By their very nature, retro-inspired games are fighting an uphill battle against the nostalgia they aim to invoke. How can they form their own identity when they're partly designed to make you remember other games? After finishing Owlboy, it seems D-Pad Studio might have the answer.

For almost a decade, Owlboy has lurked behind the curtain of mainstream releases with a small-but-devout following. Looking at screenshots and videos over the years, it was always apparent that Owlboy would look and sound great, but there's so much more to love about the final product: the humor, the varied cast, the disasters that befall its otherwise bright and uplifting world, and the incredible action set-pieces that punctuate the calm found elsewhere. It's not until you break through the surface that you're blinded by Owlboy's artistic brilliance and swayed by its heartfelt story.

It begins with Otus--our muteprotagonist and the runt of his village--during a stressful dream where his professor and dark figments criticize his inadequacies and chastise his inability to speak. It's a powerful setup that endears our hero to you. Trouble brews shortly after he wakes up and concerns of pirate sightings explode into panic as a nearby metropolis comes under attack. Otus teams up with a military mechanic, Geddy, to put a stop to the pirates before their home is destroyed.

Owlboy is old-school, not just in its presentation, but also in its storytelling--there's no voice acting, and events are set in stone with nary a major decision-making opportunity in sight. The plot manages to avoid predictability, however, not only through a handful of twists, but by allowing characters to evolve throughout the course of the game. Sad moments aren't swept under the rug by unreasonable optimism--they stay with your squad and fundamentally alter their outlook on the mission and their own identity in surprising ways. There's great attention to detail in the cast's animations, which are often tailored for a specific scene, as opposed to falling back on routine reactions. Coupled with a script that's rife with emotion and nuance, Owlboy's characters feel real in your heart despite their cartoonish look.

Owlboy tackles multiple artistic themes and subjects with consistently impressive execution.

It may be a throwback of sorts, but Owlboy's visuals aren't tailored to specifically ape 8- or 16-bit graphics; it doesn't have a limited color palette, and its pixel resolution changes based on the scene at hand. When you enter wide-open spaces, the camera zooms out, chunky details shrink, and meticulously designed structures and environments take shape. In tight spaces, you're brought closer into the scene for more intimate inspection. From subterranean creatures to ancient structures, Owlboy tackles several artistic themes and subjects with consistently impressive execution. And if you have a soft spot for 2D games with multiple layers of parallax scrolling--where the background moves slower than the foreground to simulate depth--you're in for a treat.

When you first take control of Otus, darting around floating islands and chatting with other creatures makes for a pleasant experience, and while the open air and bright colors deserve some credit, it's the orchestrated soundtrack that solidifies Owlboy's shifting atmosphere and tone. Violas and flutes instill merriment at first, but this innocence is short lived; when the pirates invade, oboes drone and cellos growl to the slow beat of a heavy drum. When the dust settles and the second half of your journey kicks off, sprightly piano compositions provide a much-needed respite from the stress of a society under attack.

Your trek to the pirate's den takes you through expansive spaces and into the heart of sprawling cave systems where buccaneers and wildlife alike lie in wait. They typically bombard you with rocks and other projectiles, rarely engaging in close-quarters combat. On his own, Otus can only dash into enemies, stunning them at best. However, with the help of a handy teleportation device, he can summon one of three partners into his claws mid-flight to utilize their long-range blaster, shotgun, or webbing that can ensnare enemies and be used as a grappling hook to escape dangerous situations.

Otus is unfortunately a tad slow by default, which causes you to spam his dash move repeatedly to keep things moving along outside of combat. There's a modest upgrade system driven by collecting and turning in coins found in chests, but you're upgrading health reserves--in the form of soup canisters--and your team's weapons, not physical traits. Still, a keen eye and fast reflexes are more critical to success than any upgrades purchased during your adventure. Knowing that success comes from a show of skill rather than your ability to collect upgrades is gratifying, but you walk away from Owlboy with the sinking feeling that the equipment and upgrades in the game have unrealized potential.

