Columns

Square Enix announced Final Fantasy XIV's latest expansion today titled Shadowbringers, which will be launching Summer, 2019. Shadowbringers will mark the start of Patch 5.0, just as Stormblood was 4.0 and Heavensward was 3.0. As many speculated in the past, Shadowbringers will be about a major conflict with the Garlean Empire. New features: NPC battle-assist system called 'Trust' System (Likely similar to Trust system in Final Fantasy XI) World visit system - players will be able to visit worlds on the same data centere via Aetherytes in Limsa Lominsa, Gridania, and Ul'Dah. Freely move between these servers. New playable race (not officially revealed yet, but Yoshi-P had a T-Shirt with a bunny, so Viera is likely) New Game+ System (Can replay the whole main story quest or side job quests but without level sync) New story main story quests New level cap of 80 New class (likely Gunblade) While the new story quests and the increased level cap are the main parts of any new expansion, … [Read more...] about Final Fantasy XIV’s Latest Expansion “Shadowbringers” Announced at FanFest

It has been a productive year for Grinding Gear Games and their free to play action-RPG Path of Exile. In May, Tencent took a majority stake of 80% in the New Zealand based studio. We've also seen three leagues so far: The Bestiary, Incursion, and current Delve league. GGG has decided to round out the year by bringing the unique features from all 3 of these leagues back as part of the Betrayal expansion which is set to launch on December 7. In Betrayal, the Bestiary, Incursion, and Delve features will each be accessible via NPC 'masters', with these new masters replacing the existing ones (besides the map master Zana who will remain) who have been around since 2014. Player housing (the hideout) will also get a much needed upgrade with the Betrayal expansion. The new expansion isn't just a consolidation of the year's new content. A new gameplay feature tasks players with investigating a criminal cartel called the Immortal Syndicate. By interrogating, killing, and otherwise cajoling … [Read more...] about Path Of Exile: Betrayal Expansion Announced, Release Set For Dec 7

7 years and 100 billion Won (~$88 million USD) later, Lost Ark finally entered Open Beta Testing in South Korea on November 7, 2018. Smilegate, the company behind Lost Ark, has announced that they are targeting 'more developed countries' such as North America and Europe for their next launch phase. Usually China proves to be a more alluring next-step for Korean MMORPG developers, but the recent gaming approval freeze in China means that the world's biggest gaming market is currently off limits. To give a sense of China's importance to SmileGate, 80% of their total sales last year came from the Chinese version of their tactical shooter Crossfire. China's loss is our gain. With these Chinese market closed to them, SmileGate has chosen instead to focus its attention on an English/International version of Lost Ark. Lostk Ark seems a good fit for the Western audience as the action-RPG oriented gameplay is well established here. Lost Ark will compete with other Korean titles like Mu Legend, … [Read more...] about SmileGate Confirms Lost Ark Is Coming To The West

7 years and 100 billion Won (~$88 million USD) later, Lost Ark finally entered Open Beta Testing in South Korea on November 7, 2018. Smilegate, the company behind Lost Ark, has announced that they are targeting 'more developed countries' such as North America and Europe for their next launch phase. Usually China proves to be a more alluring next-step for Korean MMORPG developers, but the recent gaming approval freeze in China means that the world's biggest gaming market is currently off limits. To give a sense of China's importance to SmileGate, 80% of their total sales last year came from the Chinese version of their tactical shooter Crossfire. China's loss is our gain. With these Chinese market closed to them, SmileGate has chosen instead to focus its attention on an English/International version of Lost Ark. Lostk Ark seems a good fit for the Western audience as the action-RPG oriented gameplay is well established here. Lost Ark will compete with other Korean titles like Mu Legend, … [Read more...] about SmileGate Confirms Losk Ark Is Coming To The West

Tera just launched its latest update today on the PC titled Fiery Featherweights which adds quite a bit of new goodies to the game. The update is aptly titled Fiery Featherweights because it allows Elins, the game's smallest and objectively cutest class, to play as Brawlers. New content wise the game is adding a new 5 player dungeon titled Bahaar's Sanctum and a new Enhancement Point System which allows max level players to continue progression. To celebrate this newest update, Tera is hosting a handful of in game events including a leveling event to help players reach level 65 so they can tackle the new dungeon and try out the Enhancement Point System. From today until December 11, all Brawlers that reach level 65 get a handful of freebies including a set of Twistshard gear, accessories, and most importantly, a variety of cosmetics (including Elin-only costumes!) Tera is one of the few true action MMORPGs out there (along with Blade and Soul and Black Desert Online). If you haven't … [Read more...] about Tera’s Fiery Featherweights Update now Live