Samus Aran from the Metroid series almost made an appearance in Fortnite, but Nintendo and Epic couldn’t agree on how she’d be implemented.

In an interview with Game File, former Epic Games chief creative officer Donald Mustard said that Nintendo declined Epic's offer to have Samus join Fortnite. "They got really hung up on their characters showing up on platforms that weren’t their platforms," Mustard explained. "They would be thrilled to have Nintendo characters in Fortnite, but just only if it’s on their platform."

Mustard went on to say that Epic and Nintendo couldn't come to a mutual decision because of Fortnite's content parity across all platforms. Epic wanted the game to be the same experience no matter what device players were on.

Nintendo is the only console platform holder that doesn't have a representative in Fortnite. For PlayStation, God of War's Kratos joined the game and for Xbox, Halo's Master Chief joined the fray, among many other gaming characters, such as Nathan Drake and Lara Croft.

Back during Epic and Apple's legal battle, court documents revealed that Epic wanted to implement Samus, but that somehow never came to be and there was no clear reason as to why. Now, we know. The inclusion of Samus in Fortnite was even heavily teased back in a Fortnite comic that released in 2021.

Fortnite is still introducing more collaborations, and one with pop star Billie Eilish is coming on April 23.

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An extra controller is a necessity for Switch owners, and while the official Nintendo Pro controller is a great piece of tech, 8BitDo has a terrific and feature-packed alternative that's worth considering. The 8BitDo Ultimate Bluetooth Controller is on sale for as low as $53.54. This specific price applies to the eye-catching red color variant and requires you to click the coupon box on the listing to get the full discount. Alternatively, you can get the white model for $55 or the black version for $56.69 with a bonus coupon. The 8BitDo Ultimate Bluetooth Controller is GameSpot's favorite third-party Switch controller and is already a bargain at its $70 list price--so you shouldn't miss out on this deal.

The red and blue models also come with stylish optional thumbstick caps.

• 8BitDo Ultimate Bluetooth Controller (White) -- $55 ($70)
• 8BitDo Ultimate Bluetooth Controller (Red) -- $53.54 ($70) with 15%-off coupon
• 8BitDo Ultimate Bluetooth Controller (Blue) -- $63 ($70)
• 8BitDo Ultimate Bluetooth Controller (Black) -- $56.69 ($70) with 10%-off coupon

This controller is fantastic for many reasons: It has Hall Effect analog sticks that mitigate stick drift, two remappable back buttons that perfectly align with the controller's stellar ergonomics, and offers robust customization. Plus, it comes with a matching charging dock. A compartment on the bottom of the dock stores the 2.4GHz adapter, which can be used as an alternative to Bluetooth for a wireless connection. It also comes with a detachable USB-C cable, if you prefer a hardwired connection.

As mentioned, the 8BitDo Ultimate is also incredibly customizable, as you can store up to three profiles on it and use 8BitDo's mobile and PC app to fine-tune the device to your liking. From remapping inputs to adjusting trigger and rumble sensitivity and analog stick dead zones, you're getting a bunch of features normally found in controllers that cost twice the price or more.

Though the 8BitDo Ultimate Bluetooth Controller is primarily considered a Nintendo Switch controller, it also works wirelessly with PC, Mac, Steam Deck, iOS, Android, Analogue Pocket, and more devices--its three connection types help make this particular 8BitDo controller one of the most versatile options around.

You'll get around 20 hours of battery life on a full charge, and the charging dock offers a convenient way to get your controller ready for your next session.

"The 8BitDo Pro 2 Ultimate and Pro 2 are the best Switch controllers when it comes to customization," we wrote in our best Nintendo Switch controller feature. "These controllers have features that pro-style controllers sold for twice the price or more don't have. Incredible value."

You can check out the 8BitDo Pro 2 at Amazon. The Pro 2 is particularly great for retro games and is a great choice for those who prefer aligned, PlayStation-style sticks.

It's worth noting that the official Nintendo Switch Pro Controller is on sale for $63 at Amazon. Though this is only a 10% discount, deals on Nintendo controllers are very rare. If you need more Switch controllers for your next game night, you should also take a look at Walmart's Joy-Con bundle deal.

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Konami, the publisher behind critically acclaimed franchises such as Metal Gear, Silent Hill, and Castlevania, earned a reputation for stashing cheat codes for many of its older games. Just recently, fans of 1999 Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness discovered a previously unknown code that gives the name new life.

In a video explained by JupiterClimb (via The Gamer), a YouTuber who makes Metroidvanias and Konami games, this code makes it "the definitive way to play Castlevania." All players have to do is input the original code twice, which is: C-Up x4, C-Down x4, C-Left x2, C-Right x2, C-Left x2, C-Right x2, L, R, Z. After doing this, players will unlock all playable characters alongside their alt uniforms. Prior to this, the only way to unlock all the characters was by beating the game twice.

It's also worth mentioning that this code unlocks the game's hard mode. To get it, all players must do is reach a save point, quit, and reload. Once they've done that, they can play the game on hard. That's not the only code that was newly discovered. Another allows players to max out their inventory, while another one gives players 99 jewels, and the last one maxes out the power of the player's weapons and sub-weapons. It's worth noting that these two codes formerly worked only with the PAL and JPN versions of the game.

These codes were discovered by Moises and LiquidCat, who are both members of the Castlevania 64 Discord server. Moises was able to find this cheat by looking through the game's code, while LiquidCat discovered what the code actually did.

For more gaming news, check out our story on how Fortnite will now let players block specific emotes and our story detailing how 7 Days To Die is leaving early access.

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Get To Know Our Team
Vanessa
Technical Program Manager (Xbox Everywhere & Cloud Gaming)

Hi, everyone! Wynn here again. Welcome back to another Xbox Insider Team interview. We’re sitting down to chat with Vanessa—a (slightly not) Technical Program Manager who focuses on Xbox Everywhere and Cloud Gaming. How’re you doing?

