The Turn Based Lovers give us an overview which turn based games will be released in April 2020:

"Waiting for the sun" – The Doors

Whoever is interested by the quarantine for the Covid-19 can really understand what is “the sun” I’m waiting for…
In the place where I’m writing, Italy, the sun is not just a star but a hope of normality, not a mirage but something to believe in.
But this is serious matter and I’m aware that today we’re here to talk about our common passion: videogames! So the “question of the day” is: can a bunch of bytes cures this damned virus?

Obviously nobody can really think so, but I’m convinced that if a “cure” is something that concern, not just our body, but also our spirit, than we can believe that even a simple videogames can lessen our suffering. During the past weeks (and still now) I was forced to stay at home… ever… and I cannot even think what would have happened to my mind without a good turn-based game, or a good book in my hand, in other words, without something capable of bring me somewhere else.
We are human beings and in order to maintain our mental health we have always to look forward and hope for our best, so even under these particular circumstances I think is right to talk about which videogames await us during the next month.

Despite the virus time goes fast and, with Spring, comes also another month full of indie releases.
To tell you the truth, beside a plethora of “not very well-known” games, this time we have also a few major releases. It would be enough to mention Gears Tactics or Alder’s Blood to get satisfaction, but under the surface we can find also some others interesting titles like, for examples, Celestian Tales: Realms Beyond (an indie game which takes inspiration from the classic JRPGs), Dread Nautical (the new turn-based release from the talented ZenStudios) or, even, Sentinels of Freedom (which seems me a to me a turn-based version of the glorious Freedom Force!).

This month there are – really! – a lot of games so pardon me if I’ll be a bit brief 😉!

[...]

The dungeon crawler Operencia: The Stolen Sun has been released on Steam

Operencia: The Stolen Sun

Zen Studios’ modern homage to classic first-person dungeon-crawlers takes you to the land of Operencia, an unconventional fantasy world inspired by a faraway land referenced in countless Central European folktales. An old-school turn-based battle system combines with inspiration from unexplored mythology to offer an RPG experience that feels unique yet also familiar.

A Tale for the Ages
An unknown force has abducted the Sun King Napkiraly, leaving Operencia in a state of perpetual darkness – and eventual doom. From hidden royal tombs and cursed castles to an ascent up the World Tree to reach the Copper Forest of the Land of the Gods, explore diverse settings throughout the far reaches of the land…and beyond. Each location boasts its own unique atmosphere, visual style, level design and puzzles, and many take place entirely outdoors.

Where History Meets Legend
Operencia is home to an intriguing mix of unexplored mythology and fantastical versions of actual historical locations (e.g., Deva Fortress, Balvanyos) and characters (e.g., Attila, Seven Chieftains of the Magyars), all coming together to form one cohesive new gaming universe. Several of your own seven party members take influence from heroes of forgotten tales told hundreds of years ago, such as the brave knight Mezey and Sebastian the Dragon Slayer.

Classic Gameplay and Exploration
Along with a deeply strategic turn-based battle system full of spells and special skills to execute, tile-based movement encourages thorough exploration of each area. For added challenge, turn on Cartographer mode to plot out each of the 13 maps yourself. How many secrets will you find?

Beautiful Presentation
Breathtaking hand-drawn cutscenes and fabulous 2D character portraits bring the story to life in a style not easily compared to any other game. More than 30 colorful roles are fully voiced through top-tier performances authentic to the game’s Central European roots.

Other Key Features

• Explore 13 diverse, puzzle-filled levels
• Defeat more than 50 enemy types
• Switch between 7 fully upgradable – and memorable – characters
• Robust difficulty settings allow you to select options such as limiting saves, implementing permadeath, and disabling auto-mapping to create your own
• Stunning visuals powered by Unreal Engine 4
• An epic orchestral score composed by Arthur Grosz
• Fully 3D environments, enemies and objects, plus high-fidelity advanced effects with dynamic shadows and lighting
• AAA Indie production quality and polish with top-tier voice acting, soundtrack, cutscenes and writing

Thanks Kordanor!

inXile have announced on Twitter that Wasteland 3 has been delayed until August 28th.

