Footage of No Man’s Sky Version 1.0 Shows How Far the Game Has Come

In this day and age, pretty much everyone who currently plays No Man's Sky and has done so since the beginning is prepared to forgive Hello Games for what originally released back in 2016. At the time, it had one of the most disastrous launches in video game history, but there's no denying that it has drastically changed. Along with a slew of updates and a dedicated fan base, for many, it's one of the most interesting sci-fi titles around, and some may have even forgotten what the game initially looked like.

Recently, YouTuber Cycu1 has shown exactly what No Man's Sky looked and played like six years ago when it first launched. The video shows them playing the game on PS5, but they've installed the game directly from the disc, Version 1.0, essentially turning it into the original incarnation of the game. Fans will no doubt see the differences between then and now, with the hour and a half footage possibly opening up old wounds from players who remember what the game used to be like. It really demonstrates how far things have come and the work that Hello Games has been putting into its galaxy exploration title.

Probably the most notable difference is with the space stations, which can be seen about an hour into the playthrough. While they are now bustling hubs full of side quests, NPCs, and traders, Cycu1's video shows just how empty and uninteresting these stations were in Version 1.0. No Man's Sky features 18 quintillion discoverable planets, but back then things seemed so empty, and seeing how little content each space station has in this footage is a sobering reminder of what used to be.

Things are much better these days, thankfully. The developer continues to offer free updates that simply pack the already enormous game with even more content. In fact, No Man's Sky is also getting a Nintendo Switch port later this year, showing that it's still making an impact on the industry. The game is easily one of the most famous redemption arcs in all of video game development, with the studio even winning a BAFTA back in April.

Hello Games has also said it's working on its next game, but the company's co-founder Sean Murray has insisted that the team has learned its lesson about overhyping projects. Little is known about what this next release will be. Whether it will have any ties with the No Man's Sky universe cannot be said, but whatever the studio is working on will have to go to great lengths to be as ambitious as its sci-fi IP.

Dark Souls 3 Gets Bloodborne Overhaul With New Mod

The Soulsborne franchise has had an active modding community since the days of the original Dark Souls. Some of these mods help to make FromSoftware's difficult RPGs a little easier, such as the many mods that given Elden Ring an easy mode. Besides easy mode mods, there are of course counterparts to make the game more difficult. As well as smaller modifications to the Soulsborne titles, there are those creations made by fans that completely overhaul a FromSoftware game and make the core elements almost unrecognizable.

Dark Souls 3 recently received a mod called The Convergence, which was such an in-depth and expansive piece of fan-made content that players stated that in some ways the mod transformed the game into Dark Souls 4, being the natural extension of its predecessor. Now, one modder has again given Dark Souls 3 a huge overhaul, but rather than extend the original game, Bradysheaslays has given it a new look similar to one of FromSoftware's most popular titles, Bloodborne.

To some fans, Bloodborne is considered the best game that FromSoftware has put out, and its Old Hunters DLC is touted as some of the hardest content in the Soulsborne franchise. Now, the Dark Souls 3 mod Fear the Old Blood aims to make the game feel and play like Bloodborne, essentially giving fans a secondary experience in the latter game. Everything from lighting to textures to outfits and music have been changed in order to alter the atmosphere of Dark Souls 3.

Even some gameplay elements from Dark Souls 3 have been changed to better fit the way Bloodborne plays. Players can now dash in Dark Souls 3, something that they were previously unable to do, and can also shoot blood vials at enemies to attack them from range. Dark Souls 3 Fear the Old Blood is available now to download from Nexus Mods, and while some players may find it similar to another Bloodborne mod for the game called Ashen Blood, they will find that the latter mod also featured enemies from the Victorian-era game that Dark Souls 3 players could encounter. Unfortunately, Fear the Old Blood doesn't have enemies from Bloodborne, but it is possible these could come in a future update.

Outside modding, Bloodborne fans have been remaking the game in other ways. Recently, one fan created a full demake of Bloodborne for the PS1, complete with nostalgic graphics, gameplay, and more. The demake proved to be incredibly popular, receiving over 100,000 downloads in the first 24 hours following its launch. With the success of the Bloodborne demake, some Soulsborne fans are hoping other titles in the franchise will receive a remake intended for older consoles.

Ambitious Fallout 4 Mod ‘Fallout London’ Gets Announcement Trailer, Releasing in 2023

While some diehard fans of the franchise might not consider it the best entry, Fallout 4 is still a very successful installment in the post apocalyptic series. While Fallout 5 is likely years away from release, there are still other games to be played, not to mention all the mods and add-ons. And speaking of mods, there is a team that has been hard at work on a very ambitious DLC-sized expansion, which is due to be launching some time next year.

