FIA RALLY STAR DLC Out Now – Compete To Win An FIA Junior WRC Drive
The FIA, in collaboration with KT Racing, are running a competition on WRC 9, and the prize is a seat in an official FIA WRC training course, and potentially a fully-funded drive in the FIA Junior WRC for not one, but two full seasons!
You will need to purchase the FIA Rally Star DLC to participate ($9.99/€9.99/£7.99), from the PlayStation Store, Microsoft Store or Epic Games Store for PC, and be between 17 and 26 years old.
Between February and August 2021, there will be 12 online trials you can enter, with the best times recorded determining who moves onto the 6 continental finals.
Each of the 12 trials will last for one week, in which you can run up to 100 test runs, and 5 timed runs that will determine your position in the competition. Winning one of the 12 #RallyAtHome challenges moves you into the relevant continental final.
Win the continental final, and you will move on to a real-life Rally training season, with participation in 6 European rallies. The 7 continental winners will include at least one woman.
Drivers who display enough skill can earn a funded drive for two seasons in the Junior WRC, with the 2024 Junior WRC champion earning a drive in a WRC2 team for the 2025 FIA WRC. It really is an incredible opportunity to get a huge start on a bona fide rallying career.
I/O Ports
1x 3.5mm Combo Audio Jack
1x HDMI 2.0b
3x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A
1x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C support DisplayPort / power delivery
1x RJ45 LAN port
1x card reader (microSD)
Network and Communication
Wi-Fi 6(802.11ax)+Bluetooth 5.1 (Dual band) 2*2;(*BT version may change with OS upgrades.) -RangeBoost
Dimensions (W x D x H)
36.0 x 26.8 x 2.09 ~ 2.09 cm (14.17″ x 10.55″ x 0.82″ ~ 0.82″)
Weight
2.48 Kg (5.47 lbs)
[/su_spoiler]
[/su_accordion]
The Ultimate Flagship
The ASUS ROG Zephyrus Duo SE is ASUS’s gaming flagship, and the spec sheet reads like a gamer’s Christmas wishlist:
Overclocked AMD Ryzen 5900HX CPU
Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 16 Gb GPU
32 Gb DDR4-3200 RAM
4k120Hz display with exceptional colour
Secondary 3840×1100 touchscreen display
2 x 1 Tb M.2 NVMe SSDs in Raid 0 configuration
It basically looks like how my custom builds look when I design a money-is-no-object PC.
Pretty much every desirable part you can imagine is crammed into this powerhouse PC, with some trick custom engineering that makes this potent package feel worth every penny of its not inconsiderable price tag. If you can afford it, stop reading now, and go and order one. Whilst you are waiting for it to arrive, read on and discover why this could be one of the best laptops to release this year.
Design and build
ASUS’s new design philosophy is simply stunning, with a focus on restrained design taking the forefront. The new range still has distinctly gamer-focused design elements, but the overall aesthetic is far more tasteful and professional looking. Adorning the lid is a dot matrix pattern separated by a diagonal slash from the dark grey case, which is accentuated by an embossed glossy ROG logo, with the Republic of Gamers text running across the bottom. It’s subtle but drop-dead gorgeous.
The Zephyrus Duo SE has an all-metal construction, with a premium feeling finish. Even though there’s some next-level hardware inside, the Duo SE has a remarkably svelte frame, measuring in at just 20.9mm thin. Manufacturing tolerances are incredible, major kudos to ASUS for the build quality of the Zephyrus Duo SE. I spent a good five minutes studying every screw, panel, connection and hinge trying to find the tiniest of blemishes, but it’s essentially perfect.
Flagship products need some unique selling point to distinguish themselves from the crowd. For the Zephyrus Duo SE, it’s the excellent secondary screen (hence, Duo). As you open the lid, the custom hinge tilts the secondary touchscreen 13° towards you, which gives you a comfortable viewing and interaction angle. Raising the secondary screen does more than just make it easier to use, though, as it opens up cooling vents that both keeps the volume of the fans down and also maximises cooling efficiency. It may sound like marketing spiel, but it genuinely works. I always run laptops in maximum performance mode for benchmarking, but when I’m just trying to enjoy a game or two I usually run them at normal performance mode with auto fan management, as the noise can be excessive. With the Zephyrus Duo SE, I just left it running in Turbo mode, and it never got so loud as to be a major distraction, or audible through my headset microphone.
Because of the added secondary screen, the Zephyrus Duo SE is slightly deeper than most 15” laptops, but only by a small amount. The top and side bezels of the display can be measured in mere millimetres, however, it does have quite a chunky chin. Somewhat surprisingly, I actually prefer it, because it raises the screen and puts it in a much more natural viewing position. If I were to change one thing about this laptop, though, it would be by giving the option to manually adjust the angle of the secondary screen, but I have had to dig deep to find any flaw in the design here.
Keyboard and trackpad
The keyboard is unusual on the Zephyrus Duo SE, but the reasons are twofold. Not only is this an ultrathin gaming laptop, but the second screen takes up a lot of space, which means the keyboard is now at the front of the laptop.
Let’s be honest, resting your wrist on a laptop is never the most comfortable thing in the world, but because the keyboard on the Duo is located at the front of the laptop, ASUS has provided a sumptuous wrist rest, and it is so comfortable! You can sit comfortably at a reasonable distance from the screen and game comfortably for hours on end. It may be slightly inconvenient having to pack it away if you frequently move your laptop around, but the benefits far outweigh the inconvenience. Hopefully, more manufacturers take note, as it’s a concession I’m more than happy to make for comfort. But (there’s always a but)…
Having such a small amount of space to cram in a keyboard and a touchpad means there have had to be some omissions – Squishing a whole keyboard’s worth of keys into the limited space was never going to be possible, but ASUS has found a solution to condense these keys that just about works. If you’ve studied the images, you may have noticed there’s no home or end keys, and no dedicated page up/page down keys. By activating a toggle, you can switch the arrow keys to control home, end, page up and page down, or simple directional control. It’s still not as convenient as having dedicated keys, but it’s a workaround to what could be a very frustrating problem.
Another very cool and useful feature is the virtual numberpad. By pressing and holding in the top left corner of the trackpad, a numberpad is illuminated in its place. It’s an ingenious solution that works very well. For someone like me, who usually has a wireless mouse plugged in, it brings the Duo closer to the functionality of a full keyboard and saves the trackpad from sitting there doing nothing most of the time.
I’m trying to pick faults here but I’m struggling. The actual typing and gaming experience is flawless, especially with the comfort of the wrist rest. If I had to find fault, then maybe the lack of backlight glow around each key makes it tricky to differentiate between keys in a dark room, but equally, having just the lettering light up gives the Zephyrus Duo SE a distinctly gamer-RGB vibe, but also a refined professional feel.
The trackpad itself is small, but I prefer its location off to the right of the keyboard. It feels far more natural and much more like using a mouse and keyboard combo. The glass-coated trackpad is extremely responsive, and despite its diminutive size, it works perfectly. It’s a little bit narrow, but it physically can’t be any bigger without impacting the overall size of the laptop or keyboard, so it’s an acceptable compromise. In addition to supporting common swipe, tap and multi-touch inputs, there is also a pair of excellent dedicated LMB and RMB buttons, and they are sublime in use.
Connectivity
1x 3.5mm Combo Audio Jack
1x HDMI 2.0b
3x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A
1x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C support DisplayPort / power delivery
1x RJ45 LAN port
1x card reader (microSD)
As this is a laptop with configurations aimed at content creators, the Micro-SD slot is a very welcome addition. There’s enough connectivity to satisfy all but the most peripheral dependant needs. With more and more ultra-thin laptops removing the RJ45 ethernet connection, it’s good to see ASUS keeping them on their 2021 lineup. Although there’s no USB-C Gen4 support on AMD CPUs just yet, the Zephyrus Duo SE still supports DP over USB-C as well as HDMI 2.0b, enabling multi-monitor capabilities.
The connections are spread across the sides and rear of the Zephyrus Duo SE, but the ones on the side are placed very far forward. This isn’t such a problem for the USB ports, but I found the power cable to look very unsightly jutting out of the front-left, as it’s quite a chunky cable.
Audio
Ok, this is one of the announcements from CES2021 that I admit to being dubious of. Anyone who has used built-in speakers on a laptop or monitor has heard claims of “amazing quality audio”, but it never turns out to be as impressive as they claim (with the exception of the Philips 558M1RY and its Bowers and Wilkins soundbar).
The speaker setup on the ROG Zephyrus Duo SE is astonishingly good. The actual RMS rating of the speakers is just 2 x 4W for the subs, and 2 x 2W for the forward-facing tweeters, but this combined 12W RMS makes for some excellent audio. Bass has actual punch, whereas normally I’d be describing how it is basically non-existent. It may lack the deep resonance that you’ll get from decent bookshelf speakers like the AudioEngine AE2+ or a dedicated hi-fi system, but the full range of sound is presented and it’s good enough that you don’t outright need a separate expenditure to enjoy.
To quote myself, “I’ve yet to use a laptop with anything above passable audio. Despite my audiophile-audio bias, I’ll come into this with open ears.” Well, ASUS has proved me wrong, the sound on the Zephyrus Duo SE is not just good, it’s excellent.
Display
The Zephyrus Duo SE is available with two different 15.6” displays:
Our review model came with the 2160p 120 Hz display, and it is phenomenal.
Colours simply burst from the display, with no hint of oversaturation. You rarely get a display that needs no colour correction, but the Zephyrus Duo SE was perfect right out of the box.
IPS glow is a common downside of IPS displays, but it’s non-existent on the Duo. From edge to edge, all you get is a pristine image, with fantastic off-centre viewing angles showing very little colour or brightness degradation. Brightness uniformity is outstanding at over 99% with no visible variation across 15 measured zones. Colour uniformity is also way above the curve, with an average Delta-E of <0.5. Response times are very good, and I detected only slight ghosting during very fast-moving action.
The secondary display is not quite as vibrant as the main display but it is still crisp and sharp. As I mentioned earlier, I’d like for the second screen to have custom tilt, as from my normal viewing angle it did cause the colours to become a little washed out, but with the laptop’s screen centred in front of me, they look amazing.
I could write a whole review of the Zephyrus Duo SE’s display alone, but I’ll settle for saying this is one of the best IPS displays I’ve ever seen on a laptop.
ROG ScreenPad Plus
The secondary touchscreen goes way beyond just being a frivolous aesthetic addition. For streamers, it’s a handy way to keep your stream chat, controls and more constantly in view, while creatives can use the full screen for their project, and move timelines or contextual commands to the ScreenPad.
I wasn’t sure how much use I’d get from it at first, but I ended up filling it with useful apps and browser content all the time. Whether it was monitoring system performance with ROG Armoury Crate software, keeping an eye on my emails, watching videos or managing my song playlist while gaming, I could always find something useful and productive to do with it.
With a resolution of 3840×1100, I also found another fun use for the ScreenPad Plus – ultrawide gaming. Yes, you can play games in 32:9 on the ScreenPad at 60 fps. I don’t think I’d want to use it all the time like that, as you have to be pretty close to the screen to make out the detail, but Forza Horizon 4 looks incredible in double-width. In more practical terms, ASUS is working with game devs to bring dedicated support for the Duo. Dying Light 2 (bundled with the Zephyrus Duo SE as a download code, but as yet unreleased) will display inventory items, maps and missions on the ScreenPad.
Unfortunately, there are still a couple of issues to workaround. If you are playing a game full-screen and tap on the ScreenPad, it minimises the main display. You can run the game in a borderless window which will stop it minimising, but you’ll still have to Alt-Tab back to the game to regain control. For gaming, it’s best to stick to apps or content that you mostly just monitor rather than interact with to prevent interruption to your gameplay.
There are a few preloaded tools that you can also use with the display; Quick Key brings up a row of frequently used shortcuts, like cut, copy and paste, and you can also create your own hotkey with a 2-4 key combination; Handwriting lets you write notes with your finger or a stylus, which will then appear wherever your cursor is. It’s very accurate, and can even transcribe my sloppiest cursive scrawl; Number Key brings up an oversized number pad, which works, but I preferred to use the touchpad for this.
You can also group your favourite apps and launch them in a prearranged layout with a single click or tap. There are loads of different ways you can use the second screen, so it’s down to you what makes the most sense. It’s worth remembering you are paying a premium for the ScreenPad Plus, so if you don’t think you’d use it much then something like the single screen ROG Strix Scar 15 or 17 may be more suitable and offer similar performance.
