Azur Lane is a mobile side-scrolling shoot 'em up game where players collect moe WWII warships and participate in naval warfare. Dodge barrages of bullets and unleash powerful skills on the enemy, utilizing unique character combinations and ship types.
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Publisher: Shanghai Yostar Playerbase: High Type: Mobile Shoot 'em Up RPG Release Date (Global): July 16, 2018 Pros: +Generous drop rates. +Great artwork. +Engaging gameplay. Cons: -Some grinding required. -PvP controlled by AI. -Learning curve.
Bandai Namco / Neowiz announced a free to play console version of Bless built on Unreal Engine 4 titled Bless Unleashed earlier this week, but we didn't see what the game looked like until today. The official Bless Unleashed Youtube channel posted a new video today titled Bless Unleashed Announcement Trailer which was quickly bombarded with thumbs downs and negative comments.
Bless Unleashed: Announcement Trailer
Player outrage in the comments section make sense. The PC version of the game on Steam was riddled with bugs and was available as a buy to play game. The new version of Bless on console will be free to play and built on an entirely new engine, which makes players who bought the PC version feel shafted. Given how little credibility Neowiz has with Bless, I suspect the console version of the game won't be well received.
Learn more about Bless Unleashed or sign up for the beta on the game's official site.
Path of Exile's latest expansion, Delve, officially launched today at 1PM PST on the PC with the Xbox One launch set to happen sometime next week. Delve introduces the game's first infinite dungeon called the Azurite Mine which features randomized and progressively more difficult floors. The Azurite Mine will likely be the first of many infinite dungeons coming to the game which boast infinite replayability. Other new additions to the game include 7 new divination cards, 18 new unique items, and several new and revamped skill gems.
"Delve is a unique expansion for Path of Exile because it takes player progression far beyond anything we had previously experimented with" said Chris Wilson, co-founder of Grinding Gear Games. "We are really excited to see how players react to some of the surprises that we have buried deep underground in Delve."
Path of Exile: Delve Official Trailer
Path of Exile is a remarkably popular isometric action RPG similar to games like Diablo 3. Since its launch in 2013, the game's playerbase has steadily been increasing. While the game has only been averaging 13,000 users online at any given time on Steam, the numbers have jumped up significantly with the launch of Delve. Check out the playerbase numbers below:
Final Fantasy XIV is celebrating it's 5th anniversary today with a 14 hour live stream starting at 8PM PST. The lineup of guests include voice actors, developers, and the next live letter which will discuss Patch 4.4 which is set to launch in mid-September. The Rising Event is also available in-game until September 18th which allows players to get the Wind Up Cirna and White Ravens/Manderville Earrings.
FINAL FANTASY XIV Patch 4.4 - Prelude in Violet
More interestingly, Square Enix announced today that Final Fantasy XIV hit 14 million total registered users since launch with 4m of that figure joining the game in the last year alone. While the game's sales and playerbase are down over the last few months, the game's next expansion, which is widely expected to be revealed at this year's Fan Fest, should boost numbers. After Stormblood's launch last year, Final Fantasy XIV hit an all time peak in active subscribers and I suspect they'll hit another peak after the next expansion launches (sometime in mid 2019).
With the ongoing government shake up that has led to the continued freeze of game approvals in China, the Chinese government has issued an official notice regarding the new proposed regulations around the gaming industry. With recommendations sent out to 8 different regulatory bodies, the government is rallying a concerted effort with the aim to reduce myopia rates in children by limiting screen time and usage of electronic devices.
The National Radio and Television Administration, the regulatory body which is responsible for approving and granting media licenses, has received three significant recommendations regarding the upcoming health initiative.
to continue strengthening current regulations that limit the amount of time that minors can play games online,
to investigate the implementation of an age ratings system for games, and
to limit the number of new online games that are approved for distribution.
The third recommendation on the list, with its proposed limit on the number of new game approvals, will likely affect the games industry the most.
We think that if the third recommendation is implemented, smaller game companies with only a few potential hit titles would suffer more than larger ones. The top game companies would continue to strengthen their positions, as they have more AAA games, and more resources to support the game approval process. The export game market is more competitive, so more middle and small companies could go under if their game is not approved for domestic distribution.
While smaller companies may suffer under the new regulations, especially in regards to indie developers, the new limit on game approvals may help weed out spam titles and copycat games. But for overseas developers and publishers, this new regulation may cause more headaches, as they will now be competing toe-to-toe with domestic companies for the same licenses in addition to undergoing the lengthy and difficult approval process.