Haha. Okay, I loved that intro. I’m doing great.

Yeah, when you sent over your job title as “Not Technical Program Manager” for the pre-work, I chuckled, so I wanted to make sure I included it.

It was perfect.

Excellent. Well, let’s hop right in. Tell the Community a little bit about yourself.

Where to begin. Well, I was born and raised in New York City. Grew up in Brooklyn, moved to the Bronx, and then to Washington Heights. I’ve seen it all. I’ve been into video games my entire life. I don’t think I can remember a time when I didn’t have a controller in my hand. I also love animals and you can hear my voice in some of the Xbox Support videos on YouTube.

Wow. That’s a lot to unpack.

Let’s start with living in New York for your whole life. That’s gotta be pretty cool, yeah?

Well, I grew up as a kid in Brooklyn, but I also spent some time all up and down the East Coast before moving back to the Bronx. So not my whole life, but a pretty large chunk of it.

I know New Yorkers can have a lot of “hometown” pride for their borough. Having lived in a couple, do you have a preference?

I’ve lived in the Bronx the longest, so I’m going to rep the BX. [For context, Vanessa threw her arms up in an “X” symbol here.] But really, all the boroughs are great places to be. Except Staten Island, they don’t count.

Haha. They’re not even really connected to the city, right? I mean come on.

Exactly. What a joke.

So, about this lore drop of being in Xbox Support videos. Tell us more.

Yeah, so I was lucky enough to be in a few of those, which was cool because I got to flex my voice acting muscles.

Have you voice acted in other things?

Nothing really big that I could point to. I mostly audition for commercial work.

How’d you get into voice acting originally?

It was something that sort of found me in college. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do, and I ended up taking a theatre class and absolutely loved it. I knew I wanted to do something with acting, but I’m not that great of singer.

So, you couldn’t do the typical New York, “I’m on Broadway” route.

Right. I saw at this place called Actors Connection there was a Voice Acting in Video Games 101 coming up and I thought it sounded interesting. I was playing Uncharted at the time and was inspired by Nolan North’s performance, so I gave it a shot. It ended up being incredible. The teachers were amazing, and it solidified that voice acting was something I wanted to pursue.

I’ll be looking for your name in the next Gears, then.

Haha. I wish! My VA stuff has been kind of on the backburner for a bit because when I started this role back in 2021, I wanted to really focus on it. But that’s why stuff like the Xbox Support videos is so cool. Not every VA job is going to be glamorous, main character type gigs. That’s why I focused on commercials to build my portfolio out.

That makes sense. Everyone has to start somewhere, right?

Yes, exactly that.

Speaking of starting though, you mentioned you joined the Xbox Insider Team in 2021, but was that your first Microsoft role?

No. I started a few years before that in the 5^th Avenue retail store.

Oh, wow! That place was massive. An entire floor just for gaming tournaments and stuff.

Yeah, it was a pretty wild place to work. Absolutely always busy. But I think my time at the Nintendo Store was probably more hectic, more often.

Microsoft and Nintendo Stores? Living the charmed retail life.

I think I preferred Microsoft over Nintendo, but I did get to meet Reggie [Fils-Aimé] so that was pretty awesome.

I am insanely jealous. So, did you start out as a Product Advisor?

Yup! I did that for almost my whole tenure. I helped out with the gaming stuff and was just starting to shift focuses when the shutdown happened. I had just done a really cool panel with some voice actresses in the store in January 2020, and was thinking, “This is my year.”

Oof. That’s a rough one.

The stores shutting down was definitely a hard time. I shifted to the training team helping businesses with Teams and SharePoint. But I had this anxiety because I wasn’t sure how sustainable it was and, living in New York, there just wasn’t a lot of opportunities in-state. I was incredibly thankful that the original Xbox Customer Success Manager position opened because they explicitly wanted people from all over the country and were set up to support remote work. I didn’t have to choose between my career and my life I had built here.

I think the move to embracing remote work was an all-up win, even if it was required in a lot of cases. Like, our team now is all over the place and it’s 100% better because of it.

Absolutely, like I think we’re the only two on the East Coast on the team.

Which means we get to sleep in every day. See! That’s a win right there.

Ha. I’ll admit it’s nice to not have to worry about 8am meetings very often.

So, do you have anything you’re working on right now you can tell the community about?

Nothing super concrete. But I will say that we’re doing a lot of work on the PC-side of things to get better communication, better info, etc. out to Xbox Insiders. So, if you’re a PC-only Xbox Insider, I think you’ll be excited by the rest of the year.

Excellent. We love to see it.

Of the things you can tell us about, what’s been your favorite thing you’ve worked on since starting at Xbox.

I think the ability to really help people with their issues was something that motivated me while I was a CSM, and it’s something that I took into this role because it’s so important. In that vein, I worked on a lot of the initial support stuff for the Elite 2 Controller launch, and the combination of helping people plus getting to see the shiny new gadget before it released is probably my favorite.

I like that. A nice combo of two different interests.

Okay, we’re pivoting to the more rapid-fire questions now. What’s a game that has had a big impact on your life in some way?

Super Metroid, hands down. It created the best genre of games that still exists today. It’s the perfect blend of action, horror, and atmospheric exploration. Samus is the original strong female protagonist, and no one does it better than her. I honestly don’t know if that game will ever be topped for me.

It’s interesting. I missed Super Metroid when it first came out. I love it, but something about Prime resonated with me more, even though I love MetroidVania games.

The whole Metroid series is great, but Super just scratches that itch like nothing else. When I left the Nintendo Store, one of the things I took with me was this giant Metroid standee that I still have in my apartment.

I have one of those from GameStop. Except it’s from the 3DS re-release of Ocarina of Time. It’s made four moves in the last 10 years and is still going strong; despite my wife maybe wanting to set it on fire.

