The April Fool’s update finds a permanent home in Tyria.
There are many ways a developer can prank its audience. It can swap everyone’s genders for a day, translate all speech into Klingon, or super power the gnome (or gnome-equivalent) race. ArenaNet decided to go the non-confrontational route with the April Fools update for Guild Wars 2, and instead made a retro platformer called Super Adventure Box. It featured a 3d pixel world filled with platforming, combat, and magic keys, all while 8-bit music gave your 5.1 setup a workout. While the fun only lasted a month, ArenaNet’s bringing it back for good, starting September 3rd, along with a few updates.
The Super Adventure Box is a magical device created by a mad Asuran scientist, but predictably, it’s all gone horribly wrong and now he’s paying adventurers to fix it from the inside out. Upon entering,health bars become a series of hearts, abilities change, and platforming rules the day. Slaughtering your lo-fi foes nets you baubles, which you can cash in for goodies like improved weapons and health potions.
This new release takes that original update and expands on it with new levels and a new Tribulation Mode. Saving up your baubles also lets you unlock new rewards, like old-school weapon skins and new King Toad and Storm Wizard sets that you can carry back into the real (virtual) world. There’s even a “mini Princess Miya” to collect, which looks like an Asuran Princess Peach with less polygons.
Even if you never touch this magical entertainment cube, there are still increased skill caps and new materials to enjoy. Weaponsmiths, Artificers, and Huntsman can now train up to 500 and become Grandmaster Crafters with the ability to make Ascended weapons. Also, the Magic Find ability won’t just be an equipment stat, but an account-wide bonus that applies to all your characters.
Source: ArenaNet
