The Blog

“We don’t make it a super strict mandate that it has to be something that could technically have worked in the past. But rather, it has to feel like what we remember of those games. There’s not a clear set of rules - if we’re not feeling it, we re-work things here and there. We really make sure it doesn’t feel like a game from this year, but rather it takes you back while you’re playing.”

Speedrun Mode Unlocked!

• Ready to take on the challenge of speedrunning? Now you can with our new Speedrun mode!
• To unlock this feature, either finish the game with cleared save data or enter a cheat code at the File Select screen: Left, Left, Right, Right, Left, Right, Up, Down, Burst!
• Speedrun mode allows you to skip various cutscenes and interactions for a smoother gameplay experience.
• You have full control over when to toggle this mode, and it works seamlessly with both new and existing save files.

Loadout Customization

• Introducing the ability to create and switch between three unique loadouts, complete with booster chips and techniques, right from the pause menu!
• Now you can tailor your loadouts to suit different situations!

Stage-Specific Civilian Tracker

• Keeping track of your heroic endeavors is easier than ever before! Check out the new in-stage tracker in the pause menu, which shows how many civilians you have rescued in a particular stage.
• No more guessing – quickly identify which rescues you might have missed to ensure no one is left behind.

Training Room

• Get ready to level up your skills with some exciting Training Room opportunities! You can seek the room out at the HQ.

Performance Enhancements:

• We’ve also included various small stability improvements to make your gaming experience even smoother.

Additions

• Added ”Smooth Camera”option to the Camera menu. This will smooth out horizontal camera movement overall, which should (hopefully) lead to a much more controllable character and reduced motion sickness for many people. This option is active by default on fresh save files only and can be deactivated at any time to restore the camera to its old behaviour
• Added UI elements for tracking your progress in Stage 5-2

Changes

• Overhauled camera snapping (left trigger button). Instead of using Hana’s view direction for recentering it’ll now take player input into account (when moving). This means that the camera should now snap to where you want to go, not where the character’s currently looking at
• Removed a bunch of enemies from Toree’s levels. Mind you, Toree is still considered the de facto “hard-mode” of the game and you will have to do some “weird” jumps, but most if not all of the really unfair enemies should be gone now
• Rebalanced final section of Stage 2-1
• Very slight rebalancing of Stage 2-2
• Rebalanced Stage 4-2. Again
• Very slight rebalancing of Stage 5-2
• Made hitboxes on rolling pin stage hazards much more lenient

Fixes

• Fixed Stage 5-2 music
• Fixed being able to trigger the final platform in Stage T with less than 4 switches
• Fixed music not pausing when collecting level secrets
• (Hopefully) fixed camera randomly facing the wrong direction when spawning at checkpoint
• Fixed being able to easily bypass a certain part of Stage 7-2
• Fixed weird collision on the final parts of Stage 6-1 where you could lose your double jump easily

New Additions:

• Added a button to view the names and descriptions of status effects in battle when using a controller. This was previously only possible if you were using a mouse.
• Added a colour-blind accessibility option to change health bars from green/red to blue/orange.
• Added an audio setting to mute transformation sound effects.
• If you have more than 200 items in a single tab in the inventory, the tab will be automatically split into pages of 50 items each to aid in navigating large numbers of stickers.
• Several filtering options have been added to the sticker inventory: Name, Rarity, Category, and Elemental Type.
• A Bulk Recycle button has been added to the sticker inventory. It can be used when a filter is set, and recycles every sticker that matches the current filters.

Fixed:

• Fixed Intercept not affecting team-target attacks affected by Unitarget.
• Fixed status effects ticking down twice on the round that you fuse.
• Fixed an NPC in Harbourtown who sometimes spawned underground.
• Fixed Kayleigh’s name not being displayed when she talks for Barkley in post-boss cutscenes set in the cafe.
• Fixed inconsistent music near the Cherry Meadow cave.
• Fixed monsters with Vampire healing from 0 HP when they should be defeated.
• Fixed Ghostly and Gambit killing player characters if they record a monster while the status has 1 turn left.
• Fixed Resonance not overloading if you use Dog Years to double it.
• Fixed some geometry that could get a player temporarily stuck under a walkway in the Abandoned Mine in the marsh.
• Fixed Viola’s quest not becoming complete if you defeated the story’s final boss before finishing it.
• Fixed player characters’ sleeves periodically resetting to long sleeves regardless of selected top.

Other Changes:

• Controls in the inventory have been changed to LB/PgUp and RB/PgDn to switch tabs, to become consistent with other tabbed UIs. Left/Right can be used to jump up and down the list like PgUp/PgDn used to.
• Added some text to the controller select screen to help new players figure out what they need to do to enable and start local co-op.
• Added a dialog to confirm the player’s decision to flee before actually attempting to flee.
• Added a hard limit of 2500 to the number of stacks of stickers players can keep in their inventory. This should help keep memory use from getting so large it causes saving to fail. Any stickers you pick up past that limit, that don’t stack with stickers you already have, are dropped until you’re back under the limit. This won’t automatically erase any stickers you already have past the limit when you load a file, but you will need to recycle some to be able to pick up more stickers.
• The game now keeps 2 previous versions of each save file in addition to the current file itself. If it detects that the most recent version is corrupt, it will automatically attempt to load one of the backups instead.

