Historically, Ni no Kuni has taken an almost Final Fantasy-style approach to sequels. Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch and its only-in-Japan counterparts, Dominion of the Dark Djinn for DS and Hotroit Stories for mobile devices, exist as one story. The console sequel, Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom, takes place many generations later, with any ties to the original basically functioning as fun Easter eggs. Characters and plot don’t move between games, but themes, the art style, and certain enemies and races do. The 2019 Ni no Kuni movie took a similar approach and did not feature direct overlap with the games.

The Ghibli inspirations remain strong in Ni no Kuni.

After spending a few hours with the upcoming No no Kuni mobile MMO, Cross Worlds, it seems to be continuing the tradition and not relying on the story that came before it. But there are plenty of reasons to recognize Cross Worlds as a legitiamte Ni no Kuni game that understands its roots–and it might be more of proper sequel than assumed.

The original Ni no Kuni tells the story of a young boy who loses his mother at a young age and learns of a fantasy world in need of his help. He enters that world in order to save it and maybe learn a little bit about himself along the way.

At the start you choose between the Rogue, Destroyer, Witch, Engineer, or Swordsman classes.

Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom follows a similar plot. Unlike a young boy who loses his mother, however–and be wary of early spoilers here–the introductory character appears to be President of the contemporary United States. He’s riding in a limo when a nuclear bomb goes off in his destination city and the explosion thrusts him into the fantasy world. It’s a bizarre opening that continues a thematic thread established by the first game: Ni no Kuni is about people from the real world figuring out their place in a fantasy world.

Nothing about this seems nefarious at all.

Cross Worlds is slightly different in its approach, but has a similar idea. The contemporary world appears to be well in the future. Technology has advanced to a point where people can be placed inside of full body pods in order to participate in VR experiences. After creating your character, you see them being placed in a pod. It looks less like a video game experience, and more like an experiment that would make Abstergo from the Assassin’s Creed universe raise an eyebrow.

Rania is a hologram momentarily before turning into what appears to be a real person.

From there you are greeted by what appears to be an A.I. character named Rania who welcomes you to the closed beta for Soul Divers. Some kind of glitch occurs and suddenly she is a real person who is aware of the simulation and promises they will find and help you. She also mentions a corporation called Mirae. There are no immediately tangible reasons to believe Mirae is an evil corporation, but it is a corporation in a video game, so it is bound to be evil at some point.

Cluu will likely be with you for the entire game–whether you like it or not.

Another arguably annoying Ni no Kuni staple introduces itself at this point when a cute creature with an obnoxious voice and a short temper wakes you and makes it clear they will be with you for the duration of the game to likely over-explain everything and function as the voice of your silent protagonist.

It’s during this time that you hear about what may be the most direct line to Ni no Kuni II when the kingdom of Evermore is mentioned. Evermore was founded by Revenant Kingdom’s protagonist, King Evan Pettiwhisker Tildrum. Establishing Evermore is basically the main goal in Revenant Kingdom and it appears to be treated with reverence in Cross Worlds with someone saying, “[Evermore] united the entire world–our Nameless Kingdom excluded, of course.”

The Grimalkin are cat-like creatures that featured prominently in No no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom

Ties to previous games are more subtle at this point. You meet Grimalkin characters, the cat-like people of Ni no Kuni, and track down Swift Solutions shops where you can take on side quests. I also saw Higgledies, the collectable Pikmin-like creatures. A large pair of dice can be found in the main town, which could be a callout to the city of Goldpaw from Ni no Kuni II where everything is decided by the roll of dice. Or they could just be there so you can kick them around the town because it’s fun.

Previous games did not break the fourth wall, so it will be interesting to see how this plays out.

More time with Cross Worlds will reveal the larger story, but some interesting fourth-wall breaking interactions (something new to the Ni no Kuni series) did happen during my time. A shopkeeper complained about someone calling them an NPC, and I ran into two Soul Divers “players” who were running around with little regard for the town or the characters within it. If I had to venture a guess, it seems the corporation Mirae is touting a VR experience to its users, but they are actually sending people to the fantasy world of Ni no Kuni, which might be a problem.

You can pick the dice up and carry them around, but why would you do that when kicking them is also an option?

The reference to Evermore implies the game takes place after Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom, but how long after is not yet clear. In any case, you will be able to find out yourself and explore Ni no Kuni: Cross Worlds when it releases for mobile devices on May 25.

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V Rising, an open-world game where you role-play as a reawakened vampire with a thirst for empire building, will have an offline mode soon.

Stunlock Studios community manager Jeremy Bearson announced the upcoming feature on V Rising’s Discord and said the team has prioritized making offline play available “as soon as possible.” Clarifying, Bearson said the offline mode should come “in the next couple of days, but may be earlier.”

