Warner Brothers have posted a FAQ for action RPG Hogwart's Legacy.

Q: What kind of game is Hogwarts Legacy?

A: Hogwarts Legacy is an immersive, open-world, action role-playing-game set in the 1800s wizarding world, which puts players at the centre of their own adventure

 

Q: Who is publishing Hogwarts Legacy?

A: Warner Bros. Games is publishing Hogwarts Legacy under the Portkey Games label. The game is being developed by Avalanche.

 

Q: When does Hogwarts Legacy release?

A: Hogwarts Legacy will release in 2021.

 

Q: What platforms will Hogwarts Legacy be on?

A: Hogwarts Legacy will be available for PlayStation5, PlayStation4, PlayStation4 Pro, the Xbox One family of devices, including Xbox Series X and Xbox One X, and PC.

 

Q: What is J.K. Rowling’s involvement with the game? Is this a new story from J.K. Rowling?

A:  J.K. Rowling is not directly involved in the creation of the game, however, her extraordinary body of writing is the foundation of all projects in the Wizarding World.

This is not a new story from J.K. Rowling. 

 

Q: How does Hogwarts Legacy fit into the Harry Potter Wizarding World?

A: While Portkey Games are not direct adaptations of the books and films, the games are firmly rooted in the Harry Potter universe. While remaining true to J.K. Rowling’s original work, Portkey game developers chart new territory by creating fresh ways for fans to immerse themselves in the wizarding world.

 

Q: Is Hogwarts Legacy an original story?

A: Hogwarts Legacy is an open-world, single-player, action role-playing videogame (RPG) set in the 1800s wizarding world. The story has players experiencing life as a student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry like never before, as they live the unwritten and embark on a dangerous journey to uncover a hidden truth of the wizarding world.

 

Q: What is the original story of Hogwarts Legacy?

A: Players will experience life as a student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in the 1800s as they embark on a dangerous journey to uncover a hidden truth of the wizarding world. They will grow their magical abilities by mastering spells, brewing potions and taming fantastic beasts.

 

Q: How do you play Hogwarts Legacy?

A: Hogwarts Legacy is filled with immersive magic, putting players at the center of their adventure to become the witch or wizard they choose to be. They will grow their character’s abilities as they master powerful spells, hone combat skills and select companions to help them face off against deadly enemies. Players will also encounter missions and scenarios that will challenge their morality and determine what they stand for.

 

Q: Can players choose and switch their Hogwarts house in Hogwarts Legacy?

A:  Players can choose their Hogwarts house at the start of Hogwarts Legacy.  We’ll have more details to share at a later time.

 

Q: Will you see Harry Potter, Hermione Granger or Ron Weasley in the game?

A: No, Hogwarts Legacy is set in the 1800s, before the time period of J.K. Rowling’s original stories.

 

Q: Will Hogwarts Legacy adhere to Wizarding World lore?

A: Yes. While Hogwarts Legacy is not a direct adaptation of the books and films, the games are anchored in Wizarding World lore. Avalanche is creating a unique gaming experience that is inspired by J.K. Rowling’s Wizarding World, in which players will find new and unexpected locations, characters and story elements.

 

Q: Does the game take place only in Hogwarts Castle?

A: Hogwarts Legacy takes players beyond Hogwarts to new and familiar locations including the Forbidden Forest and Hogsmeade Village.

 

Q: What is Portkey Games?

A: Portkey Games, from Warner Bros. Games, is the games label dedicated to creating new Wizarding World mobile and videogame experiences that place the player at the center of their own adventure, inspired by J.K. Rowling’s original stories. Portkey Games offers players the opportunity to make their own narrative choices and engage with the Wizarding World setting to discover new and unique experiences. The label was created to bring gamers and fans new gaming experiences that allow them to delve into the Wizarding World in immersive ways where they can create their own magical stories.

 

Q: What does Portkey mean, and why have you chosen it for this label?

A: In the Harry Potter series, a Portkey is an object, enchanted to instantly transport anyone touching it to a specific location. Most of the time, a Portkey is an everyday object that would not draw the attention of a Muggle. For Portkey Games, it symbolizes how games under this label will transport fans to their own adventures inspired by the Wizarding World.

