Shad Colquhoun

I’ve wanted an open-world Pokemon game for as long as I can remember - longer than I can even put into words. I remember playing the very first Assassin’s Creed and thinking ‘I hope they put Pokemon on the PlayStation one of these days’. What a fool I was. What an absolute buffoon of a 14-year-old. But that was what appealed to me more than any gameplay conventions - can I get it on my TV. With the Switch and the likes of Let’s Go and Sword & Shield, that’s now a reality, but the open-world hankering remains. Legends: Arceus , which is now going back on its open world promise , might be the perfect middle gro It's hard to think of Pokemon in the style of Breath of the Wild in practicality. Sure, anyone can edit a screenshot to have Gyarados in a BOTW lake or Rapidash racing across the field, but isn't that just what the Wild Area is? The illusion of an open world, the type that would look good in screenshots, but without meaning or purpose. Without any heart or direction, BOTW would not be the same game. It gives you freedom to go wherever you want, but it also provides contours across the map to steer you towards towns, it makes sure each location is thematically linked, and you often need to hit multiple landmarks to secure the tools and ingredients to reach the next one. Even though I'm not the biggest fan of it, I have to admire the level of design on show here. It's not a level I think Pokemon can match, and that's before you introduce the much more complicated issue of where you put the Pokemon and how you offer freedom while ensuring players don't meet their doom at the feathers of an overpowered Hawlucha 40 minutes into the g Maybe one day we'll get a full open-world Pokemon game, and maybe it'll be great. For now though, a Monster Hunter structure seems like the best balance, and means Pokemon Legends: Arceus can be Pokemon's next great leap without falling over its own feet Kleavor still looks bad tho EA and Omega Force officially revealed new Monster Hunter -like game Wild Hearts Wednesday morning with a trailer showing off towering beasts and impressive technology. The collaboration between EA and the Dynasty Warriors studio was revealed earlier this week, hinting at a triple-A title set in Feudal Japan with few details given at the time. The project will be the first major collaboration between EA and Omega Force with Omega Force mostly working on the Warriors franchise and its many spinoffs. Now, the newest project from Omega Force looks to take inspiration from Capcom's hunting franch Of the weapons that represent major races in the Hyrule established by the 2017 Switch launch title Breath of the Wild , three already feature in Monster Hunter Wilds tips|https://monsterhunterwildsforge.com/ Hunter 's arsenal of weapons in one way or another. The Gerudo specialize in using sword and shield combos, the Rito specialize in using bows, and the Goron specialize in using heavy swords like Claymores. Disregarding combat options such as magic rods, only the spears used primarily by the Zora do not have an equival That said, the one realm in which people seem to be the most accepting of weapon durability systems is in survival games. Considering that the whole point of those games is to be desperately trying to survive in an almost impossible situation, limited supplies and weapons contributes to the feel that the games are usually going for and are thus much more acceptable for m The figure itself displays Ciri in a kimono with a katana resting on her shoulder and the head of a Yokai, a Japanese demon, in her hand, not unlike the trophies earned in The Witcher 3 . At her side is a small fox-like creature with multiple tails, that some might recognize as a Kitsune, another spirit from Japanese lore. This figurine is named "Ciri and the Kitsune" and is a limited edition piece, each order being sculpted and painted by hand, including slight variations according to the product description due to the personal touch put into making the i But games like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild have gotten a lot of hate for its weapon durability setup. In Breath of the Wild, you go through weapons and shields extremely quickly, and they’re just broken and unusable once you’ve used them up. This game falls into that exact, problematic description that I’ve given above. Considering how great the rest of the game is, it’s unfortunate that so many people could not get past the durability sys Wild Hearts comes as the latest game to join EA's line-up of "EA Originals," a publishing initiative between EA and other development studios. EA has already seen massive success with several games published through the EA Originals program including 2021 Game of the Year It Takes Two and Coldwood Interactive's Unravel . The unique mix of giant monsters and technology will look to set Wild Hearts apart from its inspiration when it launches early next y I’m not a huge fan of Breath of the Wild as a game . I am, however, a humongous fan of Breath of the Wild as a world that exists on the Nintendo Switch and could be filled with Pokemon. Pokemon Legends: Arceus was supposed to be the delivery of ‘Pokemon but Breath of the Wild’, but it now seems to be more like ‘Pokemon but Monster Hunter: Rise’. That’s disappointing - Breath of the Wild is much closer to my hypothetical perfect Pokemon game than Monster Hunter - but it might just be for the b