The closed beta for the RPG Encase is now live - here are the changes for the beta:

Full list of changes in Beta:

• Expanded introductory event with the elevator stop;
• The reactor level is now open;
• Rebalanced main attributes of different Wings;
• Hand-to-hand combat branch has been significantly updated – new skills have been added, old ones have been changed;
• A lot of skill tree changes;
• A batch of new weapons has been added for sale in the armory;
• NPCs react to player vandalism;
• Fixed some errors in quests;
• Random events have been added to time rewind;
• New items, statuses and effects from consuming food and drink;
• Many technical and performance improvements;

Thanks Farflame!

Gamecrate checked out The Surge 2:

Hands-on: The Surge 2 is shaping up to be a fluid and fun sci-fi RPG

It's been a little over a year since we got a good look at action RPG The Surge 2 at E3 2018. In that time, developer Deck13 has been toiling away on the game, prepping for its September release. While last year's demo was strictly hands-off, I recently had the chance to take a stab at a hands-on version that explores the early parts of the game, and I have to say, it was quite entertaining. And difficult. Damn, this game is hard!

Breaking Out

The first thing you do in The Surge 2 is create your character. You've got your standard facial features, hair, and clothing options to choose from, so you can make your character your own and decide the look that's right for you.

Once you've decided on a look, it's time to get to business. You start The Surge 2 in a prison. Your sole purpose — at least at this time — is to escape. After watching a quick cutscene, I immediately encountered a couple large enemy drones. They were quick to attack, which caught me off guard. On top of that, despite appearing as lowly grunt enemies, they still dealt a considerably amount of damage to my character. Thankfully, a handful of quick swings is all it took to take down these robotic baddies.

[...]

Thanks Farflame!

Farflame spotted the August update for Assassin’s Creed:

This Month in Assassin’s Creed – August 2019 Update

This month we're excited to announce the release of Title Update 1.5.0, Story Creator Mode news, an all-new Lost Tale of Greece, the Ikaros character pack, and content updates for Assassin's Creed® Rebellion!

Without further ado, let's jump right in!

THE LOST TALES OF GREECE

An all-new Lost Tale of Greece, Old Flames Burn Brighter will be released in August.

Old Flames Burn Brighter

Your heart beats a little faster when you receive a note from someone you knew back on Kephallonia. Someone you thought you'd never see again. And it's more than just a note, it's an invitation! Take a horseback ride down memory lane as you reconnect with an old friend.

Old Flames Burn Brighter will be available on August 6 and is free to all Assassin's Creed® Odyssey players.

To access all the Lost Tales of Greece, you need to reach Chapter 5 in the main path of Assassin's Creed Odyssey.

You can review the previously released Lost Tales of Greece in our July Monthly Update.

We haven't reached the end of the Lost Tales just yet. We'll see you in September for the next one. 😉

TITLE UPDATE 1.5.0

Later this month, we'll be deploying Title Update 1.5.0 and, along with addressing some in-game obstacles, the patch will prepare the game for the upcoming release of the Discovery Tour: Ancient Greece.

Stay tuned, we'll share more details about Discovery Tour: Ancient Greece in our September Update!
Story Creator Mode

It's been a whole two months since we released Story Creator Mode, the new feature for playing Stories lovingly crafted by your fellow community members, or for creating your own! Since the launch, we've introduced several updates including Elite NPCs, new NPC behaviors, objective grouping, generic NPC creation, and many more quality-of-life improvements.

And we didn't stop there! In August we will add even more features to the Story Creator Mode, including:

• Inventory Starter/Objective: This will allow you to start a new quest using quest items as a condition. Same goes for the objective.
• Patrol Behaviour: You asked, we listened. Patrol behaviour is coming!
• Story Creator Mode Website Update: We're excited to announce that we'll be updating the website to allow you to:
          Save Stories for later
          Create and share playlists
          Queue stories

Psst, we're also looking into adding dialogues between more than two characters. If our internal testing phase is successful, we'll aim to deploy this feature before the end of the month.

We are incredibly grateful for your continued feedback and support, keep it coming!

[...]

Wccftech checked out the Kingdom Come Deliverance DLC: A Woman's Lot:

Kingdom Come: Deliverance A Woman’s Lot Review – Mixed Bohemian Bag

A woman’s lot in the 15th century Bohemia wasn’t great. Unfortunately, The latest DLC for Kingdom Come: Deliverance isn’t that much better either. The fourth installment of DLC for Kingdom Come, A Woman’s Lot ties together the few loose threads of the main story and the siege of Skalitz. Obviously, this review might feature some Kingdom Come: Deliverance spoilers, so be warned.

