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Major Street Fighter V battle balance and extra aesthetic features coming March 29

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Hello, Fighters around the world! With Capcom Pro Tour concluding another epic season just last month, we continue our tradition of opening the season by taking a fresh pass at Street Fighter V’s battle balance, further fine-tuning each character in the roster… But wait, there’s more! We’re also releasing a couple of extra fun features, including visual filters and the jazzy Cap-Jams remixes for the Season 5 fighters — all coming to Street Fighter V for free on March 29.

Battle Balance

This will be our first Battle Balance since the arrival of Season 5’s characters—Dan, Rose, Akira, Oro, and Luke—so we’re excited to tinker with the entire cast in this new context and, ultimately, see what you will make of it all. We feel the S5 crew is in a pretty good spot, but don’t worry—they’re also getting some tweaks. Here’s a quick preview of the diligent Akira and the colossal Abigail.

In general, our Battle Balance updates bring lots of little adjustments to each characters’ move sets and properties (some attacks become faster, while others do more damage or gain new special attributes). However, sometimes we got a little extra inspiration and added a few surprises too! So this coming Tuesday, you’ll have plenty to play around with and discover in the training room or, if you’re feeling adventurous, in online matches! Good luck!

Tunche is coming to PS4 on March 25

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Tunche is an action rogue-lite game inspired by classic beat ‘em ups such as Final Fight and Streets of Rage with a bit of modern hack ‘n slash and RPG elements. All of that wrapped up in a beautifully animated hand-drawn world with a story set in the heart of the Amazon jungle.

You will be able to choose one of the five unique characters, including Hat Kid from the highly-acclaimed A Hat in Time!

Before talking more about the game itself, aren’t you wondering: What does Tunche mean?

Tunche is the name of a mythological creature, a being from folk tales told by many generations of peoples that live around the jungle and in many other places of South America. It is said that Tunche is a spirit that dwells deep in the heart of the rainforest and that when you get too close to it you’ll be able to hear it whistling. However, if you do, then it might already be too late for you.

In our story, things are a bit different. Tunche is still a fearsome magical being, but he is also the spirit lord of the jungle. One day, all of a sudden, the jungle is overrun by evil magical creatures. These aggressive monsters are attacking villages, kidnapping people. Tunche is considered by locals to be their master, and so everything points to him as the mastermind behind it all.

This is when four explorers, and a certain visitor from another world, each with a personal motive, decide to go into the wilds and find the beast. They will have to face many challenges, some of them born from other folk tales of Amazonian myths, and survive through four different worlds full of danger before they find out what the truth really is.

The studio

Leap Game Studios was founded in 2012 and is based in Lima, Peru. 

Tunche is a very special game for us at LGS. Although this is not our first title, nor our first console launch, it is a very important project for all members of the team.

The game

From the very beginning you will be able to use a simple melee three-hit with the use of the Square button. Each character has different attack speed and reach, so each is unique and everybody will find a playstyle to their liking. The more you fight the more your mana bar fills, and with that you get access to special attacks and Ultimate abilities. Characters specialize in different things: Rumi likes long-ranged magic attacks, while Qaru is good at aerial combos. Hat Kid is an all-rounder with some special moves that come right from A Hat in Time.

Mix different abilities, master Launchers, Air Combos, Power Attacks and Super Magic Attacks to defeat your foes.

While you fight, you will also see your “Stylish Meter” grow in power and go from a basic “D” to a Super Stylish “SSS”. The better the grade at the end of a battle, the better the rewards you will receive.

Rewards are a very important part of your progression. You see, Tunche is also a rogue-lite game designed to be finished in one sitting. Even though characters retain their experience points and become stronger with each journey into the jungle, there are also temporary rewards that can give you a very strong advantage in a single session.

The most important reward comes in the form of Spirit Cores, magical orbs that grant you extra abilities such as setting enemies on fire or calling down lighting from th

Experience the immersive world of The Ascent on PS5, out tomorrow

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Greetings fellow indents! Everything you know is about to change. Your rewarding career of enforced servitude with The Ascent Group on planet Veles is coming to an end and the real adventure is just beginning. The Ascent mega corporation that owns you and everyone in it has just collapsed. Can you survive without it?

