Overwatch 2 Patch Launches Single-Player Mode To Teach Heroes

Overwatch 2’s sixth season is ongoing, and now that Blizzard has rolled out its new PVP mode, new support hero, and the long-awaited story missions, today, it unleashed out a balance patch and a new mode called Hero Mastery. The latter will let you take part in some solo skill-based challenges to learn how to use a different hero. However, it’s only available for a small group of heroes at this time.

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Unlike most Overwatch 2 modes, Hero Mastery is a single-player joint that has a tailored obstacle course designed for specific heroes, where you’re graded based on how quickly you reach the finish line. This is meant to help you train in a character’s specific skillsets, such as Mercy’s flight or Tracer’s teleporting Blinks. Blizzard plans to roll out courses for each hero eventually, but right now the mode is only playable as Tracer, Reinhardt, and Mercy, with Sojourn and Winston being added “in the weeks ahead.”

That’s a real small hero pool for a new mode, and I’m bummed that none of my favorites are part of it yet. But the mode does seem like it’s meant to help people learn new characters, so I might not get much out of playing them as Soldier: 76, Sombra, or Lifeweaver.

Beyond Hero Mastery, Overwatch 2 is also bringing back its anniversary event on September 19, just a few weeks before the sequel’s one-year anniversary in October. This will bring back all the game’s seasonal modes, and return Legendary skins to the in-game shop, alongside new challenges to earn credits.

As for the actual balance patch, there are a few small but significant changes in this new patch that mostly boil down to damage, shield, and healing numbers moving up and down. There’s nothing super-exciting, like a rework or fundamental changes. But tanks like Zarya and Orisa are getting some noticeable tweaks that will help them act more defensively. Check out the full patch notes below:

Overwatch 2 Anniversary 2023

We’re celebrating the first year of Overwatch 2! Come and play returning event game modes, including Battle for Olympus, Catch-A-Mari, Starwatch, and Mischief and Magic! You’ll also be able to take part in new challenges that reward Overwatch Credits, which can be spent on returning Legendary skins from the in-game shop. Join the celebration when it begins on September 19!

New game mode – Hero Mastery

Hero Mastery is a new, single-player game mode that allows players to test their skills with individual heroes on custom courses. Push your expertise to the limit for high scores and dominate the leaderboards. Are you up to the challenge?

● Each hero can be played on three unique courses of increasing difficulty. Flex your skills and unlock up to five stars on each course.

● Hero Mastery courses are scored on various factors, including time, eliminations, heals, and escorts. Each hero has individual stats that are tracked as well. Plus collect all the Mastery Emblems to show off your prowess!

● Hero Mastery is launching with a limited-time event that includes exclusive rewards. Courses for Tracer, Reinhardt, and Mercy are now available, along with courses for Sojourn, Winston, and more premiering in the weeks ahead.

Ping system updates

● Owned entities (such as Torbjörn’s Turret, Symmetra’s Teleporter, or Illari’s Healing Pylon) now have a lower priority as ping targets than enemy heroes.

Hero Updates

Zarya

Projected Barrier

● Health increased from 200 to 225.

● Cooldown decreased from 10 to 8 seconds.

● Size increased 15%.

Developer Comment: Zarya often spends both barrier charges on herself as it is usually more consistent for building energy. The change to Projected Barrier incentivizes using the barrier for her allies more often.

Junker Queen

Jagged Blade

● Impact damage increased from 50 to 65.

Developer Comment: This change rewards throwing accuracy with the Jagged Blade without directly affecting Junker Queen’s self-healing.

Orisa

Fortify

● Cooldown begins when the ability is activated instead of when it ends.

● Cooldown increased from 12 to 16.5 seconds.

● Overhealth bonus decreased from 125 to 100.

Developer Comment: The Fortify cooldown has been adjusted so that the effective uptime remains the same. However, Orisa is no longer incentivized to cancel the ability early to begin the cooldown immediately, which makes the interval between uses consistent and more susceptible to counterplay.

Ashe

The Viper

● Reload time decreased from .25 to .2 seconds.

Developer Comment: Ashe has the longest total reload time of all heroes to balance out the advantage of being able to shoot after a partial reload. However, we are shortening it slightly to make the full reload from empty less punishing.