Moving on from gaming, are you jamming anything on repeat recently?

I’ve been trying to get my fiancé into Daft Punk recently because I’m convinced that no one can’t not like that band. He hates all their newer stuff, so we’ve been going through the back catalog. He’s been vibing with the Discovery album the most and I have no problem with that being on repeat. Otherwise, I’m the standard millennial who doesn’t listen to anything after the early 2010s.

It’s funny. There’s a radio station back in Atlanta who does like “soft rock” stuff, which I don’t even know if that’s a genre anymore. But their tagline when I was growing up was, “The 80s, 90s, and Now!” and when I was back home recently, I was scrolling through and it’s somehow still their slogan. Like, “Now” is suddenly almost 25 years of music, y’all need a better word.

It’s just that period of like 30 or so years is undefeated for me, but it’s probably like you said, because I grew up listening to it.

Exactly. In a similar vein, any movies around that time frame that you keep on repeat? A fav that you watch every year?

I’m actually not really a person who rewatches stuff. There’re so many different movies, or shows, or anything out there, I don’t have time to rewatch them.

I feel pretty similarly. There’s a couple of games I make exceptions for, or like, holiday movies I might watch, but that’s about it.

Oh! I guess my fiancé makes us watch A Christmas Story every year, so does that count?

Hot take incoming. I wish he’d choose anything other than the worst Christmas movie of all time, but sure that counts.

Yeah, I’d rather it be Gremlins.

Jingle All The Way for me. Peak Christmas movie; will never be topped.

Okay, we talked a bit about hobbies previously with voice acting, but do you have any others?

I collect figures. Wanna see?

Readers, I must break the fourth wall here because Vanessa turned on her camera and gave me a guided tour of her apartment. I literally cannot describe to you adequately just how many figures there were. Video game, anime, amiibo. Posable, fixed, plushies. An entire Ikea showroom full of Billy Bookshelves packed to the brim. It was an incredible sight to see. I’ll pick up the conversation after she finished the tour.

I’m still just stunned. I have no idea what I’m going to write for that, but that collection is amazing.

A lot of them are also my fiancé’s, but we love that we can share this hobby together.

Well, we’re definitely at time now, so any last thoughts you’d like to share with the team?

Oh, I’m bad at this sort of thing, but I guess I just want to say like, the team is human? We’re all just people trying to work hard on the stuff that we love. We hear the community, and we want to do all the things but sometimes we just can’t. And I know that it’s easy to say that from our side, but hopefully these chats give a little insight into how much everyone here really does eat/sleep/breathe Xbox and how much we care about the userbase. I think we’ve got a lot of cool stuff coming up, so hopefully all our Xbox Insiders are excited!

Beautifully said Vanessa. Thanks so much for taking the time to chat with us today.

You’re very welcome!

Xbox Insiders, be sure to be on the lookout for more content all throughout February including more interviews from the team, a trip down memory lane, and so much more. All of our 10th Anniversary content can be found on our Hub Page.

Until next time! Wy\nn/

The post Get To Know Our Team: Vanessa – Technical Program Manager (Xbox Everywhere & Cloud Gaming) appeared first on Xbox Wire.

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There are a handful of Fortnite emotes that have become primarily known for their toxicity, and Epic Games is taking the unusual step of adding a toggle to the game settings that will allow you to never have to see other players do them.

The setting in question, which will be implemented in Tuesday's update that kicks off Fortnite Festival Season 3, is the "See Confrontational Emotes" toggle under Account and Privacy. There are three options: Always see them, never see them, or only see them if your party members are doing them. If you choose to block these emotes, players will appear motionless to you, as if they hadn't fired off an emote at all, when they use one of them. But regardless of which option you choose, you'll always be able to see and hear the emotes if you do them.

There are currently four emotes that are affected by this: Laugh It Up (aka the donkey laugh), Take the L, Whipcrack, and Make It Plantain. Laugh It Up and Take The L are included because they're common and particularly obnoxious taunts that players have complained about for years. Whipcrack and Make It Plantain, meanwhile, are popular among racist trolls.

Take the L was a battle pass emote from six years ago, so nobody's been able to get that since then. The other three emotes were all sold in the item shop, but it's been about six months since Whipcrack, which is a DC Comics emote belonging to Catwoman, and Make It Plantain have been available. And Laugh It Up hasn't been sold in nearly two years, as Epic likely wanted it out of circulation a while ago.

By adding this toggle to the settings, Epic gets to avoid the hassle of removing any of these emotes from the game--usually Epic gives refunds when it does that, and permanently removing an old battle pass item would surely cause an uproar from the community.

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Way back in 2021, documents shared as part of Epic's court battle with Apple confirmed what Nintendo fans had long suspected: that Samus was planned to appear in Fortnite's bounty hunter season but, for reasons unknown at the time, never made the cut. But those reasons have now been revealed, with former Fortnite boss Donald Mustard explaining Nintendo "got really hung up" about its characters appearing on other platforms when approached.

Fortnite's bounty hunter season ran from December 2020 to March 2021, and included appearances from two major console mascots: Xbox's Master Chief and PlayStation's Kratos. Inevitably, there was plenty of speculation Metroid protagonist Samus Aran would be next to represent Nintendo, but the character never arrived.

When court documents shared later that year confirmed Samus had at one point been planned for Fortnite's bounty hunter season, speculation only increased. Fans have long wondered if Nintendo's sticking point was that it didn't want its characters stepping outside the bounds of its own consoles - and it turns out, as per a new interview with Epic's former chief creative officer Donald Mustard, those theories were exactly right.

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Atlus has announced that its latest RPG, Metaphor: ReFantazio, will launch on October 11 for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S.

