R6’s Crimson Heist Leak, Tomorrow’s Nintendo Switch Direct
Today: It’s time for Nintendo to show a bit more Breath of the Wild 2 — Olija is a masterful demonstration of how less can be much more — Try Star Citizen for free, and try not to spend thousands on ships
Colourful name: The name Crimson Heist fits in with the naming conventions of earlier operations like Ember Rise, Black Ice, Neon Dawn and White Noise. Rainbow Six Siege Year 6 Season 1 is expected to be revealed later this month, and the Korean tweet was most likely just misscheduled.
More to come: Data miners have also found signs of new features through as-yet disabled options in the interface. A new operator from Argentina called Flores is also apparently on the way.
DAILY QUIZ
What was the most expensive ship in Star Citizen?
a) Idris P
b) Javelin
c) Hammerhead
d) Kraken
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.
FACT OF THE DAY
Bit off more than they could release
Team Cherry’s side-scrolling Metroidvania Hollow Knight was originally going to have a physical edition on release, but the team realized it was simply too much work for a little three-person studio.
The team had to cut down on content to get the game out the door, and a large area called The Boneforest had to go late in development. Maybe it will return in the sequel, Hollow Knight: Silksong?
Join our community on Twitter and Facebook to discuss today's fact.
POKEMON NEWS AND EVENTS
New Pokémon trademarks filed in Japan
The upcoming MOBA Pokémon Unite will have its first round of beta testing in March. The beta tests will be divided into regions, and the first test will be available on Android in Canada.
The twitter-based Pokémon Red crowdplay has been derailed by a group calling themselves Team Rocket, who waited until there were few active players and then released all but one Pokémon. The crowd can not be beaten, however, and the team was soon rebuilt and ready to progress.
Pokémon Masters EX
Next Legendary Arena event on February 18th
Focuses on Legendary Pokémon Cresselia
Spotlight Scout until March 4th
Sync Pairs: Serena & Fennekin and Clemont & Heliolisk
Pokémon Sword & Shield
Series 9 VGC ruleset begins on May 1st
Revives ruleset from series 7
Galar, Isle of Armor and The Crown Tundra Pokémon allowed
All Pokemon must have Galar or Battle Ready symbol
Mythical and Restricted Legendary Pokémon not permitted
Pokémon Unite
Regional beta for Canada in March
Available on Android devices with 3GB RAM
Progress will reset when beta concludes
Testers are not allowed to capture or stream footage
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NEWS
Breath of the Wild 2 release date soon?
Another Nintendo Direct will be broadcast tomorrow, February 17th and there is speculation that it will focus on The Legend of Zelda since the series celebrates its 35th anniversary this year.
Bloomberg's Jason Schreier believes the stream will conclude with a new The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 teaser, and he thinks it's possible that Nintendo could reveal a launch date as well.
Oracle of Seasons:“I have no inside info but I definitely expect a BOTW2 teaser at the end that it's coming this fall”, Schreier tweeted. This will be the first general Nintendo Direct since September last year – every video since then has been dedicated to a particular topic.
Oracle of Ages: The video will last around 50 minutes, and will feature news about Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as well as the Switch line-up for the first half of 2021. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 was announced during the E3 2019 Nintendo Direct.
GAME REVIEW
Olija Review
Developed By: Skeleton Crew Studio
Reviewed on: Nintendo Switch
Olija manages to do a lot with quite little. The pixel art is simple to the point of characters lacking facial expressions and scenes barely being textured – yet the world is made by rich by little details and the cast is brought to life by good writing, all propped up by an entertaining combat system.
You guide Faraday, a shipwrecked Noble, across the island Terraphage to find a way home. He takes refuge in Oaktide, a simple and barely populated camp built from flotsam and jetsam. It serves as the game's hub, which grows and evolves as you meet members of Faraday's old crew.
Olija has a subdued and even melancholic tone, but the combat is punchy and full of life. Faraday wields a mythical harpoon that serves as a grappling hook, which enables you to explore seemingly inaccessible nooks and crannies of the tightly designed levels. The harpoon also plays a role in combat, making Faraday much more mobile than his enemies.
You also have swords, a bow and a shotgun at your disposal, as well as special hats that grant you a single buff, often related to combat skills. Combat is based on positioning yourself cleverly and unleashing combos on your foes, and the attacks feel satisfyingly powerful.
Most combat encounters are thrilling, and the boss battles are particularly great. They really demonstrate the depth of the combat system, and are as tense as they are exhilarating, forcing you to master both Faraday's strength and mobility.
Olija is a short game, and that might be why it feels so tight: There's no padding here, unless you decide to do a bit of grinding to unlock all the hats. There are also a few imperfections: Faraday keeps moving during transitions between screens, and it's possible to saunter right to your death during them. The controls also struggle to keep up during a few particularly intricate platform sections, and the game even crashed once.
Aside from these minor complaints, Olija will most likely prove to be one of this year's best games. Its mix of clever writing, strong characters, thrilling combat and an atmospheric world deserves all the attention it can get, and is a perfect reminder that less can be more. Bloated big budget games have something to learn from Olija.
PROS:
Smart storytelling and character development
Beautiful, dark and atmospheric
Excellent combat
CONS:
Quite short
Minor control issues on Switch
8/10Excellent
Olija is available now on the PC, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PS4. Publisher Devolver Digital kindly provided a Nintendo Switch review code to DailyBits for free for the purposes of this review.
MESSAGE FROM TODAY'S SPONSOR
Wishlist Coromon and win a console
Fancy yourself a tamer of monsters? Feast your eyes on the retro world of Coromon, with a demo available to play right now through Steam with a planned 2021 launch. It’s a modern monster taming RPG chock full of adventure, puzzles and turn-based monster battles.
Wishlist Coromon and you can enter a competition to win a console or some Steam keys! Check out Coromon Giveaway – Win a Console of Your Choice to learn more and maybe even claim a PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X or a Nintendo Switch bundle with 6 games. Good luck!
WHAT ELSE HAPPENED TODAY
Try the Star Citizen alpha for free between February 15th and 25th and pilot six different starships or try the Star Marine first-person campaign.
Admire 4K Mario Kart 8 in AI upscaled footage which demonstrates what the game could look like if Switch had a bit more graphical oomph
NZXT H1 gaming PC case recalled due to fire risk and NZXT's CEO pledges to “address the root cause”
Pillars of Eternity 2, Elite Dangerous, Wreckfest and DiRT 5 coming to Xbox Game Passthis month
QUIZ ANSWER
What was the most expensive ship in Star Citizen?
ANSWER: The Javelin!
Star Citizen is notorious for its wildly expensive in-game purchases, some of which cost thousands of dollars and are not even available in the game yet. If you’re willing to pay through the nose for the privilege, you can buy yourself a truly exclusive experience, and the Javelin is the foremost example.
The ship cost $3,000 (discounted to $2,500 during its concept sale) and only 400 units were available. Despite the absurd price, the ships quickly sold out when they were on sale in 2014 and 2015 – despite developer Cloud Imperium Games saying you could get the ships in-game without paying for them.
Either way, it’s all a bit academic since the game is still not out, nearly a decade after its 2012 Kickstarter. At least it’s proof that people really want Star Citizen.
Today's issue of DailyBits was written by Gavin Herman, Erlend Grefsrud, Simon Priest, and Jamie Davey.