 

Q: What type of games will be developed under Portkey Games?

A: Portkey Games will enable developers to create a variety of new and immersive gaming experiences that are all inspired by J.K. Rowling’s Wizarding World. These experiences have not been written by J.K. Rowling and will not be direct adaptations of the books or films. These are games that have been created for the fans, by game-makers who themselves are fans of and have been inspired by the Wizarding World.

 

Q: Are Portkey Games created with J.K. Rowling’s approval?

A: Each experience offered under Portkey Games will take place in the Wizarding World and will be authentic to the Wizarding World. J.K. Rowling is supportive of Portkey Games and has entrusted the design and creation of the games to WB Games and the developers involved.

Video game publisher Nordcurrent and Max Mraz, the developer behind Zelda-like tribute to Bloodborne, Yarntown, today announced they are bringing their newest IP, Ocean’s Heart, a beautiful pixel-art adventure RPG with modern twists and turns, to Steam for PC in early 2021:

Ocean’s Heart is an action RPG featuring detailed pixel art with a heavy focus on exploration. In a lively world teeming with secrets and mysteries, Tilia sets out in search of her missing father. Follow the trail through the ruins of a flooded kingdom, shape the future of the current world, or keep your head down and focus on your own mission in this epic retro-inspired adventure!

Explore a detailed and beautiful world, brimming with secrets hidden in misty forests, isolated mountain peaks, or saltwater marshes. Every area is filled with unique and meaningful sidequests, ancient mysteries, and dangers.

Battle fearsome monsters and wield various weapons and ancient magic to defeat or outmaneuver them. Search for special materials to upgrade your weapons until you're demolishing monsters who once put up a fierce fight.

Gather various items throughout the world to craft potions, upgrade weapons, and expand your ever-growing arsenal.

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Game Features:

• Retro-inspired action RPG with modern trimmings.
• A lively and gorgeously pixeled world full of secrets free to explore at your own pace.
• Menacing enemies and tense boss fights that’ll keep you on your toes.
• An exciting array of weapons, spells, and abilities. Experiment to find your favorites for every situation and foe.
• Unique, character-driven sidequests with heartwarming or twisted stories that expand upon the world’s lore.
• Foraging and crafting elements to increase your chances of survival in a nasty fight.
• Quirky charm and humor to keep you smiling on your extraordinary adventure!

Thanks Yemeth!

Softpedia checked out the Wintermoor Tactics Club:

Wintermoor Tactics Club Review (PS4)

The back to school period always awakens mixed feelings in the students: while some can hardly wait to be reunited with their friends and classmates, most youngsters would like to extend the summer holiday indefinitely, and not to waste time in school rooms. This may be caused by the fact that most learning institutions do not seem as fun as Wintermoor, where each student has a hobby or another, courses being the least of their worries. Wintermoor Tactics Club has nothing to do with the learning, but it manages to convey a light-hearted message about acceptance and self-improvement.

To be honest, Wintermoor Tactics Club has nothing to do with school or everyday student life, despite the fact that the entire story plays out on the Wintermoor campus. Being a boarding school, it means that the only interaction you will have is with other students and occasionally with the principal. There are no teachers or periods to distract Alicia, our hero, from tabletop games, her one true passion, and nosing around in other people’s business’, her other true passion.

[...]

Just like its characters, Wintermoor Tactics Club has a lot of soul. It is not perfect by any means, but the turn-based combat proves to be fun, the RPG elements are well integrated, while the story is compelling and thoroughly enjoyable. Still, there is no real challenge in the game, no replay value and despite the producer’s best efforts, the encounters can feel somewhat repetitive.

Wintermoor Tcatics Club is an indie game as all indie games should be: it is not flashy, overcomplicated, or very long, but manages to be fun and exciting without the AAA budget. It is a single-player experience that any RPG fan should experience.

Score: 4/5

IGN checked out the rogue-like Hades:

Hades Review

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C4G likes these five RPG-mechanics:

5 Mechanics That More RPGs Should Use

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Forgottenlor checks out if playing the evil side in a dungeon crawler is something to enjoy in this review of Iratus: Lord of the Dead.

