwise stir, pinch gesture.Strong Invigoration Draught: Horizontal line, vertical line, vertical line, vertical line, zoom out gesture, zoom out gesture.Wit-Sharpening Potion: Zoom out gesture, vertical line, vertical line, tap.Bountiful Brew: Tap, tap, clockwise stir, vertical line, vertical line.Draught of Perception: Shake, clockwise stir, counterclockwise stir, counterclockwise stir, pinch gesture.Felix Felicis Potion: Clockwise stir, pinch gesture, horizontal line, horizontal line, zoom out gesture, shake.Memory Potion: Tap, zoom out gesture, horizontal line, clockwise stir.Scintillation Potion: Clockwise stir, pinch gesture, horizontal line, horizontal line, zoom out gesture, shake.Wideye Potion: Clockwise stir, shake, counterclockwise stir, counterclockwise stir. Info from Gamespot.com

Toy Story 4 reviews are in and critics largely adore the latest Pixar animation. It could be because of the heartfelt story about belonging and independence, or it could be because Toy Story 4 features an end-credits scene.Director Josh Cooley (Inside Out, Up) revealed via Twitter that fans and moviegoers alike should "stay after the credits" for a possible surprise. "The story doesn't end until the very last frame," Cooley concluded, suggesting that something special awaits at the end of the toy's story.An amazing crew/cast has been working very hard over the last 5 years to bring Toy Story 4 to the big screen tomorrow. We love these toys so much, you will feel it on the screen.OH, and stay after the credits. The story doesn’t end until the VERY last frame. Enjoy! pic.twitter.com/Ds1x31Nhxw — Josh Cooley (@CooleyUrFaceOff) June 21, 2019Debuting this past weekend on Friday, June 21, Toy Story 4 already has the best opening box office weekend of the Toy Story movies. 2010's Toy Story 3 sits at $110 million, trailing behind Toy Story 4's steadily-climbing $121 million. Toy Story 2 hovers around $57 million, while the first Toy Story amassed $29 million.While Toy Story 3 ended "perfectly," Pixar revealed how it pulled together one more story for Andy's toys. With Bo-Peep established as a main character, producer Jonas Rivera found the relationship between Woody and Bo-Peep to be "so intriguing to us [at Pixar]." Cooley agreed, saying, "So that was our goal for this film: to make this [second] meeting [between Woody and Bo-Peep] so powerful, it would be deserving of Toy Story 4."Toy Story 4 is now in theatres.Info from Gamespot.com

The Pokemon series may have begun with only 151 monsters, but there are now more than 800 species of Pokemon to date, and that number will only continue to grow with the impending release of Pokemon Sword and Shield for Switch later this year. The sheer variety of monsters in the series has birthed the adage "every Pokemon is someone's favorite," and that is what one Reddit user set out to test.Reddit user Mamamia1001 recently created a survey asking people to vote for their favorite Pokemon, with the intent of discovering whether the saying was actually true. More than 52,000 people participated in the survey, and out of all those responses, four Pokemon received zero votes: Silcoon, Gothita, Eelektrik, and Yungoos. Considering the sample size, that only four monsters didn't receive any votes certainly seems to lend some weight to the saying.The survey also gave us a look at who the most popular Pokemon are, at least among those who responded to the survey. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Gen 1 Pokemon dominated the top 10. Topping the list was Charizard, which received 1,107 votes. Following behind it was Gengar with 1,056 votes, while Arcanine rounded out the top three with 923 votes. You can take a look at the top 10 below, while the full results can be found here:Charizard -- 1,107 votesGengar -- 1,056 votesArcanine -- 923 votesBulbasaur -- 710 votesBlaziken -- 613 votesUmbreon -- 607 votesLucario -- 604 votesGardevoir -- 585 votesEevee -- 581 votesDragonite -- 551 votesThe aforementioned adage has been in use a lot recently following the news that Sword and Shield won't feature every Pokemon. At E3 2019, series producer Junichi Masuda confirmed that players won't be able to transfer all of their old monsters from Pokemon Home to the Switch games--only those that are available in the Galar Pokedex, a decision that has lead to a public outcry from fans.Pokemon Sword and Shield launch for Nintendo Switch on November 15, while the Pokemon Home service will go live for Switch and smartphones in early 2020. We learned a lot more about the games back at E3, including how their new Dynamax battle mechanic works. You can read more about the titles in our Pokemon Sword and Shield pre-order guide.Info from Gamespot.com

The latest grand strategy game from the genre's current leading light, Paradox Interactive, puts you at the helm of one of the great powers of the late 4th century B.C. and asks you to conquer the world from western Europe to southern Asia. At the same time, it can also leave you in charge of one of the region's meekest tribes and ask you to accomplish little more than its survival. Regardless of your chosen nation, Imperator: Rome is a stubbornly single-minded strategy experience that borrows freely from its Paradox stablemates (Europa Univeralis, Hearts of Iron, and Crusader Kings), culls much of their personality and complexity, and marches into battle with a steely-eyed focus on military conquest. At heart, Imperator: Rome is a game about building armies and marching them into foreign lands. You recruit troops, secure the strategic resources necessary to recruit upgraded troops, assign generals, point them towards the target, and let them loose. There are technologies to research, civic matters to pursue, and religious concerns, but these are secondary factors, each just another gear in the military machine.Combat is intuitive and uncomplicated. Armies are routed when their morale breaks, while strict supply costs in each territory work well to prevent amassing units in ludicrous "stacks of doom." Meanwhile, the need to lay siege to an enemy fort for up to several in-game months at a time helps to put the brakes on any notion of steamrolling. You can holler the occasional tactical instruction, but when it comes down to it, the winner in battle will be whoever has the greater numbers. And if your opponent has the terrain advantage then you're going to need an even greater numerical advantage to overcome it.While I definitely prefer a strategic game that offers varied paths to victory, there is a simple pleasure in Imperator: Rome's rigid insistence that all you have to do is paint the map the same colour. You don't have to play as Rome, of course, but it does make things more straightforward. Your choice of nation is a de facto difficulty slider, with Rome (situated among compliant vassals and easily overrun neutral states) offering a gentle introduction and Phrygia (larger than Rome but riven with internal division and despised by its neighbors) tossing you right in at the deep end. There are hundreds of nations from which to select, spanning half the globe from Britain to North Africa to Scandinavia to Sri Lanka, and you can play as any of them. More than a difficulty setting, however, your choice of nation sets expectations.Rome is well-known, though not as well-known as Macedon or Egypt, and so the effects of its actions will be felt further and wider, rippling out in diplomatic waves over the Mediterranean and drawing condemnation or perhaps congratulations from its rivals. As a major power, you've got weight to throw around, but other powers take notice and react, adding their own weight to the scale. The result is a world that feels dynamic and connected, at least to the extent that you can appreciate territories on the political map flipping back and forth between your own nation's color and those of your enemies. When playing as a smaller nation, though, you have no weight at all. You control very little territory, you've got a tiny army, and your choices are extremely limited. The world most likely doesn't even realize you exist. If they do, it's probably because they just noticed you have something they want, or worse, you're merely a slight speedbump on the way to what they want. Played in this way, Imperator: Rome feels oddly timid, an unsatisfying waiting game momentarily brought to life through tentative forays into expansion while you hope no one important notices.The asymmetry of the starting positions, and the resulting diplomatic relations maintained by each nation at the outset, lend variety to the early stages of each new game. Beyond that, though, the heavy focus on military conquest and lack of options in both empire management and international relations place severe limits on the breadth and depth of strategic tinkering available to the player.A major problem is the implementation of Paradox's "mana" system, as it is colloquially known. These are the pools of resources--military power, research, oratory power, and religion--you accumulate over the course of the game and which fund many of the decisions you make. Mana increases as you play, based almost entirely on the randomly rolled stats of your leader and those you have appointed to your government. When you have saved enough, you can spend it on extra discipline for your troops, a small income boost, or any number of so-called technologies. The pacing is all over the place, though. You can hit pause, buy up a bunch of diverse tech, and unpause--and in an instant, your empire is improving its diplomatic relations or collecting more tax. It feels backwards, like you're not planning toward something by investing in a particular resource to work toward a strategic objective, but rather slapping band-aids on immediate problems. It's not even that Imperator wants you to focus on short-term issues, it's more that the game is quite content to let you snap your fingers to magically make problems disappear.Religious power is the most undernourished of the mana resources. Aside from a very minor buff