The Turn Based Lovers have reviewed Reverie Knights Tactics:

A gorgeous tactical RPG – Reverie Knights Tactics – Review

Reverie Knights Tactics

Reverie Knights Tactics is the debut title from Brazilian studio 40 Giants Entertainment. In this gorgeous tactical RPG, players command a small squad of fantasy fighters on a rescue mission to an occupied city. It’s not all grid-based combat, though – there are plenty of story decisions to be made, locks to pick, and puzzles to be solved on your journey.

Story

Reverie Knights Tactics takes place in a fantasy world that will feel immediately familiar to anyone who’s ever played D&D. It’s full of haughty elves, nimble halflings, and just enough magical technology to set it apart from Tolkien. Generations ago, the elves conquered the goblin homeland and built their capital city of Lenorienn there. Now the displaced goblins have returned with a massive army, massacring the elves and taking back what’s theirs.

[...]

Overall

Reverie Knights Tactics gets 2022 off to a wonderful start. Between its fun dialogue, great gameplay, and stunning visuals, this is a game that’s not to be missed. If this is what 40 Giants serves up with their first title, the future looks bright indeed.

Score: 9/10

Thanks Henriquejr!

Clash II is a turn-based strategy game, where players will get the chance to immerse themselves as a commander of one of the quarreled fractions. The game will be released on April 7:

Clash II | Official Cinematic Trailer

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The story will take place almost fifty years after the events of Clash.

Mechajammer received a new patch.

Mechajammer | V1.07 Patch Notes

Keyboard re-binding has entered the building! (Tap, tap, tap)

The January segment of our Post Launch Roadmap is nearing its end!

We've been cramming the v1.07 patch full of updates and are now well on the path to 1.1. Highlights from this update include keyboard re-binding, achievements and improvements to the tutorial (we heard you and we've shortened it, too).

(Quick Note: all achievements work as intended apart from one involving a gang of hackers. There’s currently a bug with their spawn node and it will be corrected in v1.08!)

Here is the full v1.07 change-list:

[...]

For bug-reporting and other Mechajammer-flavoured discussion, please head to the official Discord server.

We're looking forward to seeing what you think of the v1.07 patch and we're already hard at work on v1.08!

Thank you all for your comments and support, until next time,

— Whalenought Studios & Modern Wolf

Owlcat Games announced the release date for the next DLC, Inevitable Excess. They also announce a free DLC: A Visitor from Distant Lands, and other news.

Release Date for DLC 1, Console update, New Free DLC, Lunar New Year sale!

Greetings, crusaders!

The Lunar New Year is upon us, and we’ve got something for you!

First of all, Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous and all additional content is now available in Steam, GOG and Epic Games Store with a 20% discount! Have you been waiting for the right moment to begin your own crusade? Wanted to prepare for your future adventures with Season Pass? Or perhaps you waited for a chance to introduce your friend to the world of Golarion? This is the perfect opportunity.

It’s also the time to grab the brand new Free DLC: A Visitor from Distant Lands and get your own pet sovereign dragon that will assist you in Knowledge and Lore skill checks! Known for their wisdom, majestic sovereign dragons rarely leave their homeland of Tian Xia, and it is even more surprising to find one of them, young and brave, among the personal belongings of the heroes of the Fifth Crusade.

Some of you have certainly noticed the hints we’ve been dropping across our social networks last week. You have guessed it right - your journey to preserve the space-time continuum begins on 15th of February, the release date for the highly anticipated first story DLC: Inevitable Excess! The DLC will be available as a part of Season Pass as well as a separate purchase in major digital stores.

[...]

Mortismal Gaming applied his 100% recipe to Expeditions: Rome.

Expeditions: Rome - Review After 100%

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Owlcat Games has released a major update in the beta (optional) branch.

Update 1.2.0e BETA

[...]

Highlights:

• Beer Elementals and Lager Beer Elementals finally look like beer!
• Aivu’s caster level has been reduced, but she can now wear bardings instead;
• Reworked Aivu's Frightful Presence ability so that it can be now activated and deactivated;
• Changed the visual of Mythic Aeon after the full transformation;
• Fixed the issue which prevented the Masterful Dispel achievement from unlocking.