Iratus: Lord of the Dead is a reversed dungeon crawler. Instead of playing a group of heroes who travel through a dungeon to face some ancient evil, you play Iratus, who is a necromancer that has been unintentionally freed from his tomb by foolish grave robbers. The necromancer sends his minions to conquer a series of catacombs in order to make it to the surface, where he can realize his dream of extinguishing all life. As a traditional villain, Iratus leaves most of the dirty work to his minions, whom he supports from a safe distance with his magic. The necromancer must also manage a number of resources, so he can replace dead minions, bolster existing ones, and increase his own powers. Anyone who has played or seen Darkest Dungeon will see its influence on Iratus: Lord of the Dead. Iratus must escape his confinement and defeat all the mortal enemies who face him. Each battle is potentially dangerous, and minions are only to a certain degree expendable. Battles are from the side view, and undead minions have different powers which can be executed dependent on where they stand in the battle formation. The game also has some rogue-light qualities, such as having only one save and a somewhat random dungeon floor layout. But Iratus: Lord of the Dead is in many ways its own game, for better or worse.

According to Jason Schreier Microsoft is planning to buy Zenimax/Behesda for $7.5 billion.

Thanks Pongo!

WolfheartFPS talks about the potentially important locations in Baldur's Gate 3.

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This video shows some important locations on a map of Faerun, which is the continent that Baldur's Gate is located on. Some of these cities / locations were big story areas in BG1 & 2 and will likely be referenced if not visited, in Baldur's Gate 3. Our BG3 journey will begin in Avernus where we will eventually find a way out and crash land a nautiloid ship on Faerun in between the cities of Baldur's Gate & Elturel. Faerun is a continent on the planet of Toril and most of our epic tale will take place in the sword coast.

The latest update for science fiction RPG shooter Within the Cosmos shows some screenshots, explains abilities and crafting. The steam page lists Q1 2021 as the target release period.

...

Inventory Upgrade

One of the biggest changes since the last post, and trailer, is the inventory system. I added the ability to sort the inventory, and items are now categorised. There are Weapons, Armour, Consumables, and Miscellaneous categories. There's 2 Headgear slots (which can be used to have on something like a hat, and glasses), one armour slot, and one explosives slot. Here's what the inventory looks like now:

Crafting - Blueprints

There are two parts to crafting. In the Blueprints section, you can create simple, single use items. The amount of parts needed, how many items get crafted, and how effective the items are that you craft is governed by your Skills, Perks, and Stats.



Someone with a higher Explosive skill would be able to craft a better Frag Grenade. One that deals greater damage, and has a larger radius.

Crafting - Modifications

The other part to crafting is weapon modifications. In this section, you can customise weapons you have in your inventory. When you select a weapon, you will see what attachments can be added/changed. You will also see in depth statistics for each weapon, so you can see just how much damage a weapon does, or its range, among other things. Here's a preview of what the modification system looks like while modifying one of the pistols in the game.

Abilities

Another thing I want to show you all are the abilities in the game. I spent a lot of time trying to get the balance right and letting players have fun using the abilities, without making them feel too overpowered. There are 7 abilities in the game which consists of the Assault Turret, Barricade, Combat Drone, Incinerate, Jetpack, Tactical Cloak, & Time Dilation. When used, they will drain some of your Suit Energy. Your Suits Energy will refill over time.

[...]

Thanks Farflame!

Gamingbolt reported on a teaser trailer for The Lord of the Rings: Gollum which shows off some parkour.

It’s not often that we get Lord of the Rings games, that too centered on the manipulative Gollum. But Daedalic Entertainment’s The Lord of the Rings: Gollum is looking to explore that perspective, mixing in stealth with some vertical parkour. A new teaser is available now but there also new details courtesy of IGN.

Lead designer Martin Wilkes spoke to the publication and said that the movement is reminiscent of Prince of Persia. “If you want a reference you might think of it as similar to Prince of Persia. It is mostly a non-combat game, but Gollum will be able to stealthily take out enemies. However, this will not be easy and always come with big risks. We want players to carefully weigh these encounters. After all, Gollum’s strengths lie in cunning not combat.”

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Thanks Farflame!

