Weekly Recap #474 November 5th – Apex Legends Escape, Lost Ark CBT, LoLXFortnite? & More!

JamesBl0nde recaps the MMO gaming news for the week of November 5, 2021! Transcript follows.

Lost Ark jumps into its closed beta and we’ve got keys for now, Bless Unleashed drops in six new time dungeons with its latest update, ArcheAge is switching publishers, and what do ya know?! another somewhat familiar character is rampaging in Fortnite.

What’s good everyone, JamesBl0nde here with the weekly recap for gaming news and announcements for the week of November 5th, 2021 and starting out the news this week
A new NFT title has been announced – MetalCore. MetalCore is a first-person mecha combat game designed for large scale combat, up to 50 versus 50, along with smaller scale co-op fights and faction-based open world PvP. Rare weapons, cosmetic meshes, and skins can be bought, traded, and sold through a blockchain based marketplace. Players can also become landowners, gaining mining and tax rights. MetalCore claims everything will have NFT value, from each vehicle, pilot, land, and blueprint, with a goal of supporting Play to Earn and Win to Earn mechanics.

As mentioned in recaps past, Lost Ark is one more step closer to launch with the release of its closed beta! From now until November 11, players with beta keys can get into this hotly anticipated action RPG and play through most of the game’s content. This means plenty of new areas, dungeons, and raids have been made available for players to try out and test, plus a whole new class — the Striker. The game has seen plenty of quality of life updates thanks to player feedback, so if you’ve been interested in Lost Ark, get yourself a beta key and enjoy the closed beta today! We’ve got two different giveaways linked below – if they’re out of keys check back later as we might get more.
Next up, Gamigo is saying goodbye to ArcheAge and ArcheAge Unchained this December – as they pass the publishing rights over to Kakao Games for the Americas, Europe, and Oceania. This is part of Kakao Games’ partnership with the developer, XL Games. As part of the new publisher situation, Kakao Games will be working on synchronizing the global game build to make sure that updates and new content arrive for all regions, including Korea, simultaneously. Good news is you don’t need to worry about transferring your account – everything including purchased items will transition over smoothly behind the scenes.
Bless Unleashed on PC got a major update late last week with new PvE and PvP content. One of the major features added are six new Time Dungeons, including the brand new Infernal Execution Grounds which require level 40 and a gear score of 1516 to enter – but also reward new S+ grade equipment. Meanwhile a new PvP season, Rising Dawn, has begun, the Warlords Arena has been balanced, and a 1v1 duel system has even been added to let you test your skills against friends and foes.

This week Hearthstone released its new Deadmines Mini-set, as part of patch 21.6. This mini-set includes 35 new cards under the “United in Stormwind” name – including pirates, new tradeable synergies, and Edwin VanCleef. These pirates are also coming to Hearthstone Mercenaries, along with three new bounties and bounty bosses. And Diablo doesn’t want to be left out, and will be in the Battlegrounds as a playable hero for a limited time, alongside Duels as its first dual-class character.
Vigor, the free to play looter shooter, has announced a new era of lore-driven seasons called Chronicles. These are still the same seasons players have been used to, but instead focus on the stories of individual mercenaries rather than generic factions. The first Chronicle, Vengeance, is live now, and follows the tragic story of the assassin Adam. Along the way through the battle pass, you can collect Adam’s themed gear and audio cassettes. The update also features a new Shootout map, Kjerstin, tactical flash grenades, visual improvements and much more.
On a similar note, Apex Legends: Escape is here, and with it comes a new Legend: Ash! With her snares and portal capabilities, along with knowing just where players have died, she’ll have every tactical advantage to overcome all adversaries her team faces. Also available is the Storm Point map, where Legends explore an abandoned colony amidst dangerous wildlife and untold mystery. A new weapon, updates to ranking, and plenty of balance and bug fixes also await in Apex Legends: Escape.
In its latest live streamed update, Phantasy Star Online 2 New Genesis revealed its next major update, Sandstorm Requiem. This will begin the Chapter 2 storyline, introducing the Retem region along with new enemies, characters, and much more. The update also increases the level cap of all classes to level 35, giving each class a new class skill, and also unlocking Wind, Light, and Dark elemental techniques. The game will also introduce a new Title system to showcase achievements completed in game.

Swords of Legends Online has revealed its next major content update, 1.1: The Forbidden Court. The update will introduce a new storyline, Chapter 10, that takes players to the new zone The Floral Palace. Players will discover new quests and a new world boss here, and later two new raids: Sparkwood Gardens and Forbidden Court. A new PvP mode, Battle in the Sands, will be a two-stage 20 player match, combining a five minute free for all with a ten minute 10v10 team battle. The update will also include the new memory box feature, which will let you replay old scenarios in the form of memory trials. There’s lots more coming as well so keep your ears open as the update is scheduled to go live later this month.
Albion Online’s preparing for its next major update too. Called Lands Awakened, the update is very expansive so here’s a short summary. All five biomes are overhauled with new visuals, terrains, and layouts. Open world dungeons are being reworked, with new limited time events and multiple zone exits. Open world enemies will increase in power and value over time, rewarding those who head into less explored territory. A new weapon line, War Gloves, brings in brawler style gameplay. New Elite Combat levels add new advanced mastery for weapons, Fame progression has been boosted, and there’s new changes to guild warfare and open world PvP. There’s still a lot more I haven’t mentioned here so check out the link below for more details.
Remember Battlerite? It’s celebrating its 4th anniversary on November 7th, and as part of the festivities, new players can claim a free All Champions pack – an incredible value and great way to bring new blood into the game. The developers will also be hosting rare mount giveaways and dev battle sessions, letting players battle up against the very people who made the game. Stunlock Studios has been working really hard on its new title, V Rising, which will be a premium vampire survival game. Make sure you check out the blog linked below if you’re interested in some of the history of Battlerite.
Here’s a crossover that I’m surprised didn’t happen earlier: Fortnite and League of Legends! Yeah that’s right, Arcane Jinx from League of Legends has made a special debut this week in Fortnite. For a limited time you can find the Arcane Jinx bundle and its components in the Fortnite item shop, which includes the Dream Monkey Back Bling, Pow Pow Crusher PickAxe, Playground Lobby Track, Jinxed Spray, Loading Screens and of course, the Arcane Jinx Outfit itself. Why all this? Because League of Legends has officially arrived on the Epic Games Store!
Speaking of the Epic Games Store, this week’s free game is – Aven Colony! This is a detailed sci-fi simulation game, putting you in charge of humanity’s first extrasolar settlement. You’ll need to help your settlers survive an alien environment, learning about the dangers and benefits of the world around you. If you love the civilization building aspect of 4X more than combat or space exploration this one might be for you.
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!