The gaming industry in China has been skyrocketing in recent years, with astronomical numbers across the board from total games revenue to rising Esports viewerships. While this bodes well for China financially, such unchecked growth does come with growing pains for the industry, one that has seen a rise of unhealthy and sometimes tragic incidents when it comes to issues such as gaming addiction.
The Chinese Government has already taken precautions against the gaming industry, as seen with the recent implementation of the "lootbox law", a law that was passed in hopes of raising consumer awareness on the gambling mechanics of gachas and lootboxes.
And while not an official law, the tech conglomerate Tencent had voluntarily implemented time restrictions for minors playing Arena of Valor, due to the reports of two tragic incidents that were caused by excessive gaming.
While the mandated time restrictions and license approval limits seem draconian, one could argue that the Chinese government does have good intentions, though their actions are misguided. The lootbox law, which encourages consumer transparency and awareness when it comes to the nature of gambling mechanics, is a preferable step in the right direction. Nonetheless, it will be interesting to see how China tackles the rising problems of the gaming world at large.
Back in June, Arc Games had announced the shutdown of Jade Dynasty, one of their longest running titles. The fantasy-themed medieval Chinese MMORPG, which had been developed by Perfect World Entertainment, enjoyed a successful 9-year run before its closure.
Those who are still nostalgic for the martial arts MMORPG won't be sad for long however, as Perfect World Games and Russian publisher 101XP have teamed up and announced the release of Jade Dynasty Mobile on both iOS and Android.
Do not feel like exploring the vast expanses of the Jade Dynasty world alone? Conquer the skies alongside your friends!
A wide array of character customization options, broad choice of cosmetic items and accessories at your disposal, create your own unique character!
Massive cross-server PVP battles. 4 schools — noble Jadeon mages, fearless Lupin warriors, cunning Vim swordsmen, and serene Skysong healers. Make your choice, declare a full-scale war on other clans and prove your school to be the strongest!
Your clan is your family. Have a wedding, recruit apprentices, build an amicable clan, and unlock special events!
Incredibly optimized for mobile devices HD graphics allowing full appreciation of the elaborate and vibrant landscapes.
Make your choice in the Jade Dynasty world and discover your path to immortality!
Boasting incredibly optimized HD graphics for mobile devices, the game showcases the "full appreciation of the elaborate and vibrant landscapes" in the legendary Chinese realms. Many of the features found in the original Jade Dynasty, such as the limitless 3D scenic flights and the in-game marriage system, are also back in the mobile version.
The game is available for download now on the Apple Store as well as the Google Play store. Check out the trailer below for a sneak peak of some old school kung fu action from the game.
Square Enix announced today that they signed a letter of intent to forge a strategic alliance with Chinese gaming juggernaut Tencent. While there aren't too many details about the deal just yet, but the official announcement suggests creating a joint venture to develop new 'Triple-A' titles based on new and existing IP.
"The alliance will enable us to couple our broad range of internet service capabilities to Square Enix Group's superb creativity, and provide our customers with unprecedented content experiences on a global basis," Steven Ma, Senior Vice President for the Tencent Group said.
While there hasn't been any grand plans yet, I suspect this deal is mostly about bringing Square Enix titles to China - more specifically - Tencent wants to make games based on the Final Fantasy franchise. This isn't Tencent's first time making 'strategic alliances' with gaming companies to bring their games to China. They recently developed a Mu mobile game in China in partnership with Webzen and a TLBB game in partnership with ChangYou. They're also the ones that made the mobile version of Blue Hole's Playerunknown's Battlegrounds.
Tencent owns and operates the biggest app store in China and also develops the most successful games there, so a Tencent developed and promoted Final Fantasy mobile game will bring in the big bucks for both companies.
Black Desert Online's remastered update launched on August 23 and it led to a surge in the game's playerbase with new and returning players up 600% and 243% respectively. The number of daily active users is up 20% week over week. To celebrate the occasion, Pearl Abyss released 2 staff interviews talking about what it took to make the Remastered version of the game. Check them out below:
Interview #1 With Audio Director Hwiman 'Croove' Ryu:
Q. Please introduce yourself.
“Hello, my name is Hwiman Ryu, many know me as Croove, and I am the audio director at Pearl Abyss.”
Q. How did Pearl Abyss decide to take on the audio remaster project?
“It was such a long time ago, I don’t remember exactly how we came to reach the decision, but Daeil Kim, our chair and development director suggested we try re-recording our audio with an orchestra a while ago, starting with our title song. He asked if it will make a big difference from the computer-generated songs, and I told him it wouldn’t - it might even make it less exciting and our players may not like it.”
“So I said why don’t I go ahead and write a new song for an orchestra recording? From then on I starting writing not just the title, but complementary songs and that’s how the audio remaster took off.”