The patch also includes numerous tweaks and fixes for the crusade, various mythic paths and other aspects of the game (see below).

Known issues:

• The beta version doesn’t include some free DLC functionality and pre-order items;
• The beta version is not available on macOS;
• When creating a new character, the character’s model is missing for now;
• After entering some locations in Drezen with their skeletal companion, Lich won't be able to exit - fix is coming soon.

Please back up your saves if you want to participate in beta, because the saves you make in version 1.2 may not be compatible with version 1.1.

[...]

Ye Old Entertainment reviews Gamedec.

Gamedec review, A cyberpunk game that goes full matrix on you. Is this a worthwhile rpg?

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There's no lack of cyberpunk themed RPG. My favorite saga is of course Shadowrun. The shadowrun return saga was beautiful and Shadowrun Hong Kong was its standout game. I don't even think Cyberpunk 2077 was all that terrible. But that's a different story.

Gamedec made its case last year, earning the praise of some, and the disdain of others. It is decision-based rpg with isometric perspective that has no combat, barely any exploration and not too many other features.

As far as the story goes... I very much depends on what you expect from a... "The Matrix" inspired story and how much completion you need. In my estimation, this polish game nailed that concept even it's a bit rough around the edges. The gameplay is a whole different story of course and whether you like it or not will very much depend on how much tolerance you have to pointless minigames, there being no combat, etc.

NME has reviewed Reverie Knights Tactics:

‘Reverie Knights Tactics’ review: comfort food for tactical RPG fans

Not quite a dream of a game

In 1998, comic book artist Joe Madureira – fresh off a still-respected run on Marvel’s Uncanny X-Men – launched the fantasy series Battle Chasers. Set in a world that merged swords and sorcery adventure with magically powered machinery, and fronted by a young female lead, it was a huge success (albeit plagued by delays and remaining unfinished to this day).

What’s this got to do with 40 Giants Entertainment’s Reverie Knights Tactics? Well, aside from it also being set in a world that merges swords and sorcery adventure with magically powered machinery and also being fronted by a young female lead, it adopts a visual style that draws heavily on comic book aesthetics. Character designs are reminiscent of Madureira’s own, and even the lettering fonts evoke a feel torn from the printed page. It’s also a turn-based tactical RPG – not a million miles away from 2017’s Battle Chasers: Nightwar, Madureira’s attempt at reviving the property in another medium. Whether coincidence or deliberate inspiration, the similarities are hard to overlook.

[...]

While Reverie Knights Tactics may surprise with the complexity of its story and characters, its familiar approach to turn-based combat and sometimes frustrating omissions and oversights mean it won’t ever impress. Even die-hard fans of the genre are unlikely to be blown away by what’s on offer here, but it is still a strangely satisfying ride – comfort gaming, even for anyone who’s seen this all before.

Score: 3/5

Thanks Henriquejr!

Blue's News reports that Blizzard is working on a new game.

Blizzard Planning New Survival Game

Blizzard News puts out the call for applicants interested in working on a new unannounced survival game, inviting them "create a new universe with us" (thanks Thermight). There's not much to go by right now, but we can see that it is set in a brand-new universe and will come to PC and consoles:

"Blizzard is embarking on our next quest. We are going on a journey to a whole new universe, home to a brand-new survival game for PC and console. A place full of heroes we have yet to meet, stories yet to be told, and adventures yet to be lived. A vast realm of possibility, waiting to be explored.

Every story needs a teller. And every world needs builders. What if that could be you?

For thirty years, Blizzard has been creating universes for millions of players around the globe. This requires a diverse team of developers willing to lend their voices, to listen and to be heard. That is our mission.

Do you like survival games? Do you want to join a collaborative team of experienced developers at the early stage of a new project in a new world...and help write the next chapter in Blizzard's story?

This is your call to adventure. Will you answer it?"

VGC reported a possible confirmation of Crysis 4 on Chinese medias.

Crytek has seemingly confirmed Crysis 4 on Chinese social media

THE FIRST IMAGE OF THE GAME HAS BEEN SHARED ON BILIBILI

As spotted by Eurogamer, the message appeared on Crytek’s official account on Chinese site BiliBili and shows a helmet lying on the ground.

The Chinese text on the image roughly translates to “Crysis series part 4”.