you can apply every five in-game years, the chief use of religious power is to preserve the stability of your empire--itself a nebulous status that imparts positive or negative modifiers to your loyalty, popularity, and so on--by making a sacrifice to the gods. This dramatic-sounding gesture involves clicking a button to convert a variable amount of religious power into one stability point. That's it. And suddenly the empire is stable again.Indeed, there's a lot that can simply be flipped on a dime. On the surface, the diplomatic game looks sophisticated. You can send gifts and insults to other empires, form alliances or undermine a rival's current regime by supporting rebels, and more. Managing diplomatic ties across dozens of relations should require balancing a host of competing interests, and at times the systems here do allow for such finesse. But at other times you can flip a switch, spend some oratory power, and now Armenia doesn't mind that you've fabricated a claim on Albania. It's all very "Friendship ended with Scythia, now Carthage is my best friend!" Elsewhere, lots of small choices add up to very little. When establishing that trade route, do you want to secure access to fish and the 0.02% population growth bonus? Or would you prefer to import precious metals and gain 0.01 loyalty in your provinces? It's difficult to look at such numbers and understand how a particular choice might benefit your overall strategy. So you pick one, cross your fingers, and, in all likelihood, forget about it for the rest of the game. Rulers ought to feel the weight of their decisions, and few such choices here hit heavily.Imperator: Rome feels undercooked. As it stands, it's a strange mish-mash of several of Paradox's existing (and, let's be honest, superior) games without much to distinguish or recommend it. Paradox recently outlined a "One Year Plan" for the title in an effort to reassure players that they are aware of its shortcomings and intend to address them. That roadmap appears insubstantial to my eyes, but we'll see when we get there. For now, Imperator: Rome remains a decidedly modest strategy game. Info from Gamespot.com

"We always knew that Legion is technically a villain character," Aubrey Plaza said. She was speaking to journalists on a phone call just ahead of Legion's Season 3 premiere. We had visited the FX show's set at Paramount Studios in Los Angeles, we'd seen several of the third season's episodes, and one question hung over it all: Can David Haller be redeemed after what he did in Season 2?"Up until now, we've sympathized with his character, and we've understood why he does the things that he does," Plaza continued. "I think that this season is a little bit more about kind of showing the David Haller in the comic books--the character that we've been waiting for, in a way."A show's protagonist turning into its villain is nothing new in a post-Breaking Bad world. But David's turn in Legion Season 2 had the uniquely tragic air of a self-fulfilling prophecy; there are dozens of points throughout Legion's first two seasons where, had things gone differently, David may have never reached this point. Yet here's where we are at the start of Season 3: David is alienated from his friends, having sexually assaulted the woman he loves, and, we're led to believe, is going to destroy the world. Is it possible to come back from what he did and avoid that terrible fate?"That's a good question," Dan Stevens, who plays David Haller, told journalists during the visit to Paramount Studios. "I mean, again, the nature of Legion, the character, is that he is both the hero [and the] anti-hero figure. And there's a sort of diabolical sense of mischief through the comic book storylines that you find with him. And that's what makes him such a treat to play, is that dichotomy. Whether I think he can be redeemed--or should be--is not really for me to say. I think he wants to--he wants to see if he can sort of unpick this unholy mess that he's created."That's where Season 3's main new character, Switch (Lauren Tsai), comes in. She's a time traveling mutant who David recruits in the Season 3 premiere to help him undo the bad things he's done. "Which is one way of attacking the problem," Stevens said.But given what show we're talking about, it won't be nearly that easy."Syd confronts him with this very sophisticated element, I think, of like, 'Yeah, you can go back and you can change all these things, but does that really change who you are as a person?'" Stevens continued.In Season 2, David essentially slipped Syd (Rachel Keller) a psychic roofie, erasing her bad memories of him, and then had sex with her. She technically consented to the sex, but only because David had erased part of her mind--without his interference, she would never have consented. Therefore, she wasn't really capable of giving informed consent at all. David clearly didn't look at it that way--he still doesn't view himself as the villain--but to Syd, and to anyone looking at it objectively, what David did to her was rape."We're dealing with the truth of people, and what they're capable of doing," Rachel Keller told GameSpot during a one-on-one interview on the show's set. "What I've really enjoyed this year is that kind of self-reflection, and the full range of experience that someone goes through after something violating like that. There's anger and doubt and shame and regret," Keller said."If there's a love story in there for her, it's her own forgiveness, and taking the responsibility for where she's at," she continued. "That's the love story for her. I don't know what you're supposed to do with sick egotistical men. I'm not sure. It's a big question. I feel like we're asking it. Do they deserve to heal and forgive themselves? Maybe. I hope so. Yeah, we'll see. I don't know."Some SuperheroNoah Hawley, Legion's creator, doesn't think David's actions can be so easily distilled."He has these abilities, but because he's at 20-odd years hearing voices and seeing things that he didn't know if they were real or not, he built a personality disorder around those abilities in a way that really hindered his ability to function," Hawley told journalists during the set visit. "He filters the world through his own sense of injustice, and he really felt like, as he said, 'I'm a good person. I deserve love.'"Amahl Farouk, aka The Shadow King, emerging as the show's villain during Season 2 gave David a focal point for his growing hero complex, fueling his belief that he was the victim of the story and that he could do no wrong--even as Farouk influenced the rest of Division 3 against David."[He] bought himself time," Hawley explained. "He feels like deep down, she really loves him, she's just confused. So he uses his powers to make her forget, and then because he just feels like he loves her so much, he goes to her in the night and has sex with her, and just tries to feel that feeling that he's so desperate to feel. Of course, when she realizes what's happened, it's a huge betrayal, because he took away her consent."Season 3 won't shy away from the consequences of that act, but it also won't paint these characters--people who we've grown to empathize with and understand--as caricatures of heroes and villains."It's not an accident that we told a sexual assault storyline in the show," Hawley said. "Telling the adult version of a comic book show involves dealing with complicated issues, and what I was interested in looking at is not 'Good vs. Evil' in capital letters, it's the things that we do to each other--the way that people are together--and that it turns out you can extrapolate out the larger evils of the world. That idea, that David would do something to Syd where he literally removed her consent and then had sex with her--in his mind, it was a romantic act. And obviously, an objective and rational person wouldn't see it that way, but part of it was to show the audience how ungrounded David was in reality--that he could still perceive that as a romantic act--as a clear sign of his mental illness.""It's not an accident that we told a sexual assault storyline in the show.""What's driving David is not mustache-twirling, supervillain, destroy the world things--he's being driven by this very human desire to feel loved," Legion's creator continued. "In order to achieve that feeling, he's doing some things that are hard to root for, but I think what's interesting is to kind of challenge the audience to say, well, are you with him still?...I think the fact that this show is built around a love story, that there is this very human desire for love stories to work out, and I think that's part of what drives the story here, is to figure out: Is there any way for these two people, if not to be in a relationship together, than at least to get to the other side of what David has done to her?"The Full SpectrumTime travel may allow David to change the events of the past, but it won't let him change who he is on the inside. The character's extreme narcissism will be front and center this season; as Stevens put it, "Could David go back and prevent the holocaust? Sure, but he doesn't--you know, because he thinks he's got more important things to do.""A lot of what Rachel and I talked about was that idea that if we were going to tell the sexual assault story, we were going to tell it," Hawley explained. "We were going to deal with it, we weren't just going to gloss it over. And because we have this time traveler, David births this idea: Maybe he just goes back and makes that not happen. He can go back in time and then not do that to her, and what she says is, 'Yeah, but then what would happen is you would still be the person who was capable of doing that. I just wouldn't know.'""Could David go back and prevent the holocaust? Sure, but he doesn't."That's hard for David to understand, but not for Legion's other characters. Navid Negahban, who plays Amahl Farouk, told journalists that the former Shadow King actually cares deeply for David--in his own way. David carried Farouk around as a