Find us on

MMO Weekly Recap #455 June 18th – Dysterra, gen:LOCK x Paladins, Smite Morgan Le Fey, & More!

JamesBl0nde recaps the MMO gaming news for the week of June 18, 2021! Transcript follows.


E3 Shows us gameplay of a gritty new survival FPS, Neverwinter isn’t the only game getting a new Bard class, Smite now has over 110 playable gods and even though we didn’t see Elder Scrolls VII this year, new gen console players are probably happy about their newly enhanced version of ESO.

What’s good everyone, JamesBl0nde here with the weekly recap for gaming news and announcements for the week of June 18th 2021

And if you’re not living under a rock anymore, you probably know that E3 happened this past week which typically shadows over the usual weekly gaming news, well… not so much this year. so I’ve got you covered right here, with the standard news drops starting with a few newly announced games such as

Audio Clash Battle of the Bands, an all new multiplayer musical auto battler created by The Living Tombstone  developed by Big Boat Interactive. Here you get to build from a roster of eccentric band managers and assemble your band with rock star musicians summoned from across time, space and alternate realities sorta like a Bill & Ted movie I suppose. The idea is to build a song deck by combining sonic elements of rock, metal, punk, pop and EDM and stack that deck up against your opponent. Its almost like a mashup of DDR and a trading card battler if I had to take a guess at describing it… the trailer helps. Its definitely unique and it looks to launch sometime Q3 of this year. Links below to sign up for beta via Steam.

E3 brought on another hidden gem in Pioner, an upcoming FPS that’s dark and gritty and definitely stands out. As you might be able to tell from the gameplay trailer here, Pioner’s island setting is a no-go zone, populated by both other players and anomalies. The game looks to offer a mix of singleplayer campaign alongside more MMO-like elements with an open world that lives by its own rules and individual monsters and people will react to changes in the weather and time of day. Singleplayer part is a bit more scripted, but, you know, its nice to have a mix of both options. The game has apparently been around for a little while but the developer GFA Games has decided to start fresh and this is what we’ve been shown so far, and to be honest it looks pretty sweet!

Looking for an indie developed action adventure MOBA, well Kona Games is hosting their alpha kickoff tournament for Circuits and Shields Saturday June 19th! The game itself claims to be a modernized MOBA that is simple to learn but without sacrificing depth on every level, as an example it sports an intuitive item system that removes complex recipes while retaining flexibility. Augments allows a champion to be played multiple ways which increases variety but keeps the learning curve low. Definitely different looking if you ask me. If your interested in trying the game, links in the description below, as for the tournament, there’s no entry fee and its got a $750 prize pool with a $500 grand price, so… might be worth hopping in if you’re already decent with mobas.

Speaking of indie games, the new 3rd person online multiplayer action game Kingshunt kicks off its open beta via steam on June 22nd. Kingshunt combines the genres of tower defense and hack-and-slash together with fast-paced hero combat… in other words, it’s a MOBA, basically. The new beta version of Kingshunt will introduce new utilities, towers, a new hero, tutorial, map, and exciting new game mode updates, whatever that might look like. If you’re looking to try the game out keep and eye out for the open beta starting next week on June 22nd.

Well it seems like Neverwinter isn’t the only MMO getting the new Bard class as Trove rocks the summer with the magical and stylish Bard. With a special focus on support and healing the new bard class combines two vital parts of an effective team build: Bards can weave stylish moves and powerful songs into numerous powerful abilities to buff and aid their fellow adventurers in combat, while still dishing out magic damage when facing off against the dangers in the procedurally generated worlds. They can exclusively be obtained through crafting on the Chaos Crafter or via one of the new Bard Packs. With the addition of the Bard, players now have access to 17 individual classes but the update also introduces a brand new crafting tier to Crystallogy. The Bardmancologist now unlocks the ability to craft allies, mounts, wings, and sweet costumes for the Bard class. It’s been a minute since we’ve heard from Trove it seems so this update is kind of a sight for sore eyes, plus they are mentioning the Nintendo switch port is just around the corner. The latest update that features the Bard is now live on PC with console dates to be announced soon.

Also this past week Kakao Games announced the upcoming closed beta test of their online action survival game Dysterra. As I’ve briefly mentioned in recaps past, Dysterra is a sci-fi survival action game that depicts a dystopian future where exiled inhabitants are forced to be on the perishing Earth to gather the most evolved mineral, Tiberium…err I mean Terrasite. Dysterra’s dev team collected a ton of feedback from the alpha testers back in March and have been working hard to implement changes based on that feedback. The beta test will start July 7th and run until July 20th with registration now open, all you have to do is follow the link below and hit the ‘Request Access’ button on Dysterra’s Steam store page. This one seems like it would be pretty fun to test out.