The Ascent’s cyberpunk world hits PS4 and PS5 tomorrow. Developed by our 12-person team here at Neon Giant and published by Curve Games, The Ascent is a solo and co-op action-shooter RPG set in a cyberpunk world. Based in a corporate-run metropolis stretching high into the sky and filled with creatures from all over the galaxy. You play as a worker, enslaved by the company that owns you and everyone else in your district: The Ascent Group. One day, you are suddenly caught in a vortex of catastrophic events: The Ascent Group shuts down for unknown reasons and the survival of your district is threatened. You must take up arms and embark on a new mission to find out what started it all.

The rich world on planet Veles has been enhanced even more thanks to the power of the PS5’s DualSense wireless controller. Hear and feel The Ascent’s dystopian Arcology with everything from the sounds of advert jingles to the feeling of your dynamic weapons in your hands. 

The power of sound

Thanks to the DualSense controller speaker, players can experience another level of sound within the game. In the heat of the action mid-fire-fight, just when you think you’re finished, players can hear health packs dropping from enemies. Each time you get hit or alert a group of enemies; you’ll hear the action coming from your hands. In the less action-packed moments, as you roam the neon streets of the arcology, you will hear the corporate propaganda and advertisements from the arcology trying to brainwash your indent mind.

The sound for The Ascent has been produced by award-winning studio Sweet Justice Sound, who have taken the experience to new heights. Using the power of DualSense controller in a unique way, Sweet Justice Sound has manipulated various synthetic sources, from modular synth sounds to EDM drum loops, to create unique sounds and pair them against the events in the game’s audio to enhance the players’ experiences, such as specific sounds for navigating the menu to make it feel tactical and drum kicks for reload to let the player know when the reload is complete. 

PS5 and PS4 System Software Updates release globally today

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Our next PS5 and PS4 system software updates are rolling out globally today, so we wanted to provide a quick look at some of the new features. We’re also glad to share new details on Variable Refresh Rate for PS5 on HDMI 2.1-compatible TVs and PC monitors, which is planned to release in the months ahead. 

New features for PS5 and PS4

Thanks to support from our beta participants, we’re introducing some fan-requested features to our global community today, like the ability to create or join Open and Closed Parties on PS5 and PS4 consoles. On PS5, we’re also bringing UI enhancements to Game Base and Trophy cards, as well as accessibility features like mono audio for headphones.

You can read more about these system update features here.

For a refresher on PS5 features like how to apply game presets on your console, pin videos and apps to your screen while you play, or share your screen with friends, check out the new “Pro Tips” cards in the Control Center.

PS App and PS Remote Play enhancements

Starting later today, we’re gradually rolling out the ability for PS App users to create or join Open and Closed Parties through the app as well. We’ve also updated the PS App Game Base UI to make it easier to access the Friends, Parties and messaging features, delivering a consistent player experience with PS5.

Returnal: Ascension launches today, brings campaign co-op and endless challenge mode

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When we talked about adding online co-op to Returnal at Housemarque, the biggest question we had was: how can we support co-op play in an experience that’s intentionally surreal, isolating, and finely-balanced to challenge a single player’s ability to survive?

The Chronosis 

It starts just with setting the mood: how do we get another player into Returnal? Well, through Chronosis of course.

Players with a PlayStation Plus subscription interact with a Chronosis and, suddenly, another ASTRA Scout enters their cycle, staring down and analyzing Selene as she emerges. It feels very surreal and uncomfortable — which makes it absolutely perfect for Returnal. 

Beyond that, we really built the multiplayer experience around the idea that players can get help to progress through the game. A hosting player invites another player to join their session to help them overcome their current challenge. The host keeps this progress, whereas the joining player increases their Scout Rank, Weapon Traits, and Databank. At first, we had Chronosis in multiple places in each of our biomes, but we ultimately realized it was unintentionally resulting in players just engaging in Co-Op before major boss battles. Now, Chronosis are at the beginning of each Biome, so players are encouraged to explore and see how the game plays and evolves with a partner and how divvying up resource scarcity is immediately a new dynamic.