The accompanying message also confirms that the image is from Crysis 4.

It reads: “Xiao C delivers a big New Year’s gift for the Year of the Tiger: making a comeback, the tiger will grow stronger! Project Crysis 4 confirmed, opening up a new nano battlefield!

“Follow @Crytek_official to keep up with the latest news, and tell us what you’re looking forward to in your lifetime in the comments section!”

[...]

This is the mentioned photo:

(UPDATE) Later this morning, an official trailer was released by Crytek, along with an announcement:

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CRYSIS IS COMING BACK!

It's finally time to reveal what we're working on. We're excited to announce the 4th instalment in the Crysis series is in development! We've a long road ahead of us but we want heroes to join us today to shape the next chapter in the Crysis franchise.

Watch the teaser and read the blog post for more information on the journey ahead.

https://www.crysis.com/blog/new-crysi...

Owlcat Games have launched a new survey to find out about the weakest archetype.

The Weakest Archetype Survey

Let's play The Weakest Archetype game!

Follow the link below and vote for the archetype or a prestige class you found the least useful. All names are in English and Russian:

https://forms.gle/VBKYLfMbhhUAo6wt5

All archetypes are in the form, you can multi-select them, there are no other question except optional comments below. So it's a very quick survey.

Devolver Digital are looking for more people to join the next beta phase.

The last Weird West private beta was a resounding success and we’re looking for more folks to join the posse! Apply to join the Devolver Beta Squadron here: https://betasquadron.devolverdigital.com

White Rabbit and Serenity Forge announced a new DLC for Death's Gambit: Afterlife.

New DLC Announcement, Xbox Release Date, and Switch Physical now in Stores!

There is a lot of exciting news to announce today!

New DLC Ashes of Vados is coming to PC on Feb 10! It will come to Switch, PS4/PS5 later this Spring.

DLC FEATURES

New Boss Fights: A new boss encounter against Ash will continue the Death's Gambit story. Defeating him unlocks a drastically different and challenging heroic version of this boss encounter called "The Eldritch Hand."

New Platforming Challenge: Halls of Cruelty will test your reflexes and platforming skills in a grueling new level.

New Combat Arena: Test your endurance in the new Horde mode fighting wave after wave of enemies.

Boss rush: A new Boss Rush mode! Fight all the bosses back to back in normal or heroic!

New Game Modes: Randomized Items // Heroic Forced // Madness Mode // Fink Mode.

New rewards: Completing Halls of Cruelty, Ash, boss rush, and arena challenges will award some new loot!

[...]

Bluesnews reports that the recently formed Bit Reactor is working on a Star Wars strategy game. In addition a FPS and a new Jedi game are in development by Respawn Entertainment. The Star Wars Battlefront series seems to have been discontinued.

Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) and Lucasfilm Games  are joining forces to continue delivering all-new, world-class gaming experiences set within the beloved Star Wars galaxy.  

Respawn Entertainment, best known for their work on Apex Legends™, Titanfall™ and Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order™, is leading the development and production of these new projects.  Vince Zampella, Group GM and Founder of Respawn, will oversee this new phase of EA’s relationship with Lucasfilm, building on Respawn’s award-winning history in game development and expertise in telling compelling Star Wars stories.  

Game Director Stig Asmussen and his team at the studio are already working on the next game in the action adventure Star Wars Jedi series, and are joined by two new teams working to deliver additional unique Star Wars gameplay experiences across multiple genres. Leading the development of Respawn’s all-new Star Wars first-person shooter game is Peter Hirschmann, Game Director at Respawn, who has a long and accomplished history with the Star Wars franchise. The third title is a Star Wars strategy game developed through a production collaboration with the newly formed studio Bit Reactor, helmed by games industry veteran Greg Foerstch. Respawn will produce the new Star Wars strategy game while Bit Reactor leads on the development of the title.  

[...]

COG reported that adventure thriller Hidden Deep had entered Early Access.

HIDDEN DEEP EMERGES ON STEAM EARLY ACCESS TODAY

Deep dark horror is out on early access. Cogwheel Software’s 2D horror game, Hidden Deep, has come to Steam Early Access. The side-scrolling deep sea horror’s earl access follows a December 2021 Beta that saw play by over 50,000 Steam users. A press release about the announcement provides more details about the Early Access, as well as, the game itself.