Wccftech interviewed the devs of Necromunda: Underhive Wars about the game's development and what to expect.

How close is Necromunda: Underhive Wars to the tabletop game and what did you have to change specifically to make it work as a videogame?

We’ve indeed adapted quite a few things in order to bring a fresh twist to this first digital
version - many of them based on our experience with Mordheim - but without ever losing
track of the original essence of the game. Throughout development, we’ve been blessed by a close and continued working relationship with our partners from Games Workshop, who have been extremely generous with their contributions to the game’s multiple moving parts - both in terms of game design, artistic
direction, lore elements and more. While fans of the iconic tabletop game will find many things similar to what they already know, among which the sprawling vertical environments serving as both narrative, visual and mechanical backdrops to the expected brutal gang warfare, some parts of this adaptation are completely new.

For example, we’ve introduced the notion of fighter careers, which can be compared to character classes in traditional RPGs, each bringing their own set of skills (active, passive and signature), as well as unique perks. We’ve got 5 in total (plus a leader career, which can be added on top of any other), and they’ll ensure that players can recruit and “build” fighters that serve a wide variety of different-yet-complementary battlefield roles. In order to succeed, you’ll have to think not only about each individual fighter, but also about your gang as a whole, and how the units on your roster can synergize with one another. Here also, our partners from Games Workshop have been instrumental in helping us define these careers and bring them to the (digital)tabletop in a meaningful way.

[...]

Thanks Farflame!

The tactical RPG Scarlet Republics has been funded on Kickstarter with 10 days to go. The 35,000 Euro goal "The Strategist" has been reached as well.

The rogue-like Hades is out of Early Access now - 1,000,000 copies have been sold:

HADES v1.0 is Out!!

Hades has now sold more than 1,000,000 copies.

700,000 of these were during our Early Access development. To all our Early Access players: Thank you so much. We designed Hades for Early Access, believing you could help us make a better game. That's just what you did.

MMOByte checked out the upcoming RPG Genshin Impact:

GENSHIN IMPACT Final Thoughts - Everything You Need to Know!

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Couchpotato spotted CSG update #47 that explains the stealth system:

 CSG update #47 - The Stealth System

Role-playing means different things to different people. To us, it means handling quests and obstacles in a manner fitting your character. You can solve all your problems with violence, you can talk your way through the game, 'making friends and influencing people', or you can rely on stealth (and science) and have a lot of fun in the process.

One of the early quests tasks you with recruiting Lord's Mercy and her gang for Braxton (more on the conflict here link, written by Primordia's Mark Yohalem himself).

The (relatively) easy way is to convince Mercy to switch sides, but it requires skills like Persuasion and Streetwise. If you fail, you'd have to kill her to weaken Jonas, which will be a very hard fight as you'd have to fight the entire gang in their 'fort', where the negotiations take place. Obviously, if Mercy and her gang are a valuable ally in the upcoming fight for the control of the Pit, they need to be appropriately tough.

Alternatively, you can sneak inside, assassinate Mercy and leave before anyone realizes what happened. 

[...]

Couchpotato spotted Kickstarter-update #62 for Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous:

Alpha: Stage 2

The fall is here and we are ready to start the second phase of the Alpha Test with some awesome additions! We have worked hard to prepare for it and bring even more of Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous to you. We are really excited to share more content of our upcoming game and discuss it with our community.

Building the Wrath.

With the new Stage of the Alpha version, we are adding more content - including prologue and Act 3. Some of the main additions are:

We have added a tutorial and prologue. For Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous we have a goal to help new players learn the basics of the Pathfinder system and assist in building a well-rounded character - it is especially important against such immune-heavy enemies as demons. Currently, we are working on the context tutorial which will help new and veterans players alike - advising them depending on their skill and level.

While not all systems are implemented in the alpha, part of them will be in the new version.

Act 3 will also be playable in the new Stage. More adventures await in the Worldwound - with a lot of places to explore and quests to finish. Nearly all of the Mythic Paths will get their story expanded into Act 3. Excluding Demon, which will have to wait a bit more - his quests aren’t finished

And with new chapters come new companions! One of them is Wenduag - a mongrel huntress, a merciless and vicious warrior whose cruelty will intimidate even the demons of the Abyss.