Keeping the edge

Of course, we wanted to preserve the challenge, drama, and intensity that Returnal is known for so some of our new co-op mechanics went through a lot of iteration to ensure those crucial elements of the game were maintained.

Our most brutal example was our initial approach to handling a “downed” player; so long as one player is standing, a downed player can be revived and brought back into the fray. Reviving a downed player initially required the living player to sacrifice some of their health to revive their teammate.

Turns out: this was mean. Five minutes into a new cycle, both players would be down to bare minimum health and stuck in a vicious cycle of one-hit kills.

While playtesting one day, we realized that, really, reviving a downed player already had required a very valuable resource: time. Reviving your teammate mid-combat, especially against an Elite or a Boss where every millisecond matters, is all it really takes to maintain difficulty while ensuring both players can stay active in the game at once.

Another element of the game that we changed for the co-op experience are the House and Ship sections that are experienced from Selene’s first-person perspective. We ended up removing these sections while playing Multiplayer so we could keep the speed and intensity of the multiplayer sessions high throughout the experience. 

Finally, Returnal has also been rebalanced specifically for co-op play so Atropos remains the perilous planet brimming with deadly monsters that we all know and love — just now with some room for a friend.

The joys of networking

Integrating multiplayer logic into Returnal was not the simplest endeavor and is, largely, a significant technical engineering challenge and as we prepared for ship we certainly encountered more than a few “issues” along

Ghostwire: Tokyo combat and exploration tips, out March 25

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Ghostwire: Tokyo is almost here! If you pre-ordered the Deluxe Edition of the game digitally, you’ll be able to jump in starting today, March 22 to enjoy Tokyo’s haunted streets early before the game officially launches on March 25.

But before you dive into Ghostwire: Tokyo, we’ve got some quick words of advice to help kickstart your journey. From tips on exploration to some pointers on combat, we hope this guide helps you become a ghost hunter in no time. 

Go vertical

With its eye-catching blend of traditional architecture and modern skylines, Ghostwire’s version of Tokyo begs you to take to the rooftops for some off-the-ground exploration. Get some air from grappling Tengus and utilizing your ethereal gliding ability to reach areas quickly, discover hidden secrets and even get a vantage point on some unsuspecting foes. 

Reigning cats and dogs 

While Tokyo’s mass disappearance whisked away most of the city’s population, there are still a few survivors left, including some of the area’s animal residents. Using your abilities, you can read the thoughts of cats and dogs you come across, and some even have missions for you to accept. Stock up on pet food and you can even give out treats! After all, who could say no to a face like that? 

Speaking of animals, keep an ear out for a Nekomata’s meow, which alerts you to nearby hidden collectibles. They can give you Meika to spend on useful consumables at shops, as well as lead you towards secrets in the world. 

Absorbing spirits 

Tokyo’s vanishing has left several lingering spirits trapped throughout the city. Using katashiro paper dolls, you can absorb these spirits and keep them away from Hannya and his Visitors’ nefarious plans. After absorbing enough spirits, report to any nearby phonebooth to send them to safety, netting you bonus Meika and XP that you can use to level up your skills. Throughout the game, you’ll also come across additional katashiro dolls, allowing you to absorb even more spirits before having to deposit them in a phone booth. 

Go off the beaten path 

The streets of Ghostwire: Tokyo are rich, varied and detailed, with tons to do and soak in outside the main story. Give into temptation and explore the city for collectibles, side missions and yokai activities in the world. Not only do side missions let you dive deeper into the game’s world, they’re also a good source of spirits to collect (as well as magatama, a rare resource used to unlock more advanced areas of your skill tree).

Strategize 

Visitors often attack in groups and can overwhelm you if you get surrounded. Try maneuvering around enemies and strategically positioning yourself to keep them under control – or line them up for a well-placed explosive fire shot or wide-area water blast using your Ethereal Weaving to clear out multiple foes at once! 

Accessorize 

Throughout the game – particularly after cleansing certain shrines – you’ll find equippable beads that provide a boost to some of your abilities, from reducing damage taken to increasing the power of your Ethereal Weaving. As you progress, you’ll also be able to equip more beads at one time, so try out different combinations. 

