Latest news with #FromSoftware
Daily Mirror
7 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Elden Ring Nightreign duos update release time – when the long-awaited mode drops
The Elden Ring Nightreign duos update release time is on the way, giving players the chance to band together with one bestie, as well as delivering some new quality-of-life changes. It's finally here – the Elden Ring Nightreign duos update release time is imminent, offering players the opportunity to team up with a single mate, whilst also introducing some fresh quality-of-life improvements. Elden Ring Nightreign has been a hit for many gamers, dispelling fears that the Fortnite -style transformation of one of gaming's most serious titles would result in anything less than a top-notch game. The opportunity to explore a new world each game with a gang of mates to defeat the feared bosses lurking in the shadows has been thrilling, despite critics claiming it could never work – and FromSoftware clearly remains supreme. However, there's something noticeably absent from the game, and we're not just talking about a Nintendo Switch 2 port – the game has been lacking a two-player mode, compelling players to either face the brutal battles solo or with a pair of friends, making coordinating plans more challenging than ever. Fortunately, FromSoftware is stepping up with a new adjustment. This has led to a significant amount of bandwagon-jumping, particularly as more soulslike games are being released, with the recent unveiling of Wuchang Fallen Feathers' release date and its inclusion in the second July Xbox Game Pass drop undoubtedly grabbing fans' attention – but there's plenty more on the horizon. A fresh patch is en route, introducing a new duos mode that allows you to bring along a mate into the fray, alongside a host of quality-of-life improvements, including UI changes that introduce more Relic filtering options. While we're yet to see the full patch notes, it's already shaping up to be a promising update, particularly with the much-anticipated deployment of the Elden Ring Nightreign duos update release time. So, when exactly can we anticipate this update? Here's what you need to know about the Elden Ring Nightreign duos update release time. Introducing All Out Gaming Introducing All Out Gaming, a dedicated gaming brand providing the best gaming news, reviews, previews, interviews and more! Make sure you don't miss out on our latest high-quality videos on YouTube, TikTok, and Facebook, where we'll be posting our latest reviews, previews, interviews, and live streams! You can also subscribe to our free All Out Gaming newsletter service. Click here to be sent all the day's biggest stories. Elden Ring Nightreign duos update release time The Elden Ring Nightreign duos update release time is slated for 1am PDT / 4am EDT / 9am BST on Wednesday, July 30. The release date for the update has been confirmed by FromSoftware, and the time is an estimation based on the release times of every post-launch patch that has launched for Elden Ring Nightreign, according to SteamDB. It's set to be a thrilling moment as duos eagerly return to the game to tackle its numerous challenges in a more streamlined manner. We'll see you on the battlefield.
Metro
19 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Metro
Wuchang: Fallen Feathers review - taking the soul out of Soulslike
A new Soulslike set in China's Ming dynasty borrows from both Dark Souls and Bloodborne, with some interesting madness effects to keep you on your toes. For decades the Chinese video games industry has been focused solely on the PC and its home audience. For reasons that are not entirely clear, but seem to involve the oversaturation of the mobile market, Chinese developers have suddenly begun to embrace console gaming and in terms of technical prowess their output has been exceptional from the start. What's been disappointing though, is how they already seem to have got themselves into a rut, where almost every single high-profile game is a Soulslike, or at least Soulslike adjacent. Starting with Black Myth: Wukong, and now this, there's a dizzying array of very similar looking titles on the horizon, including Phantom Blade Zero, Lost Soul Aside, Tides Of Annihilation, Project Jinyiwei, and more. We guess that means Dark Souls and the rest of FromSoftware's oeuvre is popular in China but while some games, especially Black Myth, do deviate from the formula Wuchang follows it all too closely. It's a competent copy, more so than many we've played over the years, but in terms of gameplay it adds absolutely nothing new. Wuchang is set in what is now Sichuan province during the late Ming dynasty, in the 17th century. But while the game does feature some real historical elements the overall plot involves a supernatural pandemic called the Feathering Disease, which… well, the clue is in the name really. Playing as a female pirate named