Bastion

A-36 Tactical Grenade

● Impact damage decreased from 30 to 15.

Configuration Artillery:

● Can no longer deal critical hits.

Developer Comment: The A-36 Tactical Grenade is now more reliable after having its projectile size increased recently, so it doesn’t need to be quite as damaging. The change to Configuration Artillery is a bug fix from what was intended for the ultimate, and we’ll monitor to see how this impacts Bastion’s performance.

Mei

Endothermic Blaster

● Damage increased from 65 to 70 per second.

● Duration before slow falls off between primary fire hits increased from 0.5 to 0.6 seconds.

Deep Chill

● Bonus damage can now also be triggered with Mei’s quick melee.

Developer Comment: Mei is still underperforming after her last set of changes, so we are increasing the effectiveness of primary fire and improving the quality of life to Deep Chill.

Support Passive

● Duration until support passive activates increased from 1.5 to 2 seconds.

Developer Comment: Support heroes have received individual improvements to their survivability and are quite strong overall, so we’re reducing the impact of the role-wide passive.

Baptiste

Regenerative Burst

● Instant healing decreased from 50 to 40.

● Heal over time decreased from 50 over 5 seconds to 40 over 4 seconds.

Developer Comment: Regenerative Burst’s overall healing output has been too effective after gaining the bonus instant heal for low-health allies, so we are reducing its total healing slightly.

Kiriko

Protection Suzu

● Now passes through enemy heroes.

Developer Comment: The Protection Suzu no longer knocks back enemy heroes, so the projectile doesn’t need to impact them either. This quality-of-life change prevents accidental activations when thrown into groups with both enemies and allies.

Bug fixes

● Fixed an issue with the Daybreak challenge being reset to 0 and not receiving progress after

completing games.

● The Save-a-Mari challenge now specifies the difficulty requirements for completion.

● Resolved an issue where the Progression Level badge wasn’t promoting. Players who have already reached levels where the badge should now be promoted to the correct badge now.

● Fixed a bug with the Option ‘Relative Aim Sensitivity’ not accepting a value of 0%.

● Fixed an instance where equipped Competitive Titles would reset after a relog.

● Fixed a bug with Matches Played showing as abandoned for matches played on another platform.

● Fixed gaps and other environment issues in Mischief and Magic.

● Fixed navigation issues that could occur with a controller in Winston’s Lab.

● Fixed the missing sound effects for Training Bots respawning.

● Fixed a bug on controller/gamepads that prevented some characters from flying diagonally.

● Resolved a bug with the Overtime bar not burning all the way down in Competitive, making it difficult to tell when the round is over.

● Fixed an issue that prevented players from immediately equipping Golden weapons after purchase.

Maps

Dorado

● Fixed a bug in the environment near the final point that sometimes allowed Mei’s Blizzard to go through the environment.

New Junk City

● Fixed areas on the map that players could become stuck in.

● Fixed lighting issues in specific areas on the map.

● Added the intro when loading into the map. You will now be greeted with ‘Welcome to New Junk City.’

Suravasa

● Fixed some fountains on the map that allowed some turrets to be hidden.

● Fixed a few areas that did not have correct lighting.

● Fixed areas on the map that players could become stuck on.

● Fixed areas on the map that allowed players to stand outside the playable space.

● Fixed gaps in the geometry in several areas across the map.

Co-op missions

Rio

● Fixed a bug that could occur after the Artillery lands that resulted in your camera looking at the sky after regaining control of the camera.

Toronto

● Fixed an interaction with the train that could force players outside of the map boundaries.

● Fixed a bug with lighting that could occur on this map when changing graphics settings.

Gothenburg

● Fixed a location in spawn where players could become stuck.

Heroes

Bastion

● Fixed an error that resulted in the vertical knockback on Bastion’s Tactical Grenade being reduced.

Echo

● Fixed a bug with Duplicated Illari’s displaying the incorrect VFX colors when casting Captive Sun.

● Fixed an interaction with Duplicated Symmetra turrets persisting through the duration of Duplicate.

Illari

● Fixed an interaction with Genji’s Deflect and Illari’s Healing Pylon. Deflecting the pylon should now correctly heal Genji’s allies.

