Weekly Recap #489 March 25th – DNF Duel Coming, Heavenly Light in SMITE, and More!

JamesBl0nde recaps the MMO gaming news for the week of March 25, 2022! Transcript follows.

The 20th hero in Vindictus brings in the big guns, Both Tera and PlanetSide 2 drop in sweet updates for console players, Apex Legends is gearing up for the Warriors Collection Event, and this new skin in smite evolves like a legendary Pokemon.

What’s good everyone, JamesBl0nde here with the weekly recap for gaming news and announcements for the week of March 25th, 2022 and starting out the news this week…

At the Arc World Tour this week, Nexon announced that its upcoming Dungeon and Fighter based fighting game, DNF Duel, will launch globally on June 28th of 2022! The global launch will include North America, Europe, Korea, and Japan, and will be on PC via Steam and PlayStation 4 and 5. Co-developed by Arc System Works, known for Guilty Gear and BlazBlue, DNF Duel is definitely looking incredibly smooth! While this may not end up being free to play I just had to mention it since Dungeon Fighter Online has been well liked for years.

Heads up, Genshin Impact players! Next week on March 30th, the next major update, Version 2.6, arrives with new characters and more. Titled Zephyr of the Violet Garden, the update introduces the new five star Hydro character, Kamisato Ayato, in addition to new Archon quests, new rewards, weapons, and achievements, and of course new events. Speaking of which that means the current event is coming to a close in just days, so make sure you finish it up!
In other news, Vindictus has welcomed its 20th hero this week – the heavy cannon gunner Letty! A former cadet of the Lyon Navy, Letty brings her heavy cannon Cradie into battle to deal massive damage from afar, cause chain explosions, launching flames, and more. To celebrate her release, a Carnival Party is ongoing in game until April 26th, letting players get a special Outfit, title, and more. Check out the link below for all the details!

TERA is celebrating its fourth anniversary on PlayStation and Xbox with a brand new update. This update includes the Season 5 Battle Pass, which focuses on a Korean theme and the stand-out Black Tiger mount.  The pass is available from March 31st through July 7th and can be progressed through three types of missions. Also included in the anniversary update is the Corrupted Skynest (Hard difficulty) dungeon, an expanded character growth system featuring three new special stigmas, and a variety of anniversary events with boosted experience, level boosting scrolls, and more to obtain.

Speaking of console MMOs, Planetside 2 has released its massive update, Expedition Oshur, on PlayStation 4 this week. The update introduces a new water-based continent with tropical, savannah, and coral reef biomes. There are new campaign missions, two new base archetypes, and all sorts of new aquatic weapons and adjustments to enable water-based warfare. The area will be auto-unlocked up through March 27th, so get prepared to get your feet wet.

SMITE has blessed us all this week with its latest update, Heavenly Light! This update kicks off a four-month long event, offering dozens of skins, quest lines, and a new shape shifting Tier 5 skin for Izanami. This new skin has its own quest system and can evolve permanently! That’s pretty cool! Also live is a new Chibi Bots battle pass, that combines the best of Chibi Gods and Mecha Gods ala SD Gundam style. And finally SMITE’s celebrating its 8th anniversary with birthday gifts rewarded to players who log in during the event.

And in the Paladins corner, Hi-Rez has released its special crossover with Monstercat! This update features the brand new champion Betty la Bomba, the Bomb Queen, who uses a dual mode grenade launcher and rides a giant rocket with true explosive style. Also featured of course is the Monstercat crossover, which features several new skins inspired by the music and artists of Monstercat, some of which can be snagged for free by Twitch Prime members.  Make sure you check out the full details linked below so you don’t miss out.

Meanwhile, Fortnite’s kicked off its newest Season, Resistance, the second in the Chapter 3 series. New in this season is the Overshield mechanic, which takes the first line of defense before your shield or health takes a hit. The regular and sprinting movement speeds have been increased, plus mantling and shoulder bashing have been added, making movement a lot more fluid in game. Naturally there’s a lot more going on with new weapons, features, and changes on the battlefield so enjoy the fresh coat of paint!

Also happening starting early next week is the Apex Legends Warriors Collection Event! The event makes a return from March 29th through April 12th, featuring two weeks of the limited time 9v9 mode, Control! This time caustic treatment has been converted to a three point control battle over Kings Canyon, with new cover, ziplines, and even a hover tank to spice up the fight. You can also find the new Drop-Off arena map with this update. And of course, the event wouldn’t be a collection event without sweet loot – so work hard at collecting all 24 pieces of exclusive, time-limited gear!

And finally let’s check in at the Epic Games Store. This week’s free game is Demon’s Tilt, a hyper-charged pinball game with shoot ’em up and hack and slash elements mixed in. With an occultish theme you’ll be in the dark across three story tables with multiple bosses, bullet hells to dodge, and even intense special modes. Pinball games aren’t very common these days so this might be a fun time waster to check out!

and 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!