Hidden Deep brings the player to a massive research facility deep beneath the ocean. Inspired by 1980’s horror themes, the game, allows players to unravel the mystery of what is going on in the research facility. As a member of the Security and Scouting team it will be the players job to map out underground tunnels, and keep the scientists safe from any threats. 

The press release explains that, “The story pays homage to many classic movies of the 1980s such as Aliens, The Thing, Virus and The Blob.” An early access trailer, that came out today, shows off the gameplay of Hidden Deep. 

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Wccf Tech have posted their first impression of Total War: Warhammer III. The game releases April 17th.

Total War: Warhammer III Preview – Chaos Coming

Fifty turns. Fifty isn't a small number when you think about it. If you hit level 50 when World of Warcraft was first released, you'd very nearly made it. Fifty turns are all it takes to complete an easy game in some 4X titles. Fifty turns are never a lot when it comes to Total War; even on the easier modes, that much is sure. Fifty turns are what I got with Total War: Warhammer III in a recent preview, though I repeated those fifty turns multiple times as I tried out both the Grand Cathay and the Legion of Chaos factions.

Cutting to the point, Total War: Warhammer III is by far the biggest of the Total War: Warhammer trilogy. There are eight factions at launch, each with unique features (two of which I'll talk about later). These inhabit a map of absolutely massive scale and what seems to be a more story-driven approach than before in the series, rivalling that of Total War Saga: Troy and above that of Total War: Warhammer II.

[...]

Like all other games in the series, Total War: Warhammer III will offer a tremendous amount of replay value thanks to the ever-constant emergent gameplay. The addition of an increasingly focused story, your race against everybody else, and the new features explored in just two of the factions is lining up to be yet another great outing in the series. Total War: Warhammer III is one I can't wait for, and I'm counting down the days until its release on the 17th of February.

PC Gamer reported that Elden Ring had gone gold, as those who watched the video posted yesterday may have already heard (or read...).

Elden Ring has officially gone gold

Elden Ring is no longer a meme nor a dream. It's really coming and, according to an interview with FromSoftware's Yasuhiro Kitao during the Taipei Game Show, will definitely launch on time. Elden Ring had a short delay from its originally announced January date to February, but it sounds like any other pushbacks are off the table now. Elden Ring has officially gone gold. "Please be assured, the title will be ready for sale on February 25th," Kitao says.

In as much as the terminology matters when so many of us will be downloading Elden Ring, "going gold" means a version of the game exists that's ready to be put on a disc, slapped in a box, and stuck on a store shelf. Practically speaking for PC players, it means that Elden Ring is completed and ready for sale. 

"The master version has already been submitted," Kitao explains in response to a question about whether development is going smoothly. "Right now, the team is working on a day one patch, to make sure everything in the game is just so."

In earlier parts of the Q&A interview, Kitao explains how the release version of the game differs from the version that some players got to try during the Elden Ring network test in November. Unsurprisingly, Kitao says that major parts of the game like the levelling system and the legacy dungeon areas are the same but that "myriad small things have changed," like item flavor text being fixed and enemy placement being tweaked.

He also mentions that the release version will of course have the full character creator, unlike the network test where only five classes were available. Details about character customization leaked earlier this month, proving that, yes, you can make a horrifying character with a wild skin color. Even if you do, Elden Ring's characters look a lot prettier than past Souls games, in part thanks to FromSoftware feeling a bit pressured by the Demon's Souls remake to nail their own snazzier, now-gen graphics.

Elden Ring is launching on February 25th and is currently the most wishlisted game on Steam.

Wccf Tech announced that a playable demo of fan-made sequel Dark Souls Nightfall had been released.

Playable Demo V 1.2 for Fan-Made Dark Souls Sequel

The team behind the fan-made Dark Souls sequel, Dark Souls Nightfall, has released a playable demo for it - the Dark Souls Nightfall Demo V 1.2.

We’ve covered this rather amazing project on various occasions over the past few years, and although the release of the final version of this mod has been delayed several times, we’re happy to share that a playable demo has been made available for those interested. Nightfall is a direct fan-made sequel to the first Dark Souls and offers a new story, new characters, and new bosses, alongside a new world map. In addition, combat in Nightfall is faster-paced, against a mixture of familiar and unfamiliar foes, with new side-quests and newly voiced NPCs.