In a recent video uploaded to YouTube, as spotted by PCGamesN, the Fallout: London mod is a piece of custom content for Fallout 4 that, as the name suggests, takes place in England's capital city. The video represents the official announcement trailer for the mod, showing some locales and set pieces from it. While there's no exact release date yet, it's expected that London will be coming out in 2023, according to the trailer. Given the setting, it will explore "new cultures," which have not typically been touched upon in the official games, and will also dive into some pre-war European history as well.

Fallout: London already had gameplay footage released, and given the fact that it takes place in one of the largest cities in Europe, it's definitely an aspirational mod, and no doubt a lot of fans of the series are excited about its release. Like the base games, London will feature numerous factions, such as the Gentry, Tommies, and 5th Column, which is a group that intends to "tear down the establishment" of the capital city, with a new empire as its end goal. The mod's story will take place close to World War 2, and while there will be guns, the official page says there will be slightly fewer, with some aspects encouraging more melee weapon use.

Given that Fallout 4 came out in 2015, which is the last single-player entry in the series, many are holding out for the next official game to be released, which, as mentioned above, could be a long time away. For now, Fallout mods are what fans can expect, but luckily, ones such as Fallout: London sound really interesting.

As for the main game itself, Fallout 4 is one of the highest-selling Bethesda games to date, though doesn't quite hit the sales numbers of something like Skyrim, with a dedicated fan base continuing to explore the ruins of Boston. It will definitely be interesting to see how things look in the upcoming mod, especially given that the story will take place outside of America, which is unusual for a Fallout game, or mod.

Genshin Impact Reveals Kuki Shinobu Character Demo

Genshin Impact's gacha-based system brings a new set of limited characters with each new version of the game. A couple of weeks ago the game's official social media accounts have revealed the two characters that are scheduled to arrive in update 2.7.

After a three-week delay, the game finally introduced the long-awaited five-star Hydro bow user Yelan. However, with her banner, Discerner of Enigmas, coming to an end, it's time for a new Genshin Impact limited banner to take its place.

Genshin Impact's official YouTube channel has finally released the character demo for one of the upcoming character Kuki Shinobu, who is part of the famous Arataki gang led by popular Geo claymore character Arataki Itto. Even though she joined Itto's gang at the later stage, she's become one of its main members who transformed the way the gang operates. As the gang's second-in-command, Kuki Shinobu often finds herself getting her troublesome leader out of tricky situations such as being in jail or fighting a large group of enemies.

As mentioned in the demo, Kuki Shinobu's primary responsibilities are to bring in business, maintain a stable team, as well as bailing the team from the Police Station. She is one of the most anticipated four-star characters in the game thanks to her unique ninja-themed design. However, fans are a bit disappointed by the fact that she will apparently be an off-field support style Genshin Impact character, even though she has some of the best combat animations in the game.

Kuki Shinobu is a four-star Electro character which means that players will be able to level up her constellations fairly easy. Her elemental skill, Sanctifying Ring, allows her to create an Electro ring around her that expands every second dealing AoE damage. Goei Narukami Kariyama Rite is the name of Kuki's burst, and it makes her stab her sword in the ground creating a damage barrier for a couple of seconds. Similarly to the recently released character Yelan, Kuki Shinobu's skills will apparently scale with HP which is unusual for four-star characters.

Kuki Shinobu arrives on the same banner as her gang leader Arataki Itto who will serve as the only limited five-star character of the update's second banner cycle. Itto was added to the game back in Genshin Impact update 2.3 and this will be his first banner re-run. Considering their in-game relationship, Itto and Kuki will most likely have great synergy on the battlefield.

Redfall's Open World Was Originally 'Too Open,' Arkane Designer Says

Redfall is the latest title from Deathloop and Dishonored developer Arkane Studios. Redfall initially seemed an interesting game when it was first announced at Xbox's E3 2021 Showcase, being a co-op shooter clearly inspired by Left 4 Dead with one major change being that the primary enemies were swapped from hordes of zombies to powerful vampires and deranged cultists wanting to be turned into creatures of the night. With a recent gameplay reveal at the 2022 Xbox and Bethesda Games Showcase as well, Redfall is an upcoming game that many in the community have their eyes on.

Following the Xbox and Bethesda Games Showcase, Arkane Game Designer Harvey Smith sat down with IGN to give some more details about the game and how it will work. In the interview, Smith revealed much about Redfall, with the first thing he spoke about being the game's open-world. Previously, in Deathloop and the Dishonored games, Arkane allowed players to explore a wide map, but it wasn't exactly open-world, and there were a limited amount of areas that a player couldn't travel between seamlessly.

