MMO Weekly Recap #421 Aug. 28th – The Witcher Monster Slayer, Destiny 2 Beyond Light, Metin2 & More!

JamesBl0nde recaps the MMO gaming news for the week of August 28, 2020! Transcript & timestamps follow.

Guild Wars 2 celebrates its 8th anniversary with a teaser for its third expansion, Destiny 2 goes Beyond Light and reveals subclasses based on Stasis power, Warframe’s major update takes tenno to meet ancient lifeforms on the moon of Deimos and step aside Pokemon Go, the Witcher’s coming through!

Whats up guys! JamesBl0nde here with the weekly recap for gaming news and announcements for the week of August 28th 2020. and not anything like the last few weeks, we’ve got a hefty week of news on our hands and starting it out,

Crysis Remastered – Tech Trailer Preview: 0:22

Crysis Remastered wanted to set the record straight this past week as they released a preview of the tech trailer, giving gamers a better glimpse of the new graphics that they can expect to find in the remaster. You can see a few side by side shots in this short trailer and the remaster is definitely looking pretty! This comes after some backlash from the trailer leaked in late June, which many argued had no real graphical improvements, I mean the game already looked really good. Crytek has promised to deliver a full amount of polish though, and have pushed back the game’s release date to September 18.

Relic Hunters Legends: Developer Update: 1:05

A new developer video from the team behind Relic Hunters Zero and Relic Hunters Legend came out this past week. Apologizing first for the silence, the team then explained that they have a new anonymous partner that will help them fund the rest of the creation of Relic Hunters Legend. They reassure that they will retain full control of the game and IP, but will be closing its Founder’s Packs sales on August 31.  The team will be pushing back the release date which will be revealed next year. But with these changes comes double the team size, no exclusivity deals with platforms, and the promise the game will remain free to play. Since Relic Hunters Zero has been such a great game, we’re expecting awesome things out of Relic Hunters Legend when it does get released.

The Witcher: Monster Slayer Announced: 1:48

And let’s get it out of the way because I know some of you hate the words “mobile” and “game” in the same sentence, but we can’t pass by this week without mentioning CD Projekt’s newest game: The Witcher: Monster Slayer! Now if you heard that and thought something along the lines of Monster Hunter, sorry – it’s actually more like Witcher meets Pokemon Go. Using augmented reality tech, you can use your phone to hunt down Witcher-world monsters and use time of day, weather, and Witcher knowledge to your advantage to take down the beasts. Expect to see it on iOS and Android ‘soon’.

Guild Wars 2: End of Dragons Teaser Revealed: 2:27

In celebration of its eighth anniversary, Guild Wars 2 revealed its first official teaser cinematic for its third expansion: End of Dragons. It’s a really colorful, beautiful teaser that reflects on the resilience of mortals – and reveals the face of Kuunavang. Players of the original Guild Wars series may remember this dragon, and it will be exciting to see what role she plays in this. Unfortunately that’s all we have for now, other than a teaser page where you can sign up for the Guild Wars 2 newsletter.

Planetside 2 The Shattered Warpgate Teaser: 2:56

Next up in the news, Planetside 2 has just released a new teaser for its upcoming update, The Shattered Warpgate. This update is set to implement new open-world Campaigns, designed to offer storytelling, environment, and gameplay changes. The first campaign will send players to Esamir to explore and battle across a harsh, frozen tundra. There’s supposed to be much more in this update too with details revealed on a Friday stream.

Destiny 2: Beyond Light Stasis Subclasses Revealed: 3:22

Yesterday at Gamescom, Bungie revealed a new trailer for the Destiny 2: Beyond Light expansion. This is the first time they’ve revealed the subclasses based on the new Stasis power and they look awesome. Titans will gain an ice gauntlet as the Behemoth, Hunters gain ice axes as Revenants, and Warlocks gain an ice staff as the Shadebinder. Icy a theme here, dont you? More details of these subclasses are supposed to be revealed during September, but you’ll still have to wait until November for Beyond Light to launch.

Metin2: Conquerors of Yohara Expansion: 3:55

Also this past week Metin2 announced a new upcoming expansion this September. Conquerors of Yohara will introduce a brand new continent, full of new zones, quests, and dungeons to challenge yourself against. Designed for high level players, Yohara will only allow entrance to those who have conquered the Defense Wave Hydra instance. It promises new ways for players beyond level 120 to advance with the new Conquest system, where guilds can establish a foothold and vie for dominance. The expansion is set for release in September and Metin2 will offer an experience boost in game until its release.