passenger in his head for most of his life, and Farouk identifies with David more than the other characters do. In Season 3, Farouk genuinely tries to save the world, but he also believes he can save David--whether or not David is capable of being saved."That's one of those questions that makes you think about what's good, what's bad, who's the villain, who's the hero?" Negahban said. "The Shadow King, even if you go back and look at his journey, in his mind, he has always been a hero."Bill Irwin, who plays the male half of the being that comprises both Cary and Kerry Loudermilk, told GameSpot he believes that every actor has to "think of one's own character as good." Amber Midthunder, who plays Cary's female counterpart Kerry, said that's one of the central questions everyone in the show will ask themselves in Season 3. "Everybody has a different scale of what is right and wrong, and what crosses the line and what's forgivable," she said. "I think the thing about this year is that we're we're watching each character wade through [those questions]. I think as an audience, you're going to be wading through a sea of questions." At the center of David's quest to redeem himself--or at least to undo some of the bad things he's done--is Switch, the time-traveling new character played by Lauren Tsai. "I think that's going to be a very fun thing for the viewers to experience, is this uncertainty of what is good and what is bad, and just how complex we all are," Tsai told GameSpot during a one-on-one interview on set. "You can understand. You can feel the human, the imperfection that lives within all of us, and the regret, and what comes of all of that."Stevens said one of the big questions Season 3 will ask is one of the big questions of existence: nature vs. nurture. In other words, "how much you can attribute unspeakable acts to a disturbed childhood and how much is your own volition." Among many other things, Season 3 will introduce David's parents, Charles Xavier (Harry Lloyd) and Gabrielle Haller (Stephanie Corneliussen)."That's a massive part of David's struggle, and by keeping it selfish and keeping it to that thing, we get to really examine somebody who's struggling with that question," Stevens described. "How much was it Farouk sitting at the helm of this thing wreaking havoc, and how much of it was inherited from his parents?"Hawley said David's complex characterization is one of the things that drew him to Legion in the first place. "It just seemed like a fascinating character to me to explore at the center of a show--someone who clearly has legitimate complaints," Hawley explained. "He does and did have a profound psychiatric issue. He was in a psychiatric hospital. He did try to kill himself. He did have addiction problems. He's not, at heart, it seems, a bad person--he's not malevolent toward others. He's just kind of a raw nerve, and we meet that guy in the first hour, and he falls in love, and we want that for him."We want there to be something positive for him, and he goes on this journey with [Syd] of self discovery, and part of that self discovery, for us, is to realize he's actually much more damaged than we thought he was. There's part of it for me that's about--it's always about empathy, it's always about challenging the audience on some level to care about people who aren't like them, and also maybe over the course of the story to realize that there are some people who can be saved, and there's some people who can't be saved--and to try to learn to tell the difference."Which type of person David Haller is, we'll have to watch to find out.Legion Season 3 premieres Monday, June 24 on FX. Info from Gamespot.com

Microsoft's E3 briefing this year was missing a few things some people might have expected. Forza Motorsport developer Turn 10 did not show its new game, while Microsoft's new studio, The Initiative, also didn't show up during the event. Some also expected to see the rumored new Fable game from Forza Horizon developer Playground's second team.Now, Xbox boss Phil Spencer has explained why Microsoft focused more on the games coming out in the closer future than those that could release further out.Spencer told Kotaku that he was proud that 12 of the 14 first-party titles that Microsoft showed off at E3 were shipping in the next year. "We were really able to focus on what's coming now, which I think is awesome," he said. "And then I think about the studios: where was Initiative? Where was [Forza Motorsport studio] Turn 10? Where was Playground's second team?"As you may have heard from the @Xbox E3 briefing moments ago, Double Fine is joining Xbox Game Studios! How did this come about? let’s ask @timoflegend … pic.twitter.com/n6EACVo7OZ — Double Fine (@DoubleFine) June 9, 2019Spencer said it felt "nice" to not have to show all of its first-party games at the show. He said teams like 343 Industries (Halo) and Turn 10 (Forza Motorsport) have been given "time" to come up with new games that really excite people."We gave them time--we did, what, four Halos in four years?--giving them an opportunity to really think and have a creative impact when they launch. Turn 10 is similar. I want to give them time to think through their plans," he said."I love what they do with Motorsport, but you've got to be able to listen to your studios when they need time and they want to focus on more things. And as you have more content, you're able to do that," Spencer added.The executive went on to say that quality for first-party games is "very important." He acknowledged that in the past it "became more difficult" to align the first-party Xbox portfolio of games with release dates chosen years before release. Now that Microsoft owns more studios--it now has 15 owned studios--it's allowed the company to "create room for [Microsoft] to focus on quality.""I feel good about what Rod [Fergusson]'s done [at Gears studio The Coalition], what Bonnie [Ross] has done [at Halo studio 343 Industries], what Alan [Hartman] has done with Turn 10, and what Helen [Chiang]'s been doing with Minecraft."For Halo and Forza Motorsport, the wait is already longer than usual for a new release--and as Spencer says, that's by design. Halo Infinite's release in Holiday 2020 will be around 5 years after the release of Halo 5 in 2015, which is longer than the average interval between the previous mainline releases. Meanwhile, the Forza Motorsport series (not counting Horizon) has been released every two years since the first game in 2005. The latest instalment, Motorsport 7, was released in 2017.Microsoft acquired or set up a number of new studios in the past year, the most recent of which is Brutal Legend studio Double Fine that Microsoft announced in June.List Of Xbox Game Studios Developers343 IndustriesThe CoalitionCompulsion GamesDouble FineMicrosoft Studios Global PublishingThe InitiativeinXileMojangNinja TheoryObsidianPlayground GamesRareTurn 10 StudiosUndead LabsAge of EmpiresInfo from Gamespot.com

The Minecraft movie has been in development for years already, and now it's reached another stage of production. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Warner Bros. has hired Allison Schroeder (Hidden Figures, Frozen 2) to write the newest script.She's just the latest writer for the Minecraft movie. Aaron and Adam Nee (Band of Robbers) wrote an earlier draft, while Wonder Woman writer Jason Fuchs wrote the draft before that. Schroeder earned an Oscar nomination for co-writing Hidden Figures. She also co-wrote the Winnie the Pooh movie Christopher Robin and the upcoming Frozen 2. It's also been revolving door for the Minecraft movie when it comes to directors. Warner Bros. hired Stranger Things director Shawn Levy, but he dropped out. The company later brought on It's Always Sunny star Rob McElhenney to direct, but he left the project, too. Peter Sollett (Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist) is now attached to direct. According to Minecraft developer Mojang, the Minecraft movie will focus on a teenage girl and her "unlikely group of adventurers." They must defeat the evil Ender Dragon and save Overworld. It's not clear, however, if any of these plot details have changed now that Schroeder has been hired to write a new draft. "We want to make the movie--just as we make the game--for you," Mojang said. "We're inspired by countless things, but none as much as the incredible stuff our community creates in Minecraft every day."The Minecraft movie is scheduled for release in theatres on March 4, 2022. There is no word yet on if it will be animation or live action, or a hybrid, nor do we know who may star in it. At one point, Steve Carell was apparently connected to the project, though it's unclear if that's still the case.Info from Gamespot.com

Space Jam 2 is coming, and it appears filming is starting soon (if it hasn't already). Star LeBron James, who plays the lead, wrote on Twitter today to talk about how he's really very excited that the movie has finally come together."Man this really just hit me! I'm really shooting Space Jam 2!! This is so surreal and doesn't even make sense to me! Where I come from man and what I saw growing up this doesn't add up to me! I'm truly grateful and beyond blessed. This is CRAZINESS," he wrote.Man this really just hit me! I’m really shooting Space Jam 2!! This is so surreal and doesn’t even make sense to me! Where I come from man and what I saw growing up this doesn’t add up to me! 🤦🏾‍♂️! I’m truly grateful and beyond blessed. This is CRAZINESS. 🏀 🐰 🎥 👑🙏🏾 — LeBron James (@KingJames) June 25, 2019Just recently, it was reported that Space Jam 2 will also feature Damian Lillard, Anthony Davis, and Klay Thompson alongside WNBA stars Diana Taurasi, Nneka Ogwumike, and Chiney Ogwumike. "Several more" NBA and WNBA players will reportedly have roles in the film, but Steph Curry won't be among them. Curry told The New York Times that he couldn't appear in the film due to scheduling conflicts. Some had speculated that Curry wasn't contractually able to appear in the film due to his sponsorship deal with Under Armour, while James is with Nike. But it appears it was instead a scheduling issue.The 1996 original Space Jam featured the world's biggest basketball star at the time, Michael Jordan, in the lead role. The original film featured numerous famous basketball players of the time, with Larry Bird, Charles Barkley, Patrick Ewing, and others joining Jordan. They teamed up with Looney Tunes characters in a very high-stakes basketball game. Bill Murray was also in the movie.Black Panther director Ryan Coogler is set to produce Space Jam 2, with Terence Nance (Random Acts of Flyness) on board to direct. The movie opens in July 2021.The director of the original Space Jam, Joe Pytka, doesn't think a sequel is a good idea; he thinks it's "doomed."Info from Gamespot.com