Beginning when you speak to Theresa in Rattay, you are flashbacked to her former life in Skalitz, where according to the game’s description you get to experience a slice of “ordinary life” in the small town. The problem is, ordinary life is incredibly tedious, though if you’ve played Kingdom Come: Deliverance before you already know the deal. When I’m looking to sink my time into an immersive simulation, I’m trying to escape my chores, not do someone else’s. The work is menial, repetitive and frustrating and has absolutely no pacing to it at all.

[...]

While Johanka's story is interesting, albeit with plenty of boring sections scattered throughout, Theresa's 'ordinary life' is so dull it made me want to do my own chores more than play a video game.

Score: 6.9/10

Thanks Farflame!

Farflame spotted some reviews for Age of Wonders: Planetfall:

• Wccftech - Score: 8/10
• Eurogamer - No Score
• Indie Game Website - Score: 9/10
• Gaming Respawn - Score: 8/10
• Waytomanygames - Score: 8.5/10
• Culturedvultures - Score: 9/10
  
• PCGamesN - Score: 9/10

Henriquejr spotted a new trailer for Skyblivion:

The Elder Scrolls: Skyblivion - Teaser Trailer

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We have been hard at work these past few years and recently a lot of that work has fallen into place, finally shaping up to what we can call a proper video game.
We are super excited to see all our hard work pay off, more importantly though we are excited to show those who have supported us all this time what it has been for. It’s been a long ride but we are finally at a point where the end is almost in sight. 
We still need help with the project though, mostly in the 3D and coding departments but concept artists, CK modders and texture artists are always a welcome sight.

Our exterior world map is nearing its final stages of development meaning its close to being completed. Creatures, flora, weapons, armors and 3D assets in general are being implemented and produced at a rapid pace and as a result the world is starting to feel alive. The world is now inhabited by wild animals walking about and monsters trying to kill you at every corner. 
Quests have also made some great progress though a lot of debugging still needs to be done to make everything work as smoothly as possible. 

If you are simply a fan of the project and you want to help please share our video where you can, you might just reach someone that will help us finish this monster of a project sooner.

PC Gamer reports that the System Shock 2 devs focus on mods and multiplayer features right now:

System Shock 2 Enhanced Edition devs are focused on multiplayer and mods

Nightdive CEO Stephen Kick said he wants to deliver a 'more modern' multiplayer experience.

Nightdive Studios announced last week that it's working on an enhanced version of System Shock 2, which came as a shock to me because I thought it had been announced months ago. Apparently I confused it with one of the other System Shocks currently in the works—either the remake of the original, which Nightdive is also working on, or System Shock 3, being developed by Otherside Entertainment. There's a whole lot of Shocking going on.

But System Shock 2 Enhanced Edition is something else entirely, and I'm very excited that it's happening because the original is a spectacularly good game but also very dated: The character models were pretty ugly when it was new and 20 years under the bridge hasn't made it any prettier. Hopefully Nightdive will be able to give it an appropriate facelift, but studio CEO Stephen Kick told GamesRadar today that it's actually putting its focus on the game's multiplayer.

[...]

Thanks henriquejr!

The release of the action RPG Kindom of Rhea has been delayed to the end of August 2019:

Extension of the release date

Good morning to everyone!

Kingdom of Rhea was supposed to be released on August 05, 2019 but we will not be able to provide this release.

We still plan to release the game at the end of August.

Thank you all for your understanding.

See you soon!

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Heikki-Pekka Noronen from Action Squad Studio answers some questions about Iron Danger and himself:

Heikki-Pekka Noronen (Action Squad Studio): Iron Danger - game development Q&A

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A Stellar Tactics progress update about crafting and ship interiors:

Progress update - Crafting and ship interiors

I’m posting a work in progress video today that shows the salvaging portion of the crafting system which is nearly complete. I still have a bit of work to do on the UI and balancing. The video also shows the first completed ship interior for the boarding system. More details below.

Crafting requires components and the salvaging system lets you mark items in your inventory, stash and cargo hold for disassembly. As you disassemble items, you will gather crafting components and the finishing items you will need to craft equipment for your ships and crew.

You can salvage items anywhere. That is, you do not need to travel to a salvaging station to break items into component parts. Initially, I was going to tie salvaging to a static salvaging station that would be on your ship and space stations. I felt it would be a lot more useful if you could do this at any time, clearing inventory of excess equipment and vendor junk items. Crafting material storage is infinite so you won’t need to worry about max inventory for these items.