Owlboy is consistently charming and surprising, and when its final act doubles down on every front, it's bittersweet to see watch it end.

Standard combat isn't anything special, but it never wears out its welcome thanks to deft pacing. Owlboy steadily mixes combat and exploration with measured stealth challenges, fast-paced escape sequences, and entertaining exchanges between characters. The chase/escape sequences in particular are some of the most impressive moments in the game, throwing you into a harrowing race against time in the face of tightly choreographed hazards. These scenes are challenging and filled with visual effects that add to the sense of danger, and they're overwhelming at first, but should you die, not to worry: Owlboy never truly punishes you for failure, allowing you to restart from the last room you entered.

Owlboy is consistently charming and surprising, and when its final act doubles down on every front, it's bittersweet to see watch it end. As you relish the outcome of the final battle and watch the closing cutscene, you can't help but reflect on the beginning of your adventure and how far the world and its inhabitants have come. You'll never be able to play Owlboy for the first time again, but the memories of its magic moments stick with you. This is more than a treat for fans of old-school games; Owlboy is a heartfelt experience that will touch anyone with an affinity for great art and storytelling.

Once a year the GameSpot crew bands together for a worldwide extravaganza of exhausted game-playing to raise money for charity, and that time for 2016 has finally come. From 12 PM PT on Friday, November 11, until 12 PM on Monday, November 14, join us right here as we stream games for 72 straight hours in support of the Extra Life charity.

Over the past five years, we've raised over $50,000, and we're trying to add another $10,000 to that total. All proceeds go towards the UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital in Oakland, one of the Children's Miracle Network Hospital that helps kids dealing with things like cancer, cystic fibrosis, and accident-related injuries.

Before, during, and after the stream, you can donate directly through our page on the Extra Life website by going to tinyurl.com/gsextralife and hitting the donate button. The contribution is tax-deductible and ALL PROCEEDS go to help kids.

Check out our streaming schedule below, starting on Friday, November 11:

We'll have more details about the stream as it gets closer, so stayed tuned for the roster of games, game players, and mystery guests!

For the kids!

Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon is next up in Ubisoft's monthly free PC game promotion, celebrating the company's 30th anniversary. It becomes available on November 9, Ubisoft revealed on Twitter.

You'll need a UPlay account to claim the Ubi30 promotion's free games. To get Blood Dragon, you'll have to go to the Ubi30 webpage on November 9, click "Get the Game Now," and follow the instructions. Once that's completed, Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon will appear in your UPlay library.

While you wait for the next free game to become available, you can claim Beyond Good & Evil for free right now. Other games that have been included in previous months include The Crew, Rayman Origins, and Splinter Cell. December is the final month of the Ubi30 promotion, and we'll keep you updated on that month's game when it's revealed.

Blood Dragon received a score of 8.5/10 in GameSpot's review. Critic Kevin VanOrd concluded, "You don't have to love the decade of Rubik's Cubes and Pac-Man Fever to get a kick out of Blood Dragon. But if you do, then all the better: this action-packed shooter will strike all the right synth-pop power chords."

In addition to confirming that Grand Theft Auto V had shipped 70 million copies, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick also discussed Mafia III's review scores and remasters during an earnings call today.

On the subject of Mafia III's review scores, Zelnick said scores were lower than what the company hoped for. But at the same time, he remarked that the title is selling very well, noting that it shipped 4.5 million copies in its first week to set a new record for 2K Games.

"In terms of the reviews and scores, it was sort of an odd anomaly," Zelnick explained. "The scores were lower than we would have liked. But there are a lot of stellar reviews. I think the most prominent reviewers really loved it and recognized that what we're doing here, from the story, art, character, and excitement perspective is really unmatched in the marketplace. So I think we and our competitors are seeing some anomalies in the review system, but we take them as they are and we don't argue with it."

