But then, just look at Temtem. It’s not exactly hiding its inspirations. Temtem is undoubtedly like Pokémon, but set in a world populated by other players. After a couple of years in early access, the developers announced today that they’re aiming for to hit 1.0 this September. There’s a new release date trailer to mark the announcement: In Temtem, you set out to be the very best Temtem tamer you can be....
The private consumer complaint from the 10 #gamers claims the deal would give Microsoft “far-outsized market power in the video game industry”. Power to ’em. Power to the gamers. Their arguments are much the same as the FTC’s. “Microsoft already controls one of the industry’s most popular and largest video game ecosystems,” the suit claims, while “the proposed acquisition would give Microsoft an unrivaled position in the gaming industry, leaving it with the greatest number of must-have games and iconic franchises....
Needless to say (though I’ll say it) this is a very subjective list, and it’s not to say that all the other games featured were bad at all. I recommend you take a look at the Steam Event page for a longer (though still not exhaustive) list. But this’ll give you a place to start! Witch Strandings What is it? Top down mushroom-y, foresty dark magic adventure Who made it?...
Covering the Steam Game Fest has actually become one of my favourite things to do. Each time I play I am staggered, yet again, by how many good games there actually are. Alas, it’s impossible for me to play 500 demos, but I’ve played quite a few, and have curated a list of my favourites to give you a jumping off point. There’s a bit of action, puzzling, strategy, platforming, and unsettling groups of tiny mushroom people going “Dap!...
Games like Minecraft - what is it about Minecraft? It’s difficult to find a good way to classify “games like Minecraft”. What is it about the game? Is it the blockiness? Is it the sense of wonder and discovery? Or survival and progression? Or the social online aspect? The games below each tick various criteria, and add their own spin. No matter what the reason is that you play Minecraft, you’ll find a kindred game in this list!...
The alternate ending achievement for the Dead Space remake is called Reunion. What you have to do to nab it is “see the alternate ending on any difficulty mode”. That’s all well and good, but you’ll have to figure out how to trigger that ending when the game’s released on Friday. Just a brief spoiler warning for anyone who’s not played the classic Dead Space here. While the OG version didn’t have an alternative ending, protagonist Isaac Clarke did finally meet up again, in a ghastly way, with his missing girlfriend Nicole at the game’s close....
No, because you all know what I mean and so does Nate. Matthew doesn’t, know, and had prepared a list of just, companion characters. Don’t worry, he actually pulls out some really good examples. We talk about a lot of games this week, not least because I didn’t prepare a Cavern Of Lies again. Sorry. There is also a lot of talk about clones, and what Matthew would do with clones of himself (e....
There are some traditional digressions, although there’s no substantial Henry Cavill update this week. We spend some time discussing which dinosaur we would most like to ride as a mount, and whether we would rather fight one The Rock sized spider, or 30 spider sized The Rocks. This week’s Cavern of Lies is WoW-themed, and if you’d like to listen along to Latvia’s Eurovision entry this year then here’s the link....
Striking a balance isn’t easy. As Blizzard posted: “For Diablo II: Resurrected, we wanted to streamline this experience without compromising what made the original game memorable. There are so many unique quirks and systems in this game that, if modernized, would ultimately sabotage the original experience we adore.” But a few simple tweaks and toggles are making their way in. New HUD options will allow UI scaling, large fonts, and gamma alterations to let players make their screen a lot more readable....
I wanted to burn the following appetisers onto a CD then sellotape the disc to the front cover of today’s column but Graham said that was “technically impossible” so links and enticing descriptions will have to suffice. Be aware that most of the demos detailed below will self-destruct when the ongoing Steam Game Festival ends next Tuesday, and that the line-up is the result of careful curation not haphazard Googling....
Isaac Jones, the stammering time-travel researcher with the ability to give your squad an extra rewind. I’m in agreement that he’s the game’s best pilot, though where Alec found Isaac an annoying presence, I would defend his constant pessimism and discomfort with the whole kaiju-killing situation. There’s a description tucked away in the game’s files that compares Isaac to The Good Place’s Chidi Anagonye, and I find both characters’ outwardly-projected hesitation reassuring for the same reason: it’s immensely relatable....
Running until June 2nd, Bandai Namco’s fourth Humble outing covers the full spectrum of their weird and wonderful back catalogue. Unusually, it’s split into four tiers this time instead of the usual three, but I suspect that’s partly because the minimum donation of £1 / $1 only unlocks titles that have been in previous Bandai Namco bundles. Pac-Man 256 featured in Bundle 2, while oddball first-person shooter Get Even appeared in Bundle 3....
The Procession To Calvary is a sequel to developer Joe Richardson’s previous game Four Last Things, and if you’ve played that, then you’ll know pretty much what to expect from Calvary. It has the same Monty-Pythonish style of animation, using figures cut and pasted from different paintings, the same use of royalty-free classical choons as music, and the same sense of humour. Calvary begins at the end - the end of a war between the north and south of an unspecified country, to be precise....
Door 21 on the RPS Advent Calendar is all covered in carved runes, and the planks look like they’ve come from a few different trees - even if they’re now all part of the same door. Sneaking through it might be the way to go, but honestly, you’re free to boot it down and set it on fire if you’d prefer. It’s Assassin’s Creed Valhalla! Imogen: I never played an AssCreed game before Valhalla, so I don’t really understand any of its underlying story about modern humans and weird magic....
It’s day six in our countdown of the best games of 2020, and if you fail to open this door, what lies behind it might change. Better get it right first time. It’s roguelike platformer Spelunky 2! Graham: At the time of writing, I’ve played Spelunky 2 for 150 hours and completed it six times. I will play it for at least an hour more today, after or during writing this, and probably more....
Tool up and get ready to clean the heck out of some surfaces in PowerWash Simulator. CJ: I never thought a game that should feel like pure work would end up being one of the standout experiences of the year for me. PowerWash Simulator became something of an obssession mid-year, and one that dragged in my wife and kids too. The best way I can summarise it, a surprisingly deep simulation of running your own spray cleaning business out of the back of a van that you have to give a jolly good washing first, is “satisfaction”....
There’s still room for witches with some threat to ’em, though, and I love a weird horror game, so you can imagine that when I heard about The Salt Order my interest was immediately piqued. It’s a low-poly PS1-style game where an order of witches has tasked you with retrieving a grimoire from a cursed realm of endless trees. You are largely defenceless, except for the ability to draw on the ground with salt....
Dusk Golem, who leaked images purporting to be of another Silent Hill project earlier this year, commented when the images were shared on ResetEra by another user. The new images are taken from an internal pitch demo produced by Bloober Team to land the project, Dusk Golem claims. “I mentioned before Konami was looking for pitches in Summer of 2018,” Dusk Golem said, “this was one of the pitches that got greenlit, but take it for what it is; a proof of concept no budget demo to pitch a concept....
Back in August, Frogwares claimed in an open letter that Nacon (formerly Bigben Interactive) tried to claim copyright of the game after its release, allegedly withheld payments during development, and owed Frogwares around 1 million euros in unpaid royalties (about £900,000). The devs said they terminated their contract with Nacon in July 2020. The Sinking City then started disappearing from digital stores due to, what Frogwares believes, was confusion over the game’s ownership....