Equipment – When disassembling equipment, you will gain salvaging experience, component parts, finishing items and progress towards learning a locked crafting schematic for that item type (based on the quality of the item).

Junk items – Junk items generate finishing materials. These will be used in the finishing stage of crafting to assign stats, weapon min/max damage values, and other bonuses to equipment. In general, crafting an item can result in a finished item with bonuses and stats that are better than any item you can buy or find in the game.

I’ll be starting on the crafting portion of the system next now that I can generate crafting components. This will take a while and I hope you all enjoy the system when it’s finished.

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Ship interiors are being worked on. These interiors will be used for a number of purposes:

• Boarding: Disable a ship and enter through the airlock. Various doors to be hacked, hostile enemies defending their ships and objects that need to be repaired – not to mention loot and the ability to sell these ships for profit.
• Missions: There will be a number of missions that may pop up as a communication from a disabled ship, rescues and a few other scenarios that will require entering other ships.
• Your home: Ships will serve as a place to store goods, interact with the crew and craft items.

That’s all I have for now. Thanks as always for supporting Stellar Tactics!

Morrus asked the devs of Solasta: Crown of the Magister some questions:

A Chat With 'Solasta' 5E Video Game Developers

What can you tell us about the world in which this game takes place?

We will be giving more information on the world fairly soon (we plan to introduce our lore during our Kickstarter). We cannot reveal too much, as we want discovering the world of Solasta to be part of the final experience. That being said, Solasta is a High Fantasy universe where players will find most of their favorite playable races, with one notable caveat: they may behave / interact differently than you think, as an ancient cataclysm forged Solasta to its current state.

You might also be interested to know that one of writer is Graeme Davis, one of the original author of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay back in 1986 - and that he won the Best Writing ENnies at Gen Con this year!

You mention some character types such as a Darkweaver Rogue and a Mountaineer Fighter. Which 5E classes and races can we expect to see in the game?

We would like to include the races and classes found in the System Reference Document of the OGL – though we may not be able to include all of them for our first game. Note however that the SRD only details one subrace per race and one archetype per class, so we will be adding more of those according to our own lore - hence the Darkweaver & Mountaineer. currently we have 4 races / Classes available on our Website: Human / Dwarf / Elf / Halfling, and Fighter / Cleric / Wizard / Rogue. More will be added through Kickstarter.

[...]

RPG Site has listed the RPG release dates of 2020:

The RPGs of 2020: Every RPG and their release dates

If you are looking for last year's RPG list, click here.

2019 had some big RPG releases in big franchises like Kingdom Hearts III and Fire Emblem: Three Houses. Here we list the upcoming RPGs we expect to see in 2020. Many have not been dated yet, but this listing will often be updated up to and through 2020.

Now - we know - defining what exactly is an 'RPG' is can be a little tricky. While some of the games below may not best be labeled as an 'RPG', we wanted to include games that have evident role-playing elements. We allow for a little bit of wiggle room.

Let us also note: our list only includes games with confirmed English versions set to release in 2020 and will be updated regularly throughout the year. Games that do not have confirmed English localizations or have not yet been announced with 2020 release plans will not be included.

Find the list below. Feel free to let us know in the comments if you see any omissions or mistakes!

[...]

Digital Underground has reviewed ATOM RPG:

ATOM RPG Review

As a fan of the classic CRPGs, especially those dealing in a post-apocalyptic world, I couldn’t help getting excited to review ATOM RPG.

ATOM RPG is a post-apocalyptic indie game, inspired by classic CRPGs: Fallout, Wasteland, System Shock, Deus Ex, Baldur’s Gate and many others.

In 1986 both the Soviet Union and the Western Bloc were destroyed in mutual nuclear bombings. You are one of the survivors of the nuclear Holocaust. Your mission – to explore the wild and wondrous world of the Soviet Wasteland. To earn your place under the sun. And to investigate a shadowy conspiracy, aimed at destroying all that is left of life on Earth. 
Atom RPG Review

ATOM RPG includes many of the game style components that you may have become familiar with when playing the Fallout series games.  Most notably is the isometric overhead view that was used in the classic, Fallout 2.  It takes place in a post-apocalyptic Russia and conversations refer to many of the region’s themes which immerse you in a realistic setting.  Your character will dive deep into a story of occults, bandits and comrades which can be a valuable help.
[...]