“We were originally targeting a release date of December 21, 2021, and then January 21, 2022, but after events at the end of last year, we decided to instead focus on releasing a demo on January 21 and delaying the full release until after Elden Ring”, the team behind the project writes.

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The Dark Souls Nightfall demo (version 1.2) can be downloaded through here. Be sure to follow the installation instructions (which are quite easy to follow):

Unzip the downloaded file, run the. EXE file, point to your game executable, and press 1 to install. As you might have guessed, you’ll need to original Dark Souls game in order to play this demo, and this only works with the PC version.

@SirJames spotted a new video from Bandai Namco about Elden Ring, with gameplay and interviews. Thanks!

ELDEN RING – Taipei Game Show 2022

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Rejoice, Tarnished, and feast your eyes on Taipei Game Show 2022’s special broadcast program on #ELDENRING – previously filmed last December. Hear from producer, Yasuhiro Kitao, about the game mechanics, and find out his answers to some of your burning questions.

Patch 1.5 for Wildermyth comes a new three chapter campaign:

1.5 The Sunswallower's Wake

A new three chapter campaign!
The Yondering Lands have more stories to tell...

The Sunswallower's Wake

The Sunswallower's Wake is a three chapter campaign for legacy heroes, focused on Vulta, an ancient enemy of the Yondering Lands. This story is unlocked by an existing event and follows the consequences of releasing Vulta from their gem-prison. We've been working on this for a while and are super excited to finally show it off!

Also some good bugfixes, including a memory leak fix that should improve performance for long sessions, and improvements to lighting when point light limit is low.

1.5+389 The Sunswallower's Wake
New Campaign! A three chapter legacy story
Can now click unscouted tile to build bridge/pass
Night Altar map updated
Lifeforge Keystone map updated
Hook Proud update
Offhand poison now applies 2 poison to weapons
Credit snapshots now in sepia tone
Point light improvements
Split incursions are now half the size of full ones
Broken legacy heroes can be fixed by reloading their campaign
Fix a multiplayer bug where events would repeat
Fix a bug where percentages didn't appear for Jigsaw event
Fix a bug with hook quests
Fix a multiplayer bug with some legacy hero recruit events
Fix a bug where ranged attack animations would cut off
Fix a bug where skeleton would get age-based tiding
Fixed memory leaks that caused lag and crashes over time
Fix a bug where Ecthis ch4 event wouldn't occur
Fix a bug where stat buffs from history lines weren't correct
Fix some credits comics that could show dead heroes
Fix some typos
Tools: Added auto-match option to comic editor, for testing

Thanks for the info, Henriquejr!

Sever posted the first dev diary about Mother of All Secrets.

Mother of All Secrets — Dev Diary #1

In this part we'll dig deeper into the game's setting and reveal some of the gameplay features

Greetings, friends! Sever studio here with our latest project — Mother of All Secrets. The work on the title is in full swing, and we're looking forward to sharing regular development updates. Meet the very first entry into the new dev diary series, in which we shall dig deeper into the game's setting and reveal some of the gameplay features.

Don't forget to follow us on Steam and social media, where we hold polls and giveaways, answer player questions, and share the latest news about our projects:

• Sever studio VK community;
• Sever studio Discord server;
• Mother of All Secrets Twitter page;
• Mother of All Secrets Mother of All Secrets Steam page;
• The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante Steam page.

What's going on with Mother of All Secrets at the moment?

From the moment the idea was born to the first full-fledged concept, our vision for Mother of All Secrets changed numerous times. The project's setting and visual style went through countless iterations, and only recently have we finally realized what we want the project to become.

We currently work on finalizing the game's overall visual concept and stylistic elements, formalizing a complete set of gameplay mechanics and the role-playing system. In other words, the framework is ready, and it now needs to be filled with delicious content.

What lies ahead is a long streak of content creation: developing scenes and storylines, writing dialogues, drawing maps, locations, character animations, and so on.

Needless to say, we dive deeper into the non-linear plot every day, making our way towards its multiple endings :)

[...]