Bai Wuchang, you start the game with amnesia and your arm covered in feathers. Ordinarily this would mean you're about to turn into a monster but for initially unexplained reasons it grants you access to a number of magical abilities. Dark Souls will be 15 years old next year and while it's had a huge influence on the games industry, there can be no other game that has been copied quite so much while changing so little. If you've at all familiar with the genre you'll know exactly what to expect from Wuchang, in terms of the third person combat, the multiple weapons, the stats that can be influenced by armour and talismans, and the unusually high difficulty. Sign up to the GameCentral newsletter for a unique take on the week in gaming, alongside the latest reviews and more. Delivered to your inbox every Saturday morning. Wuchang hits every note predictably and accurately but in every way it feels like From Lite. Even the difficultly isn't quite as extreme as the games it's copying, while being uneven enough that you still can't recommend it to newcomers to the genre. Every different weapon has its own related skills, while each of the five weapon types (swords, dual blades, longswords, axes, and spears) has associated discipline skills, which are unlocked from a skill tree and assigned to whichever weapon you want. This is all enjoyably intricate, with discipline skills also determining whether you're able to deflect or parry with a particular weapon. All skills and weapon abilities are powered by something called skyborn might , which by default is gained by performing a perfect dodge. The combat is enjoyable but it's also extremely familiar. The only thing that's surprising about the game is that as well as Dark Souls it steals quite a bit from Bloodborne, including a version of Insight, where if you kill ordinary humans (who, because of the feathers, assume you're about to turn into a monster and attack you on sight) your state of madness increases – while killing monsters decreases it. Your madness level alters the effectiveness of certain skills, while going above 90% means you both take and deal out more damage than usual. Plus, if you die when at maximum madness an evil demon version of yourself appears and is waiting for you when you come back to recover your lost souls red mercury (although because the game is generally less difficult than the Soulslike average you usually only lose about half when you die). The level design is also reminiscent of Bloodborne, since this isn't a true open world game like Elden Ring, and generally that's a compliment. Although while the intricately designed map and unexpected shortcuts are clever the landscapes and art design is never anywhere near as interesting. Wuchang is perfectly fine, but it feels so watered down compared to actual FromSoftware games it's hard to see under what circumstances it could ever be recommended. Especially since the bosses – usually the highlight of any similar game – are so unsatisfying. They often involve a sudden difficulty spike and the later ones have almost no margin for error, while also being irritatingly defensive fighters, forever flitting off out of reach. More Trending The game's best elements are its expansive skill trees and everything related to the madness rating. If it was us, we would've focused more on that and added more of a horror element to the game, but that never seems to have been a consideration. While this is not the worst Soulslike we've ever played we're struggling to think of another one that feels quite so generic. When there are so many other games doing almost exactly the same thing this needed a more substantial selling point than copying from both Dark Souls and Bloodborne. But alas, Wuchang: Fallen Feathers never really takes flight as its own unique experience. In Short: A wearingly competent Soulslike that seems to have no interest in inventing anything of its own and which is nowhere near as refined as FromSoftware's best games. Pros: The combat is perfectly entertaining, with a wide range of weapons and impressively vast skill tree. The madness stat is an interesting feature that should've been expanded on further. Cons: Everything in the game has been done a dozen times before and usually to better effect. Nasty difficulty spikes and simplistic storytelling. Score: 5/10 Formats: PlayStation 5 (reviewed), Xbox Series X/S, and PCPrice: £44.99*Publisher: 505 GamesDeveloper: LeenzeeRelease Date: 24th July 2025 Age Rating: 16 *available on Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass from day one Email gamecentral@ leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter. To submit Inbox letters and Reader's Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here. For more stories like this, check our Gaming page. MORE: 80% of Call Of Duty players more excited for Battlefield 6 than Black Ops 7 MORE: Tales Of The Shire: A The Lord Of The Rings Game review – Animal Crossing with hobbits MORE: Nintendo's next big Switch 2 game is just £50 right now – but only for today
