In Season 5: Fortune's Favor, Respawn added a new story-based PvE mode called Quest. In a GameSpot Play For All interview, Apex Legends game director Chad Grenier spoke to us about Respawn's decision to add a story mode to a multiplayer-focused game and teased that how Apex Legends' story is told may look "a little bit different" in Season 6."Quest was really just an experiment to see how we could tell more story in [Apex Legends]," Grenier said. "We have a team of people who love to tell stories. Before Apex, we made a campaign, Titanfall 2, and told a ton of story there. And then moving on to making a multiplayer-only game, we're left wondering, 'How can we tell a story in a battle royale game? Is that even possible?' And we found ways to do that through transmedia storytelling and our character teases and the dialogue--so Quests is just an evolution of trying to tell a story in a multiplayer game."Grenier continued: "And so we've been listening to a lot of the feedback and I think, in general, people enjoy playing Quest. If anything, the feedback has just been that people want more of that lore and storytelling so we're finding new ways to bring that content in future seasons--just listening and learning, we're trying to evolve the way that we're doing it and find what works best. Season 6 may be a little bit different from 5 and that's just us iterating and trying to try new things and see what works and see what doesn't work and listen to the fans."Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Editor's note: You may have seen our spoiler-free The Last of Us Part II review, originally published on June 12, 2020. Due to a strict embargo, we were limited in what aspects of the game we could touch on in that review. While I critiqued the game in full for that embargo, there may be some parts of the review that could use more explanation. Now that the embargo has lifted and the game is now available, I've expanded on my thoughts here; this review has the same arguments and score as the first one and is simply more detailed in my analysis. Note that this review contains spoilers, including one major character death.The Last of Us Part II begins with serious tonal whiplash. One moment, Ellie and her close friend Dina are becoming more than friends in a basement filled with weed plants and Naughty Dog porn puns; the next, Joel is being savagely beaten to death with a golf club. It's the first of many, many gruesome deaths. Some happen whether you want them to or not, in intimate cutscenes that are hard to watch, while others happen just because an NPC got in between you and your objective and killing them was the easiest thing to do. Either way, that brief glimpse of happiness at the beginning is left very much in the dust.But while the scale and severity of death and loss in this game is incredibly high, The Last of Us Part II is more a character study than a musing on the nature of violence. On that front, the story of Ellie, her playable foil Abby, and their quests for revenge and redemption is a gripping and harrowing one, and I found myself deeply emotionally entangled with each woman and her strengths and flaws. The bloodshed is very much a part of that story, but it's far from the most effective one, and it's where the game stumbles a bit.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

For Dungeon Masters and adventurers around the world looking for a new Dungeons & Dragons story to play, there is a new D&D adventure book headed your way this September. Titled Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden, the latest story brings players back to the frozen world of Icewind Dale, adds some new mechanics, and focuses on horror.During a press event, the latest book was revealed by Chris Perkins, game designer and editor of Dungeons & Dragons for Wizards of the Coast. "It is a horror story, set in Icewind Dale," Perkins explained. "This story focuses more on modern horror. It's an adventure best served cold."In the world of D&D, the Frostmaiden is a powerful entity, which many would call a god, and she's long been associated with Icewind Dale. In Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden, a larger story unfolds--which can be broken down into smaller parts for players who don't want to play the whole campaign--and in addition to the main adventure, there is a new mechanic to help define your character: secrets.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Another event has been canceled amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and its associated social distancing measures. TwitchCon San Diego, which was scheduled to take place from September 25-27 at the San Diego Convention Center, is no longer happening."Due to restrictions on large gatherings and ongoing concerns for the health and safety of our community, the Twitch team, and the local San Diego community, we have decided to cancel TwitchCon San Diego this fall," the event organizer wrote in a statement posted to Twitter. "While we can't gather in person, we're exploring ways that we could join forces in an alternate dimension later this year. We'll keep you posted."It's unclear what "another dimension" means, but it seems the organizers behind TwitchCon are considering some sort of digital/virtual event for later in the year.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

