Microsoft launched ReCore last year to mixed reception, but that hasn't stopped them nurturing the fledgling franchise.
ReCore is an open-world action platformer that revolves around colorful robotic companions in an alien wasteland. Joule arrived to aid in the terraforming and colonization of the planet of Far Eden, only to find the robotic "corebot" helpers going haywire in some cases, murderously rogue in others.
Joule and the remaining sane corebots set about finding out what went wrong on Far Eden, across a large world filled with dungeons and some light Metroidvania-like gameplay.
ReCore struggled out of the gate due to issues with loading screens and criticisms revolving around the gameplay structure, among other things. Still, the game enjoyed a bit of a following due to the vibrant character designs, which has produced piles of fan art and content. Clearly, Microsoft believes this franchise could evolve into something a little stronger than its sub-full price debut title portrayed, and this Definitive Edition might be the first salvo.
ReCore's Definitive Edition will flesh out the game in various ways, adding new features, an improved engine, and much more. Microsoft just dropped the entire changelog of new features that existing users can grab for free on August 29th, 2017 as an Xbox Play Anywhere title for console and Windows 10. Here's what's new.
UPCOMING UPDATES & NEW ADVENTURES IN RECORE: DEFINITIVE EDITION
New Adventure
- "Eye of Obsidian" is a brand new chapter in the ReCore story. Join the plucky Corebot, Violet, and journey into the permanent midnight of the "Starving Sea", a previously unexplored region of Far Eden where ancient enemies plot their revenge on the last remnants of humankind!
New Companion
- T8-NK Corebot ("Tank")
New Areas to Explore
- 2 New Overworlds
- 10 New Dungeons
- Dynamic sandstorms in Far Eden's Shifting Sands regions. Brave the storms to defeat more dangerous enemies and earn more valuable loot.
New Weapon Modes
- 3 new weapon modes for Joule's Energy Rifle (switch to these instead of the charge shot)
Load Times
- When dying, reload times for combat encounters went from 30-60 seconds to < 5 seconds
- Restarting traversals and arenas are now instantaneous (was a load before)
- Optimized Level/Area Load Times
Prismatic Cores
- Added P-Cores for additional game play rewards and made them show up on the map from greater distances
- P-Core requirements fixed to a single value for the entire E-Tower. (Once you're in the E-Tower, you no longer need additional cores.)
The Map
- The Map displays everything that needs to be collected (audio logs, chests, prismatic cores)
- The Map shows all visual parts of dungeon maps
- Objective Markers improved
- Map improvements (greater visual detail, better iconography, improved zoom functionality, more game elements show up like power cells, audio logs, etc)
Fast Travel
- Fast Travel points now allow the player to complete Stash Transfers, Swap Cores and set their Companion Party Configuration without having to go back to the Sandcrawler
- The player can now warp anywhere there is a Fast Travel node via the Map
- Intra-Level (e.g. within The Cradle) fast travel warping is now instantaneous
- Added a few new Fast Travel nodes (Granite Steps, Lonely Basin, The Cradle)
Gear
- All new AoK gear for all Corebots
- Armor stats now make each Set vastly different from one another & the Perks have been refined and polished
- Blueprint Inventory now sorts by Armor Type, Color and LVL requirement
Combat
- Improved the Combo Meter to encourage much higher combo amounts, with the ability to chain combos for a longer period of time.
- At high combos (more than x10), the player now keeps some of the combo meter after using an extract!
- Global weapon tuning, enemy health and damage balancing, and late game encounter improvements
General
- Enhanced visuals (increased resolution and HDR support)
- 20 New Achievements and 500 gamerscore.
- Increased level cap from 30 to 40
- 4 new bosses and Tank challenges
- Various UX and Feedback fixes (Core Pulling HUD, Combo Counter feedback & wordsmithing, menu navigation)
- Audio for pickups, combat feedback, rewards improved
- Dialogue from Corebots and Violet is no longer in the Corebot language and is now readable
Hopefully these updates will present ReCore in a more positive light when it lands on August 29, 2017.
Are you going to give ReCore another try, or pick up the Definitive Edition for the first time? Let us know.