Q. As you said, many songs in the game got a makeover, but is there a song in particular that was changed the most?
“There are so many songs that we put so much effort into, all are memorable. If I have to pick one, I would say the Balenos – Velia, place where players encounter at the beginning of the game. Before the remaster, the theme song of Velia was very dreary, black and white, but we recorded the song with an orchestra to add colors and make the song more extravagant.”
“To be honest, it’s the first time we’ve ever worked with an orchestra, and we had to write so many new songs to fill out the game. This whole process was a new challenge and very special to me.”
Q. Tell us about the different orchestras you worked with for the audio remaster. Any songs you want to recommend to players?
“We worked with 3 different orchestras.”
“In Prague, Czech Republic, we worked with the orchestra to record mostly the battle songs in the Balenos and Serendia regions. All of the battle songs are complex and hard to play, but the team did a great job. I would recommend listening to the Battle of Apocalypse in particular.”
“In Germany, we recorded all the Overture songs for the soundtrack. In particular, the Balenos – Overture was a MIDI recording, but we changed it to an orchestra recording. The change is subtle, but it’s worth a listen to see what’s changed.”
“In Budapest, Hungary, we recorded some of the battle songs for the Calpheon soundtrack, and the Kamasylvia Overture. Not all of the audio has been updated for Calpheon, but players will be able to listen to the soundtrack after the Medea region update.”
“All three orchestras were extremely talented and a pleasure to work with.”
Q. I noticed rock music in the remastered audio as well. What inspired you to take on the new endeavor?
“I always want to introduce our players to many different types of music, and rock style music is something I’ve wanted to experiment with for a while now. In the remaster, we added a rock song in each region, such as the Cron Castle in Balenos and Castle Ruins of Serendia.”
“Some may say the rock music does not go with the game, but we do stay within the boundaries of the game’s settings and make sure the sound complements the contents of the game.”
Q. The remastered audio is much more realistic and immersive. How did you record all the background sounds in the game?
“We do use computer-generated audio for some of the background audio, but we recorded a lot of the sounds from real-life sources for the remaster. We took equipment out to mountains, Jeju Island and forests to capture different sounds in nature to the best of our abilities.”
“The hardest part of doing this was that the high-performance mic picked up sounds we did not need, such as airplanes and the sound of cows far away. It was a challenge, but I would like to pursue this further and record more sounds for the game.”
Q. One of the signature sounds in Black Desert Online is the cry sound that world boss makes when they appear in the field. Were the world boss sounds remastered as well and how are the sounds produced?
“There were a lot of requests internally to improve the boss cries, as it is an important part of the game to grab players’ attention immediately. At first, we were just going to pull from our source of audio files to create a new sound, but we scaled up the project and ended up putting a lot of our resources toward the production to create something entirely new.”
“In terms of how we produce the boss cries - since the sounds do not exist in real life, we use a modulating program, among other methods, to manipulate and create new sounds.”
Q. I understand many of the NPC voices were re-recorded for the remaster. Can you tell me of any characters in particular that underwent drastic improvements?
“Yes, re-recording NPC voices was a major part of the remaster. For some characters, we used the same voice actors and gave them different acting directions, for others, we switched voice actors.”
“We used a new voice actor for Jordan, a NPC from Serendia who is very dynamic. Jordan is full of greed and undergoes drastic change throughout the plot after being betrayed. The new voice actor did a great job in portraying Jordan’s greed and his internal transformation.”
“Another character to look out for is the Goblin. My son loves Spongebob, and when I saw and heard Squidward, I knew the voice actor would be perfect for the Goblin, so we reached out to him and luckily, he agreed to do the part.”
Q. Do you have any last words for Black Desert Online players?
“I think online players are quite different from console game players in how they enjoy games, and console players tend to place more importance on a game’s audio features. Even so, I hope our online players enjoy our new, more immersive Black Desert world.”
Interview #2 With Lead Engine Director Kwang Hyun Ko
Q. Please introduce yourself.
“Hi, my name is Kwang Hyun Ko, and I am the lead engine director at Pearl Abyss. I was also in charge of remastering the graphics for Black Desert: Remastered.”
Q. Black Desert Online is famous for high-quality graphics above all else, so why did you decide to remaster the graphics?
“It’s been a few years since the release of Black Desert Online, and a lot of new technology has surfaced since then. All of us here at Pearl Abyss are never quite satisfied with the end product and constantly try to apply changes, small and big, to update the graphics of the game. The remaster was a result of this.”
Q Tell me about the process of the remaster. How long did it take and what kind of work did the remaster require?