You can now get a valuable asset in the form of Greybor - a cold-blooded assassin, a dwarf who exterminates demons not by duty's call but solely in the name of profit.

With the third companion being Arueshalae. A heretic amongst demons — a succubus who has betrayed the Abyss, seeking to abandon her evil ways and turn to good.

Gathering the Righteous (and their feedback).

As in the previous test, we will have two main places for discussions of the alpha – our discord server and our forum. Join us there and participate in all kinds of discussions related to our games!

The feedback will be gathered in the same old way: polls and gathering information from our tester’s discussions. Stage 2 of the alpha test can be discussed on the forum in the special sub-section or in discord in special channels.

If you don’t have access to the alpha sub-section of the forum or alpha channels on discord - you can contact us via email team@owlcatgames.com or in discord (Community Managers group in the user tab).
Few UI improvements.

Another “glimpse” into the future is parts of the UI in Stage 2. Currently, only inventory and dialogue windows changes are implemented.
And, as some may know, our UI is always related to what happens in the game in some way.
Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous is no exception. But how it is related to the plot you will learn later…
Talking about improvements: we have increased the size of the character model in the inventory. The quality of models was improved - now you will be able to see more details on your character. There are also two new slots for the equipment - goggles and shirt. Otherwise, it will be the same old UI.
Another thing our UI team is currently working on is improving the “Attack” block. It can have some issues on higher levels when using two-handed weapons.

We are really interested in feedback on the UI changes and will keep an eye on it to see your thoughts on it.

Afterword

There are still a lot of things to add, finish, and polish. But with each passing day, more tasks get completed by the team. Even more, tasks will be finished by the release! And the assistance of our alpha and beta testers will allow us to improve the quality of the game. With their help, we gathered a lot of feedback and ideas, which we discussed for two days, after which more than 100 tasks were created to improve Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous (we talk about it in the update Per Aspera ad Alpha). Some of those tasks are already finished and made it into the new version of alpha.

PC Gamer reports on the system specs for Cyberpunk 2077.

Minimum:

• OS: Windows 7 or 10, 64-bit
• Processor: Intel Core i5-3570K or AMD FX-8310
• Memory: 8GB RAM
• Graphics: Nvidia GeForce GTX 780 3GB or AMD Radeon RX 470
• DirectX: Version 12
• Storage: 70 GB HDD, SSD recommended

Recommended:

• OS: Windows 10, 64-bit 
• Processor: Intel Core i7-4790 or AMD Ryzen 3 3200G
• Memory: 12GB RAM
• Graphics: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 6GB or AMD Radeon R9 Fury
• DirectX: Version 12
• Storage: 70 GB SSD

PC Gamer reports on a new trailer for Empire of Sin as the game is set to release December 1st.

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Now, developers Romero Games and publishers Paradox Interactive have confirmed a December 1 release date for the Prohibition era-set game, which features a mix of turn-based combat, empire management, and RPG elements. Looking and feeling like an entry in the Mafia franchise but playing more like an X-Com game, Empire of Sin as a whole so far looks as cool, glamorous, and vaguely threatening as Goldie Garneau's truly stunning outfits in the above pre-order trailer.

Destructoid reports that Gears Tactics is set to get its first content update soon as it heads to consoles.

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The fight is about to get a lot feistier. Gears Tactics is coming to consoles on November 10, that much we already knew. That's when Splash Damages' surprisingly good Gears strategy game gets its first major content update.

There are a few different talking points regarding the November 10 update, but the eye-catcher is the introduction of Jack the robot as a playable character. Jack isn't some repurposed unit jammed into another class either. He's his own class and he's equipped with more than 20 new skills. Jack's most notable ability is hijacking and controlling Locust units.

Jack has been a Gears mainstay but this is only the second time he'll be playable. In Gears 5, Jack was a third co-op option that offered a lighter and lower-stakes alternative to the usual COG characters. Gears Tactics looks as though it uses Jack's model from Gears 5, but Tactics took place more than a decade before the original Gears of War. Jack was iterated upon several times over the course of the series. If you want to get knee-deep in the lore, you can try to figure out which one is Tactics Jack.