In a recent livestream, director Katsura Hashino states that he worked on previous Atlus titles such as Shin Megami Tensei III, Persona 3, Persona 4, and Persona 5. Persona composer Shoji Meguro is returning to do ReFantazio's soundtrack and Nier: Automata concept artist Koda Kazuma is contributing as a guest artist.

ReFantazio's story follows the protagonist as he fights for the throne after the kingdom's ruler gets assassinated. Anyone of any social class is able to become the next king as long as they get the people's support. The kingdom is filled with machinery and vehicles designed by Ikuto Yamashita, who also worked on Neon Genesis Evangelion.

ReFantazio also introduces Archetypes, which act similarly to Personas as they provide characters with various classes. Some examples include the all-arounder called seeker, the mage, and thief. Characters can also transform into different heroic figures and fight.

In terms of mixing real-time action and turn-based gameplay, it looks like you can damage enemies using sword strikes, especially weaker ones. However, if you call your teammates you can band together to initiate a turn-based battle to tackle more challenging foes.

Like Persona's Social Link system, ReFantazio implements something similar called the Follower system. The protagonist can meet different people throughout the game, and fighting alongside them unlocks new Archetypes.

A Collector's Edition is available for purchase, which costs $150. Metaphor: ReFantazio is also Atlus's 35th anniversary title since its first release, 1989's Puzzle Boy for the Game Boy.

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The success of Amazon's Fallout TV show has made Fallout games more popular than ever. However, for anyone looking to explore the radioactive post-apocalypse in a new way, Humble's Fallout RPG And 3D Miniatures bundle is a great way to check out the Fallout Wasteland Warfare tabletop game. The bundle includes everything you need to play the game, including rulebooks, gameplay scenarios, and even downloadable STL models you can print using a 3D printer. Don't worry if you don't own a 3D printer--many public libraries and community colleges offer 3D printing services that cost just a few cents per print, and there are online businesses that will print and ship to you.

As for what you get in Humble's Fallout RPG And 3D Miniatures bundle, the deal offers three pricing tiers. The cheapest option is just $1 and includes PDFs of the Wasteland Warfare core rulebook, stater guide, character cards, and pre-made combat scenarios. You also get a 3D printable model of the Fallout Wasteland Warfare: Ruined Red Rocket terrain expansion.

The next tier is $10 and includes all the materials from the $1 bundle, plus a digital version of the Fallout Wasteland Warfare RPG expansion book, which adds new rules for playing the game like a tabletop RPG. To go along with those new rules, this tier also includes downloadable character sheets, two one-shot RPG campaigns to play, and two 3D STL models of the Sanctuary Hill House and Preserved Red Rocket station terrain expansions.

If you pay at least $18, you get the full 25-item bundle. This includes all 14 items from the previous tiers, plus five more terrain expansion models, a Vault-Tec Vault Girl model, and Vertibird and APC vehicle models. You also get a printable deck of AI playing cards and two full-length campaign books. That's a large batch of Fallout Wasteland Warfare gameplay materials for less than the cost of most Wasteland Warfare miniatures sets.

The Humble Fallout RPG And 3D Miniatures bundle is available until May 11. If you're looking for similar deals, Humble also has the Pathfinder Mega Bundle that includes 69 books, campaigns, and expansions compatible with Pathfinder classic. And if you're into dystopian fiction or sci-fi set in desert wastelands, the online retailer also has digital book bundles for the Battletech (Mechwarrior) and Dune franchises.

More Fallout Wasteland Warfare Deals

Humble's Fallout RPG And 3D Miniatures bundle is a great entry into Wasteland Warfare, but if you want to fill out your collection with official minis, several sets are on sale at Amazon. You can grab discounted sets based on Fallout factions like the Brotherhood of Steel, Super Mutants, and New California Republic, as well as iconic monsters like the Deathclaw Matriarch. Check out a list of sets on sale below, or see all the Fallout Wasteland Warfare deals at Amazon.

• Fallout Wasteland Warfare: Brotherhood of Steel Core Box -- $48 ($61)
• Fallout Wasteland Warfare: Brotherhood of Steel - Combat Patrol -- $44.70 ($59)
• Fallout Wasteland Warfare: Brotherhood of Steel - Heavy Armor Squad -- $30 ($38)
• Fallout Wasteland Warfare: Brotherhood of Steel - Order of the Shield -- $23 ($30.50)
• Fallout Wasteland Warfare: NCR Core Box -- $43 ($50)
• Fallout Wasteland Warfare: Raiders Core Set -- $40.51 ($53)
• Fallout Wasteland Warfare: Super Mutants Core Box -- $47 ($61)
• Fallout Wasteland Warfare: Survivors Faction Box -- $40.37 ($53)
• Fallout Wasteland Warfare: Gatorclaw -- $20 ($25)
• Fallout Wasteland Warfare: Deathclaw Matriarch -- $22 ($34)

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Deals on SSDs aren't as plentiful--or as significant--as they were last year, but right now, you can score a nice discount on some lightning-fast storage for your PS5 or PC. At Amazon, the Lexar 1TB NM790 SSD is on sale for $80, a nice 27% discount when compared to its usual price of $110. It includes a heatsink as well, so that saves you some more cash and means it's already properly configured for installation in your PS5.

This SSD has some pretty good specs for its price. It has up to 7,400MB/s read and 6,500MB/s write speeds, uses up to 40% less power when compared to DRAM cache-enabled PCIe Gen 4 SSDs, and it comes with a five-year warranty. It far exceeds the minimum speed requirement for the PS5 as well (5,500MB/s).

In case you're wondering why SSD deals seem to have dried up lately, there have been reports that manufacturers have been dialing back on production to clear excess stock, while the price of NAND flash memory has almost doubled since last year. In other words, production costs are increasing and consumers will need to pay extra for SSDs. As demand rises, expect the prices to increase further, and significant discounts may continue to be rare for the foreseeable future.