GameSpot's Mafia III review scored the game a 6/10. Check out this roundup of scores to find out what other critics thought about it.

Also during the call, an analyst asked Zelnick for his thoughts on possibly releasing more remasters. Is that something Take-Two would consider, following the launch of BioShock: The Collection?

"Potentially yes," he replied. "Any time we have something that goes well or doesn't go well it definitely informs our decision making, but we don't have anything specific to announce... The good news is we have a rich trove of intellectual property and there are definitely more things that will be brought to the market in the future, but nothing that we would announce on today's call."

For more on Take-Two's latest earnings report, check out the stories below:

• GTA 5 Ships 70 Million Copies, as GTA Online Continues to Grow
• Mafia 3 Ships 4.5 Million Copies in First Week, Setting New Launch Record for 2K

A forthcoming Pokemon Go update will attempt to ensure you play the game every day through the addition of daily bonuses.

Unlike those seen in some games, these bonuses will ask more of you than simply opening up the app and tapping a button. Instead, you'll need to perform certain tasks--catching a Pokemon or visiting a PokeStop--in order to earn these rewards.

You'll initially receive XP and Stardust. Completing these tasks for seven days in a row will yield even greater rewards, primarily in the form of items and more XP.

Here's how the reward breakdown looks:

• Catching a Pokemon every day will earn the following bonus:
  • 500 XP
  • 600 Stardust
• Catching a Pokemon every day for seven days straight will earn the following larger bonus:
  • 2,000 XP
  • 2,400 Stardust
• Visiting a PokeStop and spinning the Photo Disc every day will earn the following bonus:seven
  • 500 XP
  • A number of additional items
  Visiting a PokeStop every day for 7 days straight will earn the following larger bonus:
  • 2,000 XP
  • A greater number of additional items

There's no release date set for the update as of yet; developer Niantic only say it'll arrive "soon."

Just recently, the game featured a Halloween event that helped to boost it back to the top of the iOS App Store's highest-grossing charts. It also received a pair of updates that didn't do a lot, except to make some improvements to eggs.

Sam's Club's Black Friday deals have been revealed, and included among them are some gaming offers.

There are two gaming deals to be had at Sam's Club for Black Friday, including PlayStation 4 and Xbox One bundles. As posted on BFAds, one of the offers is the Uncharted 4 PS4 slim bundle for $250 instead of $300. On the Xbox One side, the 500 GB Battlefield 1 and Minecraft bundles are marked down to $250. Additionally, Sam's Club is throwing in an extra white Xbox One controller with these.

The Sam's Club Black Friday advertisement states that some deals will be available through the retailer's website on the evening of Thanksgiving--November 24. The store will open its physical doors for shoppers on November 25, starting at 7 AM, though this may vary by state.

If you're in the market for a new Xbox One, Dell will offer an even better deal on Black Friday. The store will sell the 500 GB Battlefield 1 bundle with a free copy of Gears of War 4 and an extra Xbox One controller for $250.

Keep checking back with GameSpot in the days and weeks ahead for more on the best Black Friday gaming deals.

Updated with benefits for Horizon: Zero Dawn, Infamous: Second Son, and The Witness.

[UPDATE] We're now also tracking the games that are not getting PS4 Pro patches. These can be found at the bottom of this post.

Original story: Sony showed off a bunch of games that take advantage of the new PS4 Pro at its recent livestreamed event in New York. The PS4 Pro can enable games to display at 4K resolution, utilize extra graphical effects, and run at smoother frame rates. Additionally, games can benefit whether they're played on 4K or 1080p displays.

Some already-released games will feature PS4 Pro support through updates, while others will come with enhancements out of the box. It's not clear how exactly each game will benefit from the upgraded hardware, but lead architect Mark Cerny did divulge some details on some of the games at the event. We've compiled all the information we currently have and will update this article as we receive more.