It's a strange thing to knowingly bid farewell to a fictional character you've followed for over a decade, and then learn to love their replacement. I teared up a little when longtime protagonist Kazama Kiryu finally exited the Yakuza series (presumably for good) at the end of The Song Of Life. But as we wait for Yakuza to begin anew in earnest, Ryu ga Gotoku Studio has crafted a different opportunity to revisit the staple setting of Kamurocho as newcomer Takayuki Yagami, a disgraced defense attorney turned private investigator. And fortunately, despite some unremarkable additions to the standard RGG template, by the end of Judgment it's hard not to feel like you want to spend dozens upon dozens more hours with Yagami and friends.Yagami might not be a yakuza, and Judgment might not be a mainline Yakuza game, but you'd be mistaken for thinking that the overarching narrative of Judgment doesn't heavily adopt the criminal theatrics that RGG Studio has become known for. While the plot kicks off with a relatively straightforward investigation into a serial killer, Yagami's investigation into it uncovers a vast, complicated and interweaving conspiracy of secrecy and betrayal that involves the history of the cast, the Japanese legal system, the Tokyo police department, multiple yakuza factions, and higher stakes beyond. It's an unsurprising escalation, but it's told in such a way that keeps you glued to the screen--the mystery is gripping, the drama is irresistible, and the performances are excellent.Yagami and his partner Kaito are the primary emotional conduits, and they remain incredibly empathetic and genuinely likable characters throughout. They have interesting personal dilemmas and arcs of their own, and a warm, convincing dynamic together, regularly joking around and pulling one another's chains, and sharing determination when they need to. Kaito is a former yakuza who acts as the brawn to Yagami's brains--though Yagami still manages to be an impossible kung-fu savant, for reasons that are never truly explained in any meaningful way, and in skinny jeans, no less. The two bring a delightful vibe to the otherwise serious nature of the story, and they are treasures.In some ways, Yagami is more believable and well-defined as a protagonist than Kiryu was in the Yakuza series. Where you were often encouraged to put Kiryu, a typically unwavering deity of honor, through uncharacteristic sojourns into weirdly perverse pursuits, Yagami rarely acts in a way that feels out of character, nor are you allowed to get involved in anything that goes against his demeanor. It's a notable quality that helps to make him more consistently likable, even if he does do something you think is idiotic.Judgment's side activities do their best to reflect Yagami's nature. Side missions are mostly framed as citizens calling upon Yagami for his private investigator services, though are still a place for RGG Studio's penchant for absurdism to get a workout. More interesting is the game's Friend system, which allows you to befriend dozens of unique individuals spread across Kamurocho, whether via side missions or their own discrete activities. Performing a variety of tasks in service of a person will level up your friendship with them, eventually giving you access to perks like secret items on a restaurant menu or a helping hand in combat. It's a nice thematic element that rounds out Yagami's character as a good-natured, friendly neighborhood PI. The uncomfortably debaucherous side of RGG games is still present in Judgment, though it's mostly left to be associated with the more unsavory characters and aspects of the plot rather than Yagami himself. That means the saucier activities of Kamurocho are gone, including the entertaining cabaret club management minigame. Instead, there's a dating aspect where you can grow closer to women Yagami has already befriended over the course of the game, which involves regular interactions via in-game text messages, and eventually a series of dates. It feels more wholesome as a result, though only as wholesome as a 35-year-old man dating a 19-year old can be.Elsewhere in the game's entertaining array of side distractions, Judgment features an incredibly robust Mario Party-esque board game, a two-player port of Fighting Vipers, an original light-gun shooter called Kamuro Of The Dead, an obviously-made-in-a-different-game-engine version of pinball, and drone racing. That's on top of a healthy, familiar selection of Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown, Puyo Puyo, UFO catchers, darts, batting cages, Mahjong, Shogi, and various casino card games, among other activities, all seen in previous Yakuza titles.There are plenty of other familiar aspects that return from previous Yakuza games, but not all of them shake out to be in Judgment's favor. For example, while the game's major cinematics are lovingly rendered and animated as always, lesser, more stilted character models with cold, dead eyes still dominate a lot of the game's cutscenes and suck some emotion out of the otherwise excellent drama.Kamurocho is another weary aspect, which is an admittedly blasphemous notion at first--the district itself still feels lively, bustling, and full of things to do--but this is still very much the Dragon Engine-era Kamurocho from Yakuza 6 and Yakuza Kiwami 2, both of which released a year prior. But it's not just the fact that Kamurocho is still relatively fresh in your mind if you've been following the series closely (there are only a handful of new interiors), it's Judgment's lack of a meaty palette cleanser--nearly all Yakuza games since the 2005 original have featured an additional city to free-roam in, or at least additional protagonists to help add a bit of excitement to the series' familiar formula. Judgment has a tiny additional interior location situated outside of Kamurocho, but it's purely a story setpiece.Conversely, many of Judgment's attempts to add to the core Ryu ga Gotoku template wear out their welcome almost immediately. Yagami's position as a lawyer-turned-private-eye means there are a lot of segments that involve tailing and chasing people, getting into places he isn't supposed to, searching for clues, and making deductions. The prospect of performing all of these thematically appropriate activities would be attractive were they not all mechanically boring in practice.Tailing and chasing people are the biggest offenders, made worse by the Judgment's heavy reliance on them. Slowly following targets through the city while trying not to let the targets spot you (they're all very on edge) is a dull, slow, and arduous process which is often made more frustrating by the infamous RGG Studio movement system, which is clunky at the best of times. A reliance on predetermined hiding spots strips the act of any dynamics and creativity. Chases are faster but equally monotonous auto-running sequences where you need to steer Yagami left and right within a set path, avoid any obstacles, and perform the regular quicktime event to keep up with a target. With the exception of one amusing sequence on a skateboard, the game's numerous chases are all ultimately stale, when they should get your heart pumping. Searching for clues and making deductions are poised to be the more attractive mechanics due to the game's legal bent--Yagami will sometimes need to search an area in first-person for clues or explain a hypothesis or contradiction. But these moments are let down by being incredibly straightforward, and expecting something that sits anywhere near to what you might find in a Danganronpa or Ace Attorney game would be misguided. You're provided with a checklist of things to find during search scenes, meaning the discoveries don't feel revelatory--but finding the hidden cats is the real treat here. Deduction segments feel more like opportunities for the game to make sure you've been paying attention to the story so far, rather than a chance for you to join the dots and stumble upon the discovery for yourself.While the mystery in Judgment is certainly a journey that you're merely accompanying Yagami on, the lack of player agency in the detective segments makes them feel like a useless chore. There are two different types of lockpicking minigames--which are fine, if uninspiring--and there's also a bizarrely unexciting mechanic where you have to choose which key on Yagami's keyring to use when entering certain doors. The most interesting new idea is the addition of a couple of brief sequences where you play as one of Yagami's co-workers and go undercover, which only left me wanting to see that idea explored even further.Ultimately, most of Yagami's progress is made by doing what all good protagonists in RGG games do best--kicking the shit out of people. Yagami has two different kung-fu influenced fighting styles: Crane style is designed to deal with groups of enemies, whereas Tiger style focuses on single-target damage. Fighting starts off feeling a bit clunky and limiting--especially the flashier Crane style, whose moves come with long recoveries and see Yagami spend more time doing flips than landing hits--but this changes over time as you upgrade Yagami's combo speeds and attack damage, making the risk of opening yourself up more viable. Tiger