V Rising released in Early Access on May 17, and it has received much love on Steam. It turns out a lot of people enjoy role-playing as a vampire–from suffering the effects of sunlight to building castles. Currently both PVE and PVP require players to have an online connection. If you’re curious on how to get started, check out our V Rising tips for beginners guide.

Stunlock also recently pushed a small patch to fix minor issues to improve servers’ performances as well as item drop tweaks like making it easier to obtain unsullied hearts from enemies.

V Rising’s devs are targeting an Early Access exit within 12 months and will release new updates to the game throughout Early Access to launch. V Rising’s Early Access currently costs $20. The devs expect the full launch’s price to increase but are unsure at this time exactly how much.

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During a corporate strategy meeting this week, Sony CEO Kenichiro Yoshida spoke about how the planned acquisition of Destiny 2 developer Bungie will help PlayStation transition towards becoming more of a multiplatform business.

“We believe it will be a catalyst to enhance our live game services capabilities,” Yoshida said (via VGC). “Our acquisition of Bungie also represents a major step forward in becoming more multiplatform.”

While Sony has traditionally focused on developing games for its PlayStation consoles, the last few years have seen it shift towards creating more mobile content and PC ports of its console-exclusive titles. Horizon Zero Dawn and God of War have been ported to PC, and Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves will arrive later this year on that platform.

After Sony announced its plans to acquire Bungie and keep its status quo as an “independent subsidiary” intact, the studio said that its existing and upcoming game projects would not be exclusive to PlayStation platforms after the deal is completed. The acquisition is still currently undergoing scrutiny by the Federal Trade Commission, which at this point can only review it for any potential antitrust issues in the gaming industry

Acquisitions have dominated the news cycle over the last couple of months, as Square Enix sold its Western studios Crystal Dynamics, Eidos-Montreal, and Square Enix Montreal to Embracer Group for $300 million, so that it can streamline its operations and invest in future technologies. PlayStation boss Jim Ryan has also dropped hints that Sony will be looking at acquiring more studios in the future.

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Vampire: The Masquerade – Swansong is a complicated game that throws dozens of important choices at you right from the start. It’s rather easy to talk yourself into a corner and miss out on key pieces of information or overlook a vital clue for a puzzle that’s got you stumped. Our beginner’s tips for Swansong help avoid some of the more common pitfalls and get the outcome you want.

Use Willpower wisely

Your vampire gets a limited amount of Willpower at the start of each scene, the blue diamonds used in conversations to influence people’s thinking, and for the most part, that’s all you get. You can replenish some through conversations and certain items, but usually only between three and five Willpower points, sometimes more.

It may be tempting to use Focus and force your way through an exchange to get what you want or use your skills whenever you can. However, it’s usually best to hold back at least eight Willpower points to use in a Confrontation. These have more serious ramifications for failing and can influence endings and available objectives.

A note on Focus

Focus in general is a bit tricky. In theory, you can use it to boost your chances of success should a conversation option end in a tie between you and the other speaker, so long as you have at least one point in that skill or trait. In practice, it rarely works that way, something Swansong even acknowledges.

Unless your opponent has a significantly lower skill level, they almost always increase their Focus as well, reducing your chances of success and wasting your Willpower when you lose. It’s best to use Focus if your level is one or two higher than theirs, and you start with at least a 30% chance of success. Even then, keep an eye on the forecast outcome to see how likely it is they may respond in kind.

Just because you can use a skill, doesn’t mean you should

You’ll often find none of this matters anyways thanks to how Swansong structures its dialogue choices. The presence of a skill option–a choice that requires rhetoric or persuasion, for example–isn’t always the “right” choice. Sometimes it even makes things worse. Pay attention to who you’re talking to and their relationship with your character before deciding whether to spend Willpower on a choice.

Check everything–then check it again

Swansong rewards methodical sleuthing. Whether it’s a seemingly innocuous cup, a photograph, or a bloodsoaked piece of clothing, even the smallest items often have some kind of clue to offer or can help push the story forward. In some cases, it’s worth checking everything again after a new development, as a few items take on new importance once you’ve gained more knowledge or altered the scene in some way.

Not every item is of vital importance. Some–files and notebooks in particular–are just there to add context for a situation.This knowledge can still come in handy, though, and give greater insight into what dialogue choices might get the outcome you want at a later point.

Dialogue

Talk to everyone, multiple times. Swansong has no quest markers or any kind of indication that someone might be important, so the only way to know is if you’ve spoken with them to get their story and perspective on the situation at hand. Sometimes, it’ll just be standard lore you get for your trouble.

More often, though, you’ll find–and hopefully write down–a piece of information that clashes with someone else’s testimony and opens a new path forward. If you ever come across a character talking about someone else you’ve met, make sure to go back to that character and see if they have anything new to say.