Performance
I received both the ASUS TUF Dash F15 and the Zephyrus Duo SE to review, which was my first experience with the new RTX 30-series GPUs. While I found the low-TDP RTX 3070 of the Dash F15 to be good but not outstanding, the 115W TDP RTX 3080 16 GB and Ryzen 9 5900HX in the Zephyrus Duo SE smoked all of our previous laptop benchmarks.
The improved ray-tracing performance of the 30-series cards was immediately apparent, but it also shone on traditional rasterised graphics, giving the highest Ultra frame-rates we’ve yet recorded on a laptop.
As mentioned above, the RTX 3080 has a TDP of 115W, which is about mid-range of the 80-150+ W power rating possible for RTX 3080 mobile GPUs, but utilising Dynamic Boost it can hit 130W. You may question why ASUS didn’t use a full-fat 150W+ GPU in the Duo SE, but it wouldn’t be anywhere near as thin or quiet, as it would need substantially more cooling.
Combined with the outstanding performance of the overclocked Ryzen 9 5900HX, the Zephyrus Duo SE gobbles up games and churns out decent frame rates at 4k UHD resolutions. While 2160p is arguably overkill at this screen size, the GPU is certainly capable of pumping out impressive visuals with exceptional clarity. If I was choosing a laptop for myself, I would plump for the 300 Hz FHD display, as 4k120 is a struggle for even the newest desktops at Ultra settings. With the content-creator demographic in mind, though, the stunning UHD display and potent CPU will serve them well.
N.b. A benchmark that isn’t included in the list, but is for a very popular and oft-requested game, is Flight Simulator. On full-fat Ultra graphics settings, the Zephyrus Duo SE achieved 62 fps at 1440p, and 41 fps at 2160p, which is very good considering this is a slimline laptop. Combined with the gorgeous display, soaring through the skies never looked so good!
For a lot of games, I ran them rendered at 1440p and sometimes 1080p so that I could take advantage of the higher frame rates, and short of pulling out a magnifying glass I couldn’t see any discernible difference. Unless you are a content creator and need the incredible colour accuracy and 4k resolution, I still maintain that the 1080p 300Hz screen option is the best choice for gamers.
Benchmarks
All benchmark tests were carried out with power management and fan control set to Turbo in the Armoury Crate software. For external display tests, I used an Acer Predator XB273U GS 1440p display, and an LG 27UK650 2160p display, connected via HDMI.
Gaming Benchmarks – 1080p
Shadow of the Tomb Raider
Highest preset – 121 fps
Highest, RTX on – 78 fps
Forza Horizon 4
Ultra preset – 162 fps
Gears 5
Ultra preset – 108 fps
Gears Tactics
Ultra preset – 129.5 fps
Wolfenstein: Youngblood (RTX On)
Ultra preset – 172 fps
Total War Saga: Troy
Ultra preset – 112.5 fps (average across all three scenarios)
Borderlands 3
Ultra preset – 102.37 fps
Control
Ultra preset – 144 fps
Control RTX
Ultra preset – 100 fps
Minecraft RTX
Ultra preset – untested
Gaming Benchmarks – 1440p
Shadow of the Tomb Raider
Highest preset – 106 fps
Highest, RTX on – 68 fps
Forza Horizon 4
Ultra preset – 149 fps
Gears 5
Ultra preset – 85.5 fps
Gears Tactics
Ultra preset – 96.7 fps
Wolfenstein: Youngblood (RTX On)
Ultra preset – 157 fps
Total War Saga: Troy
Ultra preset – 82.5 fps (average across all three scenarios)
Borderlands 3
Ultra preset – 75.13 fps
Control
Ultra preset – 102 fps
Control RTX
Ultra preset – 72 fps
Minecraft RTX
Ultra preset – 97 fps
Gaming Benchmarks – 2160p
Shadow of the Tomb Raider
Highest preset – 64 fps
Highest, RTX on – 45 fps
Forza Horizon 4
Ultra preset – 81 fps
Gears 5
Ultra preset – 63.2 fps
Gears Tactics
Ultra preset – 72.3 fps
Wolfenstein: Youngblood (RTX On)
Ultra preset – 89 fps
Total War Saga: Troy
Ultra preset – 47.7 fps (average across all three scenarios)
Borderlands 3
Ultra preset – 42.77 fps
Control
Ultra preset – 60 fps
Control RTX
Ultra preset – 46 fps
Stranded Deep
Ultra preset – 68 fps
Minecraft RTX
Ultra preset – 57 fps
This was with maximum ray-tracing rendering distance, and it looked incredible. You can increase the frame rate significantly by lowering some of the visual enhancements, but it runs perfectly well maxed out.
Performance comparisons
Laptop/PC
ASUS ROG Zephyrus Duo SE
Acer Predator Triton 500
ASUS TUF Dash F15
Acer Predator Triton 300
Acer Predator Helios 300
Model
GX551QS
PT515-52
FX516PR
PT315-52
PH315-53
Processor
R9 5900HX
i7-10875H
i7-11370H
i7-10750H
i7-10750H
GPU
RTX 3080 16Gb
RTX 2080 Super MaxQ 8Gb
RTX 3070 8Gb
RTX 2070 Max-Q 8Gb
RTX 2060 6Gb
GPU TGP/TDP
115W
85W
Ram
32GB DDR4-3200 (16+16)
32GB DDR4-3200 (16+16)
16GB DDR4-3200 (8+8)
16GB DDR4-3200 (8+8)
20GB DDR4-3200 (16+4)
SSD
2 x 1TB M.2 NVMe SSD
1Tb M.2 NVMe SSD
512GB M.2 NVMe SSD
1Tb M.2 NVMe SSD
512GB M.2 NVMe SSD
HDD
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
Display
2160p 120Hz Pantone
1080p 300Hz G-Sync
1080p 144Hz
1080p 144Hz
1080p 144Hz
System Benchmark Results:
The AMD Ryzen 5900HX will demolish most CPU intensive tasks you throw at it. I’m a relatively light-user in computational terms, but when I threw some rendering tasks at the Zephyrus Duo SE it smashed them considerably faster than my desktop i7-10700. As can be seen from the benchmark results, these are excellent figures, and it’s achieved by a CPU that runs between 35-80 W (dependant on GPU utilisation). There’s enough power here for streamers to be able to run their full setup from one device, or for content creators to edit their videos without sitting impatiently waiting for rendering to complete.
This increased processing power translates well to gaming as well. CPU dependant games can hit high frame rates effortlessly. The R9 5900HX and RTX 3080 pairing here is perfectly matched for its target audience.
CPU Tests:
Cinebench R15
CineBench – CPU (Single)(cb)
(High-performance mode / Auto Fan): 238 cb
CineBench – CPU (Multi)(cb)
(High-performance mode / Auto Fan): 2277 cb
CineBench – GPU (OpenGL)
(High-performance mode / Auto Fan): 164.59 fps
MP Ratio
9.58 x
Cinebench R20
CineBench – CPU (Single)
(High-performance mode / Auto Fan): 571
CineBench – CPU (Multi)
(High-performance mode / Auto Fan): 5545
MP Ratio
9.58 x
Cinebench R23
CineBench – CPU (Single)
(High-performance mode / Auto Fan): 1458
CineBench – CPU (Multi)
(High-performance mode / Auto Fan): 13898
MP Ratio
9.53 x
Bright Memory Infinite RTX Benchmark
Very High – DLSS Setting: Quality
1080p: 69 fps
1440p: 42 fps
2160p: 21 fps
High – DLSS Setting: Performance
1080p: 106 fps
1440p: 73 fps
2160p: 37 fps
UserBenchMark
Gaming – 139% UFO
Desktop – 101% UFO
Workstation – 142% UFO
CPU – Gaming – 92.70%
Graphics – 143%
Boot Drive – 421%
Storage
Our review unit came with a 2 x 1 TB M.2 NVMe SSDs, which is ample for storing a healthy library of AAA games on. Performance is phenomenal, with the SSD recording unbelievably fast sequential peaks of 7111 MB/s Read and 6005 MB/s Write. This obliterates everything we’ve ever tested. We haven’t had a laptop with a Raid 0 configuration before (which effectively doubles the speed in striped setup), but even so, this is next-level speed.
There is the slight drawback that data is spread between both drives, so if one drive fails you lose everything off both drives. It’s worth it for the epic performance, just be sure to back up any important files or photos on a separate drive.
CrystalDiskMark
The following are the results recorded in CrystalDiskMark, with figures measured in MB/s
SEQ1M Q8T1 Read
7111.02
SEQ1M Q8T1 Write
6005.7
SEQ1M Q1T1 Read
3603.63
SEQ1M Q1T1 Write
4424.86
RND4K Q321T1 Read
378.87
RND4K Q321T1 Write
602.11
RND4K Q1T1 Read
46.57
RND4K Q1T1 Write
212.27
Cooling
The Zephyrus Duo SE has what ASUS calls AAS+ (Active Aerodynamic System Plus) cooling. When the secondary display lifts up, it opens up a large additional air intake that sucks in cool air, helping keep the internals cool even under heavy loads. Combined with redesigned fans and liquid-metal compound that has been applied to the CPU, it reduces the internal temperatures significantly.
I run the benchmarks in Turbo mode, but usually play games in performance to minimise the noise from fans. With the Duo SE, the volume of the fans was unobtrusive even in Turbo mode, so I got to enjoy the full power of the laptop more often. Unlike other laptops, Turbo mode doesn’t just continually run the fans at full speed, and they can even switch off completely if they aren’t needed, they just kick in when needed to keep things cool.
The Duo SE kicks out a fair amount of heat, with the underside getting very warm, but there are loads of exhaust vents around the laptop keeping things in check. Due to the keyboards location at the front of the keyboard tray, it never got more than slightly warm.
During a prolonged gaming session, the maximum GPU temperature was just 72°C, while the CPU peaked at 84°C.
Battery life
The Zephyrus Duo SE is fitted with a massive 90WHrs, 4-cell Li-ion battery, and it performs well considering the huge power and multiple displays.
Running both displays at 50% brightness while browsing, streaming video and carrying out basic productivity will net you about 5 hours of life from the battery, which is surprisingly good.
Gaming on battery fares less well, but was still about average for a gaming laptop – I ran Minecraft RTX at 50% brightness, in silent mode, with refresh capped at 60 fps. From 100% battery down to 20% took a hair under an hour.
The (large) power adapter included charged the Duo SE from 20% to 100% in 1h20m, with the display off and no processes running.
Summary
ASUS has knocked it out of the park with the Zephyrus Duo SE. It has a stunning design, with a magnificent screen, and the ScreenPad Plus is genuinely useful, even if it could use a few more developers supporting its functionality to make it more useful for gaming. The in-built speakers are also leaps and bounds ahead of what you normally get from a laptop, and they go loud enough and clear enough to be enjoyed without the need for a headset or external speakers.
The new AMD CPUs have leapfrogged the Intel offerings, and now offer desktop-level performance in a mobile device. Gaming performance is also exceptional, but even this much power can’t consistently run games at high enough frame rates to maximise the potential of the 4k120 display. For content creators, the 2160p resolution and incredible colour accuracy of the display will be a huge draw, but if your main interest is gaming then the 300Hz 1080p display (that still has 100% sRGB coverage) will be a better option.
If you aren’t familiar with the range, TUF is ASUS’s attainable brand of gaming laptops. Sitting comfortably at the affordable end of the price range, they bring big performance at a great price. The cost of the various models of the TUF Dash F15 is still very reasonable, but not only is the build quality better than ever, we have the introduction of the RTX 30-series GPUs and 11th Gen Intel Core i7 CPUs. There have been a couple of concessions made to keep the cost down, but they have also eked out the longest battery life of any laptop we’ve seen.
Design and build
The first and most significant improvement of the TUF Dash F15 is the switch to metal for the top of the lid. Not only does this give the laptop a more premium feel, but it has also greatly increased the rigidity of the display, which had a tendency to feel a bit flimsy on the older TUF laptops. The hinges mounting the display hold the display firmly in place, but it is still possible to lift the display one-handed without the body of the laptop lifting, too.