style is more intricate and versatile, however, with a much larger and more powerful variety of moves to unlock and use--including an exploding palm technique that's a blast to use again and again. Additional fighting techniques are introduced to flesh out Yagami's flashy, acrobatic style and include the ability to leapfrog enemies, wall jump, and link attacks off those maneuvers. The Yakuza series' explosive "Heat" moves appear as "EX" moves, allowing you to execute devastating cinematic special attacks, reliant on specific environmental and combat situations. Despite not being a Yakuza game, combat is your primary interaction with the world in Judgment. Fighting all sorts of delinquents, gangsters, and at one point, a group of academic researchers is still very entertaining, though, and it's great that there are abundant opportunities for you to lay down some street justice.It's disappointing to realize that Judgment is at its best when it veers closer to the mold that it came from. Even though the game's familiar fighting and side activities will happily keep you occupied, it's a shame that the most intriguing and unique additions are also the dullest things about Judgment, because the new roster of characters have been wonderfully crafted otherwise. Yagami, Kaito, and the supporting cast are incredibly endearing, and following their every move as they unravel the sinister machinations looming under the surface of Kamurocho is a sensational journey. I can't wait to return to these characters, but I'm hoping we can all do something different next time. Info from Gamespot.com

One of June's biggest Netflix additions is the beloved anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion, marking a big get for anime devotees. The show had been difficult to track down in English in the West, but it's out now in its entirety on Netflix. However, it's not all good news, as the show is missing a key component, while another aspect of it has seemingly been changed in the localization process, and long-time fans of the series are calling foul.The Netflix stream is missing some music cues, as well as the karaoke covers of the old standard "Fly Me To The Moon," which would play at the end of every episode. Some users have claimed that Netflix Japan has retained the covers, which could suggest that it's a music licensing issue. Either way, it's a memorable aspect of the original version of the show that's gone here.Netflix US Evangelion has missing music cues and the iconic karaoke style covers of Fly Me To The Moon that used to end every episode, but Netflix Japan has it, probably because of not paying for a music license. Really dismaying streaming can do this. https://t.co/YXfzcmLswE — Aaron Stewart-Ahn (@somebadideas) June 21, 2019Meanwhile, another Twitter user has shown purported side-by-side translations from the original that appear to censor a gay theme involving a key character. The sci-fi series focuses on adolescents who are uniquely suited to pilot giant mecha armor to defend humanity against the attacks of beasts known as Angels. It's rated TV-14, and is known for its heady themes surrounding violence, psychology, religion, and sexuality.Netflix has the 26 original episodes of the series, as well as the two films, The End of Evangelion and Death & Rebirth. Evangelion was given a new theatrical version starting in 2007, as a trilogy of films that tell roughly the same story in a style that is meant to be more accessible. Those movies are not available on Netflix.Info from Gamespot.com

From Software's new game Elden Ring boasts a high-profile partnership with fantasy author George RR Martin, but it's shaping up to be more than a Souls game infused with Martin's lore. The transition to an open world game, and some of the world-building from Martin, are making it into what Dark Souls creator Hidetaka Miyazaki feels is the next logical step for the genre he helped to create."With a larger world, new systems and action mechanics inevitably become necessary," Miyazaki told IGN. "In that sense, I think that Elden Ring is a more natural evolution of Dark Souls."For example, the protagonist of Elden Ring can travel the world on horseback, and even fight enemies while mounted. Miyazaki says this leads to more diverse combat situations, rather than restricting players to combat within tightly confined spaces. The addition of horseback also means that spaces can be set further apart, including villages. But unlike many RPGs, these villages won't be safe havens full of NPCs and happy shopkeepers."Villages will be the dark dungeon-like ruins that you have come to expect from us," Miyazaki said. "Creating a more open game is a big challenge for us. If we were to add towns on top of that, it would become a bit too much, so we decided to create an open-world-style game focused on what we are best at."Miyazaki also says the division of labor with Martin has resulted in an interesting process developing the lore. Your character is created and so the protagonist of the story has no fixed identity. Martin's work has been to lay the groundwork with the lore and history of the world, while Miyazaki's team has been developing the events within the timeframe of the game. Both worked independently, but their work would impact each other."Storytelling in video games--at least the way we do it at From Software--comes with a lot of restrictions for the writer," he said. "I didn’t think it was a good idea to have Martin write within those restrictions. By having him write about a time the player isn’t directly involved in, he is free to unleash his creativity in the way he likes. Furthermore, as FromSoftware we didn't want to create a more linear and storydriven experience for Elden Ring. Both issues could be solved by having Martin write about the world’s history instead."Elden Ring is coming to PC, Xbox One, and PS4. For more on Elden Ring, check out our pre-order guide.Info from Gamespot.com

While WWE Stomping Grounds is kicking off, WWE Champion Kofi Kingston will be defending his title against Dolph Ziggler in a steel cage match. However, outside of performing in the ring, Kingston has become a staple--and a champion--on the gaming channel UpUpDownDown, created by New Day member Xavier Woods. Since the inception of the channel, Kingston has been known for his smack talk against his competitors as well as his love of sneakers.Woods, going under the name Austin Creed on the channel, debuted it back in 2015, and his videos feature the host talking to other WWE Superstars about gaming, playing games, challenging each other. It has evolved many different directions with popular shows like Battle of the Brands--where Creed and Tyler "Prince Petty" Breeze play GM Mode of Raw vs. Smackdown 2006 and the UpUpDownDown Championship matches, where current UpUpDownDown Champion Kofi Kingston plays random games against opponents.While Kingston wasn't the first champion on this channel--that honor goes to Mikaze AKA Mr. Castle--he's the current champ, beating Swagatha Christie (Jack Gallagher). Most recently, Kingston--who goes by Mr. 24/7 AKA Mr. Gotcha as in Mr. Gotchyoura**--was challenged by fellow New Day member Big E at E3, which resulted with another successful title defense for the champ. Additionally, Kingston is also the WWE Champion, and he'll be defending that title on Sunday at Stomping Grounds against Dolph Ziggler.Kingston has been and will continue to be a prominent cast member of this channel, and he spoke to us about the channel's growth, his series on UpUpDownDown, his gaming techniques, and about Zack Ryder's Internet Championship.GameSpot: With the New Day, you guys are obviously friends, and there's a lot of camaraderie. For you, how does it feel to see Xavier Woods' UpUpDownDown channel grow?Kofi Kingston: It is awesome, because number one, I know how passionate he is about video games. I thought that I was really passionate and then I met him, and I was like, “Oh, he's on a whole other level.” He has a ridiculous range of games that he plays and enjoys, and then on top of that too, just knowing the kind of person that he is, he's really like a visionary, you know?A lot of us play video games for a long time on the WWE roster, and as soon as he announced, “Oh, let's do a gaming channel.” As soon as he had that idea, all of us are like, “Huh, why didn't we think of that?” It was right there in front of us, but at the same time, he's the only guy that could ever run it, because of infectious personality. He's a real people person. He meets people wherever he goes. He always jokes around about that, so it's only natural that this channel would grow to the extent that is has and it's awesome to see, because I know how much work he puts into it, how much sacrifice, and then on top of that, we get to play video games at work; it's all good.You also have your own show called "I Just Love Kicks" where you're talking about sneakers. When did sneaker culture become a passion for you?I feel like I've always been into sneakers, and it wasn't until I became a WWE superstar that I was actually able to afford the ones that I wanted to buy, and I always wanted to come out and have a pair of sneakers that would be like eye-catching, and it just kind of spiraled from there. Kind of grew from there, my passion, coming out and meeting a lot of different people who were sneakerheads really kind of fueled more of a passion within me, and it was actually Woods who had the idea of in an effort to get more content on the channel, and make it more than just the video game channel.He was like, “Yeah, maybe you should do a sneaker show.” I was like, “I don't really know if anybody would be interested in this. I don't really know what I'm talking about.” But as we speak now, after we get off the phone, I'm going to do another review of a pair of Air Max 720s that I've been trying to review, and hopefully I'll have that free pocket of time to do that and have that episode go up. It's cool to actually share a passion with people, because this is the way