World of Warcraft: Shadowlands Release Date Revealed: 4:29

Speaking of expansions, Blizzard used Gamescom to announce that it would release its Shadowlands expansion for World of Warcraft on October 27. Shadowlands takes players into the realm of the afterlife, featuring four Covenants to ally with, a roguelike Tower of the Damned, the unlock of Death Knights for all races, and more. One of the biggest things though that has people talking is the level squish – essentially everything is getting cut in half, so the new level cap will be 60 again and max level players currently at 120 will be level 50. kinda crazy. Of course there will also be a pre-patch and a lead up event so make sure to check that out if you want to take part.

Warframe: Heart of Deimos: 5:11

Warframe has launched a new major update this past week: the Heart of Deimos. A new quest will send Tenno to the moon of Deimos and the dangerous open-world landscape of Cambion Drift to meet ancient lifeforms and combat the moon’s infestation. A new Warframe appears in this update: Xaku, designed completely by the Warframe community and who taps into the powers of the void. Finally you can also unlock the Helminth system, feeding your ship’s Helminth resources to infuse your Warframe with dozens of new abilities to discover. Oh, and you can build a Necramech. As if you didn’t have enough awesome technology to use… there you go.

Legends of Runeterra: Call of the Mountain: 5:51

After over a week of hyping it up, Legends of Runeterra has launched its first expansion: Call of the Mountain. This update includes 89 new cards and 7 new champions to fill your roster with. It also introduces the Targon Lab, where you can check out the new champions and their decks. Of course this also kicks off a new ranked season, and a new guardian, board, and four new emotes round everything out. This is only the first part of the expansion too, with more cards and champions coming in October and December.

Black Desert: Hashashin PC Date Announced, Console Awakening: 6:22

Meanwhile Black Desert has announced two related bits of news. First, the PC release date for Hashashin, the game’s 20th class, has been announced for September 2nd with pre-creation available now. Hashashin is a desert themed dervish, utilizing sandstorms for movement, ambush, and damage while slicing quickly with his shamshir. And for console players, who got this class a bit earlier, the Hashashin Awakening is now live with a special event that runs through September 15th for bonus rewards.

World of Tanks Blitz Launches on Switch: 6:51

If you’re a Nintendo Switch gamer, you can welcome a brand new MMO to the platform. World of Tanks Blitz has now launched on the Switch free to play. If you’re not familiar with Blitz, the game’s key difference is that it aims to offer faster and more accessible gameplay than the original World of Tanks. For instance Blitz has 7 v 7 battles compared to World of Tank’s 15 v 15. Blitz is also cross-play enabled so you can play with any other platform players or just move over to the Switch if that’s where you’d prefer to play.

Ninjala Season 2 Begins: 7:22

Speaking of the Switch – the free to play Ninjala has released its Season 2 update. In addition to a new stage, Shinobi City, the update also introduces a new weapon: the Home Run Surfer. The Home Run Surfer adds new abilities to the game, including a ghost-bullet mechanic, a poisonous gas, and the ability to “ride the wave” and surf through your enemies. This is one of four board weapon classes introduced into the game. The team also hinted that a Sonic the Hedgehog collab event is coming soon. That could be cool!

Fortnite Chapter 2 Season 4: 7:55

And as Fortnite’s season four progresses, a new update this week brings chapter two of the Nexus War. This update brings in new super-powers from the Marvel Comics universe, including Doctor Doom’s Arcane Gauntlets and Groot’s Bramble Shield. You can now check out some iconic locations including Doom’s Domain, the Sentinel Graveyard, and the Helicarrier. It’s an all-out Marvel crossover event, just hope no one gets hold of the Infinity Gauntlet. That would be sad news for Fortnite… that would be crazy if it sorta ended the game… hmm… maybe someone should get the gauntlet.

Finally let’s wrap up with our deals for this week – first up if you’re looking to try something new, Hunter’s Arena: Legends is free to play this weekend on Steam. This MOBA-RPG hybrid is normally $20 but you can try it for free this weekend until August 31st. And over on the Epic Games Store, this week’s free games are the assassination classic, HITMAN, and the fantasy cyberpunk Shadowrun Collection. That’s about a $100 value in free games there so make sure you log in and claim them before next week’s recap!

Before wrapping things up, I also wanted to mention some news on two games I personally enjoy very much, Borderlands 3 revealed its 4 DLC this past week where vault hunters get to step into the mind of krieg, the psycho playable character from DLC in borderlands 2, really exciting DLC, and equally as exciting, Doom Eternal is getting its first campaign add on the ancient gods. Figured I’d share this awesomeness for those who, like myself, love to hunt vaults and rip & tear.

But either way guys, that’s about it for all the major news and announcements for this week. Be sure to stay safe, and keep your families healthy! Like always you can find more information on the news topics, linked in the description below, feel free to discuss the news or even more news in the comments below and don’t forget to like, subscribe, wash your hands a bunch, hit that little bell icon to get notifications and of course share this video! But until next time guys that’s going to be it for me… I’m JamesBl0nde… see ya out there gamers!