EA's commitment to releasing games on Nintendo platforms over the past few generations has not been firm, to say the least, but it appears that may finally be changing. As part of EA Play, Electronic Arts outlined its intentions to release more Switch games--with seven in total to come in the next 12 months.Not all of those were announced during EA Play, but the figure is striking given how few EA games have appeared on Switch to date. Some upcoming games coming to Switch include Burnout Paradise Remastered, which launches on Friday, and Apex Legends, which will hit the Switch later this year.Also confirmed for Switch is FIFA 21, although this will be another "Legacy Edition," so don't expect it to offer feature parity with other versions of the game.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

If you're looking for something to play this weekend on Xbox One, there are three games you can check out for free as part of Xbox Free Play Days. You'll need an active Xbox Live Gold or Game Pass Ultimate subscription to take advantage of the Free Play Days offerings, but it's worth noting the Xbox Store offers free trials every weekend. This weekend, you can play Don't Starve Together: Console Edition, PES 2020, and MotoGP 20 through Sunday, June 21. If you want to keep playing after the free weekend ends, all three games are available to purchase at significant discounts.Don't Starve Together is a standalone expansion to the popular indie survival game. As the name suggests, it emphasizes multiplayer, which is perfect for a free weekend. In Don't Starve Together, you navigate a strange world filled with challenging threats. Along the way, you gather resources to craft items and build structures to keep you safe. Don't Starve Together holds an "Overwhelmingly Positive" user rating on Steam and remains one of the cooler survival games out there to play with friends. You can grab the Mega Pack, which contains both the original, the Shipwrecked expansion, and Don't Starve Together for just $10.80.Soccer fans can dive into PES 2020, the latest entry in Konami's long-running franchise. It earned a 9/10 in GameSpot's PES 2020 review for its mechanically sound on-pitch gameplay and deep game modes. While PES doesn't have the same robust official licensing agreements as FIFA, PES 2020's soccer gameplay helps make up for it.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Grand Theft Auto V Online is rewarding players for going fast this week, with extra rewards for specific races in Speed Week. Earn double rewards in all open wheel races, all VIP work, and challenges, plus triple rewards in all parachute races this week.Players that log in anytime between now and June 24 will receive the Coil USA Tee and have a shot at getting this week's Lucky Wheel prize, the Ocelot R88.There is also a variety of free vehicles and discounts on real estate, refurbishments, and customizations this week:Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Beloved young adult book series Animorphs by K.A. Applegate is headed to the big screen. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Scholastic will team up with producer Erik Feig for the movie."We couldn't be more excited to work with Scholastic to adapt Animorphs, an iconic book series with a wildly unique combination of exciting, witty, outlandish and grounded elements that feel all too relevant for our times," Feig explained in a statement. "We know these books have a deservedly deep bench of passionate fans and we hope to make Katherine Applegate and her co-author, Michael Grant, proud."Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Baldur's Gate III is currently only being developed for PC and Google's Stadia, with an early access launch on the former hopefully kicking off this August. Larian Studios' previous title, Divinity: Original Sin 2, eventually arrived on most consoles, including Nintendo Switch, but no such plans are in place for the Baldur's Gate sequel just yet.As part of Play For All, GameSpot recently got the chance to sit down with Baldur's Gate III creative director Swen Vincke, who said he and his team haven't even tried to run the game on current-gen consoles. Although he didn't rule out ports to consoles in the future, specifically next-gen ones, Vincke says the studio is just focused on PC and Stadia right now."Our focus right now is PC and Stadia," Vincke stated. "We're going to first focus very hard on getting those two to work, and then we'll see what happens." You can watch the full interview above.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Anime has the capability to take viewers to far-off lands where we see characters connect to each other in emotional moments that really make us think. Also, anime can also deliver shows that feature high schoolers beating each other up while dubstep blasts in the background. The latest trailer for Crunchyroll's The God of High School is very much the latter.The new look at the upcoming original series is exceptionally intense, featuring non-stop fight sequences with super-powered characters. Check it out for yourself below.Based on the comic by Yongje Park, this Crunchyroll and WebToon production follows a high school student and his friends as the compete in a tournament to see who is the best fighter. However, they have to borrow powers from the gods and end up uncovering secrets about a mysterious organization.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

