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Honkai Impact 3rd Part 2 is a love letter to fans
This is the soft reboot everyone's been waiting for
Honkai Impact 3rd has been around since 2016 and hasn't aged particularly well compared to later games from the developer. The stiff translations and the clunky dated combat in the early game make it difficult to get into in 2024. But thankfully, HoYoverse doesn't want to leave its beloved project in the dust. Last year, HoYoverse announced Honkai Impact 3rd Part 2 would launch in late February; fast forward, it's here, and we've put it through its paces to report on what you can expect when playing on your favorite Android gaming phone.
I'm glad Atelier Resleriana wasn't my first Gust game
A gacha where only your wallet will bring the magic of alchemy back
As much as I want to rope more people into playing Gust titles, I cannot honestly recommend Atelier Resleriana: Forgotten Alchemy and the Polar Night Liberator to be anyone's first (Gust) game. If you're a big fan of the Atelier series, you may appreciate the fan service and eye candy this title brings, but it still comes at a hefty price, and this time, it's not because you're juggling multiple deadlines to save your workshop/reputation. Instead, you'll succumb to the brutal gacha Atelier Resleriana throws your way. So, gear up for a turbulent ride as I go hands-on with Gust's new gacha Atelier Resleriana, which is sadly far from one of Android's best gaming gems.
Crystal of Atlan is an MMO with potential, but its monetization needs to get better
What Nuverse gets right and wrong in the latest tech test for Crystal of Atlan
Being a free-to-play (F2P) massively multiplayer online (MMO) game raises some questions. And if you don't ask the right questions, you risk getting trapped in an MMO driven by spendy practices. Crystal of Atlan, an upcoming Magipunk-themed action MMO, is no exception — which is why we are here to give you the cold, hard truth about Nuverse's upcoming MMO after experiencing the latest technical test.
I got into Zenless Zone Zero's second beta — there's a lot to love and hate
Let's see how HoYoverse's latest action game is shaping up by playing its second closed beta
I was able to play Zenless Zone Zero's second closed beta equalizing test (CBT2), and now that I sunk over a dozen hours into the beta, I can finally see how HoYoverse's new roguelike (closer to roguelite) gacha is shaping up. Considering the beta lasts a whole month, it's pretty safe to assume that HoYoverse is gearing up for full release sometime next year.
I've waited to play Reverse: 1999 for over a year — the wait wasn't worth it
The experience is soured by sloppy translation work
Outside of HoYoverse's offerings, most gacha games fail to meet my expectations. So many of the mobile gachas I've tried have felt underwhelming: terrible story, baiting character designs, and a general lack of passion and care for these projects (outside of finding ways to extract money). But three gacha titles have kept my eyes peeled and lit with hope: Project Moon's Limbus Company, Jun Maeda's Heaven Burns Red, and Bluepoch's Reverse: 1999. My hope lies in the willingness of these games to dive into deeper, more profound themes that you cannot reproduce in surface-level, cash-first gachas. So, since 2022, I've been waiting patiently to play Reverse: 1999 on my phone. Now that the game is out, it saddens me to say Reverse: 1999 isn't ready.
Now that Tower of Fantasy is on version 3.2, is it worth playing in 2023?
Discover the truth behind this ambitious gacha MMO
Tower of Fantasy had survived the 1-year mark and only recently celebrated its first anniversary over the summer, which isn't surprising given the nature of the game. Tower of Fantasy is an ambitious open-world gacha MMO that most releases can't compare to in scale. The closest competitor in size is Genshin Impact. Both titles offer expansive worlds to explore but still offer gacha mechanics to pay the bills. Outside of that, Tower of Fantasy and Genshin Impact cater to different audiences (with some overlap).
Google Pixel Watch 2 hands-on: Spot the difference
The hardware seems fine (and familiar) — but I still wonder about battery life
Google announced its newest crop of Pixel hardware today in New York: the Pixel 8, Pixel 8 Pro, and Pixel Watch 2 are all available for preorder right now. I had about an hour to play around with the new Pixel Watch this morning, and it's... really similar to the first-generation Pixel Watch. I never had a problem with the Pixel Watch's hardware, so that's fine in my book — but I'm really hoping for meaningful improvement in one particular area that Google couldn't show off in a demo.
We just played Zenless Zone Zero, and here's what you need to know about its progress
See what HoYoverse has been cooking at Gamescom this year
Zenless Zone Zero is HoYoverse's unreleased AAA action rogue-lite RPG. The title resembles Honkai Impact 3rd, another ARPG, but with a much more modernized action combat system. After a successful launch year with Honkai: Star Rail and its ongoing money-maker, Genshin Impact, HoYoverse is preparing to come in hot with another top-tier gacha game, revealing fresh gameplay at Gamescom this year. Clearly, the company aims to take the top spot in all the gacha markets, so there's no doubt that Zenless Zone Zero will be a great mobile game to look for in 2024. Let's see how development is shaping up.
Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis offers style and flash — for a bit of cash
Square Enix masterfully knows how to tease it best Final Fantasy stories
Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis was revealed during the 2021 State of Play livestream. Now that the game has entered closed beta, we can finally see what Square Enix has been cooking. As a fan that's been playing Final Fantasy for over a decade and a half, starting with Final Fantasy IX (working forward and backward), I've sunk my teeth in every spinoff and sequel to every mainline title since. This also includes Crisis Core on the PSP, Dirge of Cerberus on the PlayStation 2, and reading through fan-translated transcripts of Before Crisis, a Japanese-only mobile game.