CNET
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- CNET
7 Tips to Follow When Starting Wuchang Fallen Feathers
Wuchang: Fallen Feathers isn't a revolutionary Soulslike title that aims to change the subgenre, but it's catching the attention of many players right now, in part because it's available on day 1 on Xbox Game Pass. Wuchang, however, does have some issues with underexplaining certain mechanics, which is giving players a little trouble. Wuchang makes some changes to the Soulslike formula established by FromSoftware, the developers of Demon's Souls and Dark Souls. Those changes aren't laid out so clearly, and unfortunately that adds a layer of difficulty to the game that doesn't need to be there. If you're struggling with Wuchang, here are some tips to help you beat the game. 505 Games Get the Sword Counter An easy tip to start with is a better explanation of the Sword Counter. It's available in the Impetus Repository (the leveling-up grid), at a shrine, and it doesn't take many levels to unlock. The Sword Counter is the game's equivalent of the parry found in other FromSoftware games. It looks like a standard block, but if you time it right, you'll parry the attack and receive no damage. But that's not all. Next to the Sword Counter node on the grid are two variants that are also worth getting. By unlocking all three, when enemies attack you, you can deflect their attacks and knock them to the ground to sneak in extra hits. Something to keep in mind is that the Sword Counter can only deflect weapon attacks, so enemy punches or kicks can't be parried. Also, with bosses, your deflects may only give you a window to get a free hit or two, but they have greater value in raising the bosses' Obliterate meter, which is a circle that increases after successive attacks. Fill this up, and the boss will be staggered, which will allow for a critical attack to deal big damage. 505 Games Unlocking the upgrades for your weapons Along with the improved attacks, new weapon abilities, and stat increases, the Impetus Repository (the game's name for its skill tree) has nodes to improve a weapon class. You need to unlock the node first and then acquire feathers to upgrade the weapon. The upgrade for a weapon class affects all weapons, so improving longswords by +3 means every longsword in the game will also be +3. You'll need specific items for these upgrades, which are usually found on tougher enemies with red eyes and can sometimes be purchased from the merchants. There are Faint, Brilliant and Radiant Red Feathers needed for upgrades, with Radiant ones being the best of the three. Respec all the time One useful mechanic in Wuchang is the option to respec, or reallocate your upgrades, at any time. If you feel like you're a little weak or there's something you haven't tried yet, make sure to respec -- don't worry, it's free and can be repeated indefinitely. On the Impetus Repository, there's the option to undo an upgrade to just one node, or you can do it for an entire path. If a weapon like the axe has been doing well against bosses but there's one boss who's just too fast to land any attacks, then it's time to respec and try another weapon. There's no shame in doing so. And who knows? The new weapon might end up being your favorite. Wear the right equipment Like in any Souslike, there are different status effects that build up over time, such as Burn or Blight, this game's name for poison. Enemies in certain areas will focus on different status effects with their attacks, like how enemies in colder climates can cause Frostbite buildup. There are consumable items you can use to remove the effect or stop the buildup, but in the case of status effects like Despair and Corruption, if your armor resistance isn't high enough, you can get killed almost immediately from the effect. If you find that happening (and you can tell it happens due to the status effect icon in the middle of the screen), then consider changing your equipment to better resist the status effects you're running into. Armor in Wuchang is very situation-based. Some will offer a lot of slash and stab protection, which is great for bosses with swords or spears, but it may offer no protection against Blight, which means you can be poisoned very quickly. In general, armor that's the best to protect against physical attacks is horrible for status effects, hence you can die almost instantly in certain areas. If you notice that happening, make sure to switch up your armor for the right occasion. 