that a lot of sneakerheads, you find them in the funniest places, regardless of whether they're hip-hop artists or graphic designers. We went to the Nickelodeon studios and did Double Dare, and one of the executive producers there was a big sneakerhead.Which is crazy to be on the set of Double Dare and have rare and expensive sneakers, because you're probably going to get slime on them, so that guy lives on the edge, but you find sneakerheads in the strangest places, and the common thread of having sneakers really brings us all together. It's a way that I can kind of be involved with the sneaker community, as well as staying, I guess, in tune with what the latest trends are and what the most fashionable sneakers are, and what looks cooler or whatever. It's a way that I can kind of keep in that community as well.Primarily on the channel you are a competitor, Mr. 24/7, and throughout your competitions, on all these episodes you've been on, who do you feel is your biggest competition for the UpUpDownDown Championship?It's really funny. I guess I would have to say Mikaze, only because in an effort to try and become UpUpDownDown Champion, I actually went up against him three or four times before I was able to actually beat him; so he's kind of my kryptonite, to be honest, on the show. And then over the years, we've had several Madden competitions and different games like that, but it really just depends on the game. We have such a wide spectrum of palettes, and everyone has their own specialties, like Samoa Joe is actually pretty good at a lot of different games. He's good at fighting games, he'll be on shooting games too. I stink at shooting games. I'm probably one of the worst, if not the worst, but when it comes to fighting games I can hold my own, so it's really all about matchups.Even in particular fighting games, you might go up against somebody, like in Tekken, Jimmy Uso is really, really good, but whenever he goes up against his brother [Jey Uso], his brother can beat him every time. But I'll go up against Jay, and I'll be able to beat him, you know? It's really all about those matchups.In competition, for you, how much of the playing the video game is about head games?Oh, I think that's for me, that's my whole thing. I come out there and talk a lot of trash. Whether I'm winning or whether I'm losing, getting in my opponents head and frustrating them to where you're not thinking about the mechanics of the game. You're really thinking about really anything else, that's definitely a big part of my strategy, is to kind of distract people by talking trash and being loud and obnoxious, you know? That's a big part.Who would you say is a bigger sore loser when you lose a game? Would that be you, or would it be Xavier during the Battle of the Brands?That's tough, that's tough. I'm not a good loser, I know that for sure. A lot of times people get mad when they beat me, because I almost make it seem like I won. You know what I'm saying? It depends on the day to be honest, and it depends on the game or the situation, but I do not lose well. I cannot stand losing, especially when it comes to video games. I oftentimes on the channel you'll see just raw emotion, I think that's why people like to go the channel so much, because you get to see WWE superstars outside of the ring. You know, you get to see them doing every day things that the average Joe does at home. We play video games just like everybody else, so I think a lot of people like that.You currently have two belts, the WWE Championship, and the UpUpDownDown Championship, is there any plan to challenge Zach Ryder for the Internet Championship?Wow, you know what? That's not a bad idea, because he's been sitting on that Internet Championship for a long time. As a matter of fact, he's probably the longest-reigning champion in the history of the company. I think actually he passed Bruno Sammartino a little while ago, I think it was a little underground thing, you know? But I have not thought about that, I'll definitely put it into the tank, people are talking about the actual 24/7 Championship, because that's my name; number one. Now Truth is running around with me, but he was my former tag team partner, so I feel like I can live vicariously through him and be champion through him, but who knows man. I've got a really long torso, and I'd like to put a lot of belts around it.We've seen you go up against a lot of WWE superstars that are great at gaming and are regulars on UpUpDownDown, but is there anybody that's in WWE currently that's not on the channel that you think is a formidable gaming foe?Has Ricochet been on the channel yet? I don't know if he's been on yet. Maybe he has, I don't know, but he's actually pretty good at Mortal Kombat, and I didn't expect him to be, but he's actually been getting really, really good. Maybe him? I don't know. Most of the people who are gamers have found their way onto the channel in some way shape or form. If you're a gamer, Woods will sniff you out, he'll get you on the channel by some means. I guess off the top of my head all I can think of is Ricochet. Yeah, most of the gamers are pretty much on the channel right now.What's the game you're most excited for that you haven't played yet?Yeah, well the new Final Fantasy, I believe the remake has been announced at E3, as far as the release date. I would love to get hands on that for sure, because I grew up on Final Fantasy, that was the role playing game and series that I came up on, you know. And even in a remake, I ended up downloading Final Fantasy VII on my phone now, which is crazy to me that you can put such, what used to be a large game and it's accessible on your phone, it's wild. You know, that used to have three discs on the PlayStation, you know what I'm saying?Now you can literally open up your phone and save it on your phone, you know, technology is crazy. But, yeah, any kind of incarnation of the Final Fantasy series, I'm all about. Especially these days, I don't really have a whole lot of time to play RPG because they take up so much time, but if I can get my hands on that new Final Fantasy that'd be great.I don't know if you've played it in a long time, and it was only a one disc game, but you can get Final Fantasy Tactics on your phone, which is a pretty seamless port and just a lot of fun.Really? I didn't know that. I wish you hadn't told me that, because that's going to be another thing I've got to play to take up more time. Info from Gamespot.com

The most surprising thing about Cadence of Hyrule, despite being so unusual, is how much it immediately feels like a Zelda game. Aesthetically, it sits somewhere between A Link to the Past and the cartoonier Four Swords games, but its Zelda roots run much deeper than that; This is not just Crypt of the NecroDancer reskinned. Much like The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds on 3DS, Cadence is a shorter, smaller riff on the classic 2D Zelda template with a unique twist, a game that will strike a chord with long-time fans but also feels fresh and exciting.In the game's opening, Cadence (the protagonist of Crypt of the NecroDancer) is dropped into Hyrule by a mysterious vortex and must choose whether to awaken either Link or Zelda. From there, the game is pretty open--you explore a randomized overworld map in search of classic Zelda items and the four dungeons that need to be completed before you can storm Hyrule Castle, which has fallen to the game's big bad, the villainous musician Octavo. You'll eventually unlock both characters (and, potentially, two others), but being able to play as Zelda from the outset is wonderful and feels like a long-overdue correction of the series' namesake frequently being sidelined.The game doesn't tell you exactly where to go at first, but thankfully the initial hour or two of simply moving between screens, uncovering your map and figuring out how your procedurally generated version of Hyrule fits together, is exhilarating. If there are monsters on the screen, you'll need to move in time with the beat of the game's music, indicated by marker at the bottom of your UI, timing your movements in four directions to avoid and attack enemies ripped from the Zelda universe. Each enemy has its own attack pattern and most have a clear "tell"--if a wolf looks like it's about to pounce, for instance, you'll want to make sure that you're not on the square in front of it on the next beat, whereas bigger enemies might have larger attack areas that will be marked on the ground one beat ahead of their assault. It's a system that the game frames as a "dance" between you and your enemies, and this is apt, as I would nearly always find myself bopping and tapping my foot alongside my movements.Learning the rhythmic patterns of enemies, and reaching the point where you figure out how to best attack them so that you can properly counter-attack or defend yourself, is a consistent pleasure. When you slip into the zone and feel like your movements and steps are perfectly in sync with the rhythm and movements of your enemies, it's extremely satisfying, especially as you find new areas and monsters throughout the game and slowly conquer them. Coming back to an area you found intimidating early in the game and handily slaughtering all of the enemies, which causes the music to calm and loot to drop, feels fantastic.Attacks and interactions are automatic depending on where you're standing, with each screen being divided into grid-based titles that you move between. There's an emphasis on being mindful of your movements and your surroundings on a beat-by-beat basis throughout the entire game, so it's handy that every song follows the same tempo--once you're tapped into it, your ability to move through the game is dependent on your ability to read the many different enemy animations and quickly plot out your movements on the fly. The only exceptions are certain hazards in the game world that slow or speed up the beat, and one inspired puzzle which asks you to step to the beat of a familiar piece of Zelda music. The