“The entire process took over a year, and there were many ups and downs. The biggest challenge was to pursue the highest quality of graphics, while making sure that existing players could access the remaster without having to
upgrade the specifications of their PCs.”
Q In your pursuit of constant improvement, are there any games in particular you benchmark, or see as your biggest competition?
“I don’t necessarily benchmark a specific game, but try to study and keep up with the latest technology, for instance, by taking part in events such as the Game Developers Conference (GDC) and Siggraph.”
“I am pleased with the remastered graphics and believe it adds to our competitiveness against the leading games, especially in North America and EU, that also apply the most advanced technologies to their graphics.”
Q Which aspects of the remastered graphics are you most proud of?
“It was a team effort and I think everyone on the team will have a different answer to this, but overall, every aspect of the remastered graphics had to fall into sync to create what we ended up with. So no, there is no one specific end product, but I hope players will take note of the entire graphics of the game and its enhancements.”
Q At the Black Desert: Remastered Showcase in Seoul, you spoke of several graphics techniques that were core components of the remaster. Can you explain some of them to me in plain English?
Physically-based rendering (PDR)
“This refers to modeling and expressing an object’s reaction to light in real life. In games, this is applied to surface textures and their reaction to light to express matte, shiny, etc. textures. It is also applied to express how different materials react to light, such as metals and non-metals.”
Image-based lighting (IBL)
“IBL is the process of capturing the real-world lighting as an image to apply to the game’s graphics. In real life, everything we see is made up of light, but it’s hard to express everything in light alone in a game, so we produce an image of the light’s reflections and reactions to input into the game.”
Post processing with YEBIS
“Post processing refers to anything done to the graphics at the final stages of production to enhance the image. Examples in the remaster include out focusing, motion blur, glare (to show the different shapes and direction of light), shaft and the use of on-screen information to express reflections. We used YEBIS middleware, one of the most advanced post-processing technologies available, and the results were impressive.”
Q One area where the graphics enhancements are drastically noticeable is the metal armor. Can you explain how the look of different fabrics and materials were remastered?
“The metals turned out well as the result of applying IBL. For non-metals as well, the reflection of light is different from every angle, so we used IBL and other techniques to express these textures in a lifelike manner, and that’s why everything looks more realistic.”
Q Are there any things aspects of the graphics that still need improvement?
“There’s a list of things we are looking to improve in the near future based on player feedback, but the two main areas we are focusing on is the over-the-top brightness and performance.”
“The brightness is the result of trying to replicate what the eyes see in real time. As a result, the screen turns too bright at certain times, such as going from a dark to bright space and vice versa. Right now, we are taking into account player feedback to make the necessary adjustments.”
“Even before the remaster, performance improvement is something we received a lot of feedback on. This will take a bit more time, and we are applying new technologies where we can to enhance the performance.”
“Another problem players have been reporting is aliasing, or the appearance of rough edges around the outer pixels of an image. This can be taken care of with Anti-Aliasing (AA), or the process of smoothing out the edges of digital images. We are also researching and experimenting with Temporal Anti-Aliasing (TAA) and the functions of Dynamic Resolutions as an alternative solution.”
Q Any last words for Black Desert Online players?
Thank you for your interest in Black Desert Online and for all your feedback – they are very helpful. We plan to live up to all the love and expectations of our players by continuously updating the game with the latest technologies for the best MMORPG experience.
Anime action MMORPG Kritika Online launched its latest update yesterday which introduced the new Prodigy class - the game's only Loli character. The prodigy uses oversized machine guns, rockets, and a hammer to defeat enemies. Check her out below:
The Prodigy, Now Available in Kritika Online!
In addition to the new class the game also introduced a new Ultimate Zone called 'The Eternal Library' which can be accessed from the Windhome Danger Zone Highway. The new area features new enemies for players to defeat and items to loot.
Playerbase-wise Kritika Online isn't doing too great. Its playerbase has declined from an average of 682 on launch month on Steam to 249 today. Keep in mind though that the game is available off Steam as well on the En Masse launcher.
Final Fantasy XIV's next big update Patch 4.4: Prelude in Violet is right around the corner (mid September) and to get players prepared Square Enix launched a mini-site highlighting the upcoming changes. The site isn't quite populated yet, but does show the new Dungeons and Main Scenario Quests coming in 4.4. Additional information on the upcoming raids, the new Eureka zone, and housing items will be revealed in the coming weeks.
FINAL FANTASY XIV Patch 4.4 - Prelude in Violet
I'm personally most excited for the new raid tier Omega: Alphascape as well as the new additions to the Manderville Gold Saucer.
(19 votes, average: 3.58 / 5)