Now, Redfall is changing that. The game will still encourage exploration in the same way Arkane's previous titles have, except with a much larger play space. Smith states that Redfall's open-world was initially "too open," stating that there wasn't enough blocking the player. Smith then went on to say that Redfall will have two main areas. There is the town of Redfall, which has been seen previously in some leaked screenshots and is where the first half of the missions take place, then there are the more rural areas in another district.

Beyond the open-world of Redfall, Smith also spoke about the way the campaign would work in the game. While there are four playable characters in Redfall, implying that the game has a focus on co-op, Smith stated that the single player experience won't be any less enjoyable, and will provide a "spookier" atmosphere, as the player would then be left alone to face Redfall's vampires. It may be better for some players to go it alone as well, as Redfall's campaign progression will only be tied to whoever is hosting a multiplayer session.

Arkane has put a lot of thought into the cooperative elements of Redfall too, as Smith spoke about the synergies characters can create when they all work together, alongside how there will be banter between the squad, similar to other co-op games like Vermintide 2 and Left 4 Dead. It seems that Arkane is making use of its knowledge of stealth mechanics as well, as Redfall's enemies will rely on their awareness of sight and sound in order to spot the players. While Smith states that Redfall won't be a "super hardcore stealth game," it will have elements of stealth.

Starfield's Main Quest Will Be Much Larger Than Fallout 4 and Skyrim's

While Bethesda's single-player RPGs are often praised for a multitude of things, such as immersive worlds, compelling characters, and engaging gameplay, the Fallout and Elder Scrolls franchises are often also well known for the stories that they take the player on throughout their run. While the open-world nature of games like Skyrim can have players avoiding the main quest for as long as possible, it is clear that Bethesda puts a lot of time and effort into crafting a rich main story for the player to sink their teeth into. It seems that the company's latest project, Starfield, will be no different.

It is no secret that Starfield is an ambitious project. In the first gameplay footage of the new space-faring RPG shown at the Xbox and Bethesda Games Showcase, Starfield displayed its expansive play space, with over 1,000 planets available for players to explore. It seems that alongside a wealth of areas for players to get lost in, Starfield will also have an expansive main quest to try and keep gamers on some kind of set path.

According to a recent IGN interview with Bethesda Director Todd Howard, Starfield's galaxy isn't the only thing about the game that is expansive. The main quest of Starfield will reportedly be around 20 percent longer than the Wanderer's journey to find their son in Fallout 4 and the Dragonborn's mission to take down Alduin in Skyrim. This means that if players just go for the main objectives in Starfield, completely ignoring the rest of the game, they will still have to spend around 30-40 hours to finish the story.

Most of the plot points around Starfield's main quest are unknown, as the 15 minutes of gameplay shown at the Xbox and Bethesda Games Showcase was really more of a glimpse than a full reveal. However, fans online have made some guesses about the direction of the main campaign, and many think that Starfield's factions will play a role, somewhat similarly to those in Fallout 4.

Todd Howard didn't just speak about Starfield's main story in his recent interview. There were plenty of other important details revealed about Starfield and other Bethesda projects. It was revealed that Starfield will have four major cities, including the largest settlement in any Bethesda title, New Atlantis. Moving on from Starfield, Todd Howard also stated that Fallout 5 is confirmed to come out at some point, but fans shouldn't get too hyped for any news on that game as Howard shared it would be coming out after The Elder Scrolls 6.

Every Video Game Release Coming Soon For PC

PC players are starting to see a lot of console-exclusive ports make their way to Steam and various launchers. This is great news for anyone who's felt like they've been missing out without owning a console, and it's clear that the lines between console and PC are beginning to blur, especially concerning Microsoft and their desire to port their impressive games library to both systems.

Game Pass has made things even more lucrative and many series once thought console-locked forever are receiving PC versions (even if it takes a year or so to adapt them over).

Those playing games on a PC have a lot to look forward to in 2022 and beyond, with some high-profile ports, awesome-looking Indie releases, and AAA titles that are sure to look absolutely stunning on a high-end build. Here's a look at all the titles we can expect to see on the PC in the rest of 2022, along with games that do not have specific release years. What are the most exciting 2022 PC games?