Build quality of ASUS’s laptops has never been an issue, especially their TUF range, which are designed to handle temperature, humidity and minor bumps and knocks without any concern. The rest of the Dash F15’s shell is plastic, but it feels very robust and there’s very little flex. Panel fitment and general assembly quality are superb, and beyond what you’d expect from more affordable ranges of laptops.
The TUF Dash F15 has a welcomely small power adapter. Unlike some other devices I’ve tested recently, the main length of the cable goes from the adapter to the laptop, so there were no issues with keeping the adapter on the floor and out of the way, and there’s enough cable to comfortably reach your desk, the sofa, bed or pretty much anywhere else you want to use it.
In terms of design, there are a few flourishes to mark this out as a gaming laptop, but for the most part, it’s a relatively understated design. There’s plenty of ventilation at the sides, rear, and back of the keyboard deck, but they are subtly integrated rather than stand-out design pieces. Our review model has a black keyboard deck and lower shell, while the metal lid is a very dark shade of gunmetal-grey. There is a huge TUF logo on the lid, but the black lettering against the dark background blends in well and prevents it from looking garish. (ASUS also sell a variant of the TUF Dash F15 in Moonlight White, which looks gorgeous.)
Bezels around the display are minimal, with even spacing at both the sides and the top. This is possible because the Dash F15 doesn’t have a webcam built-in, which they seem to have removed from most of their 2021 range. In fairness, webcams on laptops are usually 720p and have mediocre quality, but with video conferencing being used a lot more often these days it’s still a surprising omission. You can pick up a cheap webcam that clips to the top of your display or use software that lets you use a smartphone as a webcam, so not having a webcam doesn’t bother me, but it’s worth pointing out.
A pair of 2W speakers are fitted to the Dash F15, and they’re perfectly acceptable for light media consumption if you don’t have a headset or set of speakers handy. Bass is typically underrepresented, and treble lacks a touch of clarity, but performance is just above what you’d expect from a laptop. Loud fan volume can drown out the speakers, though, so you will definitely need a headset while gaming.
I’m definitely a fan of ASUS’s 2021 design revisions. They’ve removed the unnecessary angular corners that the TUFs used to have and toned down some of the more aggressive styling, which gives the laptop a clean and more professional appearance.
The TUF Dash F15 is very thin at just 19.9 mm and also very light, weighing around 2Kg. Combined with the MIL-STD military standard durability certification, the Dash F15 is a great choice if you travel or frequently move your laptop around with you. I’d happily chuck it into a backpack and take it with me pretty much anywhere.
Keyboard and trackpad
As much as I appreciate an ultra-thin device, it does come with some drawbacks. Despite there being plenty of surface area for a full keyboard arrangement, making the laptop so thin means ASUS has had to fit a TKL layout to the Dash F15. This in itself isn’t a problem, however, I do have a couple of niggles with some of the choices they’ve made. First of all, the arrow keys are tiny, only half the height of regular keys, making them a bit awkward to use. The enter key is also smaller than I’m used to, with single key height and double-width, again making it awkward to hit consistently. Finally, there is no insert or print screen key, the latter of which, as a games journalist, obviously comes in very handy. There is a screen-snip shortcut bound to Fn+F6, but it’s not as convenient as a straight screen-grab.
These minor complaints aside, the actuation depth (key travel – 1.7mm) and typing feel of the keys is well balanced and quiet, making writing and gaming on the keyboard a pleasure. ASUS has also fitted a few extra buttons for convenience. There’s a separate dedicated power button, and a bank of four hotkeys for volume up/down, mic mute and a shortcut to launch Armoury Crate. I love the convenience of the volume controls and not having to use an Fn key combo, but I think we’d be better served by a volume mute as opposed to a mic mute switch.
The keyboard itself is LED-backlit in Bolt Blue (a light teal, to you and me), which is a unique and pleasant colour. It gives a soft surround to the keys and passes through the translucent lettering which is both easy on the eye and provides clear key identification. For gamers, the WASD keys are fully translucent, standing out boldly against the other keys. The only downside to the backlit keys is that if you have the backlight turned off, it’s nigh-on impossible to read some of the keys in low light conditions. Fortunately, the backlight isn’t intrusive, so there’s no problem just leaving it switched on.
Located in the centre, under the keyboard, is the trackpad. It’s much larger than in previous TUF laptops, extending right to the front of the case. The surface is smooth, enabling accurate pointer control, and I found the multi-finger gestures and taps to work reliably. The under-surface LMB and RMB buttons feel a bit clunky, but it’s far easier to just tap or two-finger tap. There is occasionally a slight dead-zone at the outer edges of the touchpad, but it didn’t cause me any problems.
Connectivity
1x 3.5mm Combo Audio Jack
1x HDMI 2.0b
3x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A
1x RJ45 LAN port
1x Type C USB 4 supporting DisplayPort / power delivery / Thunderbolt™ 4
Most of the connections run along the left side of the laptop, apart from a pair of USB-A 3.2 ports on the right. This works out fine for general use – I’ve seen HDMI ports placed along the right side, which gets in the way as it’s harder to move the thicker cables out of the way, but the Dash F15 worked out well for the wireless receivers for my mouse.and keyboard.
Screen
The TUF Dash F15 is available with three different 15.6” displays:
FHD (1920 x 1080) Value IPS, 144 Hz, 62.5% sRGB, 47.34% AdobeRGB, Adaptive-Sync
WQHD (2560 x 1440) IPS, 165 Hz, 100% sRGB, Adaptive-Sync
Our review model came with the 1080p 144 Hz display, which is a good match for the performance of the laptop, but I found the colour vibrancy to be underwhelming.
Contrast levels are reasonable, and above average for what you’d expect of an IPS display. Peak brightness is fairly low at around 275 cd/m2. Despite this, dark scenes still showed a decent amount of detail, with no notable black crush, while still able to push out decent highlights and bright images.
Brightness uniformity was good, with an average brightness distribution of 93%, with the biggest drops at the top-centre and bottom-centre of the display, however, this was barely noticeable at a regular usage distance while centred to the screen.
Colour quality was distinctly lacking, though. I like to use Futurama as a test for colour vibrancy, consistency and uniformity, as the large swathes of colour and subtle gradients are good for showcasing the quality (or lack thereof) of a display. While the uniformity was good, with colours remaining consistent across large areas, the screen lacks any punch, and images look washed out. It’s not a bad image, per se, as apart from the colour vibrancy, the display is acceptable and more than usable, but unless you are on a very restrictive budget I’d definitely recommend opting for the 240 Hz 1080p panel with 100% sRGB coverage.
The 1440p display is a tempting option, but the increased resolution won’t be as significant on a 15.6” display, and as we will see in the performance benchmarks, running at 1080p yields better results, especially in terms of future-proofing your purchase, as games are only going to get more demanding in the years to come
Performance
This was my first experience of both the new RTX 3070 GPU and the i7-11370H CPU, and the results have been mostly very good, even if it’s not as much of an improvement as I expected. Although there were a few games that showcased the potential of the improved ray-tracing capabilities of RTX 30-series cards, I found many games performed roughly similar to a laptop we tested which had an RTX 2070 Max-Q and i7-10750H pairing. You can pick up the TUF Dash F15 for just £1299.99 in the spec we received, though, which is comparable to or even cheaper than the RTX 2070 equipped devices, which makes the Dash F15 more desirable for its excellent battery life and improved ray-tracing capabilities.
Without the Max-Q branding on mobile GPUs, it’s not immediately clear what performance you can expect from the new cards. Manufacturers should display the TDP rating for their GPUs on their product pages, which will make it easier to compare the performance of devices at a glance (it’s not yet known if retailers will have to follow the same standard, however, ASUS have already updated their product pages). The RTX 3070 in the Dash F15 has a TDP of 80W (85W with Dynamic Boost), which is at the bottom end of the scale (80-125W). To put this into perspective, this means you could theoretically have an RTX 3060 that comfortably outperforms the RTX 3070 used here. Confusing, isn’t it? Thankfully, that’s what reviewers like us are for!
While it may be easy to assume having less power is undesirable, there are still benefits to be found. Lower power equals longer battery life, and combined with the efficiency of the 11th gen i7 CPU, the Dash F15 can last most of the day handling light duties on a single charge. It also means less space is needed for cooling, which has helped ASUS keep the Dash so thin and lightweight. When you have a laptop that is designed around mobility, durability and longevity, it’s actually quite a savvy compromise to make, and one the target audience is sure to appreciate. Yes, there are more powerful versions of the same card, but if you frequently need to use your laptop on the go then the Dash F15 makes a lot of sense.
Moving onto the CPU, it’s not just a simple case of newer is better. The i7-11370H outperforms the 10th gen chips by a significant margin in single-core performance, but when it comes to multi-threaded tasks, the 4 core i7-11370H can’t quite match the performance of its predecessors. On CPU intensive games I found the processor was already causing a bottleneck that resulted in frame rates lower than the previous-gen hexa-core and octa-core systems. Once Intel develops new CPUs with more cores, they should be on par or even better than AMD’s excellent new 5000 series CPUs, but for now, I’m not convinced the 11th gen i7 is the best choice, apart from in terms of extreme power saving.
Although it seems like the pairing in the Dash F15 is a bit lacklustre, in actual use it’s still a very competent system. As long as you aren’t using it for intensive video-editing or as an all-in-one streaming device, it’s a very capable machine. In addition to using the in-built display, I hooked up a 1440p and 2160p monitor to run some benchmarks. 2160p at Ultra hovers around 30 fps on most games, but 1440p is definitely a viable option. At the native display resolution of 1080p, results are very good, and you can hit well over 100 fps at Ultra on many games. With a little settings tinkering, you can get almost all games at playable frame rates, and chances are you’ll barely notice the difference from Ultra settings. I am, however, concerned that the low TDP of the GPU, and the 4-core CPU, could hamper this laptop a few years down the line.
Benchmarks
All benchmark tests were carried out with power management and fan control set to Turbo in the Armoury Crate software. For external display tests, I used an Acer Predator XB273U GS 1440p display, and an LG 27UK650 2160p display, connected via HDMI.
Gaming Benchmarks – 1080p
Shadow of the Tomb Raider
Highest preset – 83 fps
Highest, RTX on – 57 fps
Forza Horizon 4
Ultra preset – 114 fps
Gears 5
Ultra preset – 84.1 fps
Gears Tactics
Ultra preset – 93.9 fps
Wolfenstein: Youngblood (RTX On)
Ultra preset – 121 fps
Total War Saga: Troy
Ultra preset – 81 fps (average across all three scenarios)
Borderlands 3
Ultra preset – 72.9 fps
Control
Ultra preset – 122 fps
Control RTX
Ultra preset – 76 fps
Minecraft RTX
Ultra preset – 83 fps
Gaming Benchmarks – 1440p
Shadow of the Tomb Raider
Highest preset – 54 fps
Highest, RTX on – 40 fps
Forza Horizon 4
Ultra preset – 88 fps
Gears 5
Ultra preset – 66.1 fps
Gears Tactics
Ultra preset – 71.7 fps
Wolfenstein: Youngblood (RTX On)
Ultra preset – 90 fps
Total War Saga: Troy
Ultra preset – 64.3 fps (average across all three scenarios)
Borderlands 3
Ultra preset – 54.81 fps
Control
Ultra preset – 80 fps
Control RTX
Ultra preset – 50 fps
Minecraft RTX
Ultra preset – 67 fps
Gaming Benchmarks – 2160p
Shadow of the Tomb Raider
Highest preset – 47 fps
Highest, RTX on – 32 fps
32 fps at 4k may not seem significant, but this nearly doubles the 18 fps we recorded on an RTX 2070, highlighting the improved ray-tracing of RTX 30-series GPUs.
Forza Horizon 4
Ultra preset – 57 fps
Gears 5
Ultra preset – 51 fps
Gears Tactics
Ultra preset – 37.5 fps
This is where the limitations of the CPU really stand out. Based on previous tests, I would have expected in the region of 55-60 fps, but benchmark data shows the CPU to be the limiting factor here.