For more information and stories, head on over to GameSpot's PS4 Pro news hub.

Battlezone

The 1.02 patch released on October 27 adds increased supersampling resolution, improved dynamic lighting in the Cobra cockpit, and increased reflective lighting resolution.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered

PS4 Pro with a 4K display:

Improved textures and a "dynamic" 4K resolution while maintaining the standard 60 FPS frame rate.

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided

PS4 Pro with a 4K display:

4K resolution and graphical improvements.

The Elder Scrolls Online

PS4 Pro with a 4K display:

Increased graphical fidelity running in native 4K resolution.

PS4 Pro with a 1080p display:

Increased graphical fidelity.

Fallout 4

PS4 Pro with a 4K display:

Bethesda said it expects the game to "take advantage of the PS4 Pro in 4K along with enhanced lighting and graphics features," but didn't provide any further specifics.

Horizon: Zero Dawn

PS4 Pro with a 1080p display:

Improved shadow maps, extra detail, and enhanced colors. It'll feature higher quality anisotropic filtering, which means upgraded texture sampling, resulting in more detailed environments. Additionally, supersampling will render Horizon's resolution at a resolution "close to 4K" and then shrink it down to 1080p, Guerilla Games says.

PS4 Pro with a 4K display:

A 2160p checkerboard, which Guerilla Games says is a technique that "looks incredible" on a 4K display. It's supposed to add noticeable detail to aspects, such as "stitching on Aloy's outfit, individual leaves and branches swaying in the wind, kilometers away in the distance, and more detail in all the machines and NPCs in the world."

Infamous: Second Son

Support for HDR and 4K televisions.

Killing Floor 2

PS4 Pro with a 4K display:

1800p checkboard rendering on 4K TV (3200x1800) optimized for 4K TVs.

PS4 Pro with a 1080p display:

Increased framerate and supersampling, as well as increased texture resolutions (which may also be present at 4K).

Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor

PS4 Pro with a 1080p display:

Super sampling anti-aliasing.

NBA 2K17

PS4 Pro with a 4K display:

Native 4K resolution running at 60 FPS with HDR support.

PS4 Pro with a 1080p display:

2K confirmed to GameSpot that it will still render a 4K resolution even on a 1080p display. The company said this should result in "much better anti-aliasing" with HDR support.

Paragon

PS4 Pro with a 1080p display:

Enhanced visual effects, procedural ground cover, higher scene complexity, greater texture fidelity, and dynamic reflections.

Thumper

PS4 Pro with a 4K display:

4K resolution with no upscaling.

PlayStation VR:

Improved rendering quality at the same 90 FPS as the regular PS4.

Titanfall 2

Producer Drew McCoy explained in an interview that the PS4 Pro version of Titanfall 2 will not run in native 4K. However, the console's extra power should help the game stick closer to its 60FPS target. Read the full interview here to learn more.

The Witness

PS4 Pro with a 4K display:

Two different modes will be available for users with 4K displays:

• 1440p resolution upscaled to 4K, 60 FPS, 2x MSAA, text and UI rendered at 4K
• 4K resolution, 30 FPS, 2x MSAA

PS4 Pro with a 1080p display:

1080p resolution instead of 900p and increased antialiasing quality from 2x to 4x MSAA, while keeping a solid 60 FPS.

PS4 Pro Games with Unconfirmed Details

• Battlefield 1
• Call of Duty: Black Ops 3
• Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare
  
• Days Gone
  
• Dishonored 2
  
• Farpoint (PlayStation VR)
• FIFA 17
• Final Fantasy XV
• For Honor
• Ghost Recon: Wildlands
• Infamous: First Light
  
• The Last of Us: Remastered
• Mass Effect: Andromeda
  
• Pro Evolution Soccer 2017
• Rise of the Tomb Raider
• Skyrim: Special Edition
• Spider-Man
• Steep
  
• Titanfall 2
• Uncharted 4: A Thief's End
• Watch Dogs 2

Games Confirmed* to Not Get a PS4 Pro Upgrade Patch

Destiny

A PS4 Pro patch is not in the cards right now, but could happen later, Bungie said.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

"Since we want to fully focus on Cyberpunk 2077 and Gwent, and converting The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt from a full HD game into a 4K one would be too much of a time and resource-consuming process, we decided not to release an edition of Wild Hunt supporting the new features of PlayStation Pro," CD Projekt Red said.

