step forward enziguri

Last year I stated that VVE 2K22 was not so much a “step in the right direction” as that he “broke off, dusted himself off and returned to the philosophy that he followed before.” It’s not so much a condemnation. VVE 2K20 plunged the series to new depths and required a course correction. However, after I reviewed VVE 2K222K Sports released a patch that corrupted my save data and made the Universe mode unavailable. It was frequently reported problem that was never fixed. You just had to delete your save data, start over and hope the same thing happens.

However, since VVE 2K22 died for me, I had high hopes for VVE 2K23 because the bar was still very low. Fortunately, despite all my misgivings, he managed to step over it. I’m so beaten by the series by now that the bare minimum is acceptable. VVE 2K23 exceeds the absolute minimum, proving that if you never give up, you can eventually become enough.

VVE 2K23 (Personal Computer [Reviewed], PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X)
Developer: Visual Concepts
Publisher: 2K
Release: March 16, 2023
MSRP: $59.99 (PS4, Xbox One, PC) | $69.99 (PS5, Xbox Series X|S)

John Cena on the cover VVE 2K23, which means it is the focus of the Showcase mode. For years, the demo mode was probably one of the worst parts of the 2K series’ single-player events. Instead of just playing matches, you get into important events from the star’s career. Then you must execute very specific moves to get ahead.

The twist here is that instead of playing as John Cena, you take on the role of his opponents and get a chance to beat him. That would be fun, but then again, you’re just doing different dance steps. You compete against a recalcitrant computer-controlled wrestler to try and put them in their place so you can pull off a very specific move. Chances are you won’t know how to do this move until you open the target menu and read how to do it. I can’t imagine a more mechanical and less compelling approach to gameplay.

However, playing this rather time-consuming mode is worth it because there are a lot of things that are only available after unlocking in these matches. One of them is Bruno Sammartino, who has been on my wish list for many years. There is also Hulk Hogan from the 80s and various alternate images of other wrestlers. I just wish they weren’t locked behind such a tedious game mode.

However, once you have Bruno Sammartino to fight, you can get to the good stuff. A lot of the good stuff is still compromised in many ways, but this is the best the series has seen since 2K took over.

The time has come

Despite my serious claims to VVE 2K22its foundation was surprisingly strong VVE 2K20, 2K Sports took a year off to redo a lot of things, and the result was noticeable. Everything about the fight itself seemed much more solid and enjoyable.

When you jump into VVE 2K23, most of it will still feel familiar. The user interface, presets and visual style are the same as in the previous few entries. Visually made improvements are very subtle. While I don’t necessarily think they need to completely redo the UX for each entry, there are some shortcomings that haven’t been addressed, especially when it comes to sorting and filtering the move list and even the part options in the compose menu. wrestling modes. As with previous iterations, the creation set is very tedious to sort. The entire set of tools are very powerful and getting better every year, but they definitely haven’t gotten any easier to use.

It’s nice, though, that the advanced login editor has been re-implemented, much like it was before it was removed. You can now select individual segments from existing inputs. Although the fact that you are putting them together gives you the tools to create a nearly perfect fit for your wrestlers. This makes it so that you don’t necessarily have something that is easily identifiable as the input of an existing wrestler. I’m so grateful that he’s back.

rope break

The biggest and most noticeable change in VVE 2K23 is that the MyGM mode has been expanded. After the universe has died for me in VVE 2K22, I switched to MyGM and it was a good replacement. This is a special mode where you manage your own WWE “brand” and compete against others for rankings based on how well you handle fights, manage rivalries and book your shows. Now, this is probably my favorite way to slap my wrestling pieces against each other. There are now five brands to choose from (Raw, Smackdown, NXT, NXT 2.0 and WCW) that can be managed by multiple Grandmasters or one of your developers. There are now four slots to participate in the show, and they can be controlled by both a human and a processor.

While the gameplay and UI is (once again) largely unchanged from last year, there’s so much piling up that it doesn’t feel like a quick build modifier. Additional match types are available. The list from which GMs are selected is still fully customizable, so you can customize it to your liking or insert it into your own creations.

I would still like to create my own brand for the MyGM mode. There are already tools to create your own show in the Universe mode, so I feel that materializing this possibility is not a big deal, but this year it is still not possible. With all the improvements that have been made, I’m not too upset about this. Anyway, it got me excited next year when things like this might come out. For now, it’s still a very fun campaign to play with.

standing 8 count

MyRise about as decent as it was before. This is a good mode if you want to go through a pre-built story rather than creating your own with other modes, creative kits, and good old fashioned imagination. For wrestlers and wrestlers is now a separate story. The voice acting, text, and animation in this mode are egregiously bad, but it’s the basis for a solid fight, so it’s worth a look.