Well it looks like Neowiz has come to a decision on when to have its grand opening for Bless Unleashed on PC. On August 6th the game will be free to play, just as it is on the PlayStation and XBOX platforms, on PC via Steam. And if you’ve been playing the betas you don’t have to worry about resets going forward. As a special event, during the Steam Next Fest happening from now through June 22nd, Bless Unleashed will be hosting a special “demo” version of the game which gives anyone on the fence one last chance to try out the tutorial and character creation aspects of the game ahead of its launch, but mainly to keep the download size down for when you’re ready to get the whole game. In addition all players who pre-register either on the steam version or on Bless Unleashed website will get some bonus rewards including a brand new exclusive mount and an addition 7 days of premium subscriptions benefits.

In other MMO news the heat is actually turned off in Metin2. Winter returns in full force with the latest content update, legend of the White Dragon. With two new maps to explore, a new dungeon, and new items, players are in for a frosty treat as they prepare to face off against the gargantuan Alastair, the Great White Dragon. To battle the dragon, players must head into the maze-like warren of glacial caverns known as Northwind. Battle through two levels to reap valuable rewards. The new content is available in game as of now.

Also in the news this week, World of Warships gets its new branch of German destroyers and more in Update 0.10.5: The Grand Battle. Prepare to fight in the Grand Battle which happens to be a new temporary battle type that sets super battleships on their path to dominating our seas! You’ll also get to try out the new “adjustment firing” gaming mechanic when you head into battle at the helms of these vast floating fortresses. World of Warships is also preparing to celebrate U.S. Independence Day as the game will soon feature a set of dedicated combat mission groups and completing them will bring you Dazzling and “Stars ‘n’ Stripes” expendable camouflages, as well as signal flags. These are just a few of many new features and changes that just came to the game in the Grand Battle patch, plenty more details can be found via the patch notes page linked in the description below.

This past week Smite increased its roster to over 110 playable gods with the dark sorceress of Arthurian legend Morgan Le Fay. Channeling her powers towards control, sorcery and manipulation, Morgan Le Fay will enchant all who stand in her way, including the best and truest knights. She is able to harass enemies with different controlling effects from afar. If enemies get too close, her defensive dragon apparition summon provides her additional opportunities to get back into a favorable position. That’s some pretty powerful sorcery if you ask me. Also in the update, the classic joust map is making a comeback. Replacing the current joust map in all 3v3 and 1v1 normal and ranked joust and duel matches, players are definitely looking forward to its return.

Also from Hi-Rez, or by extension Evil Mojo Games, Paladins is getting its first ever crossover with gen:LOCK , the Rooster Teeth animated series. The gen:LOCK Crossover Pass will unlock five in-game Champion skins showcasing the stars of the series: Chase, Valentina, Cammie, Yaz and Kazu and of course each comes with their own new Voice Pack. Fans will also get dozens of thematic cosmetics throughout the pass, including some created by Rooster Teeth artists. More details will be revealed on the Paladins website following the Update Show happening on Twitch, June 23rd, but it looks like the crossover event doesn’t officially kick off until July 21st.

So maybe we didn’t get Elder Scrolls VII outta E3 this year, I suppose for console players this could be a bandaid for that wound perhaps. The Elder Scrolls Online announced the Console Enhanced version of the game available now that’s designed specifically to take advantage of both the Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5 hardware. So maybe they can experience what its supposed to be like if they just played it on a PC that’s worth a darn. There will be two modes that allow players to choose what kind of experience they want to have when playing ESO, Performance mode which emphasizes frame rate, enabling 60FPS at 1440P resolution or Fidelity mode which focuses on visuals, enabling 4k resolution at 30FPS. This new enhanced version of the game is available now on the new consoles and all you have to have is a purchased copy of the game and it’s a free upgrade.

Next up Old School RuneScape’s 150th quest, has arrived in-game this past week for PC, Mac, Steam, iOS, and Android players, complete with full cross-platform play. A Kingdom Divided, as its called, is an experienced-level quest, as players go behind the Kingdom of Great Kourend’s façade of peace and prosperity to unravel allegations of corruption at the heart of the ruling Kourend Council. Completing A Kingdom Divided rewards players with the much-anticipated unlocking of 26 new spells for the Arceuus Spellbook, I think that’s how you say it, in addition to two quest points, a 10,000-experience lamp, an increase to 60 charges in Kharedst’s Memoirs, and enables a respawn point at Kourend Castle. In other RuneScape related news non-old school RuneScape has officially launched in full for iOS and Android devices this past week, bringing its entire open and ever-evolving fantasy world to mobile devices! RuneScape is available now as a free download from the App Store and Google Play Store letting players jump back and forth from PC to mobile platforms keeping everything in sync.

And finally lets take a look at the Epic Game Store’s free game or games in this case, of the week. First up we’ve got Hell is Other Demons, an action-platform shooter, with Roguelite elements, insanely over the top boss fights and epic synthwave soundtrack. We’ve also got Overcooked 2, the insanely fun online or couch co-op cooking prep game with chaotic team work tasks. Two awesome games to pick up all for the price of free.

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!

Next Video