* Denotes a situation where a developer has not ruled out a PS4 Pro patch for the future, but isn't committing to one right away.

A new update for the Xbox One S is out now and it adds new Blu-ray features.

As explained by Xbox engineering lead Mike Ybarra on Twitter, the update adds support for BD-R and BD-RE Blu-ray discs. These are write-only and rewritable disc formats, respectively. It's not a huge update, but it's a nice option to have all the same if you're looking to play those discs.

This is the second piece of news that Microsoft has announced about the Xbox One's Blu-ray player in as many weeks. During the Windows 10 event last week, Microsoft revealed that bitstream audio pass-through, including Dolby Atmos, will be available via the Blu-ray player in a future update.

Microsoft released a major update for the Xbox One in November 2015 in the form of the New Xbox One Experience, which introduced backwards compatibility for Xbox 360 games and changed up how the menus look, among other things. There hasn't been an update that substantial to the console since, though some newly added features for Preview members have included Clubs, Looking for Group, and Arena. Additionally, Achievement notifications were recently enhanced.

What new features would you like to see added to the Xbox One? Let us know in the comments below!

A PS4 Pro patch for The Witness was announced earlier this year, but now we have some finalized details on what that patch will provide those who buy the upgraded, more powerful console.

Players will now have two different modes to choose from when playing on a 4K display, creator Jonathan Blow wrote on the game's website. The first mode runs at 60 FPS with a 1440p resolution upscaled to 4K. It features 2x MSAA rendering of the game's world, while text and UI is rendered at 4K. The second mode is set at a 4K resolution with 2x MSAA rendering but runs at 30 FPS.

"We added option (b) because a lot of people seem to want it, and it does look really good!" Blow exclaimed.

The improvements players get from playing on a 1080p display are unchanged from the 1080p, 60 FPS, and 4x MSAA details that were announced in September. Regardless, Blow says this is noticeably higher than the regular PS4's version of the game, which runs at 900p, 60 FPS, and 2x MSAA.

Lastly, Blow confirmed that The Witness will feature HDR support on all models of PS4. There's currently no release date for the patch, but Blow says it's coming "in November sometime."

Other games receiving PS4 Pro patches include Infamous: Second Son, Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, Modern Warfare Remastered, and Horizon: Zero Dawn, in addition to many others. You can see GameSpot's roundup of all the games getting PS4 Pro patches here.

Take-Two Interactive, the parent company of Rockstar Games and 2K Games, reported earnings today for its fiscal Q2 2017 (ended September 30), providing an update on the company's business outlook. Among the key takeaways was that Grand Theft Auto V has sold-in 70 million copies (up from 65 million), while its online mode, GTA Online, continues to grow. Additionally, Mafia III shipped 4.5 million copies in its first week, while NBA 2K17 sold-in 4.5 million copies since its launch in September. Further, total shipments of games in the Civilization series have now reached 37 million copies (up from 35 million) in its history.

In terms of money, net revenue grew 21 percent to $420.2 million, up from $347 million during the same period last year. Leading drivers of revenue for the period were NBA 2K16, GTA V, GTA Online, BioShock: The Collection, and XCOM 2.

Revenue from digital sources jumped by 14 percent to $230.8 million, up from $202.4 million. What Take-Two calls recurrent consumer spending (virtual currency, DLC, and online game revenue), accounted for 31 percent of total revenue and 56 percent of digitally delivered revenue. NBA 2K16, GTA V, and GTA Online were called out as leading growth drivers in this area.