Fortunately, if you're looking to increase storage on your Nintendo Switch or Steam Deck, microSD card deals are far more common. A $60 SanDisk Ultra 512GB microSD card is just $28 at Amazon right now. Steam Deck owners may want even more space, in which case Lexar has a popular 1TB card that's discounted to $70 at Amazon.

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Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes takes you to Allraan, a land that has enjoyed relative peace for a time, and is now on the verge of a terrible war. As a corrupt empire greedily looks at its neighbors, a disparate group must band together to lead the resistance. Here's our Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes guides hub to help you with your adventure.

Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes guides hub

General mechanics and activities

How long to beat - Learn about the campaign length and how many hours you're likely to spend just to finish the game.

Fast travel - You don't have to roam all over these lands solely on foot.

Cooking competitions - Cook the right meals to whet the appetite of the judges.

Card challenges - Build a proper deck and pray that luck is on your side.

Runebarrows puzzles - Delve deep into an ancient ruins in search of a hidden treasure. A familiar trio aids you along the way.

Characters and allies

How to recruit all characters - There are 120 characters that can join the resistance. Can you find them all?

Divination Parlor - This function in your headquarters allows you to discover the whereabouts of powerful warriors.

Individual characters - These mini-guides discuss certain characters that you meet during your travels:

• Huang
• Isha
• Reyna

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Meta is opening its Quest mixed reality operating system up to third-party hardware makers to create "more choice to consumers and a larger ecosystem for developers to build for".

"The growth of the mixed reality market and the rising popularity of use cases like gaming, entertainment, fitness, productivity, and social presence have created new opportunities for specialised hardware," Meta writes. "As we've seen with the PC and smartphone industries, consumers are best served by a broad hardware ecosystem producing both general-purpose computing devices and more specialised products, all running on a common platform."

To that end, Meta says third-party hardware manufacturers will be able to make use of the Meta Quest operating system - now renamed Meta Horizon OS - and the company has announced a number of initial partnerships to create devices with "specific use cases". ASUS Republic of Gamers, for instance, is creating an "all-new performance gaming headset", while Lenovo is developing "mixed reality devices for productivity, learning, and entertainment".

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Most characters in Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes are aware of the main character's leadership qualities. However, there's someone who presents a tough challenge since you have to prove your worth in battle. There are certain restrictions, too. Here's our guide on how to recruit Reyna in Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes.

How to recruit Reyna in Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes

You can recruit Reyna in the village of Dabavin. You visit this location as part of the story, well after the Hishahn arc and once you get past the Shandar Ridge. Once there, you'll see a knight clad in black armor waiting for you by the dock.

Reyna wants you to rock her to the core. Interacting with her leads to a mock battle, and you have to deal a total of roughly 1,500 damage. Oh, and you're limited to just three turns.

Preparing to battle Reyna: Ideal buffs and characters

Since there's a strict limit in how long the fight lasts, you need to ensure you have the right characters with you. We suggest bringing hard-hitting heroes and useful buffs. Examples include:

• Physical damage: Nowa, Lian, Hakugin, Wayve, and Iugo.
• Magic damage: Isha, Momo, and Marisa.
• Support: Douglas - Make sure he pops up at the start of the battle so he can grant bonus attack strength.
• Food buffs: Sauteed Chicken, Maqluba, Steak, and Hummus for physical attack boost. Spinach Quiche, Vegetable Juice, Blue Impact Curry, or Tom Yang Kung for magic attack boost.

How to defeat Reyna

To recruit Reyna in Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes, you must ensure that not a single character turn is wasted. That means each turn needs to be spent attacking, using a skill, or casting a spell. You can also consider armor-reducing abilities to make her more susceptible to physical damage.

If you're doing this a bit later in the campaign (i.e. Town HQ/home base at level 3), then you might want to recruit Momo. Powerful spellcasters like Momo and Isha should be equipped with the Rune of Inferno. This allows them to cast Inferno Pillar, one of the most devastating single-target spells in the game.

Reyna's role in the game

Reyna is the queen of tanking. She can wear heavy armor and shields, and her defense stats are through the roof. Even better, her Cover Row and Counter defensive action helps protects her teammates. Her strength stat and speed are decent, too, which means she can receive a ton of punishment and dish it out in turn.

That's everything you need to know about how to recruit Reyna in Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes. If you're interested in finding more allies, you can take a look at our guides regarding the Divination Parlor and all recruitable characters.

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You get to meet dozens of potential allies in Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes. One, in particular, teaches a relaxing minigame, though getting him to join permanently requires a bit of effort. Here's our guide on how to find a Wheel-eyed Bream so you can recruit Huang in Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes.

How to recruit Huang in Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes

You can recruit Huang once you've given him a Wheel-eyed Bream, a unique fish that can be found in a specific area of the game world. But first, you might want to know how to get to this point:

• Huang can be found in the eastern portion of Hishahn, a city you'll visit a few hours into the campaign. There, you'll also meet Carrie, who unlocks the fast travel mechanic.
• Talk to Huang and tell him that you like fishing, and he'll give you a Bamboo Rod.
• Now that you have a fishing rod, you can use various fishing spots denoted by a rod icon.
• To successfully catch fish and other sea creatures, you must wait for fish to bite the lure. This will cause a noticeable splash on the water.
• When this occurs, press the interact button (i.e. "A" on an Xbox gamepad or "X" on a PlayStation gamepad). Nowa will reel in the catch.
• After you acquire all the creatures in a spot, you can return after a few minutes to see that they've all respawned.

Where to find the Wheel-eyed Bream for Huang

The Wheel-eyed Bream in Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes is needed to recruit Huang. To get it, exit Hishahn and follow the road to the east until you see the entrance to the Seaside Cavern. Don't enter the dungeon. Instead, walk along the cliffside area to the left until you see a fishing rod icon. This is a well-hidden fishing spot and the only place you can find Wheel-eyed Bream.