[...]

A new Cyberpunk 2077 trailer:

Official Night City Tour Trailer

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The Turn Based Lovers interviewed Shockwork Games about their upcoming game Nadir:

10 Turns Interview with Shockwork Games

Almost a year ago, we had the pleasure of e-meeting and interviewing the guys from Shockwork Games who were struggling with Alder’s Blood at the time. One of the most original games of recent times that mixes turn-based mechanics with stealth ones accompanied by dark atmospheres. Alder’s Blood was released in April 2020 but the developers are already working on a fascinating new project and we were dying to know a few more details.

Hi guys, it’s a pleasure to be with you again, this time to talk about a brand new project that’s brewing. But before discovering a few more details, could you introduce yourself to our readers?

Hi everybody! We are Shockwork Games, a small, independent gamedev studio from Lublin, Poland. We are working together as a group for quite a few years now. Started on some mobile games, but w quickly moved to big platforms and made a tactical stealth game Alder’s Blood.

Were you satisfied with the work done with Alders Blood? Is there anything you would have liked to do differently and maybe bring over to this new game? 

Were we satisfied? Yes and no. Developing Alder’s Blood was a huge challenge to us, and yes, we are extremely proud that we were able to pull this off, but there are many things we could do differently. Looking back we should have scaled down the project, focus on specific aspects so that we could polish it more.

Don’t get us wrong, we love the game, and especially its world. We are still developing new products in this IP, like Tales From the Hunt, a tabletop RPG. We’ll definitely go back to Alder’s Blood in the medium of video games, as there is still a lot to tell there.

Ok, let’s talk about the new project. What’s his name? And how can it be described?

Our new project is called Nadir, and we like to call it rogue-like jRPG. We want to make a game that’s extremely stylish, fast-paced for a turn-based game, and replayable. Ah, also moddable.

[...]

THe Turn Based Lovers checked out the beginning of The Dungeon of Naheulbeuk: The Amulet of Chaos:

The Dungeon of Naheulbeuk: The Amulet of Chaos | Gameplay Walkthrough | Part 1

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PC Gamer has collected some info and rumors about Avowed:

Avowed: Release date, gameplay, and everything we know about Obsidian's Skyrim-like RPG

Avowed is a big, first-person RPG set in the same world as Pillars of Eternity, and it looks like it might be Obsidian's spin on The Elder Scrolls. It would make a lot of sense: Over the past decade, Obsidian has garnered love and praise for taking beloved RPG subgenres and adding its a modern spin. Pillars of Eternity was a love letter to cRPG greats like Baldur's Gate, while The Outer Worlds evoked the grim satire and meaningful choices of Fallout: New Vegas (which it also created). Now it looks like Obsidian is inching into Skyrim's territory, and with The Elder Scrolls 6 likely still years away, the idea of a big fantasy first-person RPG is exciting.

[...]

The RPG The Dungeon Of Naheulbeuk: The Amulet Of Chaos has been released:

The Dungeon Of Naheulbeuk: The Amulet Of Chaos

Are you ready to dive into a tactical RPG chock-full of charm, humor and crazy characters?!

They are clumsy, inexperienced and feisty but...they’ll have to endure each other’s company to get the dungeon’s treasure.

However, a feeling of deja-vu quickly arises...

Guide this team of unlikely heroes in an adventure full of humor and chaos!

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The Naheulbeuk universe is an original creation by French author John Lang. It started as a very popular audio comedy series parodying role-playing games and heroic fantasy tropes. Now the story is available in English and as a video game for the first time!

Game features

A ... less than ideal ... team of heroes

• Play with seven classic role-playing game characters complementing each other’s skills as you level them up: the Ranger, the Elf, the Dwarf, the Magician, the Ogre and the Thief!
• Every member of the team has their own skill tree to upgrade their abilities and equipment.
• Choose one of three additional companions to join the team on their adventure!

Epic Battles

• Exciting turn-based battles, with creative support mechanics between team members.
• An adaptive difficulty system: from an accessible and fun story mode with simplified combat to the “nightmare mode” where the smallest tactical errors will doom you!
• An expansive bestiary (more than 100 enemies!) pushing you to think more tactically with every fight.
• Epic boss battles where you’ll have to muster both strength and smarts to emerge victorious!
• Hidden and destructive objects (including beer kegs) with surprising status effects will turn the tide of battle for the better...or worse!