Wolfenstein: Youngblood (RTX On)
Ultra preset – 74 fps
Total War Saga: Troy
Ultra preset – 35 fps (average across all three scenarios)
Borderlands 3
Ultra preset – 30.78 fps
Control
Ultra preset – 41 fps
Control RTX
Ultra preset – 26 fps
Performance comparisons
Laptop/PC
ASUS ROG Zephyrus Duo SE
Acer Predator Triton 500
ASUS TUF Dash F15
Acer Predator Triton 300
Acer Predator Helios 300
Model
GX551QS
PT515-52
FX516PR
PT315-52
PH315-53
Processor
R9 5900HX
i7-10875H
i7-11370H
i7-10750H
i7-10750H
GPU
RTX 3080 16Gb
RTX 2080 Super MaxQ 8Gb
RTX 3070 8Gb
RTX 2070 Max-Q 8Gb
RTX 2060 6Gb
GPU TGP/TDP
115W
85W
Ram
32GB DDR4-3200 (16+16)
32GB DDR4-3200 (16+16)
16GB DDR4-3200 (8+8)
16GB DDR4-3200 (8+8)
20GB DDR4-3200 (16+4)
SSD
2 x 1TB M.2 NVMe SSD
1Tb M.2 NVMe SSD
512GB M.2 NVMe SSD
1Tb M.2 NVMe SSD
512GB M.2 NVMe SSD
HDD
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
Display
2160p 120Hz Pantone
1080p 300Hz G-Sync
1080p 144Hz
1080p 144Hz
1080p 144Hz
System Benchmark Results:
As long as you aren’t doing anything too intensive, the TUF Dash F15 will quite happily plug away at basic productivity tasks, video playback and streaming, and regular computer use. Best of all, it uses very little energy, especially when only using the integrated GPU, which means you get outstanding battery life and an almost silent system.
In comparison with the new Ryzen 9 5900H, or even the outgoing i7-10750H (a popular and common laptop gaming laptop CPU), the i7-11370H falls well short in multi-core performance benchmarks. In single-core tests, however, it compares very favourably with the overclocked Ryzen 9 5900HX.
I used the TUF Dash F15 connected to external displays, as well as taking it around the house while doing homeschooling, conferencing and some (lots of) gaming. Thanks to lockdown I couldn’t take it on any commutes, but I’d be happy to use it on the go, confident it has enough power to handle my regular workload as well as some AAA gaming.
CPU Tests:
Cinebench R15
CineBench – CPU (Single)(cb)
(High-performance mode / Auto Fan): 234 cb
CineBench – CPU (Multi)(cb)
(High-performance mode / Auto Fan): 1096 cb
CineBench – GPU (OpenGL)
(High-performance mode / Auto Fan): 136.39 fps
MP Ratio
4.63 x
Cinebench R20
CineBench – CPU (Single)
(High-performance mode / Auto Fan): 586
CineBench – CPU (Multi)
(High-performance mode / Auto Fan): 2726
MP Ratio
4.65 x
Cinebench R23
CineBench – CPU (Single)
(High-performance mode / Auto Fan): 1453
CineBench – CPU (Multi)
(High-performance mode / Auto Fan): 6575
MP Ratio
4.53 x
Bright Memory Infinite RTX Benchmark
Very High – DLSS Setting: Quality
1080p: 54 fps
1440p: 32 fps
2160p: 16 fps
High – DLSS Setting: Performance
1080p: 82 fps
1440p: 54 fps
2160p: 28 fps
UserBenchMark
Gaming – 86% Aircraft Carrier
Desktop – 95% Nuclear Submarine
Workstation – 79% Battleship
CPU – Gaming – 81.60%
Graphics – 106%
Boot Drive – 194%
Cooling
During our testing, with the Armoury Crate performance mode set to Turbo, the fans, although noisy, did a fantastic job of keeping the internals cool. During a sustained gaming session, the GPU temperature peaked at 78 degrees celsius, while the CPU remained under 88 degrees celsius. Surface temperatures were a little higher than average, though, with the underside, in particular, becoming too hot to be used comfortably on my lap. The important gaming keys never got too warm to be comfortable, though, with the largest heat build-up away from your hands at the top and centre of the keyboard tray.
The heat exhaust at the right side of the display chucks out a fair amount of heat. It was actually quite handy for keeping my mouse-hand warm in the chilly temperatures we’re experiencing, but I was wary of leaving my phone or chocolatey based snacks in the immediate vicinity.
Storage
Our review unit came with a 512 GB M.2 NVMe SSD, which is enough to store a reasonable amount of games. Performance is excellent, with the SSD recording blisteringly fast sequential peaks of 3547 MB/s Read and 2934 MB/s Write. This is above everything we’ve tested with the exception of the Raid 0 configuration of the ROG Zephyrus Duo SE (7111 MB/s read/6005 MB/s write). It makes a noticeable difference compared to slower drives and (God-forbid) regular SATA HDDs.
If you open the rear of the case (very easy to do, thanks to a pop screw that cracks open the case for easy removal), there’s an additional M.2 slot available for storage expansion.
A quick side-note regarding internal upgrades: The TUF Dash F15 has 16 Gb of DDR4-3200 RAM, which is more than enough for the CPU / GPU pairing. If you do need to upgrade it, you can access the RAM when removing the rear panel, however, one of the sticks is soldered in place.
CrystalDiskMark
SEQ1M Q8T1 Read
3547.41
SEQ1M Q8T1 Write
2934.43
SEQ1M Q1T1 Read
2029.65
SEQ1M Q1T1 Write
1968.33
RND4K Q321T1 Read
378.77
RND4K Q321T1 Write
426.46
RND4K Q1T1 Read
44.7
RND4K Q1T1 Write
131.41
Battery life
The TUF Dash F15 comes with a very respectable 76WHrs, 4-cell Li-ion battery, that performs better than larger batteries in more power-hungry devices. In absolute power-conserving mode, only using the bare minimum of performance, you can get upwards of 15 hours from the Dash F15, but during our more realistic usage test (including video streaming, web browsing and light productivity), I clocked a solid 6.5 hours of use throughout the day, which is very good.
As ever, gaming on battery power still drains the battery at a rate of knots, but I still managed to play Minecraft RTX for 1 hour 40 minutes before having to plug back in (60 fps, power-saving turned on, 50% brightness, plugged in with 17% remaining). By adjusting the settings, you can run with the frame rate capped between 30 and 60 fps dependant on how long you need to stretch out your battery life.
The included 200W slimline charger will take the Dash F15 from 25% to 100% in just under an hour. You can also charge it with USB-C, however, it will be considerably slower and you won’t be able to take advantage of the full power of the laptop in Turbo mode, like when connected to the mains supply.
Who is the ASUS TUF Dash F15 best suited for?
If your primary need is for long battery life to keep you working through the whole day, but still want to be able to play the newest games, then the TUF Dash F15 may be just what you are looking for. This is, of course, a very specific target audience, but if you are a student or use your laptop for work during the day away from plug sockets, it’s a solid choice. However, if your primary aim is the best gaming performance, knowing that there are RTX 3060 laptops out there that can comfortably outperform your 3070 is a bitter pill to swallow.
Summary
If you are in the niche where battery life is the most important consideration, the TUF Dash F15 has incredible longevity that should easily last a full day’s work, and its slim and light design is great for portability. Build quality is excellent, and I like the new design aesthetic of the new TUF laptops, but the poor sRGB coverage is disappointing, as is the underperforming GPU. At the asking price of £1299, though, it still represents great value for money, and even though performance is only incrementally better than the previous-gen, you can pick up the Dash F15 for less than the laptops it is replacing.
The Phantom Thieves are back on a road trip around Japan!
Developer: Koei-Tecmo
Publisher:Atlus
Release date: 23rd February 2021
Genre: JRPG
Platforms: PS4, Nintendo Switch
Reviewed on: PS5 via Backward Compatibility
Game Supplied by: Publisher
[su_accordion]
[su_spoiler title=”About” style=”fancy”]
Looking for some rest and relaxation, the Phantom Thieves set out to begin their road trip, until a ruthless Kyoto detective enlists their help investigating a series of strange cases occurring across Japan… otherwise, he’ll arrest Joker. As they dig deeper into the mystery, they discover another realm where innocent people are being jailed and forced to forfeit their hearts’ desires by the whims of its ruler. In typical Phantom Thieves style, they’re going to use everything they’ve got to liberate the imprisoned, return their hearts, and strike back against the corruption in their most explosive fight yet!
[/su_spoiler]
[/su_accordion]
There are many who regard the Persona series as the standout class leader of the JRPG genre, and many, including myself, who regard Persona 5 and it’s upgraded later edition Persona 5 Royal, as the greatest JRPG ever made.
The game mixed bold stylish artwork, along with a wonderful and engaging cast of characters and a superb story, mixed with nailed down gameplay and a kickass soundtrack to pump the game along. With a new developer being handed the reins to make the next chapter of their story, one could be forgiven in thinking they would miss the mark and not capture the spirit and joy of the first game when making an alternative style sequel/spin-off. Fear not, as Koei-Tecmo absolutely nailed it!
Let’s be clear from the start.
As all the gang of Persona 5 reunite at the start of the game to plan their summer vacation, there is an expectation that players already know the individuals of the Phantom Thieves and their associates. There is no exposition as to who this group is or how they know each other, and this is exacerbated by the fact that they constantly reference their history in their dialogue. The worst case of this is with Morgana. With absolutely no explanation, players new to the series would likely have questions as to why the group has a talking cat. It’s quite clear the rest of the group has a history too, with little quips here and there which would be lost on new players.
However, if any new players suspend their disbelief and just go with the flow, they will soon fall in love with the funny, witty, and determined bunch of teens who have become the notorious stealers of hearts and desires of the wicked and evil of the world.
Here we go again!
So the loveable rogues meet up to plan their summer vacation but soon get tangled up in yet another case of changing the hearts of the wicked, whilst being closely monitored by law enforcement, with a new character called Zenkichi. The group also acquire a new member of their team, who manifests herself into human form in the metaverse, but is in fact an AI app on a mobile phone, called Sophia.
The team enters the metaverse to fight their way through puzzles and dungeons to complete tasks that will give them access to their target’s locked away “desire”. Once they have completed their infiltration route, they then send a calling card to that person in the real world and then go back to confront them in the metaverse one last time.
The key difference in Strikers from the main Persona series is the style of battle. Here in Strikers, the style is real-time musou hack and slash, akin to a Dynasty/Samurai Warriors game, rather than the turn-based strategy of before. All other aspects of gameplay are the same, though. The team has personas to use for magic attacks, they have to ambush enemies from behind to get the upper hand and there are puzzles to solve and dungeons to explore.
Fast and frenetic!
With a real-time hack and slash combat mechanic, gameplay can and does get hugely frenetic and wildly exciting! Upon entering a battle, the team gets locked into an area where hordes of enemies spawn that have to cut down. These range from multiple numbers of easy to kill foes, to large health-sponge boss fights. You only have a maximum of four members per battle, but each character has their own dynamic style, so each of them felt different to play, despite the simple variety of attacks.
Landing combos can unlock extra attacks if the enemy is staggered, along with L1 being used to aim and shoot your ranged weapons. When a meter has been filled the glorious “Show Time” super move unleashes a powerful super high impact damage move, complete with a different animation for each character. All of the above happens in real-time, it’s only when using your Persona’s magic spells that you get a moment to pause, locate the spell, buff or health item to use, before being thrown back into the fray.
The monumental change of pace in combat will come as a bit of a shock to seasoned veterans of the Persona series, and yet, with just a few attack moves, and a slimmed-down amount of spells and Personas, there is still a very nuanced skill required to hone your battle tactics and get the win, even on Normal difficulty. Watching your foes, learning their moves and getting out the way is just as important as knowing when to just go full out button smash attack.
A new combat mechanic that is key to success is using the environment for special attacks. This can range from jumping on nearby skateboards to mow down enemies to leaping up high to a lamp post and spinning around hitting all within reach. These environmental attacks are key to survival and extremely useful, but at the same time they are hilarious fun to activate. My personal favourite was to jump on top of a Police Car, leap off it, then shoot back down, making it explode and destroying any enemies within the blast radius.
The graphical art style is bold, bright and beautiful, and presented in the same style as the previous game, despite being from a new developer. From the stylish menu screens to the gorgeous and interesting environments that mix real-world locations with the fantasy of the metaverse, Persona 5 Strikers is great eye candy wherever the game takes you on its 40-plus hour journey.
The characters themselves along with the dialogue bubbles are of the highest standard; easy on the eye, clean to look at and with easy to read text. The game is voiced in English alongside the written dialogue, so players have the option to listen or read as both are presented at the same time.