Switchey De Gamer checked out Reverie Knights Tactics - the game will be released for the PC tomorrow:

Reverie Knights Tactics Review

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Logic Artists have posted the notes of the first patch for Expeditions: Rome. The patch should be released soon.

v1.1.3 - Patch Notes

Hey we have patched a large number of localisation issues / crashes

- A large update to the game's localisation for all languages. There are still a few translation updates that will be added in future patches
- A number of crash fixes for improved overall game stability.
- A fix for a progression issue involving the encounter with Cassius during the Whack the Mole quest.
- Fixed an issue with the Deianeira character appearing in sections of the game she is not supposed to be based on story decisions. There may still be one remaining scene she could show up in based on story decisions which we are investigating for an upcoming patch

WolfEye Studios shared the next short episode, on combat, stealth and abilities.

Road to Weird West: Ep. 3 - Combat, Stealth, & Abilities

Hi everyone.

The new episode of Road to Weird West just landed, and in this one, WolfEye Studios creative director Raf Colantonio chats about combat, stealth, and special abilities that await you in the West. Check it out below.

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Weird West launches on March 31st, so pre-order now to get your hands on Calamity, a dependable mule that provides a leg up at the beginning of your adventures by doubling your inventory size, allowing you to escape locations even if enemies are chasing you, and faster travel to avoid missing out on timed objectives.

Folding Ideas explains the problems of NFTs (non-fungible tokens). These data objects can be used in games, too:

The Problem With NFTs

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 More info from Johnny Harris:

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@Farflame spotted an adventure RPG game, Out There: Oceans of Time. Here is a link to the trailer and to his own gameplay. The game releases on PC on April 7th. Thanks!

Out There: Oceans of Time | Across Space & Time (Release Date Reveal) [4K]

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Out There: Oceans of Time RPG - Gameplay

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@Farflame has spotted an interview of Drop Bear Bytes by Escapist, thanks!

Broken Roads Challenges Your Philosophy in Innovative Ways in a Doomed Australia – Interview

[...]

Granted, the CRPG genre has largely been consigned to the graveyard by major publishers, but its crowdfunding-driven renaissance through the last decade has proven that a game like Broken Roads is still financially viable. After all, Torment: Tides of Numenera, Pillars of Eternity, and Wasteland 2 remain among the top 10 most backed and highest-funded video game projects on Kickstarter.

To assist with production, Drop Bear Bytes has been fortunate to receive Australian state funding and support, and Ritchie sang the praises of those systems.

“I hope that people appreciate just how much these Australian bodies are doing to allow Australians to stay competitive in a world where the barrier to entry for making games is incredibly low,” he noted. He went on to say, “I can absolutely say that Broken Roads would not be where it is without the support of Film Victoria and people like that. … It’d be good for people to hopefully have their states (offer) the same kind of support.”

[...]

80.lv interviewed Code 351 about Project Haven.

Project Haven: Developing a Sci-Fi Turn-Based RPG

Code Three Fifty One, the developers of Project Haven, have discussed the development process behind the game, talked about implementing game mechanics, and shared some advice regarding the marketing of the game.

Introduction

80.lv: Please introduce yourself. Where did you study? What companies have you worked for? What projects have you contributed to?

Hey! We are Sérgio Gil and Joana Dimas, a couple from Portugal with different but complementary work backgrounds.

Sérgio: I left college to pursue my dreams of working in the games industry back in 1999, on a game called Tactical Ops that launched way back in 2001. I then went on to work on several other titles throughout the 2000s, eventually joining the VFX company Video Copilot in 2009 as their Technical Director, where I had the chance to work on all sorts of titles.

Joana: I received my Ph.D. in Computer Science with a specialization in artificial agents, after finishing my Master's degree in Psychology. I’ve always wanted to expand my knowledge in this field, especially when it comes to improving how computer characters enhance a player’s experience. So, in this instance, that’s through a combination of cognitive science and game design; both of which are big passions of mine. 

Project Haven

80.lv: How and when did you start developing Project Haven? What inspired you to create the post-apocalyptic-style game?

Sérgio: Project Haven’s development began in 2015. The biggest inspirations for the game are genre classics such as Jagged Alliance 2, Silent Storm, and the original XCom series. Its development came about after a frustrating and failed attempt at playing JA2 using a co-op mod.  With us being a huge fan of the tactical genre and as we both like to play cooperatively, we decided Project Haven would become something we’d both enjoy making.