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Welcoming Haven Studios to the PlayStation Studios family

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Today, I’m delighted to announce that Haven Studios is officially joining PlayStation Studios! Jade Raymond brings a wealth of experience from her industry achievements and an infectious passion for creating games, and the leadership team at Haven is an equally impressive group of industry veterans who have collaborated on some of the biggest and most beloved games and franchises that many of us still enjoy today.

We began working with Jade and her team in early 2021 when they were on the brink of announcing the formation of Haven Studios. From their first pitch, we were inspired by Haven’s vision for creating a modern multiplayer experience that brings gamers together in positive and meaningful ways. We were confident in their creative and technical expertise to deliver on such an ambitious project and were thrilled to invest in their journey developing a new, original IP for PlayStation.

We’ve had the privilege of working closely with Haven this past year and have been impressed by the studio’s growth and progress. So now, practically on the anniversary of when we made our partnership official, it’s especially exciting to formally welcome them into the PlayStation family. We can’t wait to see what the future holds for Haven Studios.

Welcome to PlayStation Studios, Haven!


One year ago this month, we embarked on a journey to start Haven Studios with a small team and big ambitions. Our goal was to build a studio where we could make the kind of games we’ve always wanted to create – and games we’ve longed to play!

We’ve made amazing progress in a short time thanks to our talented, passionate team and their exceptional contributions. We established a culture at Haven grounded in kindness, adaptability and courage that unlocks creativity. Our first new IP for PlayStation is on track to deliver a AAA multiplayer experience with a vision to build a systemic and evolving world focused on freedom, thrill, and playfulness that will keep players entertained and engaged for years.

Today, the Haven team begins a new phase of our journey, as part of the PlayStation Studios family. Working with Hermen, Connie Booth and the team at PlayStation over the past year has been a career highlight. SIE is a supportive partner that truly understands the creative process and what it takes to make a blockbuster AAA game. They have empowered and encouraged us to bring our bold vision to life and make our dreams come true and we could not be more thrilled about this opportunity to strengthen our partnership.

As a SIE first-party studio, we will have the opportunity to collaborate with some of the world’s most renowned development teams, including studios like Guerrilla, Naughty Dog, Media Molecule, and Insomniac Games, the creators of games that have inspired us as players and developers for years. We’re excited to learn from these world-class studios, as well as the exceptional central creative, technology and marketing teams whose expertise will enable us to deliver even better games to players.

To our Haven team – a huge thank you. It’s been one of the most rewarding years of my career – and to the players out there, we can’t wait to share more. We’re just at the beginning of what is sure to be a wondrous adventure that will span generations.

Jade Raymond
CEO and Founder, Haven Studios

Share of the Week: Gran Turismo 7

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Last time, we asked you to get behind the wheel of Gran Turismo 7 and share your best shots from the track using #PSshare #PSblog. Here are this week’s highlights:  

TheFourthFocus shares the moment they inched past another car across the finish line.

JonPSindies shares driving off into the desert sunset.

Xenolith3D shares a dreamy moment above the clouds.

Photoingame parks their car amongst the sand dunes.

ZEBRA_GT7 drives through a patch of cherry blossoms.

AjGamingPics1 turns a corner mid-race.

Search #PSshare #PSBlog on Twitter or Instagram to see more entries to this week’s theme. Want to be featured in the next Share of the Week? 

THEME: In Motion
SUBMIT BY: 11:59 PM PT on March 23, 2022

Next week, we’re kicking things into motion. Share moments where your character is moving or mid-action using #PSshare #PSBlog for a chance to be featured.

Ghost of Tsushima: Legends – Finding the fun in Multiplayer

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Hey everyone-  My name is Darren Bridges, and I’m the lead co-op designer for Ghost of Tsushima: Legends. To celebrate Legends’ inclusion as a bonus game in this month’s PlayStation Plus lineup, I wanted to give you all a window into our development philosophy and process.

For me, the journey started in 2016, when Nate Fox showed me the original pitch for Ghost of Tsushima and asked if I’d lead the design on the cooperative mode. I was excited… and intimidated! I knew it would be a challenge.

