Fire Emblem Heroes 2017 has been a bit of an eye-opener for me on mobile gaming. I’d dabbled in the marketplace casually since first getting a smartphone, but this was the first year I attempted to seek out quality titles. In doing so, I found a bevy of interesting, inventive and well-developed games hiding on the app store pages behind those free-to-play whale catchers that dominate the download charts. FromMillion Onion HoteltoCat BirdtoFramed 2, everyone willing to give the format a chance should have been able to find a worthwhile game to download this year....

Full-minute hero Knowing that Devolver Digital was reppingMiniteven before I clicked play on this trailer, I figured there had to be some twist, some other point of interest beyond theDownwell-looking low-fidelity aesthetic. Well, it’s right there in the name! It’s an adventure game that plays with time. Due to a curse, you have just one minute to rush out and make a mark on the world. It’s a concept we really haven’t seen explored all that much in gaming, and one I’d be interested in given the presumablyverylow stakes of messing up a minute-long cycle compared to something likeMajora’s Mask....

As part of the Tales of Agrabah update,Disney Dreamlight Valleyintroduced Aladdin and Jasmine into the fold of Villagers who can move into the Valley. Alongside this, the Oasis Retreat Star Path has kicked off, including a bunch of Arabian-themed rewards. Before you may start unlocking theOasis Retreat Star Path rewardsfor yourself, you will need to earn those Tranquil Totems. To do that, you’ll need to complete some event-specific tasks. There are a total of 107 tasks that can come up in the rotation, and you’ll be able to earn 1,755 Tranquil Tokens if you manage to complete them all, but that’s way more than you need, even if you want to buy everything on the Star Path....

Even though some other games piqued my interest at this year’s E3 (coughWatch Dogs), I must shamelessly admit that I was ultimately excited aboutAssassin’s Creed IIImore than anything. I even whimpered and squealed like a third-grade girl when they presented it at the Ubisoft conference. So it was kind of a bummer that I wasn’t originally slated to preview it. However, the dork gods smiled upon me, and I got to fill in for the person originally booked....

Those graphics, am I right? Unlike the other shooters EA showed off,Crysis 3actually has some great color. It seems to be a blend ofCrysisandCrysis 2in terms of setting; an “urban rainforest,” as EA describes. We also saw some great bow and arrow work. I think the bow is coming back; the army should look into it. One arrow was able to take out a helicopter, and they’re usually bullet sponges in games!...

EA designed it to be ‘accessible’ Electronic Arts’ CFO Blake Jorgensen admittedStar Wars Battlefront’s “accessible” design “may not have the depth [hardcore players] wanted in the game.” Talking at theNasdaq Investor Conference in Europeand reported byGamespot, Jorgensen has now acknowledged that the game’s design may lack substance for experienced gamers. “Star Wars Battlefrontis a first-person shooter, but it is [one of] the only teen-rated first-person shooters,” Jorgensen said. “We had designed it to be a much more accessible product to a wide age group....

Origin has not exactly had a warm reception among the vocal gamer community, but it has nevertheless performed adequately. Electronic Arts, of course, isn’t satisfied with being second best (even though it always is) and has clearly laid down its plans to be the “Facebook” of digital distribution, compared to Valve’s Myspace. “If MySpace had stayed the one answer in social networking and no one switched to Facebook, then we’d all be stuck on MySpace right now and we wouldn’t have had the Facebook phenomenon,” said EA’sDavid DeMartini....

I hope tacos are free DLC If I listed the upcoming simulator games that are coming around the corner that I’m most excited for,Food Truck Simulatorwouldbe at the top. Food trucks are like North America’s answer to east Asian food stalls. They’re exciting places where salty food is just handed to you. Then you walk five feet and sit on a ledge because they’re not as convenient as food stalls....

But not unplayable by any means The 1997 FPSGoldenEye 007is considered one of the best influential shooters of all time, especially when it comes to its local co-op mode (I guess technically it had to be local because online play hadn’t been invented yet). I missed out on the golden age of the James Bond title because I wasn’t even a year old when it came out, but hearing friends and colleagues recounting the magical months and years that followed its release, I’m somewhat envious of a time before online gamer rage....

[Editor’s note: Say hello to Keith Swiader! He’s joined our New York preview coverage team and is starting off with some previews on upcoming Sega games. — CTZ] Of the launch titles that will accompany the PlayStation Vita’s release, Sega’sVirtua Tennis 4is one that many of you should keep your eye on, whether you’re a sports fan or not. Utilizing nearly every aspect of the Vita’s specs,Virtua Tennis 4is quite frankly the complete package....

With the arrival of the patch 10.08 update, you will finally get the option to gift skins to your friends inValorant. Here’s everything you need to know about the gifting process. Table of contents How to gift a skin in Valorant To send a weapon skin as a gift to your friend inValorant, all you need to do is: Make sure you and your friend have been added for at leastone week, both of your accounts must belevel 15, andnever have been banned before....

Sparking episodes inDragon Ball Sparking Zeroare a cool way to complete missions in different ways and unearth surprises. When you start grinding the Episode battle mode inDragon Ball Sparking Zero, you’ll slowly complete all the main sagas. However, there’s a unique roster of alternate storylines, aka Sparking episodes. These episodes require you to perform some unique activities in missions that have a green crossroads symbol. You can pause your game and check the exact requirements, but you can also read this guide, know what you need to do, and save a lot of time....

One of the best ways to ensure success inMonster Train 2is to upgrade your units, and over time, you can turn some of them into Champion-like creatures. While the Champion is the star of your deck, you’ll have to rely heavily on the units within your deck. These refer to the non-Champion creatures, and you can upgrade them during a run. The upgrades can be of different types, depending on your chosen path....