The audio is one of the standout aspects of not just this game but the series. Both the action and sound effects of weapons, movement, and hits, alongside the over the top animations that convey weight and gravitas to add to the experience. Ryuji aka “Skull” smashing people in the face with a bent piece of pipe never gets old! Also, the voice acting is of incredibly high quality with each actor getting fully behind their on-screen, ahem “Personas!” (Groan – Ed)
Max Mittleman, who voices Ryuki Sakamoto, deserves special attention, as not only does he have some great, funny and hilarious lines to deliver, but he does so with such energy and gusto, it’s hard not to fall in love with the loveable rogue he plays on-screen.
The soundtrack is worth paying the price of the game alone. A mixture of Pop Rock, Jazz, Funk, and everything in between, means it’s really hard not only to fault the musical score that goes with the game but also to pick out a favourite! Ok if you push me, listen to the track “Daredevil” and tell me you aren’t impressed!
It’s not all good!
As good as the core of the game is, there are a few things which don’t quite hit the right notes. The main issue is really only one that Persona veterans would notice is that there is no quality downtime between battles where you can spend time with your team to build your confidant levels, do your daily chores, or complete side quests to gain money. This aspect in the previous game gave players the chance to delve deep into each character and their backstories. Without it, it feels like something is missing, and you simply have to grind through the linear discussions the team have together. The only thing the player can do when not in battle, or during the sometimes lengthy dialogue exposition dumps, is to explore a cut-down section of the local environment to go shopping for health items that can be used in battle. Although the areas to go shopping are limited, they are gorgeous to look at and it was still enjoyable exploring, albeit on a more simple level.
One of the few areas that newcomers to the series might notice a fault is during battles. As they are fast and frenetic, with so much action happening on the screen all at once, your concentration is focussed on managing the health of the team whilst defeating enemies, the characters unfortunately, have a propensity to want to discuss the situation with the enemy they are fighting or chat to each other during combat. This dialogue at times is really interesting or funny, but during the heat of battle is completely lost on the player concentrating on the job at hand.
Another small issue is the dialogue. Although for 90% of the time it is interesting, funny, and extremely well written, the remaining 10% covers how often the crew labour over a point they made ten minutes ago.
Despite the fact that there have been dramatic key changes to core aspects of the game, Persona 5 Strikers still wholeheartedly captures the Persona 5 vibe to perfection, albeit in a slimmed-down and vastly different gameplay style. As the story continues directly on from the end of the last game, the game could have been titled as a direct sequel to Persona 5, rather than a derivative spin-off title. Calling this a spin-off belittles the effort put into this quality game.
On a final positive note, however, from a technical standpoint, the game features a frame rate or graphical performance mode. Whilst playing the game on a PS5, using backwards compatibility, I have to admit that whatever setting I put the game on I didn’t notice (to the naked eye anyway) any differences in performance or detail for either option. The game still looked silky smooth when on Graphical mode, or vice versa, sharp as a button even on Performance mode.
Summary
As a fan of Persona 5 and it’s universe, and of Musou style hack and slash games, Persona 5 Strikers perfectly combined these two aspects remarkably well and with such easy going aplomb, one would think this is how all the previous Persona games are played. This is a testament to the abilities of Koei-Tecmo and publisher Atlus, who in trying something new with such a beloved franchise have made it work with such finesse, and in such great style. Get ready to have your desires stolen all over again in new and exciting ways! Welcome to the world of the Phantom Thieves!
April the 13th, 2021, is the date to book time off from work and try out the open beta of Final Fantasy XIV online for PS5 users.
Following the reveal of Endwalker™, the highly-anticipated fourth expansion for FINAL FANTASY® XIV Online, SQUARE ENIX® revealed first details for Patch 5.5—the next major update for the critically acclaimed MMORPG, scheduled to release on 13th April.
Additionally, the recently announced PlayStation®5 console version of FINAL FANTASY XIV Online is scheduled to launch into open beta on 13th April 2021. The PlayStation 5 version will feature numerous upgrades from the PlayStation 4 version, including significantly improved frame rates, faster load times, 4K resolution support and more. Players whose FFXIV service account has a registered license for the PlayStation 4 version may download and play the PlayStation 5 Upgrade Version at no extra cost at the start of the open beta period, while new players can experience the game on the PlayStation 5 through the Free Trial. The full version of the game will be available on PlayStation 5 following the conclusion of the open beta.
Titled “Death Unto Dawn,” Patch 5.5 will be split into two parts and set the stage for the Endwalker expansion. Part one is headlined by the third chapter of YoRHa: Dark Apocalypse—the NieR-inspired alliance raid featuring the work of guest creators Yosuke Saito and YOKO TARO—alongside an abundance of new story and battle content, system updates, and more.
Additional details on Patch 5.5 content are outlined below:
New Main Scenario Quests – The story update—split into two parts—will pave the way for the Endwalkerstoryline.
NewAlliance Raid – The third chapter of the NieR-inspired YoRHa: Dark Apocalypse alliance raid series.
“Sorrow of Werlyt” Questline Update – The thrilling conclusion of the Warrior of Light and Gaius’ quest to thwart the Empire’s warmachina development project.
New Trial: The Cloud Deck – Players can face off against the fearsome Diamond Weapon in this latest trial, which will be available in both Normal and Extreme difficulties.
New Dungeon: Paglth’an – Players can tackle this new story dungeon alongside fellow adventurers or a party of non-player characters via Trust System compatibility.
“Save the Queen”Questline Update – Alongside the addition of a new field area, “Zadnor,” players can further upgrade their Resistance Weapons to their final and most powerful stage.
New Unreal Trial – The next powered-up version of an existing primal will be unleashed upon level 80 heroes, providing players with a new challenge and a chance to collect unique prizes.
Crafter Updates – High-level crafters can look forward to new content in Patch 5.5 that will earn them special achievements and unique crafting tools.
Ishgard Restoration Update – Locals of The Firmament will periodically hold Fêtes to celebrate the completion of the restoration.
“Explorer Mode” Update – The Explorer Mode feature will be expanded to all Level 70 dungeons. Explorer Mode allows players to explore dungeons free from danger to capture striking and fun screenshots while enabling the use of mounts and minions. Players will also now be able to use performance actions while in dungeons, such as playing musical instruments.
Performance Action Updates – Players will now be able to change instruments at any time while performing, and a new instrument will be added.
Job Adjustments for PvE and PvP Actions, New Custom Deliveries, Ocean Fishing Update, New Mounts and more.
The recently announced fourth expansion pack of the FINAL FANTASY XIV Online saga, Endwalker, is scheduled to release Autumn 2021 for PC, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4 and Mac. Endwalker is the culmination of the Hydaelyn and Zodiark story, in which Warriors of Light will encounter an even greater calamity than ever before, and will bring an abundance of new content, including multiple new jobs, an increased level cap, vast new areas, adjustments to the battle system, as well as a variety of new battle, crafter and gatherer content.
Make big savings on these superb laptops from Acer
I’m a huge fan of Acer’s gaming range. Excellent build quality, competitive pricing and top-of-the-line specs puts Acer Predator high-up on my list when I’m looking for new hardware. Two of Acer’s best gaming laptops of 2020 have gone on sale, with the Triton 300 and 500 now available for a very attractive price.
“The Triton 500 is at the pinnacle of what can be achieved with a 15” laptop. For AAA gaming, you can buy this laptop safe in the knowledge you will be able to run all but the most demanding games at upwards of 100 fps on Ultra for the foreseeable future, and you can even enjoy 4k or multiscreen gaming, too. It may be expensive, but you get what you pay for and then some. Battery life is underwhelming, but that is the only weak component in an otherwise remarkable package. ”
We gave the Triton 300 a solid 9/10 in our review, praising the excellent price to performance ratio:
“In the context of PC Gaming, there is a point where the amount you have to spend to improve performance rises dramatically, while the gains become less significant. If you can afford it, you can go all out and invest several thousand in a system. For the cost-conscious, it’s all about finding that optimal middle ground where you still get satisfactory performance, without spending too much extra on cutting edge tech. Acer’s Triton 300, in the spec we received for testing, sits right in that butter zone, where you get possibly the best price/performance ratio of any laptop we’ve seen.”
Visit a land in the dawning era of alchemy, and experience a heart-warming tale through the eyes of young alchemists Sophie, Firis, Lydie, and Suelle.
KOEI TECMO Europe and developer GUST Studios are proud to reveal the upcoming Atelier Mysterious Trilogy Deluxe Pack, slated for launch on the 22nd April 2021 for the Nintendo Switch™, PlayStation®4, and Windows PC via Steam®.
The three games: Atelier Sophie: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Book DX, Atelier Firis: The Alchemist and the Mysterious Journey DX, and Atelier Lydie & Suelle: The Alchemists and the Mysterious Paintings DX, will come packed with a large amount of the previously released DLC for the titles, as well as all-new content for the DX versions — including a special digital artbook, photo modes, and the option to speed-up battles. This release also marks the first time that Atelier Sophie and Atelier Firis will be playable on the Nintendo Switch™, enabling players to enjoy these adventures at home or on the go. The Atelier Mysterious Trilogy will be available for purchase as individual titles or together in a specially priced Deluxe Pack containing all three games.
The first title, Atelier Sophie: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Book DX, follows the adventures of young novice alchemist Sophie Neuenmuller, who discovers she is the owner of an enigmatic book imbued with a soul. This Mysterious Book seems to hold the secrets to the art of alchemy, and as Sophie experiments with alchemy throughout the story, she unravels the book’s forgotten memories and eventually sets out to uncover the strange tale of its origin. The DX version of this game includes a brand-new coming-of-age story for Sophie, as she struggles to step into the shoes of her late grandmother – the town’s reliable alchemist.
Atelier Firis: The Alchemist and the Mysterious Journey DX is the second entry in the ‘Mysterious’ saga, following the adventures of the enthusiastic Firis Mistlud and her loving older sister Liane Mistlud. The sisters have lived their entire lives in the isolated town of Ertona, where Firis uses her unique ability to see where material crystals are buried. By way of a fateful encounter, Firis learns of the Alchemy Exam and decides to take her first step into the outside world, setting off on a grand journey to become a certified alchemist and discover the mysteries that life has to offer! The DX version of the game adds four new vehicles and several exploration items to improve efficiency and speed, as well as seven new quests that lead to unlocking the powerful new foe Palmyra.
The gripping conclusion to the MysteriousTrilogy, Atelier Lydie & Suelle: The Alchemists and the Mysterious Paintings DX, follows the tale of alchemist twins — the reserved but caring Lydie Marlen, and the eccentric and carefree Suelle Marlen. The young twins work alongside their father at the family atelier, but due to his inexperience in alchemy, they rarely see any customers. While working hard to hone their skills, the duo uncovers a mysterious looking painting, and as they reach out to investigate, the girls are drawn inside a world bountiful with rare materials perfect for alchemy! This fateful discovery is just the beginning of the twin’s adventure, leading them to their joint goal — to run the best atelier in the country! The DX version of the game introduces a new painting that connects Lydie and Suelle to the world of Nelke & the Legendary Alchemists. In order to help Lady Nelke develop the city, the twins will have to embark on new missions and fight against perilous new enemies!
PlayStation Plus subscribers received a treat yesterday, with the release of the PS5 exclusive, Destruction Allstars!
Melding gameplay elements from Wreckfest, Rocket League, and Titanfall into one exciting mix ensures no two games of the chaotic smash, grab and destruction in the adrenaline-fueled stadiums will ever be the same.
“A global sports entertainment event where stars & cars collide, welcome to Destruction AllStars! Become one of 16 different AllStars and get behind the wheel to the sound of a roaring crowd as you wreck your way to the top. Can you master the mayhem?”
We’ve received some new laptops for testing that have the new Nvidia RTX 30-Series GPUs, as well as the all-new Intel Core i7-11370H and AMD Ryzen 9 5990HX.
ASUS has kindly sent us the brand new ASUS ROG Zephyrus Duo SE and TUF Dash F15 to review, with more of the new range to follow. The first reviews will be up in the next week or so once they’ve been fully benchmarked and tested, but we can now share our initial impressions with you.
ASUS ROG Zephyrus Duo SE
It’s safe to say the original Zephyrus Duo is no slouch, but the Zephyrus Duo SE (special edition) turns the dial up to 11.