● Fixed a bug that prevented the Stay Dead voice line from being equipped.

● Resolved an interaction that allowed Illari to see underneath the map if they were slept by an Ana Sleep Dart while using Captive Sun.

● Fixed an interaction with Illari’s Pylon indicator being disabled if it was Hacked by Sombra.

● Fixed an interaction with Symmetra’s Teleporter that allowed Illari to place a Pylon in mid-air.

● Fixed several instances that resulted in the Pylon being destroyed instantly after deploying.

Junker Queen

● Fixed a bug where Junker Queen recalling Jagged Blade in the same frame as it stuck in an object (by holding Secondary Fire and aiming at an object the same distance away as the Knife’s recall range) would cause a pingable knife to be stuck in the world.

Kiriko

● Fixed a bug that made it difficult to Swift Step to allies in rooms with low ceilings.

Lifeweaver

● Fixed a bug allowing friendly EMPs to destroy your Petal Platform.

Ramattra

● Resolved a bug that prevented the damage increase from Zenyatta’s Discord from being correctly applied while Ramattra was Blocking.

 

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Modern Warfare III Trailer Has New Zombie Mode, Familiar Faces

A Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III soldier transforms into a zombie after choking on a purple cloud.

That purple haze got me feeling something.
Screenshot: Activision Blizzard / Kotaku

A freaky new trailer for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III’s Zombies gave us our first look at the upcoming game, and it’s as eerie and tense as you would expect from the now legendary first-person shooter mode—except now it has some new (yet familiar) faces in the undead mix. That’s because this version of Zombies marks the first time the mode comes to a Modern Warfare game.

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The trailer begins with a team of four seemingly unknown operatives donning night vision goggles to break into a corpse-littered facility. They come upon four corpses sat around a table, the center of which sits a device that opens to reveal glowing vials of an unknown substance. “They’re actually real, they’re actually here,” an operator says, removing his gas mask to reveal that he’s Viktor Zakhaev, iconic Call of Duty antagonist who will be the chief baddie in the main Modern Warfare III campaign. Once his team swipes the vials, they, head out of the building and run directly into a police force—this nods to the brand-new feature in this upcoming Zombies mode: You’ll duke it out against human and nonhuman enemies.

Call of Duty

Call of Duty zombie players will recognize the serum asAetherium, an element in the Call of Duty franchise used for techno-biological warfare. The trailer ends with John “Soap” MacTavish , a member of the multinational special operations unit Task Force 141, and fellow familiar face Kate Laswell preparing for the incursion against Zakhaev.

This sets up the open-world experience that Modern Warfare III’s zombie mode will offer, and its player-versus-environment that takes place across different regions that scale in difficulty and density. The official blog post accompanying the trailer promises “a greater quantity of undead than ever before,” that combines “the very best of Modern Warfare map features and systems with the tried-and-true core features of Treyarch Zombies.”

Read More: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III Will Bring Back Every OG MWII Multiplayer Map
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The new take on the classic Zombies mode will be available when Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III launches on November 10 for PC, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. In typical Call of Duty fashion, if you preorder Modern Warfare III, you’ll get access to the beta whenever that starts.

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Multiplayer Blockbuster Sea of Thieves Finally Gets Solo Mode

A pirate holds up a cutlass.

Image: Microsoft

Over 25 million people have played Sea of Thieves. The pirate ship fantasy sim has some of the most beautiful water you’ve ever seen in a video game. And now Rare’s live-service multiplayer game is finally getting a way for people to play solo. A new mode called Safer Seas will let players explore in private sessions without the threat of PvP starting in December.

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“Safer Seas is intended to offer a gentler introduction to Sea of Thieves for new players, as well as providing a quieter map for existing players looking to pursue their own solo adventures,” Mike Chapman, creative director, wrote in an Xbox Wire blog post yesterday. If you’re hoping to get some peaceful fishing done, or complete a few Tall Tales without interference, Safer Seas is the perfect choice.”