Updated June 9, 2022: The upcoming PC games were added to the calendar over the last week: Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered, Rollerdrome, Deadcraft: It Came From the Junkyard, Post Void, Madden NFL 23, Destroy All Humans! 2 – Reprobed, Endling - Extinction is Forever, New Just Cause Game, Plunder Dungeons, Ruggnar, Blossom Tales 2: The Minotaur Prince, Aery - Last Day of Earth, Nevergrind Online, Stick Go story, Dying Light: Definitive Edition, CrushBorgs, Pocket Academy, Othello: Daynight Time Clash, One Piece Arcade Idle, Skeleton Crew, Japanese Rail Sim: Journey to Kyoto, Unity of Command 2 - Desert Rats, Vnesis, F1 Manager 2022, I Am Sakuya: Touhou FPS Game, Intergalactic Pawn Shop, Abeyance, Far Sector, Angry Alligator.

Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak's Malzeno Draws an Interesting Parallel to Horizon Zero Dawn

Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak's flagship monster Malzeno is a grave threat that players could understand better by looking at Horizon Zero Dawn.

Every Monster Hunter game features a "flagship monster" that adorns its box art, similar to Legendary Pokemon like the newly announced Koraidon and Miraidon. The expanded "ultimate" versions of various titles have introduced their own flagship monsters, seen with the shift from Monster Hunter 4's Gore Magala to Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate's Seregios. That trend carried over to Monster Hunter World's Iceborne expansion, which Capcom is replicating with Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak.

The flagship monster in Monster Hunter Rise was Magnamalo, but the upcoming Sunbreak expansion instead features Malzeno. This Elder Dragon is considered one of the "Three Lords" causing trouble around Elgado Outpost, grouped with Garangolm and Lunagaron as creatures inspired by western stories and myths: a vampire, Frankenstein's monster, and a werewolf, respectively. The Monster Hunter Digital Event in May 2022 gave fans more information about Malzeno's powers, which could be better understood looking at the Chariot-class machines from Guerrilla Games' Horizon franchise.

Malzeno's Machinations in Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak

During the aforementioned Digital Event, Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak director Yoshitake Suzuki described Malzeno as a monster designed to capture the regal air of legends like Dracula - with concept art focused on "aristocracy, nobility, grandeur, and cunningness." He offers an insight into Capcom's philosophy for Elder Dragons being sketched around what kind of calamity they would cause, and says Malzeno has previously pushed the Kingdom that players now protect to the brink of ruin.

Its destructive force is characterized by "mysterious creatures" that latch onto other monsters like leeches; visually reminiscent of tiny, pink Khezu with petal-shaped wings. Malzeno appears to hold opponents in place while its subservient creatures absorb the monster's life force. According to Suzuki, the beautiful and elegant Malzeno will transform into a more vicious, powerful form once it has absorbed enough energy. This translates into Malzeno's Blooblight status effect as a game mechanic, which sees a hunters' health drain unless they can deal enough damage against the Elder Dragon in return.

How Life-Leeching Machines in Horizon Zero Dawn Resemble Malzeno

Though vampire motifs are not uncommon in video games (Capcom's own Castlevania franchise is a substantive example), Malzeno's tendency to absorb energy from afar rather than drinking blood is unique. In that way, the Elder Dragon's particular brand of apocalyptic mayhem brings to mind the world-ending machines from Horizon Zero Dawn and its sequel Forbidden West.

While Horizon players follow Aloy some centuries after the end of the world, various documents reveal how things became the way they are. Guerrilla Games crafts a speculative future for modern-day humanity in which entrepreneur Ted Faro helps mitigate the effects of climate change through green robots developed by Faro Automated Solutions (FAS). Faro soon pivots his company to military contracts, developing a line of Chariot combat robots: the Scarab (Corruptor), Khopesh (Deathbringer), and Horus (Metal Devil).

These machines were developed with an unhackable operating system that becomes problematic when a swarm of Chariot robots goes rogue. The war machines were designed to self-replicate by consuming biomass from the environment, as well as take over the programming of other machines (corrupting them, as future humans would see it). It becomes apparent to scientist Elisabet Sobeck that this swarm - which comes to be known as the Faro Plague - is unstoppable, so she spearheads Project Zero Dawn to shut it down and repopulate the planet after it has been stripped of life.

Horizon Forbidden West takes Aloy to the Greenhouse, an FAS facility on the California coastline where she and Quen ally Alva discover how the biomass-leeching technology was developed. Watching a test for this ability at the Greenhouse shows how devastating it was, though Aloy saw a glimpse while battling HADES at the end of Zero Dawn. Guerrilla's series could serve as an interesting companion to Capcom's upcoming Sunbreak expansion as a result. With Malzeno similarly able to absorb life from afar, one can only imagine how an army of the Elder Dragons would tear down civilizations akin to FAS' Chariot line.