Hokko Life Brings Animal Crossing to PC, April Tomfoolery

Meet your new neighbours in Hokko Life

If you’re a PC gamer and still wish you could be part of the Animal Crossing feel-good vibes, then Hokko Life just might sate your hunger for slice-of-life sim wholesomeness.

Wonderscope's latest developer blog goes behind the scenes with the game's characters, showing how they mix and match heads and bodies and set up animations.

Bug hunting: Playtesters seem happy with Hokko Life, and most of the issues are bugs “or places where the tutorial was lacking; both of which are easily fixed.” There has also been a lot of work hooking up sound effects recently.

Working class: Hokko Life starts when you take over an old workshop and get to know your neighbours. Gather materials and craft items to your own designs, then proceed to shape the town in your image by building and decorating homes for the villagers.

What was the first Earth Defense Force game released in North America?

a) Earth Defense Force 5
b) Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon
c) Global Defence Force
d) Earth Defense Force 2017

The answer will be revealed at the bottom of today's issue. Join up with our community on Twitter and Facebook to discuss what the answer could be.

More goofy cosmic great war horror

Shadow Hearts: Covenant was expanded with a Director’s Cut in Japan that featured optional dungeons as well as featuring Veronica Vera and Lenny Curtis as playable characters.

There were also extra scenes and new items, along with a slightly bigger Judgment Ring – oh, and let’s not forget support for the PlayStation 2 Expansion Bay, although most of us would struggle to remember what it was for.

Join our community on Twitter and Facebook to discuss today's fact.

April Fools’ tomfoolery round-up

You shouldn’t believe everything you read and that’s twice as true on April Fools day, when the wily prey on the gullible with ridiculous announcements and similar shenanigans. Not even gamers are safe!

Here's a round-up of the finest foolery of the day, perpetrated by the most ruthless pranksters the games industry has to offer.

• Remedy Entertainment reveal work on PSone port of Control
• Deathloop creator Arkane Studios announce Deathloops cereal
• YH Games rebrand ‘creepy’ Bugsnax as delicious Snacks instead
• Valheim survival RPG set to introduce deer as a playable species
• Razer announce the colourful Razer Rapunzel Chroma Hair Dye
• Roccat unveil the actual gravity defying gamer mouse Burst HE
• YouTuber Captains Workspace reviews the GeForce GTX 4090
• Discord notification sound pack for limited time with Lil Yachty

Alan Wake 2 reportedly in the works

GamesBeat reporter Jeff Grubb claims that Remedy Entertainment has signed a deal with Epic Games to produce Alan Wake 2, following something of a bidding war.

“I’ve heard that Remedy is going to be making Alan Wake 2 with Epic,” said Grubb during a Twitch stream. “It should kind of be the follow-up that fans of that series want.” Remedy's Control was exclusive to the Epic Game Store, and the relationship clearly worked out for both of them.

Epic sequel: “…and so Alan Wake 2, it seems like it’s coming,” Grubb continued. “I don’t know exactly when they’ll announce it, but this is what I’ve heard, and I figured that you guys could hear it here first.” Alan Wake was a surreal horror adventure published by Microsoft in 2010.

Rightful owners: Microsoft returned the rights to Alan Wake to Remedy in 2019, and Remedy's creative director Sam Lake stated that he would like to do a new game in the series. Epic and Remedy's deal apparently spans two unannounced games.

Sam & Max: This Time It's Virtual! revealed

Happy Giant has revealed a virtual reality adventure starring Sam & Max, where we join the crime-fighting duo as cadets at the Freelance Police Academy investigating Cap'n Aquabear's theme park. The game is listed on steam, but there's no release date yet.

Zenith: The Last City alpha test delayed

Zenith: The Last City's preview weekend has been pushed back to May 1st and 2nd, followed by the first alpha test on May 3rd until May 9th. The studio is sorry about the changes, but needed more time to make sure the game was fun to play and ready for testing. The second alpha test is scheduled for June 14th until June 20th.

Make your D&D sessions a virtual reality

Transport your Dungeons & Dragons sessions into virtual reality with TxK Gaming Studios' Dungeon Full Dive, which is about to be Kickstarted. Features tools that help game masters and players bring their role-playing sessions to life.

• Final Fantasy XIV open beta for PlayStation 5 starts on April 13th with the launch of version 5.5
• Analogue’s Pocket is delayed until October thanks to component shortages
• Tripwire reveals Maneater: Truth Quest, a DLC expansion adding even more evolutions
• Oddworld: Collection hits Switch on May 27th and includes no less than three Oddworld games
• Earth Defense Force goes voxel in Earth Defense Force: World Brothers launching on May 27th all around the world

What was the first Earth Defense Force game released in North America?

ANSWER: Earth Defense Force 2017!

The Earth Defense Force series is completely unabashed, cheesy, and over-the-top bug-killing mayhem but it took some time for the series to grow popular. The first game in the series, Global Defense Force, was translated into English but only released in Europe. Its sequel, Earth Defense Force 2017, was only released in North America.

Earth Defense Force 2017 was arguably the game that set the series on a path of world domination, featuring massive destruction, giant bugs, and insane boss battles. You can still grab the Vita version if you’re quick – the PlayStation Store for Vita closes down on 27th August!

DailyBits Team taking a short break!

We’ll be taking a short break over the Easter holiday weekend here in the UK, but normal service will resume on Tuesday, where we’ll be back in your inbox bringing you the latest news on the greatest video games.

Here are some games you can check out for free, this Easter Weekend!

• Steel Rats is free from now until the 4th of April, where you can download and keep it on Xbox and PC
• GOG has a collection of free games on offer, encouraging gamers to stay home and stay safe, with classics like War Wind, Shadow Warrior, Jill of the Jungle, and more available to download
• Tales of the Neon Sea is available to pick up and keep for free until the 8th of April, and that's on the Epic Games Store

Today's issue of DailyBits was written by Gavin Herman, Erlend Grefsrud, Simon Priest, and Jamie Davey.