Originally set to arrive earlier this year before being delayed by three months, Rare is calling season 10 update its “Super Season.” Going live on October 18, here are three big new features coming to Sea of Thieves in separate installments throughout the end of the year:

  • Guilds: A captain pledges a ship, letting up to 24 players join together and borrow one another’s vessels and cosmetics even when they’re not online, sharing milestone progress along the way.
  • Competitive Questing: Players compete to collect Skull of Siren Song artifact components, with the objects cursing the ships they’re onboard and broadcasting those players’ locations across the seas.
  • Safer Seas: Play Sea of Thieves alone or with friends in a session devoid of competing players, with a max rank of 40 and reduced rewards due to the lessened danger.

The Safer Seas mode in particular could be a huge boon for the game. Despite its massive player-base, Sea of Thieves still has a steep learning curve and requires an intimidating amount of coordination, compounded by the ever-present threat of PvP. Safe Seas doesn’t just remove that danger, it also lets solo-minded players explore its vast and beautiful world without the social anxiety or awkwardness of running into other people. I wish more live-service games offered a similar escape.

               

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Smartphone AI Is Turning Reality Into A Video Game Photo Mode

The Google Pixel 8 appears to feature an AI-powered photo editing option that lets you completely change peoples’ faces. A reliable leak from mobile tech reporter and leaker Kamila Wojciechowska to phone site 91mobiles revealed the feature, which is like using Cyberpunk 2077’s fleet of customizable facial expressions in photo mode, except it’s real life, and it’s more terrifying.

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In the leaked trailer for the Pixel 8, which is expected to launch with the Pixel 8 Pro on October 4, a narrator lists off a number of camera options. “Engineered by Google, with AI controlled by you,” they say. The Pixel 8 can do what we now gluttonously expect of most smartphones—night vision, microscopic zoom—but it seems to add the rarer ability to edit photos with AI directly in its camera app.

“Swap this,” the narrator says while we look at a little boy grimacing. Suddenly, he’s smiling. And a man checking out his feet is now staring directly into the camera, also smiling. Another boy—this one making the kind of overextended, open mouth grin kids make when they’re allowed a whole Snickers bar—becomes more decorous after the ad’s phone user clicks a small, alternate grin from three possible options. “Nice,” says the narrator. “Photos made perfect with a tap.”

From the trailer, it looks like the Pixel 8’s photo editor also uses AI to remove unwanted objects and completely exchange entire sections of a photo, like a gray sky the ad’s user ditches for a prettier sunset.

“It’ll make you wonder, ‘can a phone be made of magic?’” says the narrator, “Nope. It’s AI.”

The ad doesn’t get into specifics about how AI photo editing works, or the extent to which it does; Kotaku reached out to Google for comment. Other modern smartphones, like the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra and Pixel 8 predecessor, the Pixel 7, also use AI to touch-up or modify photos, including one S23 Ultra feature that gave toothless babies an unnatural row of chompers.

Historically, people have always made representations of reality more attractive than life itself, commissioning portraits without their blackened teeth and scraping at their albumen prints to reveal smooth skin. But the Pixel 8’s proposed feature makes me pause. It looks more spotless than the S23 Ultra’s graceless shot at AI, and the photos we take now are usually shared to about a million strangers, not only a few friends with access to our Victorian albums.

Reposing Aloy in Horizon Forbidden West’s adjustable photo mode feels okay—she’s not real. She can’t decide what she wants. I worry, though, that the Pixel 8’s AI editing could encourage us to think of ourselves that same way.

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Xbox’s Worst Exclusive, Redfall, Gets 60fps Mode In Major Patch

Vampire hunters catch one on the streets of a quiet New England town.

Image: Arkane / Bethesda

After months of silence, vampire shooter Redfall is receiving its biggest update yet following a disastrous launch back in May. The second big patch will add the Game Pass multiplayer game’s long-awaited 60 frames-per-second mode on Xbox Series X/S, as well as a host of gameplay improvements and bug fixes.

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“Today’s update brings Performance Mode to Xbox Series X/S, stealth takedowns, a bevy of new controller settings, and a lot more changes to Redfall,” the development team wrote on Bethesda’s website. While the 60fps mode is the biggest addition, a raft of accessibility features and improvements to stealth gameplay and aiming sensitivity are also welcome changes. Whether it’s enough to begin addressing some of the deeper disappointment around Redfall’s lackluster enemy encounters and unfulfilling progression system remains to be seen.