Atom RPG Review Summary
Giving a nod to such classics as Fallout and Wasteland, this game honors the genre well. Admittedly I am a sucker for this style game and thus my review is probably a bit biased. If you enjoy the classic Fallout 1 and 2, the ruined wastelands of a post-apocalyptic world then you can’t go wrong with this well crafted Indie game from AtomTeam. A labor of love, the passion of the developers is felt through each moment of gameplay.

Score: 9.4/10

PCGamesN found seven Fire Emblem PC alternatives:

Looking for a Fire Emblem PC game? Here are seven alternatives to try

All the squares you could hope for

Fire Emblem: Three Houses is a unique union of Persona and grid-based warfare. It manages to make building an army fun as well as a megalomaniacal necessity. Unfortunately, the fantastical TRPG (that’s tactical role-playing game) series is exclusive to Nintendo platforms. Bummer. But don’t despair; there are a ton of similar games available right now on PC.

Indeed, from tiny mech battles to post-apocalyptic road trips, you might argue that there has never been a better time to dive into classic grid-based tactics games. They may not let you share tea with your students-turned-soldiers, but the format has been applied to a huge range of settings with a number of twists thrown in, offering more depth and diversity in turn-based combat than we’ve enough free time to enjoy.

[...]

• Into the Breach
• Valkyria Chronicles 4
• Overland (upcoming)
• Shadowrun: Hong Kong
• Wargroove
• Fae Tactics (upcoming)
• The Banner Saga

The Escapist has interviewed Jehanne Rousseau, the CEO of Spiders:

Spiders Wants GreedFall to Fill the Void Left by BioWare

Like many RPG fans, Spiders CEO Jehanne Rousseau loves BioWare’s classic Mass Effect, Dragon Age, and Knights of the Old Republic games but was disappointed by the developer’s recent work. She still hopes the company can return to its roots, but for now her team is working to make the games they want to play.

“We are creating them now not to replace [BioWare] but to fill the void in some ways,” Rousseau said. “We can’t really compare. We don’t have the same size teams and budget, but we really try to continue creating games we love. We hope that players will like it and that players that enjoyed playing story-driven RPGs like the games from BioWare will enjoy playing GreedFall.”

Set to release on Sept. 10, GreedFall is set in a fantasy world inspired by the 17th century colonization of the Americas by European powers. Rousseau said she chose the setting to emphasize exploration and politics.
[...]

A new game set in the The Dark Eye universe is in development and is supposed to be available in the second quarter of next year. The game is named Book of Heroes and looks to be made for the German market. Even the English version of the games' webpage is in German.

Here is what I translated from the German text on that page.

The Dark Eye is an RPG system that enables groups of players to adventure in its fantasy world. TDE has a long tradition; the first version appeared already in 1984. Book of Heroes is developed in cooperation with its license owner Ulisses Spiele, who's cooperation ensures that the game will meet the requirements of RPG fans.

Book of Heroes is a classic RPG using a top-down view and fast, intensive dungeon crawls with co-op (up to 4 players) using procedural generated maps. Playing solo with 3 additional AI controlled characters is also possible. The universe of The Dark Eye will provide the ideal setting for many familiar characters, places and events.

Here is a trailer with almost no information:

Gamers Global has a bit more information, mentioning it is a tactical RPG and that Winifried Philips, who also worked on Assassin's Creed 3 and God of War, is repsonsible for the soundtrack.

The site of the game also features these screenshots:

Thanks Moorkh, for providing this information.

In the dev-diary #5 for Solasta: Crown of the Magister you can learn more about the AI basics:

Greetings adventurers,

Have you ever wondered how creatures think in video games? Why did this orc decided to attack my warrior, while the other one decided to just hide behind cover? If you have, you came to the right place as I will be shedding some light on what sort of dark thoughts drive the AI of our vicious creatures.

When designing the AI system for Solasta, we wanted to make sure that it would best fit a set of objectives that crystallized what's important for us:

• The AI must be able to choose from a large variety of activities. The 5th edition ruleset is quite expansive, and creatures can have a plethora of actions available to them at any given turn. Attacking, casting spells, getting to cover, dashing, dodging, disengaging, shoving are some examples.
• The AI must be able to evaluate its environment properly. The verticality of our levels, the importance of light and covers must all be considered thoroughly when making decisions.
• The AI must be easy to create and modify. We should not have to alter the code every time we want to tweak some creature’s behavior.
• The AI system must be usable in both turn-based combat and real-time exploration. Maintaining two separate systems should be avoided wherever possible.
• The AI must be adaptable to different creatures' behaviors. Intelligent creatures should not behave the same as creatures that are more feral and sensitive to light for instance.

[...]