A dreadful dungeon

• Explore a huge and surprising dungeon from the cave up to the luxury quarters of the evil lord Zangdar, passing through the goblin iceskating park and even an extremely lively tavern!
• Escape traps and solve deadly puzzles to unlock the most impressive treasures!
• Bizarre conversations, absurd situations and unusual encounters await!
• Experience an exciting main storyline and many side quests for your heroes

Thanks Alrik!

Medieval Dynasty combines the genres Survival, Simulation, Strategy and RPG - the Early Access version is now available:

Medieval Dynasty

Europe in the early Middle Ages -- Nobles and clergy rule and the trade between nations brings prosperity as well as envy, distrust, and greed. Military conflict is everywhere and entire continents are changing.

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In Medieval Dynasty, you take on the role of a young man who has fled from war and wants to take his fate into his own hands. From being alone, inexperienced and poor you will develop into a master of many skills, a leader of your community and the founder of a prosperous dynasty which is meant to last and prosper for generations to come. Defending against wild animals while hunting for food, gathering resources and crafting equipment, building a house and erecting a whole bustling village while founding a family all contribute to a unique gameplay experience across many genres. Tough winters and unexpected events challenge your skills and dexterity as you strive to build your own legacy.

You can choose to follow the main chapters, solve the questlines or just roam around and explore the vast medieval world – but be careful as wolves or bears may try to take a bite from you... Begin with the simplest things for your own survival like hunting and farming as well as building yourself a home. Found a family and have a heir - entice others to live near and work for you, erect many other buildings to transform your settlement into a vibrant village and, ultimately, a thriving dynasty that will reign for generations.

A massive medieval open 3D world awaits… Be aware of harsh winters and unexpected events while honing your skills to turn from a medieval survivor into the ruler of a dynasty. Grab your axe, hammer, or hunting bow - and craft your legacy!

Medieval Dynasty is a unique combination of multiple successful genres:

Suvival: The need to survive, feed and ensure survival through hunting, farming and cultivation of the land.

Simulation: Create tools and weapons, construct and extend houses, stables and all manner of buildings as you grow an empire.

Role playing: Develop your own character, interact with NPCs, take care of your family and form community alliances by helping others and trading freely.

Strategy: While pioneering in the Middle Ages you will found and expand a village, manage the inhabitants, collect resources and produce all the goods you need and use or capitalise by trading them.

Features:

• Beautiful and realistic open world 3D landscape with state-of-the-art graphics
• Full 4 seasons with day/night cycle and realistic weather conditions
• Interactive environment with trees to fell, various fruit to pluck, stones to collect, caves to explore and many more
• 18 different buildings with various levels from hay shacks to full stone mansions
• Over 60 pieces of equipment to craft, including weapons, tools, furniture and clothing
• Realistic wildlife interaction with plenty of different animals such as wolves, wild boars, deer, rabbits and others
• All activities will impact on food, water, health and endurance status
• Detailed skill tree for individual character development
• Unique events and decisions with direct impact on gameplay
• Dynasty reputation system triggering events with the king
• Quests, trade and economy, sandbox option, social connections to NPCs and many more

A teaser trailer for Neverwinter Nights 2 mod Baldur's Gate 2: Reloaded.

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BGR Team is one step closer to achieving an entire remake of the famous RPG that became the game upon which every other RPG is measured. Working on the mod since 2012, Baldur's Gate 2: Reloaded has been an ongoing passion project of Drew Rechner and this merry band of superfans and industry professionals that seek to leave a mark in the modding scene with a powerful interpretation of Baldur's Gate 2: Shadows of Amn, Throne of Bhaal and Watcher's Keep, using the Aurora Engine from Neverwinter Nights 2.

PC Gamer reports that Hogwart's Legacy will be coming next year.

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Avalanche's long-rumored Harry Potter RPG was officially revealed today during Sony's PlayStation 5 showcase as Hogwart's Legacy, a tale of the famed magic school set in the 1800s.