This War of Mine has achieved a video game milestone--it is now recommended reading for students in Poland by decree of the Prime Minister and the country's Ministry of Education.Along with @PremierRP and the Ministry of Education we've just achieved a milestone step in recognizing video games as a work of culture! @ThisWarOfMine becomes a recommended reading for high school students in the Polish education system!#ThisWarOfMine | #GameDev | #VideoGames pic.twitter.com/kGHWg7Ri5L — 11 bit studios (@11bitstudios) June 18, 2020When it released in 2014, This War of Mine received critical acclaim for its portrayal of wartime which focused on the consequences and moral realities of conflict. According to a press release from 11 Bit Studios, the title also received "an award for bringing substantial value to Polish national cultural heritage."Now, This War of Mine will be included as recommended reading for students in Poland who will be commencing studies in the 20/21 year, as long as they are 18. This is because of the game's 18+ rating for its depiction of sensitive topics around violence and trauma. The Prime Minister of Poland, Mateusz Morawiecki, was firm in his support of this initiative, noting that he was proud to say that 11 Bit Studios' work could "add to the development of education and culture" in Poland.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

The Xbox game-streaming service, xCloud, is preparing to launch later this year for everyone, and now we've learned a little bit more about it. The Verge is reporting that the service will use Xbox One S consoles to power the platform at launch before switching to Series X blades in 2021. The site reported that Microsoft has already begun testing xCloud with Series X consoles as the server blades. This is a big deal because the Series X is the most powerful console Microsoft has ever made, so using the upgraded hardware as server blades should improve game performance. You will also need a good internet connection for the optimal experience.Additionally, experiments are said to be underway for PC server blades to stream PC games through xCloud--this seemingly suggests that xCloud might be coming to PC as well.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

During EA Play 2020, Respawn had some big announcements for Apex Legends. The battle royale game is scheduled to get cross-platform support between consoles and PC. Additionally, Apex Legends is releasing for Steam and Nintendo Switch, providing more ways to play the game.Respawn did not have exact dates for when Apex Legends would be seeing these changes or releases, but it's all expected out sometime this fall.EA has committed itself to expanded support for Switch as well as Steam, and the release of Apex is perhaps the strongest indication of that dedication yet. A number of EA games have hit Steam in recent weeks, with Titanfall 2, Dead Space 3, and The Sims 4 hitting just prior to EA Play.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

During EA Play, Respawn released a new trailer for the next limited-time event in Apex Legends. This time around, the event is themed around Crypto, the legend added to the game in Season 3: Meltdown. The new trailer is embedded below.Called Lost Treasures, the new event introduces a Crypto-themed town takeover (called Map Room) to the top-left section of Kings Canyon. Like most previous town takeovers, the new landmark features aspects of a legend's passive, tactical, or ultimate ability--in this case, Crypto's. Journeying to the Map Room will allow you to ping a holographic map that will let you know how many squads are in your immediate vicinity and will reveal the current location of all squads on Kings Canyon. It's basically Crypto's passive ability but amplified across the entire map.Lost Treasures is a collection event, which means tons of new rare, epic, and legendary cosmetics to buy with in-game currency and a new heirloom to unlock. The trailer showcases that Mirage is getting an heirloom this time around too. The holographic trickster got a fairly substantial rework at the start of Season 5: Fortune's Favor, which has greatly increased the character's utility as an offensive threat and popularity as a pick.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

As part of EA's wider push to release its games on Steam, the company is launching FIFA 21 on the platform. A product page for the game has gone live, showing a release date of October 3.The page also confirms that everyone who pre-orders FIFA 21 will get special bonuses including three gold packs for the extremely popular Ultimate Team mode. There are also more expensive versions of FIFA 21 coming, including the Champions and Ultimate Editions.FIFA 21 has yet to be formally announced, a reveal is expected during EA Play Live 2020.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com