Thanks henriquejr!

King's Bounty II has been announced by 1C Entertainment for 2020:

King's Bounty II

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Fantasy and Realism
Experience a vast fantasy world that expertly blends beloved genre tropes with gritty realism to ensure players remain grounded in this desperate, realm-wide struggle.

Unpredictable non-Linear Story
Told through the lens of a highly cinematic experience, King’s Bounty II puts choice in players’ hands rather than their mouths. But instead of hinging on simple dialogue choices, it is the players’ actions that hold the true weight.

Unique Characters
King’s Bounty II gives players three characters to choose from, each with their own unique story.

Sytem of Ideals
As players explore the realm, their stories change as they align themselves with different Ideals: Strength, Art, Order, and Anarchy.

Tactical Battles
Each squad consists of wholly unique units, each with their own set of skills and visual appearance. Players can expect new tactical features for deeper, richer combat experience.

The tactical RPG Tactics V: Obsidian Brigade has been released; patch 1.3 fixed some issues already:

Tactics V: Obsidian Brigade

Tactics V: Obsidian Brigade is a retro-style tactical turn-based video game in homage to console tactical RPGs from the 1990s. Its set in an in-house fantasy setting with it's own lore and magic, It also uses techniques to convert to a 2D isometric look from 3D assets.

The dream behind this game goes with the roman numeral five in its name, which was originally the code name differentiating it from four other tactical game systems the programmer, Paul Metcalf, had made.

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Content Included:

• Robust combat system (with many mechanics: facing, targeting styles, actions, delayed actions, reactions)
• World map navigation.
• >50 hand crafted levels
• >80 scripted scenes/battles
• ~12-18 hours of story
• ~3 hours of optional story
• 3 ½ tiers of gear/weaponry
• 13 unique unlockable classes
• >50 skills (proficiencies, abilities, power casting unlockable)
• >140 powers (Elemental magic, close range, Archery, Imbue poisons, etc.)
• Optional cooperative main-game via assigning troops to another controller during deployment
• Training option allowing a non-fatal combat to be controlled by player(s) or AI to gain XP and Skill points
• Optional Alternate top-down perspective available
• New game plus

The Falconeer is claimed to be an an ocean-world fantasy aerial combat RPG, that has classic dog fighting mechanics and acrobatic twists and turns in an open environment and has a bestiary of fantastic enemies in land, sea, and air.

The Falconeer is a game made by Tomas Sala, an independent game artist and designer as well as the co-founder of game studio Little Chicken Game Company, who might be known for his Skyrim Mod series: Moonpath to Elsweyr.

Set above The Great Ursee, prospective players can take their armed aerial mounts in third person to the skies as a Falconeer, an airborne warrior equipped with devastating ranged weaponry, to explore a bleak and hauntingly beautiful world, filled with wonderous locations and warmongering rival factions vying for the mysterious secrets hidden at the Ursee's unfathomable depths.

"The moment we saw The Falconeer, Tomas' passion and dedication stood out and we knew we wanted to bring it to the Wired family," said Leo Zullo, Managing Director, Wired Productions. "The Falconeer's stunning art style and ambitious design speak volumes about his individual talent as a developer and we're delighted to be supporting The Falconeer to market."

"Building worlds is my passion, creating epic landscapes and hidden stories within... just waiting to be found. I want future Falconeers to fight for the Ursee world I'm creating, to risk everything in breathtaking battles to understand its secrets," said Tomas Sala, the sole developer of The Falconeer. "I'm delighted to have joined forces with Wired Productions, to have secured the future survival of the Ursee and to join a line-up of stunning games with a publisher who understands my vision."

This new partnership reflects Wired's commitment to support creative ideas from truly talented and innovative developers, to help bring their game to market.

All that doesn't really say what type of game it is, but the video is a bit more informative.

If you are in to text driven RPGs then Nocked! True Tales of Robin Hood might be your thing. It is available on Steam and itch.io. The creator of the game describes his motivations for creating this game as follows:

I’m a Sci-Fi/Fantasy author with some D&D design credits; Nocked! is my love-letter to text-heavy, story-driven RPGs — from Baldur's Gate and Planescape to Shadowrun: Dragonfall and the Witcher series. I've wanted to create a video game for 26 years; this is that game. Everything I love about RPGs — base building, romance, resource management, and real story consequence — is here, bound in a text-based, multiple-choice interface.

And about the game itself:

The peasants of Nottingham bow under the weight of Prince John’s taxes; nobles fall to the Sheriff’s political machinations; deserters from the Crusades pillage the land; and fairies lure the unwary into the depths of mist-shrouded Sherwood Forest, never to be seen again. 