Get to meet the companions that will be available in Early Access for The Waylanders.

Meet Your Companions In Gato Salvaje's Upcoming Time Travelling RPG, The Waylanders

Nine unique party members to travel with, battle beside, and romance as The Waylanders comes to Steam Early Access this summer.

A Coruña, Spain - March 27, 2020 - Gato Salvaje has shared the full roster of companions for their upcoming time travelling fantasy RPG based on Celtic mythology. The Waylanders, headed for an early access launch this summer, was heavily inspired by RPG classics such as Dragon Age: Origins and Baldur's Gate. As such, The Waylanders will have a full roster of companions to travel beside the player's character as they step between Celtic and Medieval periods.

Without further ado, let's meet the team: 

Amergin is Master Druid of the court of King Ith. Bright, inspired, excited about life, and gifted at magic, he is known through the court for his charm and sharp wit. Amergin believes with all his heart that the world is out of balance, and he has devoted himself to becoming part of the solution. 

A distant relative of King Ith, Amergin's magickal prowess was discovered at an early age. He was sent to the Mage's College, where he was raised with little knowledge of the outside world. Though he excelled at his classes and was extremely well-liked, he developed a reputation for sometimes being close-minded when it came to opinions conflicting with the Celtic way of life. 

Amergin is regarded as a magical and political authority by other humans, but due to his youth, immortals rarely take him seriously. They should though, Amergin is the most powerful druid to grace the Celts in generations, a fact that he is only just coming to realize. 

Studious, serious, and sometimes overly blunt– Berath is a quiet immortal professor. Underneath his often cold & analytical exterior is a kind, gentle soul who is not afraid to rib others with a playfully snarky comment. Don't be fooled by his passion for craft, cooking, and plants — with his knowledge of the bow, Berath is generally one of the most dangerous people in any room. 

Unlike many Mourians, who have a zest for life and enjoy drama, Berath embraced his immortality by relishing small moments of light. He connects with those who are struggling by reminding them of the little things that are going well. Berath still finds wonder in the tiniest butterfly and mystery in the rainbow reflection of morning dew. Every moment is a meditation. 

Berath has dealt with depression his entire life. While his overall demeanor is calm, a pervasive undercurrent of deep sadness he cannot shake. As an immortal who has been living with a mental illness for generations, he's come to accept that's just how things are going to be. 

 

Delba is the youngest daughter of the Fomorian king. Only centuries old, she is one of the youngest Fomorians. Her mother disappeared on the surface when she was a child, and she's been obsessed with exploring the human world since. Delba's vision is that the Fomorians will be able to show the humans that they're not monsters, and will one day find a happier life on the surface in coexistence.  

As a Fomorian, Delba is enormous, and most people on the surface find her scary, an opinion she finds hilarious. Delba's tough and violent when she needs to be, but she'd much rather be playing music and telling dirty jokes with her friends.  

Optimistic to a fault, Delba wants the Fomorians to stop living in the shadows and to lead them  in a triumphant return to the surface. She hopes to inspire others to be more accepting of her kind, and will often neglect her own needs in order to make people like her. Everything is Fomorian first for Delba– and when it comes to conflicts she doesn't care as much about morality as she does about practicality and pushing her own cause.   

A Greek mercenary in his early twenties, Heraklios loves glory more than anything else in the world. He insists, nearly to the point of obsession, that every fight be as fair as possible. He will sometimes make situations substantially harder on himself just so that he can live up to that sense of fairness. As well, Heraklios tries to stand up against injustice anywhere he sees it, but this can get him into trouble when he intervenes where he isn't wanted. 

Outside of combat situations, Heraklios is a little awkward, but sweet and full of bravado. He's very traditionally masculine in a number of ways– including his love of beer, a good laugh, and bad jokes. He has an encyclopedic knowledge of Greek legends and myths, and will recount them loudly, and with many embellishments to anyone who asks. Or doesn't. 