entire soundtrack is made up of beautifully reworked pieces from the Zelda series, with a number of tunes featuring as speedier, upbeat variations. They're all wonderful remixes of tracks that many players will already feel a strong attachment to, and the mostly consistent beat throughout the game keeps things manageable since you only really need to learn and become accustomed to one rhythm. There are plenty of fun aural Easter eggs for long-time Zelda fans, too. It's worth noting that there is also an accommodating accessibility option called "fixed beat" mode which stops enemies from moving unless you're moving, removing the need to follow the rhythm.Cadence of Hyrule also has light roguelike elements, but it's a very generous system that encourages you to use your consumable items rather than stockpiling them. When you die, you lose any keys you've collected, all rupees, your shovel, your torch, and any stat-boosting items you've picked up. Your vital gear stays with you, though, as do all the weapons you've found. You won't need to do anything as drastic as finding your best sword or the hookshot again, which mitigates any frustration and keeps you focused on pushing forward.Many of these classic Zelda items are hidden away in the overworld, but none of them are actually necessary to progress through the game. In fact, it's entirely possible to simply make a determined beeline towards each dungeon, and the game's timed leaderboards will likely entice many a speedrunner. For the rest of us, though, making the effort to find and use all the classic Zelda items will make the challenge easier, and going to the lengths to locate the items strewn throughout Hyrule is a hunt worth taking because simply playing the game is a joy in itself. Cadence of Hyrule understands how much the pleasure of playing a Zelda game comes from the feeling that you're rising to the challenge of your environment, and after hours of learning and internalizing the rhythms of various enemy attacks, finding yourself less intimidated by all the creatures the game throws at you is a great feeling. Some items do end up feeling quite superfluous by virtue of not being necessary, however--I never once effectively used the boomerang, for instance, and even the bow (which can be equipped with numerous different types of arrows) feels inconsequential.The dungeons are fun but short, requiring you to venture through randomly generated floors full of monsters and, eventually, combat musically-themed takes on classic Zelda bosses. These bosses all have wonderful designs that merge old favorites with new instrument-based powers, complete with genuinely funny pun names. There are very few puzzles in the game; the dungeons are entirely focused on combat and exploration. I found that the last two of the initial four in the overworld were extremely easy, as my version of Zelda had become quite powerful (I was on a long undying streak, equipped with some very useful buffs). But Cadence of Hyrule more than makes up for it with the challenge of the final trek through Hyrule Castle, which makes the extremely fun final boss battle, and the credits that roll after, feel well earned.Once you're done, there are plenty of enticing reasons to come back, too. Hunting down every piece of treasure is a fun reason to spend more time exploring and fighting, and if you've found the right items the map will tell you exactly where unclaimed treasures are lying and let you warp around at your leisure, allowing you easily mop up any that you've missed. If you start again, the fact that the map randomizes each time means that you'll have a different experience, as areas will look different or have altered layouts. There are also daily challenges, which plop you down at the beginning as either Link or Zelda and let you compete on a leaderboard to see how far you can get on a single life, as well as a permadeath mode. These modes are really just there for more avid players looking to master the game, but it's good to have the option. You can also play through the entire game in co-op, with one player taking control of Cadence while the other plays as Link or Zelda, which is a great addition. If one player dies you both go down, and if one of you moves to the next screen the other player will be warped there too, so working together to line up on the beat is important. The game works better as a single-player experience, but it's a nice choice to have.Cadence of Hyrule is a fantastic Zelda game in its own right, even though it adopts the gameplay mechanics of another series. Beyond the aesthetics, it nails the satisfying sense of exploration and increasing power, and it revels in the joy of discovery, as all the best Zelda games do. It's an extremely successful melding of two great game series and an experience that makes you feel eager for Nintendo to do more interesting things with their major licenses. Info from Gamespot.com

The latest grand strategy game from the genre's current leading light, Paradox Interactive, puts you at the helm of one of the great powers of the late 4th century B.C. and asks you to conquer the world from western Europe to southern Asia. At the same time, it can also leave you in charge of one of the region's meekest tribes and ask you to accomplish little more than its survival. Regardless of your chosen nation, Imperator: Rome is a stubbornly single-minded strategy experience that borrows freely from its Paradox stablemates (Europa Univeralis, Hearts of Iron, and Crusader Kings), culls much of their personality and complexity, and marches into battle with a steely-eyed focus on military conquest. At heart, Imperator: Rome is a game about building armies and marching them into foreign lands. You recruit troops, secure the strategic resources necessary to recruit upgraded troops, assign generals, point them towards the target, and let them loose. There are technologies to research, civic matters to pursue, and religious concerns, but these are secondary factors, each just another gear in the military machine.Combat is intuitive and uncomplicated. Armies are routed when their morale breaks, while strict supply costs in each territory work well to prevent amassing units in ludicrous "stacks of doom." Meanwhile, the need to lay siege to an enemy fort for up to several in-game months at a time helps to put the brakes on any notion of steamrolling. You can holler the occasional tactical instruction, but when it comes down to it, the winner in battle will be whoever has the greater numbers. And if your opponent has the terrain advantage then you're going to need an even greater numerical advantage to overcome it.While I definitely prefer a strategic game that offers varied paths to victory, there is a simple pleasure in Imperator: Rome's rigid insistence that all you have to do is paint the map the same colour. You don't have to play as Rome, of course, but it does make things more straightforward. Your choice of nation is a de facto difficulty slider, with Rome (situated among compliant vassals and easily overrun neutral states) offering a gentle introduction and Phrygia (larger than Rome but riven with internal division and despised by its neighbors) tossing you right in at the deep end. There are hundreds of nations from which to select, spanning half the globe from Britain to North Africa to Scandinavia to Sri Lanka, and you can play as any of them. More than a difficulty setting, however, your choice of nation sets expectations.Rome is well-known, though not as well-known as Macedon or Egypt, and so the effects of its actions will be felt further and wider, rippling out in diplomatic waves over the Mediterranean and drawing condemnation or perhaps congratulations from its rivals. As a major power, you've got weight to throw around, but other powers take notice and react, adding their own weight to the scale. The result is a world that feels dynamic and connected, at least to the extent that you can appreciate territories on the political map flipping back and forth between your own nation's color and those of your enemies. When playing as a smaller nation, though, you have no weight at all. You control very little territory, you've got a tiny army, and your choices are extremely limited. The world most likely doesn't even realize you exist. If they do, it's probably because they just noticed you have something they want, or worse, you're merely a slight speedbump on the way to what they want. Played in this way, Imperator: Rome feels oddly timid, an unsatisfying waiting game momentarily brought to life through tentative forays into expansion while you hope no one important notices.The asymmetry of the starting positions, and the resulting diplomatic relations maintained by each nation at the outset, lend variety to the early stages of each new game. Beyond that, though, the heavy focus on military conquest and lack of options in both empire management and international relations place severe limits on the breadth and depth of strategic tinkering available to the player.A major problem is the implementation of Paradox's "mana" system, as it is colloquially known. These are the pools of resources--military power, research, oratory power, and religion--you accumulate over the course of the game and which fund many of the decisions you make. Mana increases as you play, based almost entirely on the randomly rolled stats of your leader and those you have appointed to your government. When you have saved enough, you can spend it on extra discipline for your troops, a small income boost, or any number of so-called technologies. The pacing is all over the place, though. You can hit pause, buy up a bunch of diverse tech, and unpause--and in an instant, your empire is improving its diplomatic relations or collecting more tax. It feels backwards, like you're not planning toward something by investing in a particular resource to work toward a strategic objective, but rather slapping band-aids on immediate problems. It's not even that Imperator wants you to focus