Take notes–frequently

The trouble is, Swansong doesn’t actually keep track of any of this for you. The only way to look back on a curious tidbit you learned or an important pass code is trekking all the way back across a stage to check the object again, and that’s just tedious.

A general rule is that if there’s something specific in a description or on an item, such as a date or even mention of a location, write it down. Take Galeb’s first full stage, for example. Tucked away in a random book on the floor in a hallway, among several other books, is a brief mention of a hidden emergency chamber. This location ends up being crucial for completing the main story objective, but it’s easy to forget in the midst of all the other evidence you gather.

Not every environmental object helps solve a puzzle, but you should check anyway.

We don’t need no education (Kidding, you really do)

Regardless of which starting class your vampires end up in, you can distribute your skill points however you like. Make sure to invest some in education and deduction, especially for Leysha. Each scene has a couple of interactions or conversations, sometimes more, that require at least one point in education or deduction.

Without them, you’re forced to ignore certain dialogue options and miss out on key information, often information that’s necessary for completing side tasks. You can still finish a scene and earn plenty of experience even if you have to play dumb and overlook obvious connections in conversations. It’s just much less frustrating this way.

Keep your Hunger in check

Swansong delights in throwing unexpected situations at you, especially if they require you to use your vampire powers and increase your Hunger meter. Some sequences actually have multiple choices in a row where you can either use a power or deal with a less savory outcome.

The problem is, if your Hunger is too high, you’ll lose control and instantly kill whoever is nearby–not a good thing to do. Try and keep your Hunger below five as often as you can, especially if you’re headed into a new area or starting a new objective.

On a similar note, only drain each victim once. There’s almost always another safe room you can find to lure a new human to, and the increase in suspicion from killing a vessel isn’t worth it.

Don’t fret over missed objectives

No matter how carefully you plan, it’s almost inevitable you’ll miss something or make the wrong choice. And that’s okay. The scene results screen shows you everything you did right, including what paths you missed and which objectives you failed. Use that when you replay to guide what you do differently.

Failing some objectives will influence the story, but you’ll know what these are when they happen–letting a fugitive escape, for example, or defying the Prince’s orders. Others, such as not gaining intel on every council member in the first scene, just mean you lose out on some lore and experience.

Always use consumables

This may seem obvious, but don’t forget to use your consumables. Coins, pictures, and club cards restore Willpower for Galeb, Leysha, and Emem, respectively. You can use them even if you haven’t spent any Willpower yet to go beyond the amount you start the scene with.

Others, such as lockpicks and keycards, are more dependent on your stats. If you have at least one point in their corresponding skills, you can use them to boost your chances of success in the next related interaction–picking locks, hacking computers, and the like. It’s an easy way to compensate for certain skills you might have overlooked, and no consumable carries over to the next scene.

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On May 14, a gunman killed 10 people and wounded three others in a racist attack at a Buffalo grocery store. The suspect livestreamed the attack through Twitch–a platform now under investigation by the New York Attorney General Office. It’s not the only social media company under scrutiny: Platforms including 4chan, 8chan, Discord, and unnamed others will also be investigated for the role they played in “amplifying this attack.”

“My office is launching investigations into the social media companies that the Buffalo shooter used to plan, promote, and stream his terror attack,” New York Attorney General Letitia James announced. “We are investigating Twitch, 4chan, 8chan, and Discord, among others, all platforms that the shooter used to amplify this attack.”

James added, “The terror attack in Buffalo has once again revealed the depths and danger of the online forums that spread and promote hate. The fact that an individual can post detailed plans to commit such an act of hate without consequence, and then stream it for the world to see is bone-chilling and unfathomable.”

In the wake of the Buffalo shooting, the role of social media platforms in disseminating videos of live mass shootings and these platforms’ moderation policies have been questioned. The Christchurch shooter in 2019 also streamed his attack live and chose Facebook as the platform, and it’s this very video that the Buffalo shooter said he took inspiration from.

The attacker found the Christchurch shooting video on 4chan and used Discord to link to his Twitch livestream–reasons why both Discord and 4chan have been named in the New York Attorney General’s investigation. The New York AG is also pursuing an investigation because of reports made about the shooter actively posting online for months discussing white supremacist theories and even publicly talking about “potential plans to terrorize an elementary school, church, and other locations he believed would have a considerable community of Black people to attack.”

The New York AG is conducting this investigation under referral from Governer Hochul and will be looking into whether or not the platforms connected to the shooter’s activities will have “civil or criminal liability for their role in promoting, facilitating, or providing a platform to plan and promote violence.”

Twitch was able to shut down the livestream and suspend the user in under two minutes, according to statements given by the company to multiple news sites, but reuploaded footage still found its way to other sites. Moderation of livestreams–especially for a platform like Twitch with a massive user base–and prevention of recorded footage of mass shootings from circulating online remains an issue with no clear solution.

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