New Game Plus Coming to Witcher 3

The Witcher 3's final DLC is a new game plus mode for veterans of CD Project Red's latest game, according to a post from the official Witcher Facebook. 

Like the previous DLCs, the new game plus mode will be free.

No release date has been given,yet, but the the Witcher Facebook post reads, "It won't happen this week though - we need a little bit more time to finish it."

The new game plus mode will be the sixteenth DLC in a string of content that includes new character outfits, missions and even alternative gwent skins. 

New game plus is a mode only available after a player has beaten the game. Typically, the loot, armor and equipment a player owns at the end of their adventure carries over into a new game with new or tougher enemies. 

However, whether or not Witcher 3 will handle its new game plus mode similarly or take the DLC in another direction has yet to be determined. 

For more Witcher news, players and fans can visit www.TheWitcher.com.

Stay tuned for more news and updates on The Witcher 3 and stay tuned for Subculture! 

Hearthstone Calls for The Grand Tournament

Hearthstone lead designer and game director Eric Dodds announced a new expansion,The Grand Tournament.

Featuring over 130 new cards, new mechanics and a discounted pre-purchase week, The Grand Tournament is set for release in August.

Hearthstone's Lead Designer Eric Dodds

Dodds, speaking at San Francisco's Folsom Street Foundry and through Twitch, joked at the best guess as to what would follow Gnomes vs. Goblins. "There were a lot of great ideas and . . . one of the ideas that was kind of cool was the idea 'maybe are we doing Pirates vs. Ninjas?'" Dodds added, "There's only a little problem for me personally . . . [there's] some difficulty because I have a personal take on which way that conflict would go." Dodds chose pirates over ninjas.

The Hearthstone director continued, saying this theme of silliness and humor finds itself in the premise of The Grand Tournament. In regards to Warcraft lore, Dodds saidThe Grand Tournament's arena was built to find and assemble the best warriors. 

However, the lead designer discussed what would happen if the arena was kept open. He said invitations were sent to warriors across the Warcraft world, emphasizing The Grand Tournament to "be more on fun and honor and glory rather than this need to defeat the Lich King.

"When they looked at the people who arrived to do battle in the tournament, it actually looked a little bit like this...

So, they are still mighty knights. They are just mighty unconventional knights . . . "

Though thematic and filled with silliness, Dodds promised many new cards to change Hearthstone's metagame. 

The Hearthstone team, with this expansion, explored variations between card power juxtaposed to hero power. 

Maiden of the Lake, a neutral card for 4 mana with a power of 2 and toughness of 6 , is one of the spoiled cards to emphasize this nuance. Maiden of the Lake reduces hero power costs by 1. 

"It's pretty good," Dodds said, "you can sneak some new effects here and there, but it gets a lot more exciting when you start to include other cards in the mix. So, let's look at a mage dragon and think about how this would effect the Maiden of the Lake." 

Dodds revealed the Coldarra Drake, a 6 mana cost 6/6, that allows mage players to use their hero power any number of times.

He said, "There's a ton of awesome combos that we have here and this is sort of scratching the surface. . . We have alotta cards that are based around the hero power and affecting the hero power."

Dodds revealing Coldarra Drake

The newest giant, another card revealed to be affected by hero powers, is Frost Giant. The card initially costs 10 mana for and 8/8, however Frost Giant costs (1) less for each time a player uses his or her hero power in a single game. 

Further delving into The Grand Tournament, Dodds reminisced, "When we talked about this expansion, we talked about, 'is this enough?'" The lead designer said the Hearthstone crew thought about adding a new keyword, something they've never really done before. "We thought maybe it was right time," Dodds said, "but it's around the idea that hero power matters. So, we are adding the keyword 'Inspire.'" 

Inspire triggers every time a player activates their hero power. 

Lowly Squire is a 1-cost minion with 1 power and 2 toughness and the first card revealed with "Inspire."

Dodds said the Inspire mechanic can be found on many neutral minions, so synergies between different heroes and the new mechanic open "a ton of different combinatorics that you are all going to get to play with."