on short-term issues, it's more that the game is quite content to let you snap your fingers to magically make problems disappear.Religious power is the most undernourished of the mana resources. Aside from a very minor buff you can apply every five in-game years, the chief use of religious power is to preserve the stability of your empire--itself a nebulous status that imparts positive or negative modifiers to your loyalty, popularity, and so on--by making a sacrifice to the gods. This dramatic-sounding gesture involves clicking a button to convert a variable amount of religious power into one stability point. That's it. And suddenly the empire is stable again.Indeed, there's a lot that can simply be flipped on a dime. On the surface, the diplomatic game looks sophisticated. You can send gifts and insults to other empires, form alliances or undermine a rival's current regime by supporting rebels, and more. Managing diplomatic ties across dozens of relations should require balancing a host of competing interests, and at times the systems here do allow for such finesse. But at other times you can flip a switch, spend some oratory power, and now Armenia doesn't mind that you've fabricated a claim on Albania. It's all very "Friendship ended with Scythia, now Carthage is my best friend!" Elsewhere, lots of small choices add up to very little. When establishing that trade route, do you want to secure access to fish and the 0.02% population growth bonus? Or would you prefer to import precious metals and gain 0.01 loyalty in your provinces? It's difficult to look at such numbers and understand how a particular choice might benefit your overall strategy. So you pick one, cross your fingers, and, in all likelihood, forget about it for the rest of the game. Rulers ought to feel the weight of their decisions, and few such choices here hit heavily.Imperator: Rome feels undercooked. As it stands, it's a strange mish-mash of several of Paradox's existing (and, let's be honest, superior) games without much to distinguish or recommend it. Paradox recently outlined a "One Year Plan" for the title in an effort to reassure players that they are aware of its shortcomings and intend to address them. That roadmap appears insubstantial to my eyes, but we'll see when we get there. For now, Imperator: Rome remains a decidedly modest strategy game. Info from Gamespot.com

The sun beats down on the battlefield as the war cries of my fellow soldiers ring out. Catapults pelt us from a distance and the giant boulders explode onto the ground around us with a great thud, thinning our numbers before we can reach the contested checkpoint. Those who make it through are greeted by a line of enemies hastily building a blockade, but we tear through them like a hot knife through butter and take the checkpoint in a flurry of steel and blood. As I stand over the decapitated body of a downed enemy, a spear flies out from behind a barrier and catches me unawares, putting me down on the spot with a sickening, meaty crash, before I respawn back at the camp I'd just come from.This is the bloody brutality of Mordhau, a strategic, punishing and ultimately satisfying first-person multiplayer medieval combat game. You need patience and perseverance to overcome the steep learning curve of its melee mechanics. Far from being a simple hack-and-slasher, Mordhau focuses largely on learning and executing the finer points of melee combat, from footwork and positioning through to timing numerous attack and defensive maneuvers. It feels clunky at first, but once it clicks, it's brilliant. Timing a riposte--a parry followed up by a quick counter-attack--feels great, and even better if it causes heads to roll. But there are several hours of less-thrilling learning to do first, and despite its attempts at onboarding, the game could do more to help new players get up to speed. A 15-minute tutorial will run you through the basics, asking you to prove you can perform a series of slashes, parries, and other moves. Helpful to a point, these lessons fail to provide the feedback needed to work towards more sophisticated techniques. Some, like chambering--a complex maneuver where you counter an attack with an attack of your own from the same angle, executed at the exact moment you're about to get hit--require pinpoint timing and are difficult to execute successfully. The lack of visual feedback makes learning when to strike a process of trial and error, which, in the relatively safe confines of the tutorial, means taking a few extra swings at your NPC trainer until you get it right. But during a match it's a slow, merciless grind of death after death, waiting to respawn then charging back to the action against the might of more experienced players.Because of this, the first five or so hours online feel like a gauntlet in the worst way. You will be cut down time after time and not really understand why, and it's here that most players will bounce off Mordhau. Annoyingly, you also don't earn any progress when playing against AI offline, and they aren't effective training dummies either--they mostly follow each other in long lines and clash in groups, slashing and stabbing wildly. So you're essentially forced to head into the online meat grinder to progress.Weapons mastery aside, progress comes in the form of gold, which is used to purchase items, armor, and weapons, as well as XP, with which you can unlock new gear to then buy with gold. As the hours tick over, not only does your character level grow, but you slowly become better at the game, and suddenly what seemed at the start like an impossible hill to climb begins to feel a lot less intimidating. The subtle windup of enemy attacks begins to stand out more, making parries and ripostes far simpler. You start to carefully change the timing of attacks by leaning in or out of each swing, and it's once you start to grasp these more detailed nuances that Mordhau truly begins to shine and the real potential of its wonderfully intricate combat begins to show itself. Opening up an opponent after a successful parry, taking aim at their exposed points and landing the killing blow only takes a couple of seconds but requires the utmost control to execute, making every kill feel earned, and the open combat is more enjoyable and expressive than simple hacking and slashing.There are three main game types to choose from--Frontlines, Battle Royale, and Horde--though you can also privately set up your own deathmatch or team deathmatch servers. Frontlines is the main mode, with two teams of 32 fighting to secure and hold each checkpoint until one either dominates the map and completes the objective or eliminates the opposition by clearing their respawn tickets. Battle Royale is a solo, winner-takes-all round where everyone starts with nothing and has to scavenge for weapons and armor in order to survive, while Horde lets up to six players run together in wave-based, PvE combat. As you clear each wave, you earn more gold that can be used to purchase items and weapons during the round at different points across the map.Frontlines feels the best of these thanks to its objective-based gameplay, letting those less skilled with the weapons make an active contribution--though if the spectacle of battle does nothing for you, charging into the fray with your screaming teammates certainly will. It can be simultaneously chilling and empowering. As a single death ends the round in both Battle Royale and Horde, they're far less forgiving compared to Frontlines and feel more geared towards experienced players. Once you know how to wield your weapon they can be just as rewarding, though, if a little slower in terms of action.You can choose several loadouts with varying styles of armor and weaponry from the outset of each match. With less armor, you're lighter and can move faster but are more susceptible to sword attacks, whereas heavily armored characters offer more protection against swords but are slower all around and can be more easily bested with blunt weapons. Each weapon type fits into varying play styles that all feel effective in their own right, but each has a more functional role depending on where you are on the map. Longer weapons will naturally have a longer reach but can't be swung side-to-side in tight spaces as they'll catch on the walls and obstacles, so they can only be thrust or swung overhead instead. Spears and other one-handed weapons can be thrown if need be, while larger weapons can use an alternative grip to better knock off opponents' armor. There are always options for whatever situation you find yourself in, adding to the already excellent fighting experience by offering solid alternatives, provided you've got the right loadout. The maps themselves are large, ranging from a snowy mountain castle to a wide-open battlefield with fortress encampments at either end of a rolling valley, but the game could still do with a bit more variety. There are seven maps in all, though some are limited to certain game types. They're also a little static--you don't have to worry about weather or adverse conditions--but they still look the part, especially when bathed in the bloody aftermath of combat. Battles can look spectacular from afar, but never quite as good as they do up close, where the raw energy is palpable and intimidating. Ragdolled bodies are stretched across the ground and blood washes over the landscape as the battle rages, leaving a trail of brutality in its wake as the fight moves from checkpoint to checkpoint.Mordhau is tough, violent, beautiful, and doesn't pull its punches. Despite an intense learning curve that could be better alleviated with more tutorials or better practice tools, its supreme swordplay and combat mechanics eventually outshine any initial frustration. The scale of battle is overwhelming and chaotic, but there's a definite sense to all the nonsense that, once you uncover it, gives you an incredible rush every time you go toe-to-toe with the enemy--even if you don't come out the other side intact. Info from Gamespot.com