505 Games Explore, explore, explore Like any good Soulslike with quality level design, like Wuchang, there are different paths available and some are easy to overlook. So many side paths in Wuchang seemingly lead to dead ends, but you'd be surprised how many will lead to entirely new areas. Not only can you find powerful items and weapons, but there are entire sections of a map with their own bosses you might have skipped. I missed out on multiple locations as I rushed through the game on my first runs through levels. If you're having trouble with a boss, spend some time to backtrack a bit and explore every nook and cranny in an area. Another point to keep an eye out for is the teleport option at the Shrine. If there's an NPC you should talk to, there will be a small face next to the location listing. These NPCs can give you items or help out with a boss fight, but some won't be right next to the shrine. In general, places you come across with no enemies and something like a fire tend to be locations where an NPC will eventually appear. Just die if you're mad Probably the most interesting mechanic in Wuchang is the Madness effect, which increases global damage that you deal and get dealt in return. Madness can increase or decrease, depending on what enemies you kill, but it increases significantly after dying. Once Wuchang's madness reaches above 90%, the next time she dies, an orb that lies where the death happened will manifest into an Inner Demon, and if it kills you or is defeated, the Madness meter goes back to zero. This is very interesting for longtime Souls players because it acts as a punishment for players that can easily be overcome, and in a way, helps get the frustration out for dying. There is, however, a problem. If you die at the hands of a boss over and over again, the orb will be inside the boss arena and the Inner Demon won't spawn. The result is that Madness, which if above 90% will increase the damage of your attacks while also increasing the damage you take, won't go down. You can try to defeat some enemies to lower it, or make a donation to the statue at the Shu Sanctum, but the Madness meter will still shoot up if you die. If this happens to you, then you need to bite the bullet and just die somewhere else, ideally right near the shrine. When you respawn, you can head to the orb, take down the Inner Demon, and you'll be back to zero Madness. 505 Games Don't forget to emote Across the game, there will be certain shiny spots that aren't signs. It could be a statue, an urn, or a grave marker. Inspect these locations and a message will pop up with a few words in blue. Those words can be "Pay your respect" or "Tai chi." When you come across these spots, pull up the pose, or emotes, menu. You'll see multiple poses, such as worship, examine and a very obvious one, Tai Chi. Assuming the pose at the specific location will unlock a clue about Wuchang's past, or give up an item. Wuchang: Fallen Feathers is out now for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series consoles for $50. Xbox Game Pass subscribers can play the game as part of their subscription.
Business Insider
4 days ago
- Business
- Business Insider
Massive Elden Ring Sales Boost Kadokawa Stock (9468)
Kadokawa (JP:9468) stock was up on Friday alongside sales data for FromSoftware's Elden Ring series. The latest sales data included 30 million copies of Elden Ring being sold, with another 10 million sales for its Shadows of the Erdtree downloadable content (DLC). That's a strong conversion rate with roughly one-third of Elden Ring owners having bought the DLC. Elevate Your Investing Strategy: Take advantage of TipRanks Premium at 50% off! Unlock powerful investing tools, advanced data, and expert analyst insights to help you invest with confidence. On top of this, Elden Ring Nightreign has also performed well in the short time it's been on the market. The multiplayer cooperative game was released on May 30, 2025, and has already sold 5 million units. There have also been leaks of upcoming DLC for the game, which will likely translate to more sales for FromSoftware. FromSoftware is a subsidiary of Japanese publishing company Kadokawa, with Sony (SONY) also owning a 14% stake in the video game developer. Sixjoy Hong Kong is another major shareholder of FromSoftware, with a 16% stake in the company. Kadokawa Stock Movement Today Kadokawa stock was up 0.53% when the Japanese stock market closed on Friday. This jump came with heavy trading, as some 680,000 shares changed hands, compared to a three-month daily average of about 509,000 units. The shares were also up 20.84% year-to-date and 38.5% over the past 12 months. Bandai Namco (JP:7832), the publisher of Elden Ring, also saw its stock rise on Friday. It secured a slight 0.06% gain when markets closed today, extending a 29.83% year-to-date rally and a 54.66% increase over the last year. Is Kadokawa Stock a Buy, Sell, or Hold? Turning to Wall Street, the analysts' consensus rating for Kadokawa is Moderate Buy, based on one Buy and one Hold rating over the past three months. With that comes an average Kadokawa stock price target of ¥3,895, representing a potential 3.37% upside for the shares.