The very next reveal was a 5-cost legendary creature with Inspired, Nexus-Champion Saraad . Whenever Inspired is activated, Saraad adds a random spell to its controller's hand. "One of the reasons we like this guy, " Dodds added, " is he's going to put cards in your hand you weren't necessarily expecting. You're going to play in a different way when you have him. And of course he's an ethereal riding an energy camel . . ." 

Following the arena themes, Hearthstone artists created a brand new board just for The Grand Tournament." Dodds described the board as a mini-arena come to life. "You can eat from the food area and have them refill and bring you different food." The board's audience will cheer and feel sad, depending on how well you're doing and there is a mini archery range with plenty of secrets. 

According to the official Grand Tournament website, "Starting next week, players will be able to pre-purchase a bundle of 50 Grand Tournament Card Packs for $49.99." Players will also get an exclusive card back through this deal. 

Again, players can look forward to Hearthstone's newest expansion, The Grand Tournament, in August.

For more information, readers can visit www.TheGrandTourney.com or watch the rebroadcast of The Grand Tourney announcement for themselves on Twitch. 

Stay tuned for Subculture! 

Under the Radar Games: Ryse Son of Rome

Testudo

Enter Ryse: Son of Rome. Yes, the same Ryse: Son of Rome that was one of the flagship exclusives for the Xbox One launch.

Since its launch and less-than-steller reception though, Ryse found a new start as a PC port in October 2014. The port remains the same as the Xbox version save for its graphical limitations. Whereas Ryse capped at 30 frames per second and 900p on the Xbox One, the PC version supports 4k viewing and 60 frames per second.

However, given this is an Under the Radar segment and not a video on PC specs, let's go back to the topic at hand, the game itself.

Swift

Ryse is a Herculean amalgam of a mindless hack-and-slash violently juxtaposed against cinematic gore. It's as if the developers took the fun, repetitious combat of a Dynasty Warriors game and threw in Russel Crowe from Gladiator to froth together a precise, brutal video game of visceral combat and a sea of lost limbs.

Throughout the campaign and multiplayer modes, this four-button fighter pits the player against hordes of barbarians. Combat in Ryse, similar to the Batman Arkham series, is handled through strikes, counterattacks and finishers. But where Batman only knocks out his enemies, the foes found on the other end of the blade are efficiently cut down. Executions are brutal galleries of pain. Each strike holds its weight as limbs are cut and flesh is pierced in slow motion. There's an epic, yet simple satisfaction reveling in Ryse's combat and battle finishers.

Down

Ryse's narrative doesn't bring anything new to the industry. However, contained in the package of what the game is, Marius' RISE to revenge spells an exciting adventure through his campaigns as a Roman soldier. One segment, especially, proved thrilling and absolutely fantastic because it adopted much of the brilliant arena-moments of the movie Gladiator to Ryse.

Intervention

The narrative also lingers between the realm of men and gods. This inclusion of deities, along with striking a chord in my heart of literature, sculpts Ryse to be very Homeric and classical. Instead of a bland tale of revenge, Ryse orchestrates a thematic narrative driven by personal desire. 

Now whether those desires loom from the Ceaser, the main character Marius, or even the barbarian king, Oswald, Ryse cements how much humankind strives to choke every advantage it can receive despite the costs.

The characters in Ryse, like the myth of Sisyphus, the boulder and the mountain, are eternally lost between what they set to achieve and actually fulfilling their goals. The game tells a story much bigger than personal desire, and the characters who remain blind to this are punished like those in the ancient Greek tragedies.

Cut

Ryse is absolutely brilliant in its aesthetics of brutality and its execution of themes. Combat is simple, but stylish, visceral and fun. Marious' epic unfolds as a quest for personal revenge, but also expands beyond mortal boundaries to create a much more mythical narrative on the human condition. The initial release of Ryse bore witness to a game that was deemed to repetitive without much of a striking plot. However, I feel Ryse basks in its glorious combat and thematic narrative without exceptions, thus landing it as a perfect contender to be an Under the Radar Game.   

Anime Expo - Episode 3

The Subculture Times crew hits the 2015 Anime Expo for some panels, booths and... hentai?