Heraklios struggles with impostor syndrome. Despite being unbelievably skilled, he never feels like he is enough– that all of his accomplishments have been lucky breaks, and his failures have been deserved. Heraklios's biggest dream is to earn glory, worthy of love and go down in history as a hero, and above all else — to feel like he really, truly deserved it.  

The eldest daughter of a noble family in Meroe, in The Kingdom of Kush, she was sent to Egypt as a young teenager and educated in the best schools Alexandria could offer. Khaldun can read, write, and speak nearly a dozen languages, and can speak at length about the vast pantheons of Nubian & Egyptian gods and goddesses without checking reference materials. 

Proud of her heritage, Khaldun prefers to wear clothing styles that reflect her Egyptian culture. She relocated to Brigantia with Queen Escota and Prince Lugaid five years ago and these costumes and styles still seem foreign and overly elegant to her Celtic peers. 

Khaldun's necromantic powers come from her unwavering faith in the Egyptian pantheon and her devotion as a priestess to the god Osiris. This occasionally put her in conflict with some of the more devout Celtic worshipers she encounters.  

Mal is a mid thirties, tough-as-nails rogue who loves violence for the sake of violence. Luckily, she has channeled this love into a career killing dangerous monsters. She doesn't talk much, would rather be caught dead than in a dress, and perversely enjoys smelling a little bit like death to keep people from talking to her. If you don't seem dangerous or interesting, she won't give you the time of day. The only time she's seen smiling is when she's killing something.  

Those who get close to Mal notice two things: her knives and her golden eye. The story goes that years ago she lost an eye in a fight with a monster and her husband at the time, a Mourian man, saved her life by pouring magic imbued gold in her empty eye socket. Now, if she places the eye of a deceased creature or person in that socket, she can see how that individual died. This moment of death comes not just from the deceased's eyes, but also their feelings at their time of death, which distort the vision. A murder victim may perscieve their killer as more horrifying or monstrous than they are in real life. 

The werewolf curse of Rea's clan has intensified over time, with each new generation becoming more lupine than the last. Rea was the first werewolf to be born without speech. Though she walks on all fours, she is more intelligent and empathetic than most humans. Rea thinks deeply about every action, and chooses her moves and howls carefully. She believes that it's in everyone's best interest to work together and strive towards a better future.  

Do not confuse Rea for a dog. Where pet dogs are loyal out of pure love for their masters, Rea's loyalty stems from her need to prove she is just as human as everyone else. A difficult task when you're essentially nonverbal. Not being able to talk when you can think in complex sentences is frustrating, and sometimes she lashes out. 

Rea has a different perspective on the corruption plaguing the land than the rest of your party. She hopes that those being corrupted beyond recognition might one day be cured, and that whatever magic brings about that cure might finally help teach her how to communicate with others the way she's always dreamed about. In the meantime, she'll continue practicing trying to wrap her tongue around words while standing on her hind legs.  

Nearing fifty, Brigg is your oldest non-immortal party member in the game. Until a few years ago, they had been a commander in King Ith's army until they retired in order to allow their young protegeé, Tiana, to take her place. Brigg supports Tiana completely from their new role as an advisor.  

Brigg was born in a tiny village far outside of Brigantia, but ran away to join the military when they were a teenager. They've been fighting longer than many of your companions have been alive. They're incredibly optimistic, and will try to do the right thing whenever possible.  

Despite their age and scars from numerous battles, Brigg has remained feminine in a very girlish, innocent way. They're a tomboy for sure... all swords, punches, and bloodshed... but at the end of a hard day of brutal training they'll make flower crowns for the younger warriors to help them relax. 

Brigg's introversion can sometimes get in their way, as people don't expect it from such a physically tough, commanding person, but they're deeply private about their true thoughts and feelings. Brigg rarely engages in conversations that go below surface level.  

Trasté is a Goblin!  

Trasté is from Aunes, a coastal city. Many trasnos there. Many fun jokes and much music!!  

Youngest of the trasnos, but who knows what that means in your years. Trasnos do not care about time. Time is fake, probably. Unless they're waiting for a person to... hehe... come across one of their pranks!!  

