MMO Weekly Recap #453 June 4th – New MMO Palia, Genshin 1.6 & PSO2: New Genesis Release & More!

JamesBl0nde recaps the MMO gaming news for the week of June 4, 2021! Transcript follows.

Phantasy Star Online 2 New Genesis is only a few more days away from launch, Genshin Impact is gearing up for summer time celebrations, Skyforge shows off its 19th playable class and it sounds like the new co-op dungeon in Black Desert Online is about as large as an entire region in the game!

What’s good everyone, JamesBl0nde here with the weekly recap for gaming news and announcements for the week of June 4th 2021

Kicking us off this week is a brand new MMO announcement! That’s right, this week a new game developer, Singularity 6, announced their upcoming community simulation MMO, Palia. In this game humans have just recently re-appeared in the world, and as one of them, it will be up to you to build a community with other players as you discover the story of the world you’ve appeared in. This looks to be a bit more of a casual driven MMO with less focus on combat, and more focus on neighborhoods, crafting, exploring, and so on – maybe a bit like Villagers and Heroes perhaps? Anyway it’s great to see a game like this announced, and you can sign up for the pre-alpha tests on their website, palia.com.

Well it seems a lot of things are happening on June 9th…

After a successful month of closed beta testing, Phantasy Star Online 2: New Genesis will officially launch on June 9, and yes, it will still be free-to-play.  Set 1000 years after the events of PSO2, New Genesis promises expansive battlefields complete with new abilities to rapidly travel across them.  In addition, loading screens simply won’t do — you’ll automatically transition from one area to the next by walking into it.  Not to mention they’ve redesigned the graphics engine for much more detail, including their character creation which is even more robust than before!  Not enough?  How about the fact you can switch freely between PSO2 and New Genesis content.  Best of all, PC and XBox One players can even crossplay together!

Do you know what else is launching on June 9?  Genshin Impact version 1.6!  This update to the popular open world adventure is all about summer, just in time.  The Midsummer Island Adventure features a ton of new events to participate in and earn several rewards, including the first alternate outfits in the game for Barbara and Jean.  While Jean’s costume is limited to the store, Barbara’s can be picked up by spending event currency.  Later in the patch will be the launch of a brand new five star character, Kazuha.  This Inazuma swordsman possesses the power of an Anemo vision, and strikes his opponents with elemental infused plunging attacks and more.  Plus the continuation of the main story will be introduced, which will draw players ever closer to the looming country of Inazuma.  Not to mention the game will finally be available to download on the Epic Games Store!

Also on June 9th, Albion Online will be officially launching its mobile versions on iOS and Android. This is a special day as it fulfills Albion’s promise to offer cross-play on PC and mobile. Once the version is live, all players – new players and veterans alike – will be eligible to claim a Chimera Riding Horse Skin and Tomes of Insight, just for logging in to both the desktop and mobile version of the game. Little bit of a shame that you won’t get this reward if you can’t log in to one platform or another, but still a great way to celebrate this long term goal for the MMO.

Meanwhile, The Gates of Oblivion have opened in The Elder Scrolls Online.  The Blackwood expansion and update 30 have officially launched on PC/Mac, and with it comes a whole host of new features.  Of course, a whole new zone is available: the titular Blackwood.  Situated within the territories of the Argonians, Khajiit, and Imperials, you’ll have to contend with the untamed wilderness the moment you step out of the city walls.  Along the way, you’ll uncover the schemes of Mehrunes Dagon, the daedric prince of destruction and face off with Oblivion itself.  The companion system is also introduced, allowing you to take specific NPCs with you on your adventures.  You can customize their abilities and equip them as you see fit to your playstyle.  Of course, new dungeons, new quests, and new challenges await, complete with new items and equipment to collect.  Blackwood will launch on PS4/5 and XBox One/X on June 8.

Another expansion just released is the Legions expansion for the World War 2 CCG: KARDS.  This expansion launches the Polish military as its latest faction, and expands on the deep strategy of the game by introducing a brand new keyword: Exile.  Exiled units can join its main forces, or that of its exiled nation as well, adding a new twist to abilities that you can take advantage of. Of course, the Polish forces were instrumental in intelligence gathering throughout WW2, and their presence in KARDS is no different.  Another new keyword — Intel — allows you to get a peek into what your opponent is holding to better prepare yourself. Of course, the other five factions have received some love with various cards in this expansion, so fans should check out KARDS: Legions right away!