If you’ve been paying even the slightest attention to what’s new in the world of PC hardware, it should be obvious that these are some seriously hardcore specifications. Every part of the system is a best-in-class component.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Zephyrus Duo SE has smashed every benchmark we’ve set with it. The CPU has been surpassing desktop-class CPUs in our tests, and the GPU is astonishingly good.
Hats off to Nvidia, their second-generation RTX cards are, frankly, exceptional. Through a combination of refinements to the core-tech powering these cards and improvements to DLSS, rasterized graphics have seen between 15-25% improvements to frame rates, while ray-traced games have received boosts up to a simply staggering 90% higher frame rates in comparison to 20-series cards.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider, running at 2160p with the highest preset, DLSS and RTX on, had average frame rates of 35 fps on the RTX 2080 we tested. The RTX 3080 has been reaching 66 fps… I didn’t believe it at first, and checked the settings, restarted the laptop and ran the test two more times. Sure enough, 66 fps. Un-be-lievable.
I’ll admit, as much as I admire the amazing visual effects that can be achieved with ray-tracing, I wasn’t convinced that we would be seeing games approaching anywhere near playable frame rates with it enabled for many years. Well, in just one generational leap it has gone from a frame-rate tanking frivolity to an essential game-changing feature up there with high-definition and high dynamic range. All we need now is for more developers to get on board and bring it to our games!
The second screen on the Zephyrus Duo SE at first seems like a gimmick, but it runs at a high resolution, has useful touch screen functionality, serves as an extension to the desktop, and can be configured to meet many use–case scenarios for everyone from content creators to streamers to hardcore gamers. I even tried using it as an ultrawide display for playing games on, and it worked perfectly (albeit a bit smaller than a traditional display). My favourite and most used setup for the second screen, though, has been running Armoury Crate (ASUS system monitoring and configuring software) and Netflix while I do work on the main screen, and it is so much fun to experiment with.
There’s much more that I could say in praise of the Zephyrus Duo SE, but I’ll save that for the review. If you’ve been tempted to buy one and wanted to wait for more reviews, don’t bother, just take the plunge and buy it, you won’t regret it.
ASUS TUF Dash F15
The TUF Dash F15 is ASUS’s attainable range of laptops, with military grade durability and above average specs and performance for what is essentially an entry-level range. The Dash F15 is a bit higher priced now, but it comes with some seriously credible components.
Key Specs:
11th Gen Intel Core i7-11370H
Nvidia RTX 3070 (8 GB)
16 GB DDR4-3200
512 GB M.2 NVMe SSD
1080p 144 Hz Value-IPS display
The first thing I’m going to address is the display: 1080p and 144 Hz is a suitable pairing for the CPU/GPU combo, however, it also performs very well at 1440p, and even 2160p on some games. The Dash F15 range comes with either 144 Hz 1080p, 240 Hz 1080p or 144 Hz 1440p display options. Our review unit comes with the 144 Hz 1080p value-IPS display, and it’s perfectly fine for general gaming, but it has lacklustre colour vibrancy, and measures in with around 60% sRGB coverage.
The brightness is ok, IPS glow is almost non-existent (which we are grateful for), and viewing angles are good, but it’s hard to get past that underwhelming colour. With the 240 Hz and 1440p variants offering 100% sRGB coverage, I’d highly recommend paying the small amount extra for the much better overall image quality.
Display aside, the TUF Dash F15 gets far more right than it gets wrong. It’s far slimmer and lighter than previous TUF laptops, and gaming performance is excellent. I did find a few instances where the 4-core CPU was limiting the maximum frame rate achieved, and I imagine the excellent RTX 3070 Max-Q GPU is capable of better with a more potent CPU, but in general, frame rates in AAA titles are very good.
The single-core performance of the i7-11370H actually exceeded that of the Ryzen 9 5990HX of the Zephyrus Duo, but obviously having only half the cores affected its multi-core performance. In practical gaming tests, the Dash F15 comfortably outperformed a laptop with an RTX 2070, though that did have an excellent i7-10750H (8-core) processor, so it’s a better result than expected. I’m sure we will see other laptops with octa-core CPUs record much higher frame rates with the RTX 3070, but the Dash certainly won’t feel like a let-down at resolutions of 1440p or under.
If you’re wondering why ASUS wouldn’t just fit a different CPU to the Dash F15, I should discuss battery life. The Dash F15 is ultra-slim, can run games at ultra settings while maintaining good frame rates, but thanks to that uber-efficient i7 11th gen CPU, it can eke that battery out for up to 15 hours for basic tasks. That’s not a typo – 15 hours! Granted, if you’re gaming you may be looking at more like 3-5 hours (if you’re frugal with your settings), but that’s still an excellent result that outperforms everything we’ve ever tested by a considerable margin.
Again, there’s a lot of praise yet to be given to the ASUS TUF Dash F15, such as the excellent build quality, but that will be coming in the review next week. While it’s not an outright recommendation for purchase like the Zephyrus Duo SE (there are caveats regarding the screen and GPU options, which we’ll discuss in the review), the Dash F15 is a lovely gaming laptop, and if it fits your specific requirements, it’s a great option.
Check back in next week for the full reviews of the ASUS ROG Zephyrus Duo SE and TUF Dash F15.
Save the Galaxy (again), this time in stunning 4k and HDR
We’ve known this was coming for quite a while, but now we have a date to look forward to – Ladies and gentlemen, mark your calendars for the 14th May 2021.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7K7gMYLp2E
Mass Effect Legendary Edition hasn’t yet been announced as either PS5 or Xbox Series X|S enhanced, however, it will be forward compatible with the new consoles. With any luck, it will ship with an unlocked frame rate, so new-gen console owners can take advantage of the more powerful hardware at their disposal. It could, of course, run at 4k60 on the PS4 Pro and Xbox One X, in which case it won’t make much difference, but anything less than 60fps feels distinctly pedestrian these days.
For PC players, expect the definitive experience, with 4k gameplay at high frame rates on compatible hardware.
Remaster Features:
4k Ultra HD
Improvements to shaders and VFX
Updated lighting
Improved dynamic shadows
Depth-of-field effects
Enhanced cinematics
Updated character models
Texture resolution increases
In addition to the visual effects, locations such as Eden Prime, Ilos and Feros have been updated with increased amounts of detail and other enhancements to add depth to the environments.
For gameplay, players can expect updated interfaces and UI enhancements, while combat has been updated with improved aiming, squad control and behaviour, and the Mako has received updated handling and camera angles to improve gameplay.
If you’re anything like me, you’ll have watched somebody else playing Mass Effect at some point and thought, “Damn, your Commander Shephard looks weird AF.” Customising your own Shepard has always been a big part of the Mass Effect series, and I remember being disappointed that I couldn’t get my Mass Effect 2 characters looking exactly the same as my originals. Thanks to unified character creation options, the character you create will persist between all three games.
Mass Effect™ Legendary Edition will launch May 14 worldwide on PC via Origin and Steam, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One with forward compatibility on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. The Mass Effect Legendary Editionfeatures the single-player base content and 40+ downloadable content (DLC) story, weapons and armor packs from Mass Effect, Mass Effect 2, and Mass Effect 3 and will allow players to relive the legend of Commander Shepard in 4K Ultra HD with HDR.
Mass Effect Legendary Edition is rated M (Mature) by the ESRB and is available now for pre-order on PC via Origin and Steam, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One with forward compatibility on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.
Judgment is the critically acclaimed hit from Ryu Ga Gotoku Studios (Yakuza franchise)
Judgment is an action thriller that puts players in the shoes of Takayuki Yagami, a disgraced attorney turned rugged private detective, as he uncovers the mystery behind a grisly series of murders. Joined by his partner, ex-Yazuka Masaharu Kaito, Yagami must claw his way through Kamurocho’s criminal underground to unravel the truth – as painful as it may be.
In addition to locale, Judgment takes on the classic hallmarks of the Yakuza series through the eyes of Yagami. Fans will recognize rough-and-tumble street fights, engrossing side missions with locals, and comedy breaks with mini-games. Judgment ups the ante with emphasis on investigative gameplay tracking suspects and discovering clues as Yagami walks the thin line of justice in a world of corruption. Packed with a thrilling story, filmic combat and a cast of intense characters, Judgment will keep all aspiring private detectives on their toes.
The remastered version of Judgment features a 60fps frame rate, improved visuals and much faster load times, and will include all of the previously released DLC.
We reviewed Judgment when it released back in 2019, saying,
“This is one of the best detective games ever made. Nothing gets my blood pumping more than a secret agent, sleuth/spy experience, and just when I thought I’d seen it all, along comes Judgment to trump everything. Following the case was an epic ride of thrills, excitement, and joy. You gently pick locks, sneak into buildings, tail a suspect, gather evidence, smash faces in, follow the trail, and get involved with a gripping, well-acted story. When you’ve done a bit of that and fancy something different, the game has you covered there too. You can dick around in glorious fashion in the multitude of other activities, or you can simply just go shopping, or eat in your favourite restaurant and make friends. It’s a complete gaming experience.
Ryu Ga Gotoku studios have pulled off what I didn’t think they could. They made a game so exciting in so many ways that it made me forget about playing a Yakuza game, even though it’s set in the same district! It is certainly my favourite game so far of 2019, and a GOTY contender? I’ll pass Judgment on that, and the verdict is most definitely guilty!”
Judgment Comes to Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5 and Google Stadia on April 23
One of the first games to be released in 2021 may actually be one of the best.
Developer: GUST
Publisher:Koei Tecmo
Release date: 26th January 2021
Genre: JRPG
Platforms: PS5, PS4, Nintendo Switch
Reviewed on: PS5 via Backward Compatibility
Game Supplied by: Publisher
The Atelier series has been running since 1997, and in that time, there have been 22 main games. Never in the history of the franchise has there been a direct sequel to a previous game, but such was the incredible reception and financial success for the developer of Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout, they knew that they had hit a rich vein of form and decided to produce Atelier Ryza 2.
Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout was released in October of 2019, yet here we are, in February 2021, just 15 months later, reviewing their follow up game. Considering most of that time was during a global pandemic the fact that we even HAVE a game to play is astonishing, and something GUST and Koei Tecmo should be hugely proud of. What is even more astonishing, is Atelier Ryza 2 is not just a game rushed out to cash in on the success of the first game but is pure class in its own right. You might think that for a game to be made in such a short space of time, there would have been corners cut and glitches abound, but no. Nothing. The game has been built upon what was already a rock-solid base, and in all areas slightly improved, which when added up as a whole makes the game much better than before.
Getting settled in
Having recently completed the first game to its conclusion, and thoroughly enjoying the wholesome experience, firing up Atelier Ryza 2 instantly felt like putting on a comfortable pair of slippers, sitting back in a comfortable chair, and just forgetting the world outside my window.
Accompanied by a bright and cheery musical score, we rejoin Reiselin “Ryza” Stout, three years after the events of the first game. Becoming bored on her island and missing her friends, she goes to visit them where they now are on the mainland, and soon becomes embroiled in a new adventure, exploring ruins to uncover the local mysteries.
One of the pleasures of the Atelier games is that although the plot lines are serious enough to worry about the welfare of the world you play in, they are never too big or serious. Henceforth, the game dances along a delicate line of making the player care about events, but not with a heavy heart so that they can enjoy the humour, lightheartedness, and banter between the characters, and the writing is bang on point to bring this home, too. Before long, not only was I re-invested in what Ryza herself was doing, but also I was chuckling away and enjoying the new characters I’d barely even met.
The other great quality of Atelier games, and again here in Atelier Ryza 2, is that unlike most other JRPG’s there isn’t a massive cast of characters to try and get your head around. Here in Atelier Ryza 2, there are six or seven main characters and a few side personalities. With just a few characters to learn about, it makes it all the easier to get invested into their personalities and their back-story, rather than trying to remember who is who and what side they are on (Looking at you Trails of Cold Steel!)
Each mechanic has had a slight overhaul
As per all Atelier games, Atelier Ryza 2 has three main gameplay mechanics. Gathering, Alchemy, and Combat. The game is an open-world JRPG, and exploring the world is part of the pleasure of the game, and what you are encouraged to do to find items. Indeed, in some cases you have to craft items to get to the new materials you may need. For example, to catch butterflies you will need to make a net to catch them. However, before all that and to get you started, you simply walk up to items in the field, and either collect it or swing Ryza’s staff to destroy it. Using different gathering tools will in some cases alter what you collect, such as swinging a scythe at a bush will collect leaves, whereas a net swung at the same bush collects bugs instead.