Trasté different too, from other trasnos. Usually trasnos do not care for people problems. Unless people problems are from pranks done by trasno. Trasté care very hard. Trasté wish Trasté was a people.  

You changed from one thing into another thing. Maybe you can make Trasté a people?? Worth a try!!!  

Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord is now available in Early Access on Steam with a 10% launch discount and an additional 10% off if you own any previous Mount & Blade, until April 13th.

Matt Chat talked to Kevin Saunders about NWN2 and its expansions Mask of the Betrayer and Storm of Zehir.

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In the third installment, Kevin talks about Dwarfs, Alpha Protocol, Neverwinter Nights 2 and the expansions Mask of the Betrayer and Storm of Zehir. We also chat about pre-made vs. custom characters, procedural vs. handmade content, and the future of natural language processing in games.

Gamespot has collected some info about the upcoming strategy RPG Gears Tactics:

What You Need To Know About Gears Tactics, The New PC Strategy Game

Microsoft's popular shooter series extends to a new genre with Gears Tactics.

Xbox's iconic cover-based shooter is switching gears for its next big release. Developers The Coalition and Splash Damage are launching a new strategy game set in the Gears of War universe called Gears Tactics. It arrives at the end of April for PC (and eventually on Xbox One), and is a canonical entry in the series. This is the first non-shooter release in the Gears series since the mobile game Gears Pop. It's a big change of pace for the franchise, and GameSpot recently had the opportunity to check out some gameplay and speak with one of the lead developers to find out more.

What It's All About

Gears Tactics is a turn-based strategy game developed by Gears 5 multiplayer studio Splash Damage in collaboration with main series developer The Coalition. The game was conceived as a way for Microsoft to extend the Gears franchise beyond its traditional home on console, and try to break into a new market by entering the strategy genre. The studio tells GameSpot that it understands PC is the platform of choice for many, and launching Gears Tactics as a PC-first game (featuring robust graphical and accessibility options) is an effort to address this gap.

Gears Tactics is a single-player only game that describes itself as "faster, more open, and intense" than other strategy games on the market. There is no grid, and you don't move square-to-square. Instead, players can freely navigate the map each turn using three actions--moving, shooting, or executing a skill. The Coalition describes Gears Tactics as a more action-oriented title than other strategy offerings, which is fitting for the traditionally action-heavy Gears series. There are numerous enemies per encounter, and this is meant to hearken back to the main Gears franchise where enemies come at you relentlessly. There are plenty of enemies you may remember, including Wretches and Brumaks who act and attack like series fans would expect, as well as at least one enemy that is brand-new to the Gears universe--the Disciple.

[...]

Thanks henriquejr!

Forgottenlor had some time on his hands and decided to review ATOM RPG to find out if it was what he exepcted of it.

The digital age and crowd funding have supported a market for retro games and ATOM RPG is a perfect example. Anyone who has played the classic Fallout will feel very familiar with the game’s UI, color pallet, overworld map, and the general gameplay including its combat, character system, and branching dialogues. For anyone who hasn’t played Fallout, ATOM RPG is a post-apocalyptic isometric RPG. It features a well balanced mix of story based quests, which can often be solved without violence for those characters with the appropriate high skills or attributes; also, exploration in a big open world via world map, and turn based combat featuring an action point system. Unlike many other post-apocalyptic RPGs, ATOM RPG is set in the Soviet Union, and its tone is less grimdark, which isn’t that hard since most post-apocalyptic games feature a world fallen into total savagery. Gameplaywise ATOM RPG doesn’t do anything revolutionary, but in a retro game, that is exactly what the core audience wants. In this case, ATOM RPG offers fairly complex character mechanics, and a number of ways to build a character that will reveal itself as a failure at some point during the game. For those looking for a lengthy game with a balanced mix of combat, story, and exploration, Atom RPG has a lot to offer.

@PCInvasion The Wastelanders update for Fallout 76 has understandably been delayed.