In other news, Skyforge has just launched its latest free update, Hunters of Terra, available now on PC and console. This update introduces the game’s 19th class, the Bounty Hunter. This class uses a handheld mortar and specializes in AoE damage through explosives, but also has anti-grav and shield gadgets when things get tough. There’s also a new three player squad adventure, and a new Ancient Trails dungeon. Great time to jump back in or try the game out, since there’s also free 7-day premium time waiting for you.

Black Desert Online is about to get something brand new to the game: a co-op dungeon called Atoraxxion.  This dungeon is made up of four different parts, each with a different theme.  The first, Vahmalkea, is desert-themed and set to launch soon.  The ocean, canyon, and forest portions of Atoraxxion will be releasing in parts later this summer.  Players will face off against ancient weapons and enemies, puzzles, and unique obstacles throughout the dungeon, which promises to not only be challenging, but about as large as any region in the game. That’s pretty impressive. Players on the fast-growth Elvia servers will receive an additional difficulty, too, while players on all other servers will find a normal level.  Keep in mind that with each successive part released, Atoraxxion will also be getting more and more difficult to complete, soooo better get started early to learn the tricks you’ll need to survive.

Have you ever thought, “Man, Neverwinter is great, but I wish there were more classes that were musically inclined?”  No?  Tough, because the Bard class is coming later this year!  Astute players may recognize this is the first new class since the Oathbound Paladin launched way back in 2016!  Bards are notorious amongst Dungeons and Dragons players as a whimsical jack-of-all-trades class that can inspire their fellows to heroic feats, heal wounds, cast spells to bewitch and confuse enemies, and, dare I say it, charm their foes much to many a Dungeon Master’s chagrin.  The Bard will also feature two paragon paths: the swashbuckling Songblade, and the inspiring Minstrel.  The class promises one of the largest selection of spells and playstyles Neverwinter has seen, so look out for more information as the class nears launch!

Moving away from fantasy MMOs, War Thunder is launching its Red Skies update, bringing almost thirty new vehicles to the game. This includes Tier 7 for aviation, commander’s sight mechanics for ground vehicles, and a naval shell chase camera for ships to assist with aiming. Two new locations, the Red Desert and Drowned City, are also arriving. There’s even a collection of fixes and tweaks to improve targeting for missiles, torpedo detonation, and more. Check out all the details linked in the description below.

Conqueror’s  Blade is celebrating its second anniversary this month. The game released an interesting infographic linked below which includes the fact that there were 85% more battles than last year, as well as almost twice the amount of playtime. To celebrate, players can complete a limited-time series of challenges to get a legendary Hero attire and additional cosmetics. Twitch drops have also returned, along with a 40% XP boost in battles and daily login gifts until June 23rd.

Want more to celebrate? Brawlhalla’s summer event, Heatwave 2021, has finally kicked off! There are exclusive seasonal skins to collect, including the new Riptide Petra and Beachside Zariel. There’s also a new tiki-themed podium, new heatwave colors for all Legends, a hot lava K/O effect, new avatars, and more. Plus bonus gold for logging in, water balloons, and summer themed brawls – plenty of fun events to keep you busy. This weekend is also Brawlhalla’s Parsec Invitational, and if you drop in to watch you can earn some free exclusive eSports themed rewards.

Ring of Elysium’s Season 14 update has also gone live, with an all new Adventure Pass to cover its 10 week duration.  Three characters will be available in this pass: Code X and Code M at tier 1, and Lilo at tier 20. Each character have a variety of styles that will unlock throughout the course of the Adventure Pass.  A good number of the weekly challenges in the pass have been updated to allow easier completion, so collecting this all should be much easier than before.  Finally, the Europa Island is the latest Normal Mode map, as voted in-game by the Ring of Elysium community.

Finally let’s talk about this week’s free game on the Epic Games Store – it’s Frostpunk! Frostpunk is a society survival game where you need to rebuild humanity in a frozen wasteland. It comes from the makers of This War of Mine, so you can definitly bet it’s gritty and realistic. This is one that I’ve actually wanted to try for quite some time now and I’ve gotten really close to just, you know, buying it, so I’m pretty excited to see that it’s the free game of the week.

But with that said, 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!