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. There’s a whole lot of Marvel in today’s article. Can’t be helped, it’s like they were coordinating or something. But don’t worry, outside of the superhero stuff we’ve got a bunch of games that don’t often feature here. And Toy Blast, because there must always be one of those. Of course, you can keep an eye out for updates yourself using AppShopper or 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!
Monster Hunter Stories, $19.99 It’s super cool that Capcom updated this excellent version of Monster Hunter Stories, especially in light of its sequel arriving soon on other platforms. Unfortunately, it’s not what we would call a particularly exciting update. Basically, the game has moved its UI around a bit to account for the notch on devices that have them. Other than that, this new version really just fixes some outstanding bugs and improves the overall stability of the app, which is nice in that it means we don’t have to worry about it disappearing anytime soon. I’m not even sure what else they could add anyway, so that’s fine.
PicoPico - 8bit Retro Games, Free PicoPico has added more games to its subscription service, and they’re some interesting ones this time around. There are four new titles in total: T&E Soft’s Pyramid Warp, and Compile’s Zanac, Gulkave, and Maou Golvellius. All of the featured games are MSX versions, which is pretty cool. There are a couple of new features in this update, including a spiffy filter to separate games by consoles. Finally, some bugs were fixed and a few UI adjustments were made. Quite a quirky collection they’ve got here, but that’s part of what makes it appealing.
MARVEL Realm of Champions, Free Okay, let’s move into the Marvel stuff now. We’ll do it all in a row, so as to rip off the bandage in a single go. This is one of the first big updates to this game after its wide launch, and it’s mostly about a Black Panther-themed event called The Panther’s Due. You have to help rebuild Wakanda in some new World Quests. There’s some new gear in the form of a Wakandan Scientist Set for Black Panther, Vibranium pieces for all of the other Champions, and some new Synergy Sets. New weapon variants include Jabari Spear and Claw variants, and there’s a new arena named Pleasant Hill. Hey, I know that place. Throw in the usual bug fixes and performance improvements, throw a lick of balance adjustment paint on top, and that’s the works.
MARVEL Strike Force: Squad RPG, Free Alright, next Marvel game. This time, it’s Marvel Strike Force, the squad-based RPG. As usual, not everything in the notes is going to be available immediately as it’s going to be slowly trickled out. Three new playable characters this time, including the Silver Surfer, Polaris, and Multiple Man. There’s an event coming up based on The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, some new slots for saved squads, a third anniversary celebration, and one of those goofy passes that every game wants you to spend money on these days. Oh, and lots of bug fixes. Bug fixes for days, friends. They even fixed up some animations that didn’t look so hot, particularly with regards to Kitty Pryde. I mean, look, you’ve got Silver Surfer. What more could you ask for?
MARVEL Future Fight, Free Hey, we made it! This is the last Marvel update in this article, and it’s for long-running fan favorite Marvel Future Fight. A big name is making the scene in this one, and it’s a character whose name was on the lips of many a Marvel fan in the last couple of months: Mephisto. Yes, the guy who for some reason wanted Peter Parker’s marriage to not exist instead of, like, his soul or whatever. Well, he’s not Spider-Man’s problem this time. Rather, it’s the Defenders who’ll be taking the fight to this new World Boss. There are new uniforms for Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist, and they are… something, alright. Daredevil gets his Tier-3, and the other three Defenders get their Potential Awakened or Transcended. Finally, there’s a new character: Ikaris of the Eternals, who will be making a cinematic appearance in the new movie coming, you know, whenever.
Toy Blast, Free Alright, let’s get all the bad medicine out of the way while we’re at it. The obligatory free-to-play matching puzzle game update this week is Toy Blast, because I don’t feel like digging around. There are fifty new levels to play, and the update notes are suggesting that they have something to do with the roaring 20s? I’m assuming it’s the current 20s, but I sure wouldn’t call these ‘roaring’ so far. ‘Trash-fire’, maybe? I mean, we haven’t even had any new Marvel movies in the current decade. What a rip-off! WHERE ARE MY PICTURES OF SPIDER-MAN? I WANT PICTURES, PREFERABLY MOVING!
Human: Fall Flat, $4.99 Human: Fall Flat is a strange game. I enjoyed playing it on the Nintendo Switch with my son a while back, but it was mostly fun because of how awkward it was. I suppose that’s a genre these days. Anyway, this game keeps on giving thanks to its updates adding in new levels every now and then. That’s what this one does, in fact. The levels are called Golf and City, and you can probably guess what they’re about from the names alone. The former sees you playing on a bizarre golf course, while the latter has you dealing with a skyscraper-filled urban location lit neon against the night sky. Sounds like a whole lot of goofy joy to me, friends. Make sure you check those new levels out if you own this one.
Warhammer Quest, Free The third game in the Warhammer Quest series has gotten some pretty nice updates already since it launched last year, and here’s yet another one. It’s called March of Chaos, and it has three brand new champions for you to check out. The Darkoath Warqueen, the Beastman Bray Shaman, and the Lord of Plagues should mix up your strategies a bit if you choose to use them. There’s also a new weekly game mode called The Crucible, which is available to play on Fridays and Saturdays. It’s sort of an endurance mode where you have to see how far you can take your champions without getting any health bar refills between battles. You’ll earn rewards based on how well you do. You can only play it once a week, so make it count. Solid update overall, I’d say.
Sky: Children of the Light, Free I don’t look in on Sky: Children of the Light often enough. It’s a really chill game, very finely crafted stuff. This new update is a very cool one, as it aims to reduce the daily grind involved in collecting Light. Yes, it reduces the grind. On purpose. What? I’m not used to free-to-play games doing things like that. Anyway, the idea here is that it’s easier to gather up a good chunk of Light quickly but the more you grind at it, the less you get. While this isn’t great news for people who used to sink hours into the game every day, it’s definitely better for people who only want to spend a bit of time on such endeavors. This update also brings in the Days of Bloom holiday event, which runs until April 4th. I suppose I’ll reward this update’s good deeds with a coveted UMMSotW award. Way to go!
Genshin Impact, Free How much can you stuff in one game? I don’t know, but I have a feeling miHoYo is going to do its best to find out. There’s a new character, Thorny Benevolence Rosaria (Cryo), a new event called Invitation of Windblume, a new weapon named Elegy for the End, and some new Quests to complete. A drop in the bucket that is this game’s ocean of content at this point, but those drops add up. I still can’t believe this game turned out as good as it did. Just a whole little world on your iPhone, ready to shake you down for all of your cash money if you fall in too deep.
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!