While it’s clear that Visual Concepts is hard at work cleaning up the bloated and confusing backend of the game engine, there are still some leftover issues. Notably, load times can sometimes increase to indecent levels in VVE 2K23. This is especially common when using a large number of custom wrestlers and images and cramming them into the same match.

Although I played on PS5 this year, last year I became aware of the issues that the PC version was having. In particular, every time a patch was reset, the entire 60-70 GB game file had to be re-downloaded. This year, apparently, this is not the case, which indicates some improvement in the technical side.

never give up

Every year for WWE 2K series, there are always a few steps forward and a few steps back. Depending on where your priorities lie, it’s possible that there will be some downsides that will bother you. However, this year I feel that the product suits me better than in the last ten years. I still have a long list of things I want to see implemented or re-implemented (custom login themes, better organization in build kits, custom brands in MyGM, photo mode), but I’m at least content with what is in this year’s offer.

Relying on a fairly solid foundation of gameplay VVE 2K22, VVE 2K23 finally manages to find a comfortable place. At its core, this is the same general game that we get from year to year. It sucks that we have to keep paying for small improvements. However, small improvements have brought us here and there is a pretty decent place here.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

During the Diablo 4 Early Access beta last week, over a million players were able to reach level 20 and receive this ridiculously cute wolf cub backpack offered as a beta test reward.

For the uninitiated, the Diablo 4 Early Access beta offers several rewards for players who reach certain milestones. There is an Initial Casualty title that you get when you reach the city of Kyovashad in the Fractured Peaks area of ​​the map, and an Early Voyager title unlocked at level 20. Much more important is a cosmetic product called Wolf Pack. The puppy you can see in the image above. It also unlocks at level 20, which almost certainly explains why so many people made it to this point before the end of the first beta weekend.

Epic has made it much easier for small and individual developers to access their games on the Epic Games Store. Company self-publishing tools that exited closed beta on Thursdayallow any developer to submit their game to the Epic platform for a fee of $100 per game.

Since its launch in late 2018, with a small carefully curated selection of games, the Epic Games Store has gradually expanded to includes about 2000 titles. But these games were chosen by Epic for inclusion based on a “high standard of quality,” as Epic’s Tim Sweeney called it Ars in 2019, leading to publication from number tutorials “How to publish on the Epic Games Store”.

“We’re not going to be that kind of place [that accepts everything] because we don’t think we can help these games reach users,” Sweeney told Ars in 2019. “So everything will depend on quality.”

However, Epic has been aiming for a more open store for a while, launching self-publishing as a limited closed beta. mid 2021 and barely missed 2022 target open the system to everyone.

Everyone comes here

Today’s expansion of self-publishing is likely to see a surge in the number of new games appearing on the Epic Games Store, just as Steam’s 2017 opening of “Steam Direct” publishing led to a significant increase in the number of annual releases on that platform. It will also allow more developers to take advantage of Epic’s much-touted 12 percent share of sales revenue, as opposed to Steam’s 30 percent standard.

The Epic Games Store also allows developers to use third-party or developer-controlled payment tools for in-app purchases, allowing those publishers to “get 100 percent of the revenue” from those purchases if they choose to. This aligns with the stance Epic has taken in its longstanding battle with Apple to allow such third-party payments on iOS. Epic also wants to pay for free age rating services for EGS games through the International Coalition of Age Rankings and provide free localization of game description pages on the showcase.

But while Steam says it allows everything but illegal content and trolling on its store (at least ostensibly), Epic lays out a few basic content requirements for games that want to be listed on the EGS. The platform will ban games rated “Adults Only” and those that contain “hateful or discriminatory content, pornography, illegal content, etc.” [or] content that infringes intellectual property that you do not own or have no rights to use.”

Titles that include “fraud, scams, or deceptive practices such as fake games or malware” are also not allowed on the Epic Games Store. And EGS games must meet the minimum “quality and functionality” bar that matches any descriptions provided on the store page.

Other requirements for listing on the EGS include:

• PC Crossplay (for multiplayer games): Allowing players to connect with others “regardless of where the game was purchased”.
• Epic Games Store Achievements: These must be available “if the game has achievements on other PC stores.”
• Game Ratings: Optional in many regions (and provided “free” by Epic itself), but required if you’re distributing the game in Australia, Brazil, Russia, or South Korea.

Elsewhere, in recently published “review for 2022”, Epic said it gave away over 700 million free copies of 99 different games to more than 230 million customers last year. The free to play program will run until 2023, showing that Epic is ready to keep pouring money into the platform in an attempt to take more market share from Steam.