Step into the chaos of a magical England at the end of the Third Crusade.

Maid Marian hides breathless amidst the brambles after the sack of her father’s castle; Little John charges a bodyweight in gold to cross a lonely log; and Will Scarlet holds court in a brokedown tower surrounded by trees as tall as the sky, waiting for a king who will never come. 

The time is ripe, a spark is lit – from the ashes of your home, from the shadow of anonymity, step into legend. 

You are Robin Hood.

Nocked! is a lushly-illustrated, story-driven role-playing game. Define the deeds and identity of Robin Hood, outlaw of Sherwood Forest; recruit allies, forge alliances, find love; and chart a path between war, negotiation, and dangerous magics. Your choices are remembered and your actions shape the world, but you can’t do it alone.

Story and strategy collide as your reputation spreads and Merry Men join your band: Build and expand a base in the hidden deeps, manage your earnings from raids on tax collectors, and prepare for the coming of the Sheriff of Nottingham. There is no sure and easy path to victory, no one decision that will save your resistance; will you fall beneath the Sheriff’s boot heel, or will you build a movement to last the ages? The choice is yours.

Experience a lush and vibrant Sherwood Forest on desktop with art inspired by Lotte Reiniger - an early animator/director/artist - combined with traditional watercolor techniques; and original music drawn from medieval sources.

Features

• Over 20 hours of gameplay incorporating more than a million words of text. No single playthrough is the same; this is interactive fiction on an epic scale!
• Play as male or female Robin.
• 9 romanceable characters, including both same and opposite-sex relationships.
• 5 unique backstories that change the way the world responds to your actions.
• 4 difficulty levels. Resource management can be an afterthought or a vital element in your decision-making.
• 3 customizable bases, each with a unique look and play style. Build your base and see it reflected in the art and story.
• 300+ pieces of hand-drawn art by Amanda Spaid.
• Over an hour of medieval-inspired music by Ivan Oberholster; and featuring a new recording by Bellowhead frontman Jon Boden!
• Dozens of different endings. See the culmination of your choices and their effect upon the world.
• Play for minutes or hours at a time. A robust autosave keeps track of your progress.
• Adjustable text size.
• Built-in Twine and adapted for both desktop and mobile by Unmapped Path, specialists in narrative experiences, co-founded by Twine’s creator, Chris Klimas.
• Originally launched on iOS in 2017, Nocked! has been lovingly expanded and refined for PC and Mac, with overhauled mechanics and additional art, music, and text.

For more information you can check out the developers' site and watch the following video.

Rebel Galaxy Outlaw has been released on the Epic Game Store:

Rebel Galaxy Outlaw

Getting started:

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Rock Paper Shotgun checked out Streets of Rogue:

Streets of Rogue

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Din's Legacy will leave Early Access on August 28:

Din's Legacy Overview

Din's Legacy is an action RPG with mutating characters, set in a dynamic, evolving, fantasy world for Windows, Mac, and Linux.

During the Orc Schism, the entire Orc race was violently split into Dark Orcs, Zombielords, and the Mutated. The Mutated are tainted with Orc blood, a zombie parasite, and necromancer magic. This makes people seriously mistrust and even fear them. The fact that they slowly mutate over time makes it even worse. Who is going to trust you when you grow horns overnight?

Despite all of this, the Mutated are actually more closely related to the Elves, both their behavior and physically. They want to prove this to the world, but they are facing a tremendous uphill battle.

The trickster god Din was intrigued by their chaotic mutations and burning desire to prove themselves to the world. Always in need of champions, he made a pact with the Mutated. Each volunteer would become one of his champions trying to save the world wherever Din sends them. In return, each time they die in his service he resurrects them to continue their service.

Din's Legacy, as well as the Mutated's and yours, are all in your hands! Can you be the Champion that is needed?

Din's Legacy is scheduled to be released on August 28th. We are currently in Early Access if you want to get in early!

The dungeon crawler Emberlight has been released today on Steam, Itch.io and Discord.

Emberlight’s roguelike elements corrupt your soul as it lands on Steam and Discord

August 13, 2019 - Quarter Onion Games today announces that Emberlight, a roguelike dungeon crawler that combines classic gameplay with a novel twist, releases on Steam, Discord, and Itch.io.

The game trailer takes players on a journey through Emberlight as they attempt to accomplish the quests provided to them via the Grandmaster.  As they descend through the depths and absorb the powers of their enemies, the corruption gnaws at their soul and in the end causes them to destroy their former allies.  The victor then awaits the next batch of foolish Ember Knights sent via the Ember Order in a future quest.

