Square Enix has officially confirmed that Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness will be released in North America in 2016. Originally announced back in April, the fifth game in the Star Ocean will launch exclusively for the PS4 in North America, though it’ll also be available for the PS3 in its native Japan.
Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness is actually an interquel that takes place between Star Ocean: The Second Story and Star Ocean: Till the End of Time…
Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness takes place centuries after humans have left Earth for the stars. On a planet in the distant Faykreed star system, the swordsman Fidel Camuze and his childhood friend Miki Sauvester set out to protect their village from being swallowed in the tides of civil unrest.
The first English language trailer, featuring a history of the franchise and ninety seconds of footage from Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness, has been embedded above.
This year’s E3 Expo was the epicenter of a cataclysmic event that has shaken the very core of the video game industry… downloadable content for Call of Duty: Black Ops III will not appear first on Xbox platforms. Instead, Sony and its PlayStation platforms will be the temporarily exclusive home to all Black Ops III DLC. Come this November, Xbox gamers will be the ones who have to wait an extra month to get their quarterly fix of new content in a Call of Duty game.
But that wasn’t the only major announcement Activision had up their sleeve. They also revealed the first trailer for the game’s competitive multiplayer mode, which will now feature nine unique “Specialists”:
Choose to play as one of nine new Specialists, each with their own look, personality, abilities, and level progression system. Finally, equip up to five attachments and an optic while customizing nearly every aspect of your loadout with the new Gunsmith, then tap the power of the Weapon Paintshop to give your weapon a signature look.
However, if you prefer your multiplayer games to be cooperative ones, there’s more to see. Activision and Sony teamed up to release a nearly six-minute look at Black Ops III’s Cooperative Campaign. Not only that, but Treyarch’s Mark Lamia dropped by Sony’s Live Coverage studio to talk even more about the game.
Call of Duty: Black Ops III will be released for the PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One on November 6. And if you pre-order the game on the PC, PS4, or Xbox One, Activision will grant you access to Black Ops III’s multiplayer beta, which will begin in August.
Keiji Inafune really loves robots. After leading the Mega Man franchise for more than 20 years, Inafune left Capcom to pursue his own games. That path eventually lead to Mighty No. 9, a side-scrolling spiritual successor to Mega Man that will be released this September.
During Microsoft’s E3 Press Conference, the legendary developer announced ReCore, a shooter that takes place in the aftermath of an apocalyptic event. Players will “forge friendships with an eclectic cast of robots” as they “lead them on an epic adventure across a mysterious, ever-changing world.”
For this project, Inafune will partner with Armature, a studio that was formed by several former members of Retro Studios. Earning their stripes on Metroid Prime, these developers definitely have plenty of experience with futuristic shooters. And with Inafune, for that matter. Armature previously worked with Capcom in 2010 in an attempt to transform Mega Man X into a first person shooter. That game, Maverick Hunter, was canceled less than six months after development began.
Looking at both games side-by-side, the “energy core” mechanic from ReCore seems to have originated with Maverick Hunter. Who knows what other pieces of the canceled game were repurposed by Armature for ReCore? We’ll find out together when ReCore is released exclusively for the Xbox One in Spring 2016.
Before we delve into today’s additions to the Nintendo eShop, the consolemaker wants to remind everyone that only four days remain in their Nindies @ Home demo offer. The program, which expires on Monday, June 22 at 12:00 PM (Eastern Time), gives gamers at home the chance to download nine demos that Nintendo brought to the 2015 E3 Expo as part of their “Nindies” initiative. There’s some pretty great games in the list including Extreme Exorcism, Rive, Freedome Planet, Typoman, Runbow, Lovely Planet, Soul Axiom, Mutant Mudds Super Challenge, and Forma.8. I highly recommend exploring the “Nindies” if you own a Wii U.
Now then, onto this week’s new releases, which also includes the Wii U Virtual Console release of Earthbound Beginnings, which was originally released for the NES back in 1989 and only in Japan. But if you’re looking for something new to the Wii U eShop today, there are a few options…
Nintendo’s Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones was the second game in the strategy RPG series to be released outside of Japan when it originally launched for the Game Boy Advance in 2005.
Heavy Iron’s Fat City looks to combine the “let’s pull off a heist” plot of Ocean’s 11 with the overhead viewpoint of Pac-Man.
Super Icon’s Life of Pixel is a side-scroller that promises to take players through a history lesson of early gaming styles.
Jose Varela’s Solitaire Dungeon Escape is a solitaire/puzzle game with magic card.
More details on these games, as well as a pair of new releases for the 3DS, can be found after the break.
Publisher Focus Home Interactive and developer Dontnod Entertainment began teasing their moody RPG, Vampyr, back in January. Today, the two companies officially confirmed their partnership, and revealed that Vampyr will be released for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One sometime in 2017.