Follow the steps mentioned above to start catching fish. In our case, we had to catch around 10 sea creatures. The last one in the area was the Wheel-eyed Bream. Upon obtaining it, hand it over to Huang to make him permanently join your forces.

Huang's role in the game

Huang isn't a combat or support unit. However, recruiting him as an ally lets you build the Fishing Spot in your HQ/home base. The first building costs 800 Headquarters Funds and 40 Pelts. The Fishing Spot construction gradually collects seafood that can be used for cooking recipes. Moreover, this option leads to many other functions, such as increased yields, additional Fishing Spots, the Mission Guild, and the Racing Stables.

That's everything you need to know about how to recruit Huang in Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes. Now that this fella is part of your group, you might want to check the hints from the Divination Parlor and all recruitable characters.

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Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes takes place in the vast lands of Allraan. Numerous villages and cities dot the continent, with disparate races vying for control. Naturally, your adventure leads you to visit these locales, but you don't have to explore the whole place on foot. Here's our guide on how to fast travel in Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes.

How to fast travel in Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes

You can unlock fast travel once you recruit a mage named Carrie. She can be found in the city of Hishahn, which you get to visit a few hours into the campaign. Carrie materializes in three areas, and you need to speak to her when she pops up:

• Along the central lane.
• Further to the east, in front of a couple of stalls.
• Across the bridge to the southern lane.

Once you've chatted with Carrie three times, she'll join your forces. This unlocks fast travel in Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes.

How does fast travel work

The fast travel mechanic is quite straightforward. In fact, barring a couple of instances, you won't even need Carrie in your active party--she gives you a ring that allows you to activate the function. Here's what you need to do:

• Press the X button (Xbox gamepad) or Square button (PlayStation gamepad) to open the Map tab.
• Then, press LT (Xbox) or L2 (PlayStation) to switch to the World tab.
• You can select any location you've visited at least once, and Carrie will teleport you there.

Note that fast travel only works when you're in your Town HQ/home base, any other settlement, or while exploring the world map. It doesn't work if you're in dungeons or hostile areas. Likewise, there might be instances when you're not allowed to teleport to a location due to storyline restrictions.

In any case, that's everything you need to know about how to Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes. While you're out and about exploring Allraan, you might want to build the Divination Parlor and meet all the recruitable characters.

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Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes promises a grand adventure in the lands of Allraan, where you'll recruit numerous allies as you battle a warmongering empire. Still, you might be wondering if the entire journey will cause you to spend a lot of time playing. Here's our guide on how long it takes to beat Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes, as well as the main mission list. Likewise, please be reminded that this article contains minor spoilers.

How long to beat Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes - Campaign length guide

It's possible to beat Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes in 30 to 35 hours if you're just focusing on the main story. You can focus on the key objectives with the allies you recruit as part of the narrative arc.

However, remember that Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes is the spiritual successor to the Suikoden franchise. As such, you're bound to meet many characters--120 characters, in fact. Some join you after a short conversation, while others have their own missions for you. A select few might even be part of activities and minigames, such as the cooking contests and card challenges. If you plan on bolstering your forces, while also tackling side content and building your home base, then it could take you anywhere from 50 to 70 hours to complete these tasks. We do suggest taking a look at our character recruitment guide to help you along the way.

Story missions

Here are the names of the chapters/segments in the Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes campaign:

• First Mission
• Into the Barrows
• Search the Barrows
• Afterwards
• The Watch Captain's First Job
• Catch the Criminals
• Searching the Tunnels
• Discovering the Thief
• Homecoming
• Hometown on Fire
• Infiltrate the Empire
• The Eltisweiss Front
• Defeat
• Separate Ways
• Hoist the Alliance Banner
• In an Unknown Village
• The Village of Treefolk
• The Proving Grounds
• Euchrisse, the Land of Water
• The Despondent King of Euchrisse
• Reveal Harlan's Schemes
• What's the Right Choice?
• The Hishahn Front
• The Assassinated Emperor
• New Forces
• Across the Desert
• Learning the Ropes of Shi'arcraft
• Shi'arcs of a Scale
• To the Safehouse
• The Rune-Lens Research Laboratory
• Inhuman Research
• House Kesling
• Reunion
• Norristar, the Western Nation
• Assault
• In the Land of Snow
• The Coming Storm
• The Revenant Army Returns
• Yarnaan Falls
• The Meeting of Kings
• A Secret Plan
• The Threat of the Empire
• The Athrabalt Front
• The Generals' Decision
• Returning
• The Way Forward
• The Next Steps
• An Unexpected Ally
• Storming Castle Harganthia
• Eve
• The Final Battle
• Declaring Victory
• Counterattack
• Retaking Eltisweiss
• The Last Order
• Gardhaven Castle
• Confrontation
• Collapsing Ambitions
• Heroes

In any case, that's all you need to know about how long it takes to beat Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes. We hope you're well-prepared for the road ahead.

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If you're in the market for a Nintendo Switch, Amazon has cut the price of the Switch OLED model by $40. This particular model has a very sharp and vibrant OLED display, as well as several other neat upgrades. And for a limited time--Amazon deals often end without warning--you can get the model with Neon Red and Blue Joy-Con controllers for $310. If you want an extra pair of controllers for multiplayer, check out Walmart's fantastic deal on the Super Mario Party Joy-Con bundle.

This version of the Switch has double the storage capacity of the regular model--64GB instead of 32GB--and an improved stand for when you want to play Tears of the Kingdom on a plane. The OLED screen really does make a tangible difference to games, and when you're playing retro titles via the Nintendo Online membership, these titles look better than ever.

Like the standard Switch model, the OLED comes with a dock to connect it to your TV and two Joy-Con controllers. The dock is wider than the original, and it includes an ethernet port.