Redfall was panned by many critics and players when it launched earlier this year. Expected to be the first-party blockbuster that would end Microsoft’s drought of console exclusives, it instead failed to live up to the months of marketing hype that preceded it. In addition to bugs, performance issues, and complaints about the core gameplay loop, it also launched on the “next-gen” Xbox Series X/S with a “next-gen” price tag of $70 but without the 60fps performance option that players on PC would have access to.

Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer apologized for the situation at the time, but a report by Bloomberg later revealed other issues underlying the game’s rough development. Made by Arkane, best known for immersive sims like Prey and Dishonored, Redfall was instead an online multiplayer game that at one point was planned to include microtransactions as part of a push by parent company ZeniMax into live-service monetization. While those features were stripped out, a lack of development resources and constant turnover reportedly made it hard for the studio to deliver on Redfall’s confusing blend of genres and gameplay mechanics.

Recently, Bethesda marketing head Pete Hines said in an interview that despite the harsh reception, Redfall wouldn’t be abandoned. Instead, he expected new players joining Game Pass a decade from now to give the game a shot and enjoy it thanks to ongoing post-launch support. With Cyberpunk 2077‘s recent 2.0 victory lap after a botched release, many are wondering if Redfall can pull of something similar, or if Microsoft will pour the money into it required to make that happen.

If it does, it will still have a big uphill battle to fight. The game only has a few dozen players on Steam at any given moment. Still, Redfall’s second update is a start.

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Mortal Kombat 1 Switch Patch Adds Missing Mode, Technical Fixes

Two fighters face off in Mortal Kombat 1.

The Switch version of Mortal Kombat 1 released in an absolute state. It’s one of the widest gaps in quality we’ve seen between Nintendo’s device and its console contemporaries. But for better or worse, NetherRealm Studios and the port teams at Shiver Entertainment and Saber Interactive are still supporting it, and making efforts to edge it nearer to justifying its $70 price tag.

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The Switch version’s latest patch went live on October 11, and promises some general “visual improvements” to the notably fugly port. But on top of general polish, the patch also brings Invasions, a feature previously missing on Switch, that has been live in Mortal Kombat 1’s other versions since launch on September 19. Invasions’ seasonal events marry the game’s fighting mechanics with a board game mode and RPG mechanics. Each season lasts about six weeks, meaning while the other platforms’ versions of Mortal Kombat 1 are reaching the end of the first season on October 30, the Switch port is getting a late start.

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Missing an entire mode wasn’t great, but the Switch port’s biggest issues were technical,both in its graphics and performance. YouTubers, like Madlittlepixel, have taken the updated Switch version for a test ride, and while it’s still a poorer experience on the handheld, there’s less chugging, smoother fights, shorter load times, and fewer crashes.

NetherRealm / Madlittlepixel

The full list of updates reads as follows:

  • Season 1 of Invasions
  • Gameplay balance changes
  • Leaderboards fixes
  • Visual improvements and general bug fixes
  • Performance improvements
  • Stability fixes
  • Localization fixes

Ultimately, a Switch version is never going to reach the heights of the PC, PlayStation 5, or Xbox Series X/S, because this is vastly older and lower-spec tech, but at least there are some notable improvements here. It still feels egregious to charge the same amount of money for a demonstrably worse version of the same game, however. For more on Mortal Kombat 1’s better versions, check out Kotaku’s review.

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THPS 1+2 Gets Offline Mode, But Only On Steam Deck

Good news skater punks: The recently released Steam version of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2 is now playable offline. But in totally wack and weird news: This offline mode is only for Steam Deck users.

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First released in 2020, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2 is a very good remake of the first two games in the iconic skateboarding franchise. It initially launched on consoles and PC via the Epic Games Store. And for three years, the only way for PC players to buy and enjoy THPS 1+2 was through Epic’s storefront. Last month, that changed, when Activision finally remembered to bring the game to Steam. Sadly, this version of THPS 1+2 still came saddled with an always-online requirement on PC, just like the Epic Games Store edition. As you can imagine, this frustrated many players. However, a new update added offline support, but in a confusing and somewhat unprecedented move, this feature is only available on the Steam Deck, Valve’s hugely popular portable PC.

