Hello everyone, and welcome to the week! It’s time once again for our look back at the noteworthy updates of the last seven days. What can I say? It’s another Monday, and I’ve gathered up what I can to give you something nice to read while you start your week as you will. Of course, you can keep an eye out for updates yourself by participating in the TouchArcade forums. This weekly summary is just here to fill you in on the things you might have missed. Let’s go for it!
FINAL FANTASY VIII Remastered, $20.99 Wow, I didn’t think this day would ever come. But here we are: Final Fantasy VIII Remastered actually has controller support! This update also adds cloud save functionality, a UI layout customization option, and a UI help screen. Limit Breaks that require interactivity can now be navigated with taps on the screen, and some other little fixes and improvements have been implemented. Okay Square Enix, now fix Final Fantasy IX. Please? Pretty please? I’ll give you this coveted UMMSotW award as a bit of, you know, grease for the wheels. Make it happen.
Marvel Contest of Champions, Free Mutants take the center stage in this latest update for Marvel Contest of Champions, albeit with a healthy side of Shang-Chi. On the main stage, Kitty Pryde is taking the fall for increased tensions between the mutants of Clan Akkaba and the people of Krakoa. The summoner, along with Pryde and Wolverine, will have to unravel the sinister plot before it’s too late. As a bit of cross-promotion with the brand new MCU flick, Shang-Chi and a bunch of other close-quarters fighters are ready to take you on in a new Close Quarters Challenge. See if you’ve got what it takes to bring down Marvel’s master of the martial arts!
Homescapes, Free Here’s our obligatory free-to-play matching puzzle game for the week, and yes it is time yet again to dip into the Austinverse. It’s a pretty usual update, but I always enjoy the notes on these. A new story bit sees you helping Olivia host an Indian-style cooking show, complete with plenty of delicious food to try. Do not lick your device. Don’t do it. There’s a cave house, which is a bit odd. You’re setting up a guest house in cave, I suppose if any bears drop in or something. There’s also some fluff about pirates, performing in a play, and helping someone write a book. Very eventful lives these people lead. The most exciting thing that happens to me each week is sneaking a bit of fried chicken on my way home from work on Fridays.
Genshin Impact, Free Genshin a-go-go, baby! Genshin Impact is already a year old, and that means it’s time for some celebrations. So what do we have here? Well, some new characters. Three of them, by the looks of it. Two new areas, which is lovely. There are a couple of new events to play, and some new story quests too. Some new weapons, including a giant tuna. Yes, a giant tuna. Every game needs one. You can now go fishing, and there are a handful of nasty new monsters to fight. Hey, that’s a good update all around. Let’s hope Genshin Impact‘s second year is just as awesome as its first.
Sid Meier's Civilization® VI, Free A few new things in this latest version of Civilization VI, though it’s not without its warts. The big new feature is that cross-platform cloud saves have been implemented, allowing you in theory to move your save file to a variety of other versions. There’s also the New Frontier Pass available that you can buy for $29.99. It contains a bunch of new content, with new civilizations, leaders, game modes, and more. Basically, all of the stuff you probably like about Civilization VI gets a big ol’ turbo-charge if you pick up that pack.
LEGO® Brawls, Gosh, LEGO Chris Pratt really looks like Chris Pratt. And if you’re seeing the Chris Pratt minifig, you know that means one of two things: Star-Lord or Bob Dinoguy from Jurassic World. Well, it’s the latter. No Star-Lord for you. The Jurassic World theme returns to LEGO Brawls, allowing you to enjoy the exotic Isla Nublar at night. Sounds pretty safe to me! There are some cool dino power-ups and emotes, rare Jurassic World minifigs that change out each week, and more. D-dino-mite?! I apologize for nothing.
Subway Surfers, Free I guess the Subway Surfers have stopped stalking the TouchArcade staff, as this time around they are in Las Vegas. None of our people there! Looks like you messed up, you little hooligans! But who is there? Cleo, the surfer of kindness. There’s also a new Queen of Hearts board to try to get your hands on. Collect Word Hunt letters to earn some sweet rewards, and cash in your Event Coins in the shop for even more goodies. Kindness is its own reward, but a few extra power-ups sure can’t hurt, right?
Sneaky Sasquatch, That sneaky, sneaky sasquatch. It is so sneaky that I would like to refer to it as the Sneaky Sasquatch, with capital letters. That is just what I will do, in fact. So what is new in this game about a Sneaky Sasquatch? Mushroom foraging. No bigs. You can also run a private campground on an island, work as a ferry captain, and paint things that you’ve constructed. There’s also a new river area connecting the ocean to the lakes, and a whole mess of bug fixes. Nothing sneaky about that!
Fire Emblem Heroes, Free We’re at the point where the regular updates for Fire Emblem Heroes aren’t always very big or consequential. And yes, that is more or less where this one is at. There is a new weapon skill for Kana: Dragon Spawn from Fire Emblem Fates, and some new skills for the Legendary Heroes Ephraim and Hector if you prefer your Game Boy Advance heroes. That’s all there is. Nothing else here. Shoo, go on now. Go fight some battles and make some units smooch.
Star Traders: Frontiers, $6.99 Ah, those old reliable Trese Brothers. You can always count on them for updates pretty much every single week. And it’s with them that we’ll bring this article to a close. So what do we have in this new version? Barracks, and lots of them. Squad Barracks. Battle Barracks. You’ll have to fire up the game to see all the wonderful new barracks. There are also some improvements to the UI, a handful of important bug fixes, and some balance adjustments. Very good. That closes things off nicely for us.
That about wraps it up for last week’s significant updates. I’m sure I’ve missed some, though, so please feel free to comment below and let everyone know if you think something should be mentioned. As usual, major updates will likely get their own news stories throughout this week, and I’ll be back next Monday to summarize and fill in the blanks. Have a great week!