Emberlight features the esteemed voice actress, Lani Minella, as the Grandmaster, as well as voice casting talent from No Studio In Particular produced by Reece Bridger.

Watch the trailer at https://youtu.be/4nYQ10qwK30

Players interested in purchasing Emberlight can purchase the game on Steam, Discord and Itch.io.

Co-Founders, William Phelps and Michael Hahn said: "Emberlight provides a unique take on both roguelike and turn-based games.  Absorbing abilities from fallen enemies and finding that preferred mix for the player’s styles makes the game is easy to learn, but hard to master.  Then when it’s all said and done, corruption throws a curveball into the mix that messes up all your planning and makes you have to react on the fly."

About Emberlight

Emberlight is a true roguelike dungeon crawler, set in a world where the Gods have given you a great gift - and a great curse. Explore procedurally generated dungeons as a Knight of the Ember Order. Conquer the quests set out before your party, and uncover the lore of the land.

ABSORB

As a Knight of the Ember Order, you have the ability to absorb the abilities used by your enemies. Every ability used by enemies has a chance to be learned. This allows customization of each character towards whichever goals you have. But each absorbed ability has a cost...

CORRUPT

Every absorbed ability will corrupt your soul. You will slowly lose yourself to evil as the quest progresses. This expresses itself in unstable corruption traits which leads to metamorphosis into an evil being (such as a lich). And you will lose yourself to the corruption...

REPEAT

Each run will last between 30-60 minutes. After completing the quest, the most corrupted will kill off his former allies in an epic battle. This corrupted being will then begin attracting evil around them and will act as a boss in a future quest once their influence has expanded enough. They will have all the powers you have provided them during the run, providing a never-ending challenge in future runs. For every corrupted boss, a stronger party is required to defeat them. And the cycle repeats......forever?

GamePressure reports on an Escapist interview about Greedfall where the game length was discovered and the number of endings.

There is no shortage of RPG fans in the world. Not everyone, however, is a fan of very long games. Some people may be discouraged by the fact that they will have to spend more than 100 hours on a title before they see the ending. Fortunately for such people, GreedFall will not be this type of production. As Jehanne Rousseau, president of Spiders studio, said in her interview for The Escapist magazine, it will take about 30 hours to complete the upcoming work of the Parisian team, if someone wants to finish only the main storyline, or 45 hours if the player tries to complete all the side tasks.

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Alder's Blood is described as a turn-based, tactical stealth game with a dash of strategy. The game is back on Kickstarter and doing well so far.

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Alder's Blood is a grim and dark stealth tactical game set in a Victorian-Western universe. The combat is turn-based and focused on avoiding enemy ambushes and setting up your own

Ride with your crew of hunters on a quest to kill your god. Use stealth and tactics to overcome the never-ending onslaught of monsters, the manifestations of your god's decay. Manage your scarce resources, venture out with your fellow companions and explore the remnants of the world in search of the means for mankind's survival.

Monsters' Den Chronicles is a dungeon crawler from 2012 that is now available on Steam.

 

 

 

 

 

Originally released in 2012, the third entry in the classic Monsters' Den series has come to Steam- improved and remastered!

Monsters' Den Chronicles is a dungeon-crawling RPG with turn-based battles and an emphasis on advancing a persistent roster of heroes.

Form a party and undertake one of six different adventures. Procedurally generated dungeons mean that even the same scenario is different each time.

• Six different story scenarios
• Randomly generated dungeons add replayability
• Endless dungeon and wave survival modes
• Hundreds of loot items to find
• Unlock additional items by completing in-game achievements
• Includes the premium content from the original web game

Gods of Havoc: Into the Void is a turn-based strategy god-game that recently released on Steam.

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Gods of Havoc heralds a return to the classic God-Game.

Gods of Havoc is a three-part series offering difficult, turn-based strategy. Each game places the player as a god in different eras of a planet’s history. 'Gods of Havoc: Into the Void' takes place on a galactic scale.

Gods of Havoc: Into the Void

You take the roll of a god, to a sentient, and self-governing populace. With no interference from you, your people will spread out to the stars, colonise new worlds, build fantastic structures, wage wars, and reshape the universe… that is, they would, if there weren’t other gods, and other races, waiting to stop them.As a god, you have the power to aid your people with powerful magics, and to guide their progress with suggestions and dreams. Even with your help, it may not be enough to defeat the brutal and magical forces building against them.