The new aspect to gathering here in Atelier Ryza 2 is that, unlike before, when you approach an item it now highlights in a little bubble if you have gathered that item already, and if not, a question mark appears. This slight tweak improves the gathering process immensely as, rather than just collect everything as you go with a limited amount of space in your basket, you can now be more circumspect and collect only those items you haven’t collected before or just what you actually need.
Another new aspect for gathering is Ryza can now swim, use a rope to swing to higher places, climb vines up the side of rocks, all in an extra effort to increase the value of making gathering more interesting in the same areas. After 60 hours of Ryza not being able to swim in the first Atelier Ryza, it felt strangely liberating to have her dive straight into the water, and the game world exploits this aspect fully.
Much like before, alchemy can only be done in Ryza’s base of operations, where she keeps her cauldron, and much like before, items can only be made with the right ingredients and the recipe for them. Putting correct items into a material loop (recipe) unlocks the next part of the loop. The nuisance here is that players can choose how the loop goes. By introducing different elements into the same recipe, you can gain different results. For example, one item can have healing properties, however, if you use different ingredients it has extra XP qualities instead. To make an item more powerful, you can add the same ingredient a few times, but then this limits the extra effects you can attach.
The new aspect of the alchemy is also a welcome change. The previous game had new recipes locked deep in one material loop, which made it awkward and difficult to even find the new recipe you were after. In Atelier Ryza 2, the recipe list is completely separate from the synthesis list. All the recipes you need are found in a skill tree.
Each new recipe has a value attached to it, and as you synthesize items, you are given more skill points. You can then spend these skill points to unlock new recipes. It’s a much cleaner, simpler way of managing and finding what you need which is a welcome change to the previous system.
There are many items to find, locate and recipes to make, and it was a worry of mine that it would simply all be too much – there are YouTube guide videos that take around 10 minutes just to explain the Alchemy art of the first game! However, I needn’t have worried as the alchemy process is easy to execute, hard to master, but always within my grasp. There was always some clue as to where you need to go to find an item or how to synthesize it.
However, be aware! There are occasionally mission-specific items to craft that do not make it abundantly clear where you need to go or what you need to do. One mission required me to make a demolition bomb and directed me to the skill tree to unlock the bomb recipe. Having done so, and having made them of the right quality, the game wouldn’t progress. What I eventually found out was that the game didn’t explain I needed these bombs to be part of a NEW recipe. The new recipe (Demolition Bombs), unbeknown to me, had actually sprung up at the bottom of another menu list. Even when I went to this menu the correct recipe was off the screen right at the very bottom of a list. It was only by chance and two hours later that I found what I needed to progress, simply stumbling across it after scrolling through every menu I could find!
Swing away!
The combat has had more tweaks to it than the gathering or the synthesis mechanics have, that again improve the gameplay system. However, despite the combat having had the most work done on it, they still haven’t quite got it perfect. Much like the alchemy process, there are lengthy YouTube guides to explain all the nuances, but it’s hard to master and, unfortunately, not that simple to use. Only after a lot of experimentation and a few hours will players, “get the hang of it”. When you learn what to look out for and how to get the best of the system, you will then start to enjoy it more.
[su_accordion]
[su_spoiler title=”Click here for an in-depth look at what’s new in the combat
” style=”fancy”]
To start with, the problem with the combat is that there is a lot to keep an eye on, so much so, your eyes are diverted to the numbers and bars around the screen, more than the exciting visual actions going on in the middle.
The bottom right of the screen has a real-time bar that when the icons reach the middle, it’s their turn to act. This bar is actually quite small, so hard to see how close the next person is to their action. Even when it is your turn, and you are choosing the action for your player, the time doesn’t stop, so you need to be quick. The same time is also displayed over an enemies head, i.e. their time to their next action, as is the player’s controller via a very small bar on the bottom left of the screen.
Also in the bottom left of the screen is your chosen character’s health, and also the tactics level, AP points and core charge points.
Obviously, when a player’s health is at zero they are out of the fight. To get AP points players need to land hits with their melee weapon. When you then have enough AP points you can unleash powerful skill-based attacks upon the enemy that have an AP value. When other characters in your team land melee hits, they also add to the AP points tally, so it’s not just down to you to build that total up. A new feature for AR2 is that for example, if you have 15 AP points to spend on your turn, and you have two skill sets that cost 7 and 8 AP points, you can now chain them together in one go back to back instantly at the same time. It’s a VERY satisfying new mechanic that results in massive damage to enemies and when timed correctly, can swing the flow of battle.
Landing more and more successive skill hits raises your tactics level, which increases the potency of the skills used.
Add to this is that the other characters will call out special instructions for your character to accomplish, for example, “Land a magic attack.” If you meet these criteria, they then unleash a powerful attack of their own. The only issue with this is, as there is no English voice dialogue, these instructions which are hugely important for beating tough battles are only spoken in Japanese. In the heat of battle, you have to spot the English text next to the character icons on the battle screen to know what actions you need to carry out.
The next aspect to “keep an eye on” is that you have core charges too. In the bottom left of the screen, in a blue box, next to the AP points green box, is the core charge gauge. (Are you still with me, reader?) These core charges go up per the tactics level or via a certain amount of hits. Core charges are items attached to the player’s weapons, such as healing items, bombs, or player buffs. Each core charge has a value, and new to Atelier Ryza 2, if for example you have 2 core charge points to spend and have a healing item for 1 point, and a bomb for another point, you can spend those two points in one go, ie, healing a member of your team AND throwing a bomb.
The other new gameplay feature is that players can now defend from attacks. If they time the defend button correctly they can gain a “perfect parry” which incurs far less damage received and adds AP points.
This, believe it or not, is pretty much just the basics of the battle/combat system. It gets more complicated with requests for much more exacting requirements to get bigger hits, super moves, changing characters, changing which enemy to attack, elemental effects, and more besides.
[/su_spoiler]
[/su_accordion]
At first, especially for new players, the whole system can feel overwhelming, as there is so much to look at all over the screen at the same time. However, when it mentally clicks with you, it suddenly appears as a very classy, very tactical, and immensely rewarding system. The reason is, when players understand not only how to unleash the most powerful critical hits, but more importantly when to do so, the beauty of the system shines through. This is because the system is all about raising enough points to get to the bigger attacks. You soon learn what isn’t included in the tutorials, which is that the system works best with tactical awareness and patience. The instinct, especially early on, is to use up all available AP and Core Charge points as soon as they become available. That will get you through most of the battles but not the hardest boss fights. These two factors (awareness and patience) are the key to tough battles, and it’s why, when all is said and done, the battle system in Atelier Ryza 2 is perfectly balanced, hugely rewarding, and stunning to be a part of. It’s immensely satisfying to be on the backfoot of a battle, only to use your most savage attacks at just the right moment to bring victory to your team.
As the adventuring and exploring continues, new systems for each element of gameplay keep arriving. You can be 30 hours into the game, yet still find you are learning new combat techniques. Because of this, it was always exciting to keep playing even late into the game as something new would come up, as well as the interesting story pulling you through.
The graphics of the game seem to be one aspect that hasn’t really changed, but Atelier Ryza 2 is still one of the most beautiful JRPG’s ever made. The art style is fantastic, with a lot of effort being made in making each character interesting to look at with a mixture of watercolour and anime visuals. Adding to the gorgeous characters is a vibrant and colourful world, deep in variety, and laden with detail. The world is full of interesting environmental effects, like mist rolling over the fields, or an over-exposure of the lighting on a sunny day. This sort of detail is standard fare for western developed games, but not for occasionally blocky JRPG’s. Atelier Ryza 2 hits that happy medium though, bringing realistic elements into an anime world.
The animations of characters in the cut scenes are smooth and fluid, but when they are walking around the world they are a little too stiff and rigid. However, players will probably spend so much time gawking at the scenery they probably won’t notice anyway.
The only real issue with the graphics is that the enemy types aren’t particularly interesting to look at, even though there are new types, and the character design on Ryza herself seems far too fussy. With so many items hanging off her clothing, it looks just a bit too ridiculous.
Finally, the audio of the game, both musically and narratively, are of the highest quality. Unfortunately the entire game is only available in Japanese with English subtitles, but even not understanding a word of Japanese I could still get a sense of drama and emotion from the wonderful voice actors.
Effects during gameplay were equally impressive, especially when landing big powerful hits during combat and the musical scores during the game are going to be listed as one of my favourites. When you play the same tunes for hours on end in long games, they need to be pleasant! They are most certainly that here. From tunes that sound like Christmas to far more brooding encounters, all are done with such high, dare I say Disney-Esque style. The music was so evocative that many times when playing I thought they should make this into a feature film, as the music was carrying the game so well.
Summary
For new PS5 owners, this will be the first next-gen JRPG they can get their hands on, and what a stunning first game it will be. Although it has improved in key aspects over the previous game, it still has a couple of little quirks it needs to address going forward.
I’m not a fan of the combat system, even with the improvements. There is too much going on at once all over the screen to really enjoy the system. It only really works well on single large boss fights, but there are many hours between those. The upgrades to the crafting system and world traversal paired with the beautiful environments, however, makes Atelier Ryza 2 a stunning game to get lost in for hours on end. Finally, an English speaking voice over is more of a wishlist item than a negative, and apart from that, it’s practically flawless.
The journey the game takes you on is a classy, wholesome, lighthearted, pure fantasy escapism of the highest quality – something so dearly needed in the turbulent times we live in today. Atelier Ryza 2 is a masterpiece of gaming that almost everyone will enjoy.
We’re only a few weeks into the New Year and what better way to kick things off than to confirm that weekly free games are going to continue on the Epic Games Store in 2021! It’s been an incredible year of growth for us on many levels so we’re excited to share details about 2020.
As we look back at 2020 on the Epic Game Store, we wanted to take a moment to thank all of our partners who helped us bring joy to so many gamers around the world over the past year. Adapting to constantly changing challenges is no easy feat and we’re grateful for this community of developers, publishers, players and creators.Thanks to this community, the Epic Games Store saw historic growth in engagement across the board. There are now over 160 million Epic Games Store PC users. Daily active users are up 192% to 31.3 million daily active players, with a peak CCU 13 million concurrent players this year (up from 7M in 2019). Monthly active users in December rose from 32 million in 2019 to 56 million.
This surge in player growth has also led to an increase in purchasing and play time! In 2020, PC customers on the Epic Games Store spent over $700M of which third party games represented 37% at $265M. Last year, the Epic Games Store community played 70% more hours with a total playtime of 5.70 billion hours in 2020 compared to 3.35 billion hours in 2019.
We’re making strides to offer more titles on the store by onboarding more developers and introducing their titles to the Epic Games ecosystem. The Epic Games Store grew from 190 games in 2019 to 471 in 2020. We released 103 weekly free games which were a big part of the titles that made their way to the store. In 2021, we’re going to rapidly expand the catalog of new titles available on the Epic Games Store even further by providing developers with self-publishing tools for the EGS Platform and we’ll be releasing details on those specific plans soon.
Check out more year-end results:
Shipped Store Features in 2020
Wishlisting was a major feature initially released in February 2020 and continued to see incremental improvements throughout the year. We followed with the release of Mod Support which continues to incorporate more mod-supported titles on the Epic Games Store. We also shipped numerous Storefront visual improvements in 2020, including changes to the Discover and Browse options, as well as an updated Carousel in December 2020.
We’ve also added:
Open Critic Reviews
Self-Service Refunds
19 new Currencies
Direct Carrier Billing in numerous countries
Offline Sign-In
Launcher performance improvements (Big help for Mac)
Improved browsing for Add-On content
Early Access Messaging
Price-Based Filters
There have been substantial infrastructure changes that have not been in plain view for our PC customers to see. One such change is toward our Epic Games Store developer publishing tools. Continuing to improve our publishing tools has provided the opportunity to bring more games to the Epic Games Store in 2020 and as we march toward complete self-publishing tools, we expect to see even more new titles published. Disclaimer: Yes, we’ve mentioned self-publishing tools three times now because it’s just that important! More Games. More Options. More Fun.
What’s coming in 2021?
Much of the development work this year is centered on opening the store to developers that want to publish titles on the store. We want a smooth, seamless experience for developers looking to bring their titles to the Epic Games Store. This unlocks the ability for Epic Games Store customers to purchase the games they want, when they want while developers enjoy a much fairer revenue share split.