As for "bookings," which comprise physical games shipped to retail and digitally delivered revenue, this grew 28 percent to $452.8 million, compared to $353 million during the same period last year. Main contributors were NBA 2K17, NBA 2K16, GTA V, GTA Online, BioShock: The Collection, and XCOM 2.

Catalog sales alone made up $193.7 million of bookings, fueled by sales of GTA and NBA 2K titles.

Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick said in a prepared statement that GTA Online, which came out more than three years ago, continues to see year-over-year growth in bookings. A year ago this month, GTA Online had 8 million players a week, though Take-Two has not updated that figure since.

Rockstar has regularly supported GTA Online with new content. Most recently, the developer launched a Halloween event for the game.

As for the aforementioned NBA 2K17, the game had a "record" first week in terms of shipments, but a specific figure was not shared. Additionally, Take-Two confirmed that Civilization VI has shipped 1 million units since launch.

Take-Two posted a profit of $36.4 million for the period, down from the profit of $54.7 million that it made this quarter last year. As of September 30, Take-Two reported that it had cash and equivalents of $1.175 billion on hand.

Take-Two is currently holding an earnings call to discuss these results. We'll report back with more information if anything noteworthy is discussed.

Call of Duty's VR experience, Jackal Assault, will be free to everyone on PlayStation 4, Activision announced today.

When it was first announced, Activision said Jackal Assault would be free to everyone who buys Infinite Warfare on PS4, not unlike the VR mode coming for free to Star Wars Battlefront owners on PS4. That changed today--a blog post detailing Infinite Warfare's features states Jackal Assault will be "available to all PS4 owners, not just for players who have purchased the game, as a free, added bonus on November 4."

Come Friday, anyone on PS4 will be able to download Jackal Assault from the PS VR section of the PlayStation Store. You will, however, need a PS VR headset in order to actually play it.

Jackal Assault was revealed during the annual Call of Duty XP event in September. The PS VR "experience," as Activision puts it, "immerses you in the cockpit of a Jackal, the personal, multi-role fighter jet" from Infinite Warfare.

We got to try it at TGS and thought it looked fantastic, though we found it to cause motion sickness, as noted in the video above. Your experience may vary of course, and at least you'll now be able to try it for yourself without spending a penny.

Two new Street Fighter statues are now available for preorder from Pop Culture Shock Toys. Both feature Ryu of varying evilness, cost nearly $400, and don't ship until December 2017.

The "Murderous Intent" Ryu statue costs $390, stands at 16.5 inches tall, and weighs in at 17 pounds. It's Evil Ryu with the red, Akuma-like hair, and for a limited time, you can preorder it for 10 percent off if you pay in full, bringing the cost down to $351. You can also pay in installments. You can see both statues in the image gallery below.

The second statue is called "Dark Hado" and features Ryu with much longer, black hair. The longer-hair version of Ryu costs $10 more than the Murderous Intent statue, but preordering it in full will discount the price to $360. It also stands at 16.5 inches and weighs 17 pounds. Both statues are estimated to ship on December 23, 2017.

These aren't the first Street Fighter statues from Pop Culture Shock Toys. Earlier this year, statues featuring Hot "Bearded" Ryu, Necalli, and Ken from Street Fighter V were revealed. The toy retailer has also released statues of Chun-Li--with proceeds going to breast cancer charities--and Mortal Kombat characters Reptile, Shao Kahn, and Cyrax.

You can see more of GameSpot's stories on video game and movie statues through the links below:

• $770 Witcher 3 Statue Features "Lifelike" Skin, Looks Incredible
• New $150 Batman Statue Is Epic
• Awesome-Looking $500 God of War Kratos Statue
• Suicide Squad Statues
• Batman as a Bloodthirsty Vampire Realized With New Statue