Concept art of our playable heroes 

I happily agreed to work on it, and my first goal was to make sure we had the flexibility to make decisions that would enable a great co-op experience. A lot of the choices that work in single-player don’t translate well to multiplayer content (and vice versa). After several pitch attempts, we came up with one that really resonated: co-op would be set in a world of supernatural tales told by an eccentric storyteller that Jin meets in his travels.This “Legends” story framework gave us freedom to design and optimize the experience to be inviting, challenging, and enjoyable for multiple players, while still connecting thematically to the world and characters of Ghost of Tsushima.

Finding the fun… with friends (or randos)!

Once we had established a versatile foundation, we needed to ask ourselves- what actually makes co-op fun? There are many good answers, but here are three major elements that we focused on:

#1: Co-op is fun when you can play with other people

This seems obvious- if you don’t have other players, it’s not really co-op! But a lot of design decisions can make it easier or harder to play together. We wanted to streamline the experience and avoid decisions that would separate players or make it hard to matchmake. Here are some of the features that make it easier to play together:

Short tutorial: The training mission takes about 10 minutes, and then you can immediately start matchmaking or playing with friends.

Wide availability: One of my early mantras in development was “The best feature we can add for co-op is all of your friends.”  We made the decision ahead of release to offer the mode to everyone who owned Ghost of Tsushima rather than as a paid DLC

Focused matchmaking, and Join In Progress: We intentionally designed our difficulty structure and Quick Play system to minimize the total number of matchmaking pools. This makes it easy to play the type of content you’re interested in while minimizing the amount of time you have to wait for a match. Additionally, if other players disconnect during a session, you can activate matchmaking again to fill their spot and keep going.

Escalating, Fresh Challenge: As you start replaying missions on harder difficulties, you’ll notice the introduction of new mechanics, rules, objectives, and enemies. This helps the content stay fresh and surprising, and also increases the necessity of working together as you get deeper into the experience.

Genshin Impact Version 2.6: Let’s dig into The Chasm

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Hello, Travelers! Today we’re pleased to share with you the latest information about Genshin Impact’s Version 2.6 “Zephyr of the Violet Garden” arriving on March 30! With an all-new area added, we can soon head to the westernmost of Liyue, delve deep into this unfathomable area, and continue a new chapter in the story of the Traveler Twins together with Dainsleif.

On the other side of the sea, life in Inazuma has taken on a new look after the Sakoku Decree was abolished. The Magnificent Irodori Festival will invite many in and outside of Inazuma to celebrate a time of arts and culture. At the same time, Kamisato Ayato, the young master leading one of Inazuma’s most powerful clans into a new era, will make his debut as a playable five-star with an exciting Story Quest.

Down Into The Chasm

For a long time, The Chasm has been Liyue’s primary source of ores, especially for its famous porcelain goods. Overlooking this area, one can see that the soil in this area are tinted in violet-red. Recently, this area has been sealed off due to a series of mysterious events. However, as Travelers, you can join a team of experts from various backgrounds to explore the underground.

What we see above the ground is only the tip of The Chasm. The vast underground space has been hollowed out layer by layer by generations of miners, and unique fluorescent creatures thrive here. Meanwhile, unknown dangers also seem to be paving their way to the known world above. In addition to hilichurls, Treasure Hoarders, and the Fatui who have snuck in, you will also encounter the new boss Ruin Serpent, as well as enemies from the Abyss.

But you will not be left unprepared in the dark. The Lumenstone Adjuvant is a useful tool to light up your path. Upgrading this gadget will assist you in exploration and also grants you plenty of rewards, including a 4-star Weapon Billet and an all-new Namecard.

If you succeed in reaching the bottom of The Chasm, you will meet with the long-lost Dainsleif again among the ancient ruins and relics. More about the Traveler siblings and the secrets of Khaenri’ah will be uncovered during the new Archon Quest “Requiem of the Echoing Depths.”

Festive Season in Inazuma

Version 2.6 will feature “Hues of the Violet Garden,” our first seasonal event celebrating an Inazuma festival! Hosted by the Yashiro Commission and Yae Miko, the Magnificent Irodori Festival is a cultural event to commemorate a group of five talented poets from ancient Inazuma named “The Five Kasen.” This year’s Irodori Festival invites not only local talents but also creative minds from Mondstadt and Liyue. Venti, Xingqiu, and many others we haven’t seen for a while

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