If you are in the market for a Switch but you're on a budget or only want a portable-only console, you can also check out this Walmart deal on the special-edition Animal Crossing bundle that comes with New Horizons.

The Switch Lite is still a rock-solid handheld console. It can't connect to your TV, it uses a 720p LCD screen, and it has no detachable Joy-Cons, but its compatible with nearly every Switch game. Normally $200, you can get this for $179, and as a reminder, it comes with a download code for Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

You'll likely want to beef up your internal storage no matter which Nintendo console you go for, and fortunately, microSD cards are very affordable right now. Our top pick at the moment is the SanDisk 512GB microSD, more than enough space for Nintendo first-party games and indies, and is discounted from $60 to $26 at Amazon currently. There are also a bunch of Nintendo's best first-party games discounted to excellent price at Amazon and Walmart.

Some of the highlights here include recent releases like Super Mario RPG and Super Mario Bros. Wonder, and you can also pick up several Zelda games, more Mario, and the delightful Kirby's Return to Dreamland.

• Super Mario RPG -- $45 ($60)
• Princess Peach: Showtime -- $53 ($60)
• Super Mario Party Joy-Con bundle -- $79 ($100)
• Kirby's Return to Dreamland -- $41 ($60)
• Mario Kart 8 Deluxe -- $40 ($60)
• Super Mario Maker 2 -- $40 ($60)
• Pokemon Shining Pearl -- $30 ($60)
• Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe -- $40 ($60)
• Super Mario Bros. Wonder -- $47 ($60)
• Zelda: Breath of the Wild -- $40 ($60)
• Zelda: Link's Awakening -- $40 ($60)
• Zelda: Skyward Sword HD -- $40 ($60)
• Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom -- $51 ($70)

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Microsoft's indie-focused ID@Xbox digital showcase is back next Monday, 29th April, with news on Life is Strange developer Don't Nod's Lost Records: Bloom & Rage and more.

This year's ID@Xbox Digital Showcase kicks off at 6pm BST in the UK (that's 10am PT), promising "lots of indie goodness" including "epic trailers, fresh gameplay, and new reveals".

Alongside the aforementioned Lost Records: Bloom & Rage, Microsoft has confirmed appearances from the persistently vampire-free Vampire Survivors (recently revealed to be getting a Contra-themed expansion soon, of all things), as well as the promising Dungeons of Hinterberg, and 33 Immortals - which comes from Spiritfarer developer Thunder Lotus Games.

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Genshin Impact developer MiHoYo's next game, Zenless Zone Zero, might have gotten its release date leaked. If the leak--noticed on the Apple App Store--is to be believed, the upcoming action RPG is coming out this summer.

According to Zenless Zone Zero's Apple Store page, the game is set to be released on July 3. MiHoYo hasn't made any official announcement yet, so it's unclear whether this is the actual release date. The page says that the content may change without notice and the final product may be different.

The game on iOS platforms, like iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch, require iOS version 10.0 or later, while the Apple Vision version requires visionOS 1.0 or later. The file size clocks in at 3.4 GB.

Zenless Zone Zero is also available on Android, as well as PC and PlayStation 5. While the App Store version has a release date of July 3, it's unknown whether this would also be the same launch date for the over platforms. The registration period for the technical test on PlayStation 5 was just earlier this month.

MiHoYo is known for releasing other games like the action RPG Genshin Impact and the turn-based Honkai Star Rail. While Zenless Zone Zero is also an action RPG, it differentiates itself from Genshin Impact by having roguelike and dungeon crawling elements and not being an open-world.

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Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, the acclaimed lightsaber twiddling action-adventure sequel from Respawn Entertainment, has been quietly added to EA's EA Play subscription service - but seemingly only for PlayStation at present.

Sharp-eyed PlayStation Store users made the discovery earlier today, after Star Wars Jedi: Survivor's store listing was updated with a note reading, "Included with EA Play" - alongside an option to subscribe to the service rather than buy the game outright.

Since then, the same notice has been spotted on PlayStation Store listings across multiple territories, including the UK, with subscribers reporting success in downloading and playing. At present, however, there's no sign of Star Wars Jedi: Survivor on EA Play for PC or Xbox, and it's yet to be added to the catalogue page on EA's website. The publisher hasn't made any formal announcement regarding its inclusion either.

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The independent game El Paso, Nowhere is potentially getting a movie adaptation. Deadline reports that Oscar-nominated actor LaKeith Stanfield (Judas and the Black Messiah, Get Out) is in talks to appear in a movie based on the game. Di Bonaventura Pictures, which produces the Transformers and G.I. Joe franchises, is attached to produce.

The movie, should it get made, would center on main character James Savage (Stanfield) who is confronting his personal demons after getting out of a toxic relationship with a woman, the vampire Janet, who is now trying to execute a "world-ending ritual."

"James navigates her reality-bending universe of ethereal monsters while facing the truth of his own addictions and skewed sense of self-worth, learning that the only route to love is through healing," reads a line from the film's description.

El Paso, Nowhere was developed by the studio Strange Scaffold, a development label run by Xalavier Nelson Jr.

GameSpot's El Paso, Nowhere review scored the game an 8/10. Reviewer Alessandro Barbosa said, "Its straightforward action is enhanced by its consistently evolving enemies and delicate balancing of power, while its captivating love story presents a novel take on established mythologies with some impressive performances to back them up."

The announcement of the El Paso, Nowhere movie comes not long after the reveal of a film based on the game Spine, which isn't even out yet. The next big video game movie is the Borderlands film, which arrives in August. A Minecraft movie is coming in 2025.

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7 Days to Die helped kick off the zombie survival game craze, and now, over a decade since its initial release, it's finally leaving Steam Early Access behind with its planned 1.0 update.