Naturally, given that time frame, you won't play as Harry Potter, but as an as-yet-unnamed student "who holds the key to an ancient secret that threatens to tear the wizarding world apart."

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DSOGaming initially reported that Demon's Souls will be coming to PC in the form of a remake. However that appears to have been a mistake.

UPDATE:

Sony has taken down the original trailer for Demon’s Souls Remake, and re-uploaded it in order to remove the PC mention at the end. The company also claims that the game will be exclusive to PS5. However, and since a trailer passes a lot of hands before it airs, it seems that the company has spilled the beans earlier than anticipated.

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3CR reviewed the dungeon crawler Vaporum: Lockdown:

Crawler Vaporum: Lockdown is a Solid Follow-Up

As I found myself getting deeper into tabletop role-playing games, I started to understand the draw behind grid-based dungeon crawlers. Those dungeon crawlers were ever-present growing up, and it wasn’t until decades later that I realized that they emulated a certain style of early Dungeons and Dragons dungeons. I’m assuming it’s be design, but as I DMing my players as they checked every ten foot square for a trapped floor, I realized there were so many video games in which I did the same. Much like CRPGs in the last decade, these grid-based dungeon crawlers are making a comeback. And not only are they coming back, they’re doing it in increasingly innovative ways—both in terms of mechanics and setting. Vaporum: Lockdown is one such title.

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I really enjoyed my time with Vaporum: Lockdown. It’s a solid dungeon crawler, and the best example of the genre I’ve played since Legend of Grimrock. If you are curious, it’s definitely worth a look—and if you’re a fan of this subgenre, it’s a must-have. There are some uneven moments, but otherwise it’s steampunk dungeon crawling perfection.

Score: 3/4

Fleeing is now possible in Vagrus: The Riven Realms:

A New Build is OUT - Patch 0.5.15. - Codename: Flee!

Hi Folks,

Thank you for all the feedback you shared with us in the last few weeks! This was immensely useful from the smallest bug reports to the super-ambitious ideas on how to turn Vagrus into a AAA title [thanks for crediting so grand a potential to our tiny team], and we appreciate you taking the time to help us with your insights.

One of the most commonly flagged missing feature was the option to Flee from Crew Combat encounters, and so after the first bundle of quick-fixes, we shifted our focus to that. Soon after starting to design Flee, we just felt that Appeasing enemies -bribing them to let you go without even having to run for it - was so tied to the Flee mechanic that it only made sense to implement both. And so we did.
We also made a number of tweaks, including the change that Tax collectors no longer factor in cargo from Trade tasks when calculating the tax amount.

It took a little more time than we originally planned and we wanted to make it available as soon as possible, so it has not been extensively playtested. The game might have become a tad too easy with these changes - please share your views about that once you had the chance to play a couple of hours with this new build.

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Lucky Day spotted the new patch for Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition:

Stable Patch 81.8193.15

Greetings, friends!

Today we release Patch 8193.15 for Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition!

This update is big — the biggest the game has seen since its original release in 2018. We’re introducing a new lighting engine to enhance the graphics, dozens of toolset updates, plus plenty more features and fixes. Read on for all the details!

As always, this patch is network-compatible within the current major version (8193), including the old stable release .13; so you can play on servers with it that have not yet upgraded (though the majority of the new features will not work). To get the full experience, you will have to update both server and clients to this release. Singleplayer modules made with this new patch 1.81 cannot be played on older versions, however.

New Lighting Engine

This patch includes a new enhanced lighting engine, that is governed by the same principles as you would see in other modern games that aim for realistic lighting. The aim is both to allow much higher quality future content, but also to enhance the visual quality of existing content.

These are the main elements of this new lighting engine:

• Physically based rendering (PBR), with emulation of specular reflection, surface “roughness”, Fresnel-effects and gamma correction. All in all, this gives a more realistic and “natural” look.
• Tone mapping that prevents color distortion of bright lights and enables overbright.
• Per-pixel lighting rather than per-vertex of the old setup, yielding much more precise light illumination levels relative to distance.
• Full dynamic lighting, supporting up to 32 dynamic lights (previously NWN effectively only supported 6).

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