Quarantine order

Just like the real world, the digital denizens of the Wasteland have been (indirectly) affected by the COVID-19 crisis. Bethesda has opted to delay the Fallout 76: Wastelanders expansion by an extra week to cope. This will also affect the game’s arrival on Steam, which they have delayed by a week as well.

Fallout 76: Wastelanders is set to add voiced NPCs, introduce dialogue choices, and even add a reputation system. Some would say these are the primary hallmarks of a Fallout game, and it’s good to see them arriving at last.

[...]

The Early Access version of the dungeon management game Legend of Keepers is now available:

Legend of Keepers

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In this original mix of Dungeon Management and Roguelite, you will lead your career as a Dungeon Master!

Features

• Join the Dungeons Company and climb the corporate ladder
• Crush so-called "heroes" and protect the company's treasures
• Hire monsters, manage your employees and your stock of traps
• Deal with employee strikes and other fun events

RogueDefender
Each run will be different but players will keep some of their Master's bonuses between runs. Like we've already mentioned, our game is a mix between Roguelite and Dungeon Management. How did we achieve that? By running many tests to find the perfect balance between management and dungeon phases!

Dungeon Phase
First, you will have to plan your defense against a group of adventurers. Check their stats and resistances, then place the best traps and monsters to defeat them! When you think your dungeon is ready, let the crawl begin!

You will then be able to watch those heroes die! It's a reversed dungeon crawler: heroes will move through your dungeon and will trigger the traps you placed. When a group of adventurers encounters a group of monsters you positioned in your dungeon, a turn-based fight will happen!

Master Classes
Put yourself in the shoes of a Dungeon Master! You will be able to choose between our 3 original classes!

Gears Tactics will be released on April 28:

Gears Tactics

Gears Tactics is the fast-paced, turn-based strategy game set 12 years before the first Gears of War. Cities on the planet Sera are beginning to fall to the monstrous threat rising from underground – the Locust Horde. With the government in disarray, a squad of survivors emerge as humanity's last hope. Play as Gabe Diaz, recruiting, developing and commanding your squads on a desperate mission to hunt down the relentless and powerful leader of the Locust army: Ukkon, the mastermind monster who makes monsters. Against all odds and fighting for survival, outsmart your enemy in uniquely brutal, turn-based tactical combat. Experience the intensity of one of the most-acclaimed video game sagas in an exciting new way.

• Immersive and character-driven story: Play as the defiant soldier Gabe Diaz, rescuing and building your troops in a journey of leadership, survival and sacrifice.
• Customizable squad and equipment: Prepare your troops to face tough enemies, upgrading their skills and outfitting them with loot collected in challenging missions.
• Aggressive gameplay: Command your squad in fast paced, turn-based battles, advancing and surviving intense and visceral encounters with the unstoppable, swarming enemy.
• Massive boss battles: Defeat towering deadly bosses that defy your strategies and completely change the scale of the battle.

Xbox Profile Required. Sign in with your existing profile or create one for free.

Three new updates have been made available since our last news post about the Kickstarter campiagn of Gamedec.

The first is about the languages that are available in the game:

Gamedec will support these languages text-wise on launch:

- English

- Polish

- German

- Russian

- Chinese (simplified)

We cannot promise anything more, for now, translating a game with that many lines of dialogues is very expensive. As an indie studio, we need to carefully decide where such an investment makes sense. We’re looking closely at our Steam and GOG.COM wishlists and backers’ whereabouts to determine which countries have the most of our community.

The second is about the True Detective mode stretch goal being reached:

You have unlocked the first Stretch Goal! You are amazing! Thank you! The fans from across the world are spreading the word and pledging. And we can clearly see the effects of the community which is building here live on Kickstarter! We also try to reply to your DMs as fast as we can and clarify all possible issues, don’t hesitate to ask us anything. 

The third is about the additional interactions stretch goal being funded and the next stretch goal:

Second Stretch Goal has been unlocked! We feel astonished that so many media outlets, websites, blogs, and content creators started posting articles and videos about Gamedec! Of course, we can't forget about reddit and other social media platforms - the feedback is overwhelming!