Metro
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Metro
It is madness that Konami still hasn't made a new Castlevania - Reader's Feature
A reader is baffled as to why Konami keeps rebooting increasingly obscure older games but still hasn't brought back the classic Castlevania series. There's a lot of rumours about a new Nintendo Direct at the moment, which is probably going to have quite a bit about Metroid Prime 4, since it's their big Christmas game this year. If the game is a hit then the whole series will be in a very good place since Metroid Dread was the biggest entry ever, despite being a pretty difficult 2D game. Dread is definitely one of the best Metroidvanias I've ever played but of course that name has two parts to it. Even though Metroid came up with most things first, the other half of the name is Castlevania, which hasn't had a new game in over a decade. Why is a mystery to me because the Netflix show was very popular a few years ago and I'm sure many people never even realised it was based on game. What really makes the situation weird is that Konami has brought back series like Metal Gear, Contra, and Survival Kids recently and is planning to make a dozen new Silent Hill games, and yet still there's no word on Castlevania. There's been some retro collections for Castlevania but the last new game was Lords Of Shadow 2 which was, admittedly, awful. It was also barely a Metroidvania, so it's very easy to imagine a bunch of ways to do a new game better, whether it's 3D or 2D. For a long time people have been saying that Konami should get FromSoftware to make one, because Bloodborne was basically halfway there already. I get this and agree but they're way to successful now to be working on someone else's game, so that's not really an option, I don't think. The problem for Konami, and I assume this is part of the problem, is that there are so few 3D Metroidvanias around that there's nobody that's really an expert that they can go to. Ironically, the ones with any real experience are MercurySteam, who made Metroid Dread and… Lords Of Shadow. So I can imagine there's some bad blood there. Sign up to the GameCentral newsletter for a unique take on the week in gaming, alongside the latest reviews and more. Delivered to your inbox every Saturday morning. But surely someone out there can make it. Maybe the people that did indie game Revenge Of The Savage Planet, since that's a 3D Metroidvania. Or just do the other obvious thing and make a 2D game instead. There's a bazillion indie developers that could help out there and it'd be cheaper too, if Konami is worried it's spent all its money on Silent Hill. There are so many people that love Castlevania that even though there hasn't been a new game in so long there's a bunch of crossovers. Basically everything with vampires in it, from V Rising to Vampire Survivors. There's so much love for the franchise, from everyone but the company that can do something about it. So yeah, I don't really know what else can be done. Konami know the interest is out there, they're busy reboot lots of other franchises, but for some reason it's never Castlevania. A part of me hopes for an annoucement at the Nintendo Direct but I've been thinking that sort of thing for years now and it never happens. Plus, I've seen no rumours or leaks that says anything is on the way. More Trending I just don't get it. If you're rebooting something as obscure as Survival Kids, how does that come before Castlevania?! Oh well, if it's not in the Direct maybe they'll do something for the 40th anniversary next year. Although why do I get the feeling they won't? By reader Grackle The reader's features do not necessarily represent the views of GameCentral or Metro. You can submit your own 500 to 600-word reader feature at any time, which if used will be published in the next appropriate weekend slot. Just contact us at gamecentral@ or use our Submit Stuff page and you won't need to send an email. MORE: I had a Commodore Amiga as a kid and this is not the gaming future I imagined - Reader's Feature MORE: The biggest problem with the Nintendo Switch 2 is that it's too big – Reader's Feature MORE: Donkey Kong Bananza is Nintendo and gaming at its best - Reader's Feature