Joana: As for the setting, we’ve drawn pretty heavily from classic films such Johnny Mnemonic, Blade Runner, and other sci-fi staples. We really wanted to bring a gritty dystopian feel to the turn-based strategy genre. We’ve always loved movies and storytelling, and both of us have a huge appreciation of good cinematography. We always had a very strong vision of how we wanted to present our game’s story and setting. 

[...]

The first-person dungeon crawler/roguelite Devil Spire will be released on February 2:

Devil Spire

A massive tower of stone emerged one day in a land wasted by war, plague and famine. You are one of the many drawn to it by legends of fortune and salvation. Will you succumb to it, conquer it, or discover the secrets deep within?

Devil Spire is a hardcore first-person pseudo-3D roguelite action RPG dungeon crawler stylized after retro PC games, developed by a guy and his bros while locked in quarantine. Inspired by classics like King's Field and Heretic.

FEATURING

• 24 weapon classes, including ranged and throwing ones, with real dual wielding!
• 48 unique spells, plus 48 equipment enchantments!
• 10 dungeon types, each with their own properties, enemies and bosses!
• 4 game modes, including a 100-floor gauntlet and a boss rush arena!
• Fully customizable, dynamic character portraits including exotic races!
• Many interactive objects like traps, barrels, crates, cards, shady characters and, of course, chests full of loot!
• A kick button!

Immerse yourself in these treacherous dungeons and prove yourself victorious!

Some gameplay from the demo by Pobre Gamer:

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The Strategy RPG Hero Lodge has been released:

Hero Lodge

After an accident the protagonist wakes up outside a mysterious lodge: inside the Hero Lodge they are tasked with protecting the land, with the promise of redemption for those who do a good job.

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Embark on missions spanning 5 separate campaigns (and if so desired, 5 NG+ versions of those campaigns with altered and more challenging enemies). Hero Lodge has a minimalist story and isn't bogged down by page after page of dialogue.

Equip heroes from a wide array of weapons and accessories to be strong enough to face your foes. Optional crafting systems help you to create new weapons and accessories. There are over 150 different weapons and over 200 accessories.

Level heroes up to increase their Strength, Agility, Faith, or Magic. Different heroes and weapons scale with different statistics. There is a level cap to help maintain balanced game play and prevent the need for excessive grinding. As your team rank increases, by beating missions for the first time, the level cap will raise.

Enemies will behave in learnable ways: figure out how to avoid or mitigate their skills and attacks. Some enemies will just try to attack whatever is closest, some will focus on whomever has dealt them the most damage, and so on.

Create your party from a pool of up to 25 unique heroes that each have unique skills. You'll unlock more heroes as you increase your team rank.

Your choices matter: as you play through the game you'll be given several choices that will effect things yet to come including influencing what ending you get.

Battle against 50 unique enemies. View detailed stats and descriptions for the enemies you've battled in the Bestiary.

Thanks for the info, Vogar!

@TechRaptor Logic Artists, having just released Expeditions: Rome will be closing down and the developers will join Dynasty Studios to make NFT games.

There's bad news for fans of the Expeditions franchise -- Expeditions: Rome developer Logic Artists is closing down and joining Dynasty Studios to make NFT games.

Expeditions: Rome has launched today, a little more than a year after the game was first revealed. It's a solid entry in the franchise, but it also looks like it may be the last: Logic Artists is closing down and joining Dynasty Studios to make NFT games.

[...]

@Farflame spotted that Hardcore Droid had interviewed the creators of ATOM RPG. Thanks for the link!

An Interview with Atent Games, Creators of ATOM RPG

A Love Letter to Classic RPGs

Developed by the skilled indie team at Atent Games, ATOM RPG satisfies our craving for classic turn-based CRPGs of the past. Officially launched in 2018, the game came about in part thanks to a successful Kickstarter campaign with over 1,100 backers. But, as explained on the Kickstarter page, Atent’s post-apocalyptic RPG is a passion project that would have been completed no matter the outcome of the crowdfunding operation.