What was originally slated to be the game's Alpha 22 update will instead become its long-awaited 1.0 update. The 1.0 update for 7 Days to Die is slated for June, with a new console version set to come in July. The plan is for the two versions of the game to keep update parity with one another, and though it won't be live at launch, cross-play between consoles and PC is slated to be added in an update before year's end. Launch will bring a new zombie gore system, updated visuals, a new challenge system, and more, according to The Fun Pimps.

It's a huge moment that's been a long-time coming, as The Fun Pimps explain in a comprehensive FAQ about the upcoming changes.

"We've been developing 7 Days for nearly 12 years and have had over twenty large scale early access releases that have brought the game to a significantly different place and quality than where it began," the developer states. "Our team feels satisfied with our efforts, especially with the significant overall progress, art quality, and optimizations that have gone into the current release…We are now turning our focus to other ways we can support all versions of the game--through our planned roadmap, free updates, and beyond."

As part of the shift to 1.0, the old console version of 7 Days to Die, which was released for Xbox One and PS4 in 2016 and received different updates from its PC counterpart, will be delisted from digital storefronts in order to avoid "branding confusion." Owners of what The Fun Pimps is now calling the "legacy" console version will still be able to play the game in the future, but it will not receive future updates and will no longer be purchasable come the release of the new 7 Days to Die Console Edition. Those who purchased the original game will need to rebuy the new one, but The Fun Pimps states it's hoping to provide a discount to legacy owners of the game to buy the new version. Saves from the legacy version of the game will not carry over to the new console version.

"We made the decision early on to focus on a 'new version of the game that is unified with our PC version, and our efforts to update the game post-launch will be entirely focused on that version," The Fun Pimps state.

Those post-launch updates will include a major update before year's end called Storm's Brewing, which will overhaul the game's weather system and add cross-play. The Fun Pimps currently have two updates planned for 2025, the first of which will add bandits, a new quest type, and overhaul the game's UI. Another, slated for the end of 2025, will introduce a story mode, overhaul the game's traders, and introduce yet another new quest type. The Fun Pimps state that the release windows featured on the 7 Days to Die roadmap are rough estimates and are subject to change.

In what is often an early access tradition, 7 Days to Die's exit from early access and into full release will see the game's price increase to $45 on all platforms, up from $25 on Steam and $30 on consoles. The game's current price on PC will remain in place until April 29, after which it will go up. The Fun Pimps state that the quality of the game has "gone up significantly" after a decade of improvements, and that the price increase will help to fund possible expansions and continued free updates.

For more information about 7 Days to Die's full release, be sure to check out the full FAQ on the game's official website.

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The recent release of Dune: Part 2 in theaters completes the story of Paul Atreides' rise to religious power on Arrakis so he can fight back against the evil Harkonnens--but it also leaves a ton of the Dune universe unexplored. But there's a whole lot more Dune storytelling out there if you want it, and with Humble Bundle's latest batch of books, you can grab as many as 17 titles that explore the nooks, crannies, histories, and nuances of Dune for just $18. The aptly titled Dune: The Universe Collection is full of prequels and sequels written by Brian Herbert (usually alongside Kevin J. Anderson), the son of Frank Herbert, the author of the 1965 original and its five sequels.

Humble's Dune: The Universe Collection bundle has three different versions. If you want to keep it cheap, you can nab one book--Dune: The Butlerian Jihad--for $1. That book delves into one of the most impactful and interesting elements of Dune's history, in which humanity rejected artificial intelligences and went to war with machines, resulting in the world we see in the original novel that includes "mentats," people specially trained to act as computers, since actual computers have been completely outlawed.

For $10, you get three books: The Butlerian Jihad, its sequel, Dune: The Machine Crusade, and Dune: The Battle of Corrin. All three cover the expansive historical event known as the Butlerian Jihad, which spans decades. The Machine Crusade picks up more than 20 years after The Butlerian Jihad and begins to establish more key elements of Dune lore as the crusade against computers and robots has sweeping effects on the universe's culture. The Battle of Corrin then jumps more than 50 years forward to see the Butlerian Jihad come to its conclusion, setting the stage for the world imagined in Dune.

The last iteration of the bundle is the biggest. For $18, you get 17 books, including the three prequels, plus a ton more. The batch includes even more sequels and prequels to Dune, some focusing on more aftermath of the Butlerian Jihad, others following the central characters of the original novels, including Paul Atreides, his mother Jessica, and his sister Alia.

You can also pay more than the asking price of $18 to support the bundle's charity, the Global FoodBanking Initiative. Humble's Dune: The Universe Collection is available until May 11.

Dune: The Universe Collection

Pay $1

• Dune: The Butlerian Jihad

Pay $10

• Dune: The Battle of Corrin
• Dune: The Machine Crusade
• Dune: The Butlerian Jihad

Pay $18

• Dreamer of Dune
• Dune: The Heir of Caladan
• Dune: The Lady of Caladan
• Dune: The Duke of Caladan
• The Road to Dune
• Princess of Dune
• Sands of Dune
• Navigators of Dune
• Mentats of Dune
• Sisterhood of Dune
• The Winds of Dune
• Paul of Dune
• Sandworms of Dune
• Hunters of Dune
• Dune: The Battle of Corrin
• Dune: The Machine Crusade
• Dune: The Butlerian Jihad

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Popstar Billie Eilish will be the next music icon joining Fortnite.

The Barbie and Bad Guy singer confirmed her entry into the Fortnite metaverse today on social media, with a first look at her in-game character design. Eilish will headline the next season of Fortnite Festival, the game's Rock Band-inspired rhythm mode, and become available to buy as a character skin.

Eilish's announcement is notable for another reason, however, as it also adds a dollop of authenticity to a purported image posted online last week, which appeared to show Fortnite's full plans for the rest of 2024. The roadmap image correctly included the then-unannounced Eilish, and while this could still have been a lucky guess, today's reveal certainly gives weight to other parts of the image also being correct.

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