On October 18, a few weeks after it finally leaped to Steam, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2 received a small 1.1 patch. There were only two notes in the update’s tiny changelog: A keyboard overlay error that occurred on Steam Deck was fixed, and offline mode was added to that same platform.

Fans still trying to get around the weird requirement

Of course, fans assumed that they could dupe the game and Steam into thinking they were playing THPS 1+2 on Steam Deck even when playing on their desktop computer or laptop, and thus enjoy offline play without using Valve’s handheld. But so far, people are struggling to find a workaround.

PlayStation / Activision

On Reddit, users are sharing different ideas for console commands that could trick the game, but nothing seems to be working yet. That means, at least for now, that the only way to play the game without an internet connection is on a Steam Deck. And even if (or more likely when) players and modders figure out how to properly trick the game and Steam into letting them play offline on a desktop, it’s bizarre that any of this is happening at all.

Kotaku has contacted Activision about the offline mode’s Steam Deck requirement.

I’ve not seen a publisher do something like this on Steam Deck before. Plenty of games don’t support the portable PC, and just as many have been updated to add graphical options or tweaks designed to make the game run better on it. But I’ve never seen a game completely lock out features or options when played on a desktop. Even Aperture Desk Job, Valve’s small Steam Deck game meant to show off the handheld device’s features, is fully playable on desktop.

Yet, not so with THPS 1+2, which seems to be holding a much-requested offline mode hostage and only letting Steam Deck users enjoy it. Sure, it makes sense that Activision would want the game to be playable offline on Steam Deck, as it makes it easier to play the game anywhere and that leads to more people buying it before road trips and the like. But to completely lock that mode away from everyone else on Steam is quite bizarre, and frankly pretty shitty.

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Like A Dragon Infinite Wealth Has An Animal Crossing Game Mode

A Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth screenshot shows Ichiban playing the guitar.

Pay no mind to the horrifying mascots in the background.
Screenshot: Sega / Kotaku

During today’s Xbox Partner Preview, a showcase for Microsoft’s upcoming third-party games, we got a new look at Sega’s next Yakuza adventure. No, not Gaiden, the other one: Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth. Instead of showing off dual protagonists Ichiban Kasuga and Kiryu Kazuma kicking all kinds of street punk ass across Hawaii, today’s trailer pumped the brakes and gave us a peek at its madcap new Animal Crossing-inspired game mode.

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Infinite Wealth’s new Happy Resort Dondoko Island mode will have you managing your own island resort. Like Nintendo’s cozy 2020 life simulator Animal Crossing: New Horizons, you can go fishing on the beach, customize the island’s buildings and furniture, and have Ichiban craft special DIY projects. The similarities between Dondoko Island and AC:NH don’t end there. DonDonki Island will also let you forge friendships with the island getaway’s many outlandishly dressed tourists while you manage the island’s influx of funds and infrastructure just like Animal Crossing’s Tom Nook.

Here’s the trailer:

Sega

Dondoko Island may provide Ichiban and company some much-needed reprieve from the melodrama of his crime-riddled life, but that doesn’t mean you won’t have to sock a couple of uninvited guests along the way—this is a Yakuza game after all. Along with making sure everyone is having a good time on the island, you’ll also have to defend it from intruders.

This isn’t the first time the Yakuza series has turned a Nintendo game like AC:NH into its own game mode. In fact, Yakuza: Like a Dragon had Mario Kart-esque and Pokémon-inspired stints in the form of Dragon Kart Racing and Sujimon, respectively. Aside from providing players with a fun alternative to punching fools, these minigames were also a great way to earn a bunch of cash to purchase health items and upgrades for the main campaign’s challenging boss fights.

A Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth screenshot shows Ichiban showing off a chair he built.

Screenshot: Sega / Kotaku

But not everything is about the money. Sometimes you just need to sit back, grab a guitar, and sing karaoke in front of a roaring bonfire. Catch a vibe, if you will. I can already see myself ignoring Infinite Wealth’s main quest to sink countless hours into perfecting my island fortress. Speaking as a longtime Yakuza enjoyer, January can’t come soon enough.

Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth launches on January 26 for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, and Windows.

   

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