We’re improving existing features like Wishlists and Achievements in 2021. There’s a major priority to release more community-oriented features that provide a more personalized experience.
Here’s a quick glance at features we’re working on:
To the Epic Games PC community and developers, we thank you for continuing to support the Epic Games Store, we wish you all the very best! We’ll have a number of surprises coming in the year in addition to major game releases so buckle up for a fun time!
The Yakuza Remastered Collection Is Available Now on Xbox One, Game Pass, Windows 10, and Steam
The beloved Yakuza franchise spans eight games and now, for the first time in the franchise’s history, all of these great games are available on Xbox and PC, joining the PS4/5 versions that got rave reviews from our very own Pete Keen.
Pete said, “There is so much to enjoy and experience here in Yakuza 5, that even the most sceptical of gamers will find something to entertain them. Apart from being limited in a few graphical areas, the upgrade to full HD and 60fps brings the cities to life like never before, making Yakuza 5 a must-play masterpiece.”
“SEGA and Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio are welcoming players back to the tough streets of Kamurocho, Tokyo in the Yakuza Remastered Collection, available now on Xbox Game Pass, Xbox One, Windows 10 and Steam. This collection includes remastered versions of Yakuza 3, Yakuza 4 and Yakuza 5 presented in full 1080p resolution and 60 framerate, purchasable now as a bundle for $39.99 or individually for $19.99 on each platform. Xbox Series S|X owners can also dive in using the platform’s backwards compatibility feature.
This action-adventure brawler series follows the intense saga of Kazuma Kiryu, a hardened yakuza with an unshakable moral code. Yakuza 3 picks up where Yakuza Kiwami 2 left off, where Kiryu is laying low on the idyllic Okinawa coast until the demons of his former yakuza life re-emerge and force him to choose a side. Join Kiryu in mastering combos to beat up thugs in his path, weaponizing environments, and fighting to protect the ones closest to him caught up in the seedy underworld of organized crime.
For fans who have recently experienced Yakuza: Like A Dragon, the Yakuza Remastered Collection serves as a fresh opportunity to experience Kamurocho through the eyes of O.G. Yakuza series protagonist, Kiryu. Yakuza 0, Yakuza Kiwami and Yakuza Kiwami 2 (remasters of Yakuza 1 and Yakuza 2), are also available separately with Xbox Game Pass for those who are looking to experience the first six entries of the series before the concluding chapter, Yakuza 6: The Song of Life, makes its Xbox One and PC debut on March 25, 2021. ”
I have fond memories of playing Super Pang! in the arcades when I was young, so it’s great to see the bubble-popping franchise not only surviving but thriving.
“The Pang series is a beloved collection of arcade video games from the early 90s. Guide two brothers on a quest around the world to save humankind from a massive alien invasion! Use your wits and skills to overcome the attack balls pouring from the skies and rescue the world’s cities and landmarks from impending annihilation.
Pang Adventures brings new features and gameplay to this arcade legend while keeping true to the original spirit of the series. ”
Features of Pang Adventures – ‘Buster Edition’
3 different ball-popping modes
Tour Mode: Fightback the alien forces, one location at a time!
Score Attack: Save the world with only 3 lives and NO CONTINUES! A real arcade experience.
Panic Mode: Bust balls like a legend! 99 levels of continuous battles will put your skills to the ultimate test.
Local Co-op: Adventures are best shared! The couch co-op feature is available in every game mode, allowing friends and family to team up and save the world!
More than 100 levels scattered throughout Antarctica, Scotland, Death Valley, Bora Bora… each location with its own unique tricks and twists!
The Pang brothers have upgraded their gear since the last alien invasion: machine guns, flamethrowers, lasers, shurikens…you name it, they’ve got it!
The Nintendo Switch version of Pang Adventures – ‘Buster Edition’ is available to purchase in specialist gaming stores now for €29.99/£24.99.
For more information on Meridiem Games please visit the official site at www.meridiem-games.com
Prime Gaming has announced the new content dropping this February, including unconventional Valentine’s experiences in Monster Prom and Table Manners. Also included is psychedelic platformer Spinch, underwater multiplayer shooter Swimsanity! and Stealth Bastards Deluxe.
This month’s line-up of games and content includes:
OVR Player Pick item and Rare Gold Player items for FIFA 21
Exclusive content for Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout, UFC 4, and Roblox
Access to 30+ games this February, including two games to help you brush up on your romancing skills this Valentine’s Day: Monster Prom andTable Manners
Limited ad-free play for some of Voodoo’s most popular titles, including Helix Jump and Hole.io
Prime Gaming is included with all Amazon Prime memberships. New members can begin a 30-day free trial by visiting gaming.amazon.com. Additional content available to claim includes a collection of 30+ games and in-game content for the likes of Apex Legends, Immortals: Fenyx Rising, Fall Guys, Roblox, Grand Theft Auto Online, League of Legends and much more!
Nacon and Cyanide have just released a new trailer for Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood, due for release on the 4th February 2021 for PS4/5, Xbox One/Series X|S and Windows PC.
The new Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood trailer focuses on your ability to use three different forms for your character, Garou Cahal, with each offering different gameplay opportunities. As a human in Homid form, you can interact with people and engage in dialogue; in your Lupis form as a wolf, you can explore and use stealth to navigate the environment undetected; finally, becoming a werewolf in your Cronis form, you can unleash your inhuman rage to tear your enemies apart with claws and teeth.
This unique transformation mechanic allows playstyle variation and different ways to overcome obstacles. Whether you choose stealth, assassination or brutal, gruesome combat, Cahal has many talents for you to use.
Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood is the first action-RPG game adapted from the eponymous horror franchise. Mature, brutal, and complex, it invites the player to embody Cahal throughout his quest of bloody redemption. He’ll play an essential role in the great war led by the Garou against Endron, a global corporation whose activities are devastating the natural world.
A RUTHLESS STRUGGLE TO SAVE MOTHER EARTH
Gaia – Mother Earth – is dying. Ravaged by mankind’s endless hunger, she is losing the struggle against the Wyrm, a cosmic force of decay and destruction. Made manifest in the corporation Endron, the servants of the Wyrm stand poised to feast on the corpse of nature herself.
The Wyrm, a corrupting entity, is winning the war against Gaia, Mother Earth. Pentex, a multinational corporation that serves the Wyrm, is controlling the world through its subsidiaries.
A QUEST FOR REDEMPTION
A former protector of Gaia, born under a full moon, and proud werewolf Warrior of the Fianna Tribe. However, after losing control of his devastating rage, Cahal chose a life of exile. Years later, while searching for his missing daughter. Cahal discovers that his old pack is in danger, and he must come to its aid.
Snowtopia: Ski Resort Tycoon has arrived on Steam early access today, along with a brand new trailer.
If like many snow junkies, you have been watching live YouTube feeds of all your favourite ski resorts currently empty due to COVID 19 travel restrictions amidst some of the best worldwide snow conditions in years, then you can now frustrate yourself even more by becoming the next digital snow resort manager via Snowtopia early access on Steam.
Annoyed that the resort you love only has one lift to get you up to the slopes in the morning, meaning hundreds of people funnelling into a space made for five? Wished you could ski in/ski out from your hotel? Want more challenging runs away from the beginner’s area? Well now you budding resort manager, you can!
Rather than the typical financial-based system, your resort is staffed by volunteers, and you need to assign them to tasks. This makes it easier to experiment with slope layouts without worrying about expenditure, as you can just reassign the staff after they’ve finished their tasks.
The game has been receiving mixed reviews on Steam, with complaints of poor optimisation causing people’s PC’s to crash to desktop, along with some criticism of limited content. As this is in Early Access, you can expect to see plenty of future content updates and optimisations, so it’s worth trying the demo first to see if this is something you’d be interested in, as your feedback can help shape the development of the game.
“Snowtopia makes resort building accessible and fun for all. There’s no money in the game, creating a new twist on the genre where resources are managed differently and the focus is squarely on skier satisfaction. The game’s snappy creation tool lets you drop pistes easily on the mountainside and add the right kind of ski lift for the terrain, while keeping an eye on the queues of impatient ski nuts of course.
Running a successful resort brings more skiers of all kinds to sample the slopes, terraces and tartiflette, so make sure you’re ready for them. Fix broken lifts, groom the pistes and run enough ski patrols to keep your visitors safe. Happy skiers will show their appreciation by joining the volunteers running the resort, making sure everything on the mountain stays in perfect shape.
During Early Access an avalanche of new features will be added to the game, including, yes, avalanches, plus dynamic weather, snow cannons, ski schools, more buildings, and new staff models. Modding is also planned for the coming months, so players can customize their dream ski resort down to the last icy detail.”
Snowtopia can be purchased from Steam, priced at £17.49, and there is also a free demo available for you to try out before committing.
Spike Chunsoft has just released one of the best trailers of late, for their upcoming game, Re:Zero – Starting Life in Another World – The Prophecy of the Throne (really rolls off the tongue – Ed).
Why is this trailer so good I hear you ask? It’s because the video very succinctly highlights all of the new gameplay aspects, along with great detail that showcases the legitimacy of the design team behind it.
The trailer also details the contents of the different retail editions of the game:
Day One Edition The Day One Edition includes 4 exclusive, limited run only original pins in a display box, featuring Emilia, Subaru, Rem, and brand-new character Melty! These are exclusive to physical copies of the game and will not be reprinted, so preorder today!
Collector’s Edition The Collector’s Edition includes 4 exclusive, limited run only original pins in a display box, featuring Emilia, Subaru, Rem, and a brand-new character Melty, a full-color art book including concept art, sketches, and commentary with a special foreword from the creators, a SteelBook® collector’s display case, the official soundtrack containing original music from the game, and the Collector’s Edition outerbox!
Join us here at Total Gaming Addicts as we hope to bring you the full game review upon its worldwide release.
Re:ZERO – Starting Life in Another World – The Prophecy of the Thronereleases on the 29th of January in North America, and the 5th of February in Europe, for PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch, with a Microsoft Windows PC version set to follow.
We messed up today and you were right to let us know. Connecting and playing with friends is a vital part of gaming and we failed to meet the expectations of players who count on it every day. As a result, we have decided not to change Xbox Live Gold pricing.
We’re turning this moment into an opportunity to bring Xbox Live more in line with how we see the player at the center of their experience. For free-to-play games, you will no longer need an Xbox Live Gold membership to play those games on Xbox. We are working hard to deliver this change as soon as possible in the coming months.
If you are an Xbox Live Gold member already, you stay at your current price for renewal. New and existing members can continue to enjoy Xbox Live Gold for the same prices they pay today. In the US, $9.99 for 1-month, $24.99 for 3-months, $39.99 for 6-months and $59.99 for retail 12-months.
Thank you.
Since we launched Xbox Live (18 years ago!), we’ve been working to make it the most advanced multiplayer network available, for the greatest community of gamers — and there are a lot of you. Millions of people come together on Xbox to play with friends and discover great games. We invest in our community by strengthening the digital safety of our players, enabling new ways to share, communicate and play with your friends, and delivering industry leading reliability across our network.
Periodically, we assess the value and pricing of our services to reflect changes in regional marketplaces and to continue to invest in the Xbox community; we’ll be making price adjustments for Xbox Live Gold in select markets. In many markets, the price of Xbox Live Gold has not changed for years and in some markets, it hasn’t changed for over 10 years.
So, what does this mean for you?
If you’re an existing online 12-month or 6-month Xbox Live Gold member, there’s no price change. If you choose to renew your membership, it will renew at yourcurrent price.
The price of a 1-month Gold membership is increasing $1 USD and the price of a 3-month membership is increasing $5 USD or the equivalent amount in your local market.
If you’d like to upgrade your Gold membership to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate your remaining Gold time will also convert directly to Ultimate (up to 36 months). For example, if you have 11 months of Xbox Live Gold now, and you upgrade to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, those 11 months convert to 11 months of Ultimate at no additional cost.
Members have already been notified in some regions. If you’re in a region where prices are being adjusted, you will receive an email and a message center notification over the next month letting you know what the new pricing is for your membership. Going forward, new pricing will be 1-month for $10.99, 3-months for $29.99, and 6-months for $59.99, or your local market equivalent. You can always visit your account to manage your membership, and prices won’t adjust until at least 45 days after you receive the messages.