Taking place more than 100 years ago, Vampyr already has a gorgeous concept trailer (embedded above) to its name and a extensive backstory:
Vampyr is set in early 20th century Britain as the country is gripped by the lethal Spanish flu and the streets of London are crippled by disease, violence and fear. In a disorganized and ghostly city, those foolish, desperate, or unlucky enough to walk the streets lay prey to Britain’s most elusive predators: the vampires. Emerging from the chaos, a tormented figure awakens. You are Jonathan E. Reid, a high-ranking military surgeon transformed into a vampire upon his return home from the frontline.
Explore the darkly atmospheric streets of early 20th century London, and interact with a multitude of characters with their own identities and importance. Accept and fulfill the missions they give you, but don’t forget: sooner or later, you will have to feed, and make a difficult choice… who will be your prey? Absolutely all characters in the game are potential victims of your vampiric lust. Carefully study the habits of your next victim, his or her relationships with other characters, and set up your strategy to feed, unnoticed: seduce them, change their daily habits, or make sure they end up alone in a dark street…
Like with their episodic tale of apocalyptic teenage visions, Life Is Strange, Vampyr will rely heavily on player choice and how those choices affect the game world:
Be careful who you choose to hunt, as they will be gone forever, and their death will impact in a meaningful way the world that surrounds you. Feeding on human blood will not just keep you “alive”; it will also unlock new vampiric powers to use.
There will be times when exploration and seduction will only get you so far, and you’ll need to resort to engaging in Vampyr’s dynamic real-time combat. It blends hard-hitting melee combat with ranged shooting mechanics and the supernatural vampire powers. You’ll face many types of enemies: different species of vampires and creatures, as well as vampire hunters who want to hunt you down with their weapons, tools and traps. In Vampyr, your health and the “energy” that drives your supernatural powers are one and same! Using powers will drain your own blood, giving you an edge in battle but also leaving you weaker. You will have to find a way to feed during combat to replenish your strength.
In addition to the well-received Life Is Strange, Dontnod is also responsible for 2013’s Remember Me, a futuristic beat ’em up that garnered some interesting reviews. In a short time, the developer has quickly established themselves as one to watch.
There’s a brand new Humble Weekly Bundle, and it’s right up my alley: it’s Cats, Cats, Cats! Pay what you want for Schrodinger’s Cat and the Raiders of the Lost Quark, Pix the Cat, and Aqua Kitty – Milk Mine Defender. Beat the average to unlock Torchlight II and the Humble Deluxe edition of MouseCraft. Pay $10 or more to unlock Hot Tin Roof: The Cat that Wore a Fedora. Finally, pay $25 to get all that and an amazing Kittee shirt.
(While you’re at it, cat lovers, go to Shirt.woot today and get their “In Case of Irritable Mood” shirt. I might be getting one myself!)
Steam is continuing the madness of their sale, with some great ones happening today. Pick up Shovel Knight for $10.04, The Walking Dead Season Two for $6.24, and Ori and the Blind Forest for $11.99. Evolve is also a whopping 50% off, bringing it down to $29.99, and there are great deals in the Batman franchise as well.
Rare isn’t just going back to the past, they’re also looking to the future with Sea of Thieves, their first non-Kinect game in seven years. Arrrr you ready to learn more?
Sea of Thieves is a multiplayer pirate adventure in development for Windows 10 PCs and the Xbox One. The E3 trailer embedded above gives us a small taste of what the game world has to offer, depicting players finding buried treasure, fighting living skeletons, walking the plank, and engaging in ship-to-ship battles on the high seas.
During Micrsoft’s E3 Press Conference on Moday, Rare’s Studio Head, Craig Duncan, told attendees that Sea of Thieves is “by far, the most ambitious game Rare has ever created.” He also touted the game’s “limitless possibilities,” so would-be buccaneers will likely be able to engage in even more pirate shenanigans.
Shin Megami Tensei X Fire Emblem has apparently undergone a name change as Nintendo reannounced the Atlus-developed RPG with the working title Genei Ibun Roku FE. According to GameSpot, the temporary English title is loosely translated as “Mirage Spinoff FE,” though the game will likely have a different title altogether when it launches for the Wii U in 2016.
The E3 2015 trailer embedded is typical of the Persona franchise’s hyperkinetic style, and the GameSpot profile describes the game as a Persona game that uses elements of the Fire Emblem franchise. Put simply, that means the game takes place in modern day Tokyo, but includes Fire Emblem characters as summons (known as Mirages) for the two pop idols at the center of the story.
“If you’re going to be very strict about it, it is a Shin Megami Tensei game, but it’s only similar to it, it’s not exactly like Shin Megami Tensei,” [Atlus Producer Shinjiro] Takada explained. “But we put Fire Emblem elements into that kind of framework.”
Yesterday, Takada was a guest on the Nintendo Treehouse Live set, where he sat down to discuss Genei Ibun Roku FE and show off some additional gameplay. You can find that video after the break.
Before we delve into today’s additions to the Nintendo eShop, the consolemaker wants to remind everyone that only four days remain in their 
There’s a brand new 