That dedication is evident in the result: a detailed, nonlinear world with immersive writing; deep, multi-choice dialogues; and a compelling setting that clamors for exploration. Set in an alternative history in which a world war between the Soviet Union and the Western Bloc ended in a devastating clash of nuclear bombs, civilization in ATOM RPG has nearly ceased to exist. The survivors make do with what remains and try to rebuild in the post-nuclear wasteland.

Hardcore Droid recently had the opportunity to interview Anton Krasilnikov, a writer and designer for Atent Games who has racked up over 10 years in game development. Here are some of the insights that he shared with us about the creation of ATOM RPG.

Your team is located in four different countries. How did you come together as a team of developers?

We met online, on indie developer forums and social media sites, but some of us already knew each other before the team formed. For example, our writers and programmers were co-workers on other projects to begin with.

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GamesIndustry.biz reports the progress of Raven Software employees' endeavour to unionize.

Call of Duty QA workers vote to unionize

78% of Raven Software testers vote to form union, ask Activision Blizzard to voluntarily recognize a group of 34 members

QA testers at Raven Software have voted to unionize with the Communication Workers of America, according to a Polygon report.

A CWA representative told the site that 78% of eligible QA workers voted in favor of unionization, and they are asking Activision Blizzard to voluntarily recognize the union, which is calling itself the Game Workers Alliance. The bargaining unit would consist of 34 employees.

"We ask that Activision Blizzard management respect Raven QA workers by voluntarily recognizing CWA's representation without hesitation," CWA secretary-treasurer Sara Steffens said. "A collective bargaining agreement will give Raven QA employees a voice at work, improving the games they produce and making the company stronger. Voluntary recognition is the rational way forward."

A number of Raven Software QA employees have been on strike since early December, demanding that contracted members of the QA team that were recently laid off -- the publisher said it declined to extend their agreements -- be offered the chance to return in a full-time position. [...]

Update: An Activision Blizzard representative provided a comment to GamesIndustry.biz, saying, "Activision Blizzard is carefully reviewing the request for voluntary recognition from the CWA, which seeks to organize around three dozen of the company's nearly 10,000 employees. While we believe that a direct relationship between the company and its team members delivers the strongest workforce opportunities, we deeply respect the rights of all employees under the law to make their own decisions about whether or not to join a union. [...]

After giving his first impressions, Mortismal Gaming does a full review of Days Gone.

Days Gone - Review After 100%

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Farflame spotted an interview of Piranha Bytes by Game Pressure. Thanks!

Elex 2 Is The Biggest Game We Ever Made. Interview With Piranha Bytes

There's quite a treat coming for fans of Gothic and games by the Piranhas - Elex 2 - the sequel to the studio's latest IP. We've asked two of the devs, Bjorn and Jenny Pankratz of Piranha Bytes, about what it was like to develop a game like this.

Piranha Bytes’ games are quite popular among certain Western RPG fandoms, all thanks to the crude classic, Gothic, with which many a player back in the day discovered the genre. They only remaining trace of the former glory, however, is mostly the fact that the fandom is willing to shrug off more bugs and mistakes than people are generally willing to accept in AAA blockbusters. We just ignore stuff like clunky animations and weird behavior of characters, instead taking in the atmosphere, heroes, and the game world.

The following is a conversation with two main developers of Piranha Bytes – Bjorn and Jenniifer Pankratz – where we asked about their ideas about Elex 2: what did they like the most about making th game, what was the process, where does the signature Piranha style come from, and how is it possible that the game was rated T in Germany (at least 12 years old).

Dariusz Matusiak: What was the best thing in the first Elex game? What were you proud of the most and is it the same in Elex 2 or maybe it’s something different this time?

Bjorn Pankratz: I think it is always the team we are proud of. But when I think of our previous game, I think it is the fact, that we have achieved 95% of what we wanted to in it. Most of our ideas found their way to the game in the end. And it is the same with Elex 2, because the features we planned, i.e. the jetpack upgrades or the new combat system – we finished those things, so we are proud of that as well.

Jennifer Pankratz I also think that we are very proud of that we could show in Elex that we are able to do a really huge open world with this game as we had one big landscape – and yes – it will be similiar in Elex 2. And another thing we were really proud of was that we had some nice story twists, which is something we are also going to continue in the second part.

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