Quality of Life Improvements

-All Platforms-

General Gameplay

• Added controller vibration effects when taking damage
• Restored Always Run in the Input Options menu, with separate options for controller and keyboard
• Save and load menus will now indicate which campaign a save is from
• The Compass, Drop CTF Tech and Use Grapple actions can now be mapped as custom binds from the Input Options menu
• Added toggle for Underwater Warp in the Gameplay Options menu
• Increased the window in which input is disallowed after disengaging the weapon or inventory wheel to prevent erroneous look input or accidental item/weapon deselection
• Disabling View Bob in the Gameplay Options menu bobbing results in fewer residual head bobs
• Added missing Tank animation
• Improved Compass objective navigation throughout various places in Quake II, The Reckoning, Ground Zero, and Quake II 64
• Skipping cinematics now requires the Action key/button to be pressed instead of any key/button
• Added an extra chain segment to the Plasma Beam and Grappling Hook when using higher FOVs
• Improved cases where momentum would be lost when traveling up stairs
• Proper drowning sounds are now used based on selected player model

Multiplayer

• Added ability to load quick saves and manual saves in online co-op without having to back out to the lobby
• Bot chat can now be disabled from Multiplayer Options menu
• Added match browser filters and the ability to sort by ping in the Multiplayer/Online/Join Match menu
• Raised the maximum number of visible matches in the Multiplayer/Online/Join Match menu from 20 to 50
• Excluded full servers from visible matches in the Multiplayer/Online/Join Match menu
• Disabled Quake II 64 physics changes when playing Quake II 64 multiplayer maps
• Enabled Spawn Furthest by default in competitive game modes
• Enabled Auto Join Teams by default for team-based game modes
• Raised default Frag Limit to 30
• Set multiple cvars as cheat-enabled, disallowing hosts to use them when cheats are disabled
• Updated Q2CTF2 (Stronghold Opposition) and Q2CTF3 (The Smelter) to better reflect the original versions of these Capture the Flag maps

Balance Changes

-All Platforms-

General Gameplay

• Increased Railgun damage from 100 to 125
• Monsters will no longer dodge shots coming from the side or behind
• The slime and lava traps in The Slimy Place and The Frag Pipe can no longer be avoided
• Turrets no longer do extra damage when blind firing
• Killing a Brain while its chest is open will now always count as a kill
• Monsters will no longer open nearby doors immediately after spawning
• Fixbots will abort healing when staggering from pain

Berserker:

• The Berserker’s attack can be dodged by jumping when the slam occurs
• Added a visual tell to indicate when the Berserker’s jump is being charged up
• Added an additional 100ms delay before the Berserker jumps after it is fully charged
• Reduced slam attack damage

Multiplayer

• Removed ladder sounds from multiplayer for balance reasons

Bug Fixes

-All Platforms-

General Gameplay

• Reduced vision cone size on monsters waiting in ambush to fix some cases of accidental trap activation
• Power shield will no longer reactivate after picking up ammo if it was manually turned off
• Power-ups will no longer leave a phantom pickup after a player dies
• Fixed crash when a soldier tries to use a run attack against no player

Smoliv, the Olive Pokémon, and its Evolutions will make their Pokémon GO debuts! You can use 25 Smoliv Candy to evolve Smoliv into Dolliv and you can use 100 Smoliv Candy to evolve Dolliv into Arboliva.

The following Pokémon will appear more frequently in the wild.

• Bellsprout
• Exeggcute
• Sunkern
• Wurmple
• Combee
• Sewaddle
• Cottonee
• Petilil
• Red Flower Flabébé^
• Blue Flower Flabébé^ -Yellow Flower Flabébé^
• Pumpkaboo
• Bounsweet
• Smoliv

Harvest Festival–themed Field Research tasks will be available! The following Pokémon will be available to encounter when you complete Field Research tasks!

• Plant Cloak Burmy
• Sand Cloak Burmy
• Trash Cloak Burmy
• Pumpkaboo
• Smoliv

Harvest Festival Collection Challenges are coming! Complete the Harvest Festival Collection Challenges to receive XP, Stardust, and Mossy Lure Modules.

Event bonuses

• Mossy Lure Modules activated during the event will last for two hours.
• Mossy Lure Modules have a higher chance of attracting Pumpkaboo.
• Trainers will receive additional Pumpkaboo Candy for catching Pumpkaboo during the event. PokéStop Showcases

Be on the lookout for Showcases at select PokéStops during the Harvest Festival event where you can enter Smoliv, Pumpkaboo, or Gourgeist!

Ticket of Treats paid Timed Research: You’ll be able to access event-exclusive paid Timed Research as a part of the Ticket of Treats starting October 12, 2023 at 10:00 a.m. local time. You can purchase the Ticket of Treats in the in-game shop for US$5.00 (or the equivalent pricing tier in your local currency).

Complete the research tasks to earn a Mossy Lure Module and encounters with Pumpkaboo!

Please note that Timed Research expires. The tasks associated with this Timed Research must be completed and their rewards must be claimed before Tuesday, October 31, 2023, at 8:00 p.m. local time.

Trainers will be able to purchase and gift tickets to any of their Pokémon GO friends that they have achieved a Friendship level of Great Friends or higher with. Please note that purchases—including those made for other Trainers—are non-refundable (subject to applicable law and the exceptions set forth in the Terms of Service). Tickets cannot be purchased with PokéCoins.

The Ticket of Treats is a special ticket that provides access to four separate Timed Research opportunities during events in October.