The Game

• A turn-based strategy game.
• Battle up to ten other gods and their peoples.
• An intelligent simulation of space colonisation, exploration, and exploitation.
• Use a ‘Pass-Time’ option to move the game forward,
• And customise a log to alert you when certain events happen.
• A fiendishly difficult AI with various difficulties.
• Crafted from a love of Populous, Megalomania, and other ancient god-game classics!
• 3 game-modes: standard solar systems, high density asteroids, and completely random placement. Each offers unique gameplay and strategies.

System Shock 2 Enhanced Edition has been announced by Nightdive Studios on twitter.

You asked for it and we are working on it... System Shock 2 Enhanced Edition coming soon!!! 💾#RetroGaming #SystemShock2 pic.twitter.com/vV5zBtUfWj

— Nightdive Studios (@NightdiveStudio) August 12, 2019

Neyreyan checked out the dungeon crawler Dungeon Scavenger:

Dungeon Scavenger review - Dungeon Crawler RPG - turn based combat - old school feeling

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Exophase checked out the roguelike Streets of Rogue:

Streets of Rogue Review: A Delightful, Ultra-Violent Sandbox

There was a time when Grand Theft Auto wasn’t a sprawling landscape for you to deal out unhinged destruction, but rather a top-down, more-confined-yet-still-open-ended sandbox… for you to deal out unhinged destruction. Those were simpler times — not necessarily better than what we have now because the current GTA playground is a sheer joy to visit, but great in their own right. Streets of Rogue is almost like a mix of both worlds with a bunch of other stuff thrown in to really dial up the insanity.

It’s so much fun!

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The world of Streets of Rogue is pixelated, colorful, and cute. I’m serious. Those thugs, mobsters, drug dealers, and zombies are super adorable. The whole game has this quirky look to it, and its ultra-violence is stylistically contrasted by the intense visual charm.

The music is also good, with synth-y awesomeness thumping away in each of the game’s stages. You’ll hear these songs a lot, so it’s great that they’re all pretty catchy.

I’ll be the first to admit that the tutorial in Streets of Rogue made me groan. But once I was given free reign, I was all too excited to visit and revisit the game. Even after having spent so much time with it already, I’m still itching to return to it in my free time. Whether you’re playing in short bursts or making a day of it, Streets of Rogue is one of the most addictive and entertaining action games of the year, either solo or with a group of buddies.

Score: 8.5 out of 10

The ASCII-graphics game Stone Story RPG has been released as Early Access:

In a realm of perpetual evil, a single stone could change everything...

Stone Story is an RPG set in a dark and ominous world. Monsters and mysteries plague the realm. Embark on a quest to unite 9 magic Soul Stones and restore the light.

The game takes elements from various genres and repackages them into a wholly unique experience. One of Stone Story's defining mechanics is that you have no direct control of the player character, as an A.I. does all the exploring, combat and looting. That doesn't mean this is an idle game. Potions and special abilities are maximized by good timing. Boss fights are intense, requiring quick item swaps if the boss changes patterns.

Your natural curiosity will be your greatest tool as you delve into the game and discover there's more beneath its deceptively simple surface.

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FEATURES

• Stunning ASCII animation and gorgeous music
• Robust player A.I. that combines with other game systems to offer a unique experience for gamers of all types
• 8 unique Locations, each with their own meticulously detailed environments and intense boss fights
  Simple, but deep crafting system
• Dozens of items that can be combined to facilitate new strategies
• A rich fantasy world with eccentric enemies, amusing NPC encounters and engaging lore
• 8+ hours of main story gameplay, in addition to procedurally generated content
• Plenty of secrets!

Player2 shared their impressions of Deep Sky Derelicts.

Additionally, the sub-quests don’t yield anything in the way of engaging stories, highlighted by one tone-deaf attempt at criticising bureaucracy. This particular sub-quest sees you chasing an individual who is avoiding officials due to not completing their paperwork. Ultimately, you discover they would rather harm themselves than be subjected to seemingly endless paperwork. The unfocused, glib writing almost makes it sound like the punchline is the vulnerable people affected by bureaucracy, as opposed to the actual problematic bureaucratic systems at play. Poor treatment of welfare recipients is a continuing topic of national debate in Australia, so what Deep Sky Derelicts attempts to convey is somewhat true. However, the fact that the intention of this sub-quest is confusingly unclear reflects the rough writing on display. Beyond this example, I honestly cannot recall any story beats of note – a bummer considering a solid narrative can elevate an otherwise unspectacular RPG.

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Thanks Farflame!