Honkai Star Rail hands-on: A spectacular digital casino with stunning graphics
Our gameplay video highlights Honkai Star Rail's improvements over Genshin Impact
Honkai: Star Rail, the sci-fi follow-up from the creators of Genshin Impact, is out now. While it's not technically a sequel, it borrows so many features from the popular 2020 gacha game it feels like one. However, there's a new cast of characters (with some returning from previous Honkai games), new gameplay mechanics, and of course, a space train. Choo choo, let's get this hands-on rolling!
Marvel World of Heroes beta hands-on: A flop in the making
Snappy gameplay might not be enough to hold up Niantic's latest game
Marvel World of Heroes is an upcoming game from Niantic, marrying the developer's location-based gameplay formula with the world of Marvel. While it offers some satisfying gameplay, Marvel World of Heroes looks to be yet another example of how tedious this formula is becoming, especially when so many of Niantic's games are quickly closed.
Tomb Raider Reloaded is a fun shooter buried under predatory microtransactions
The satisfying and challenging levels are hard to enjoy in this soulless game
I have to hand it to Tomb Raider Reloaded's developers. They took it upon themselves to step back from the gritty survival tone taken by recent Tomb Raider games and answer the question that's been burning since the first Tomb Raider game came out in 1996. What if Tomb Raider was not about a gunslinging adventurer but about how to design a confusing microtransaction system to empty wallets?
We played Niantic's NBA All-World, and it's a surprisingly fun collect-a-thon
NBA All-World doesn't capture the same magic as Pokémon Go, but it's just as entertaining
Niantic's been on a rough streak recently. The dizzying success of Pokémon Go is fading away, replaced by a string of failed games and canceled projects. With these failures fresh in my mind, I loaded up NBA All-World, expecting the worst. However, while I don't think this game will mark a Niantic comeback, I was pleasantly surprised by my experience.
The Descent of the Serpent hands-on: A charming and educational game from Google
Google Arts & Culture's first game is about the ancient civilizations of Mesoamerica
Google Arts & Culture hosts a variety of fun and educational information, but The Descent of the Serpent is the platform's first video game. Developed in collaboration with Mexico's National Museum of Anthropology, The Descent of the Serpent teaches players all about the ancient civilizations of Mesoamerica through the medium of a Zelda-esque adventure game.
Honkai: Star Rail first look — Is it a replacement for Genshin Impact, or its own beast?
Previewing the spiritual successor to Honkai Impact 3
Honkai: Star Rail, one of HoYoverse's most notable projects to date and the spiritual successor to Honkai Impact 3, has been a greatly anticipated title since its October 2021 reveal. So far, the game has undergone two closed beta tests, while a third is expected to be on its way. There's no release window so far, but we've gone hands-on at Gamescom 2022 for an early look at the current mobile version of Honkai: Star Rail.
Wear OS 3 hands-on: Google’s free-market wearable future
Impressions from Montblanc's new Summit 3 smartwatch
Montblanc invited me to check out its new (and very expensive) Wear OS 3-powered smartwatch. I didn’t get a lot of time with it, and you can anticipate a more extensive review of both the software and this watch coming later, but the abridged version is that Wear OS 3 isn’t a silver bullet for Android’s wearable problems. If anything, it seems like Google is offloading more of its responsibility onto manufacturers to fix the situation, and I’m not sure that’s wise.
Octopath Traveler: Champions of the Continent hands-on — Inferior in every way
It may look the part, but something's certainly missing
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Square Enix's latest gacha game is Octopath Traveler: Champions of the Continent, styled after the Nintendo Switch game, but now offering all of the free-to-play mechanics most gamers hate. That's right; Square thought it wise to cash in on the popularity of Ocotpath Traveler with a monetarily abusive gacha game on mobile, offering a familiar amalgamation of its popular HD-2D art style, but it's severely lacking in polish, almost as if the bare minimum is a perfectly sound business strategy when developing and launching free-to-play mobile games, clueing everyone into precisely what Square Enix thinks of its fans.
With so many cloud gaming services out there, it can be tough to know which will suit your needs, especially when each and every one offers a different method of monetization. This is why I've gone hands-on with Amazon's Luna, to report on my findings so that anyone curious about the game streaming service can decide for themselves whether its features are robust enough for their needs. So with Prime Day almost upon us, when Amazon will assuredly discount a selection of smart TVs that offer access to the Luna app, let's dig into Amazon's Luna to see how it stacks up.
Disney Mirrorverse hands-on: A perfect reflection of greed
Disney's latest gacha game is a mirror into the corporate soul
Disney Mirrorverse is a free-to-play gacha game, developed by Kabam Games (the developer of Marvel Contest of Champions, a similar title). Set in the titular Mirrorverse, you'll collect and control your favorite Disney characters to battle your way through hordes of minions and evil copies (or mirrors) of Disney characters. Thanks to the incredible graphics, it might be worth it for some Disney fans, but there are far better Android games available that offer much fairer monetization.
Hands-on: The Fuji Instax Mini Evo instant camera is as fun as it is impractical
Sure is pricey, though
If you're like most of us, you probably haven't touched a point-and-shoot camera in years — they've long been outmoded by smartphones, with the exception of some high-end and novelty models. The Fuji Instax Mini Evo is one of those: it's a retro-styled digital camera and an instant photo printer in one. It doesn't take great pictures, and it costs more than it should, but the thing's so dang cute, you might just want one anyway.