We've reached over 70k, so it's time to show you our third Stretch Goal, this time its Additional character customization.

Feeling fancy? We have five more skins to choose from!

Reaching the goal of $85,000 will unlock more options to customize your character. Many of you asked for a bigger skin pool with classic additions to your character style - fedora anyone? Any guesses? What skins would you like to see? Who knows, maybe you'll inspire our designers and add another piece to this community-driven campaign :)

@Bluesnews The Deed is an adventure RPG game that is free to keep forever until Monday afternoon.

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A keenly dark twist on the traditional murder mystery setting, The Deed is an Adventure/RPG game about getting away with murder.

Arran Bruce, the rightful heir to Dunshiel House, returns to his family home after discovering that his abusive father has decided to disinherit him from his Will in favour of his sadistic, deranged young sister. In a fit of anger and greed, Arran has decided to remove his sister from the equation in order to restore his own inheritance. Can he manage to get away with such a foul deed?

• Meet the Family:
  Explore Dunshiel House and encounter Arran's twisted, dysfunctional family and their servants. Take care, though - everything that you say or do can have an impact on the outcome of The Deed!
  
  
• Choose the Weapon:
  A rope, a candlestick or good old-fashioned rat poison? There are many household items that can be put to a dark and nefarious use. Choose carefully from ten possible murder weapons, bearing in mind who might become a suspect as a result of your selection.
  
  
• Plant the Evidence:
  Father, mother, maid, butler ... any of these individuals could take the blame for your heinous act, if you can find the right evidence, plant it in the right location and manage to raise the suspicions of the Inspector.
  
  
• Face the Inspector:
  When the deed is done, it's time to face the music and be interviewed by the wily, perceptive Inspector. Can you dodge his questions and avert his suspicions? Will you walk away a free man? Many possible endings await ...

Yo can play the first episode of the J-RPG Sierra Ops for free on Steam - the other episodes are not released yet:

Sierra Ops : Episode 1 - Collapsing Daybreak

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Play as Captain Junius Fahrenheit, a soldier of the UTV onboard the state-of-the-art ship, the Sierra, as him and his crew are thrown into humanity’s first interplanetary war. 

The Enhanced Edition of the RPGMaker game Ara Fell is now available - highly recommended:

Ara Fell: Enhanced Edition now available!

Greetings Ara Fell fans! We are pleased to announce that Ara Fell: Enhanced Edition is now live on Steam!

The new Enhanced Edition features a slew of upgrades, including a revamped battle system, new character classes and skills, new side quests, an overhauled UI, upgraded crafting system, new enchanting system, enhanced aspect ratios, new difficulty modes, an autosave feature, Twitch integration, and more!

Users who previously owned Ara Fell will receive the update automatically! New customers can now purchase the Enhanced Edition for $14.99.

Whether you're a veteran Ara Fell fan or playing for the first time, now is a great time to dive into the world of Ara Fell: Enhanced Edition!

PCGamesN reports that Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord will be in Early Access a day earlier, meaning March 30th.

In the announcement, TaleWorlds reveals Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord – a prequel to the standalone Mount & Blade expansion Warband – will be available to play in Early Access from 03:00 PT / 06:00 ET / 11:00 BST on March 30. The dev team “has been working hard these last weeks to keep the development process on track, even under the present circumstances that forced the team to switch to remote work two weeks ago”, the release explains.

“Thanks to the great effort of the whole team, and hearing the requests of our community to release the game as soon as possible, Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord will release in Early Access a day before.”

[...]

PC Gamer went hands on with tactical turn-based strategy game Gears Tactics. The game is due to release April 28th on Steam.

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Gears Tactics was announced at E3 two minutes after a Gears Funko Pop mobile game, which automatically made me skeptical. Spin-offs can be a bad even when they aren't playing second fiddle to Funko Pops. I didn't expect Gears Tactics to be bad so much as I didn't expect much at all. But after playing Tactics for three hours, I was taking it seriously.

What I found was really fun strategy combat, a bit breezier than XCOM but a far better adaptation of Gears than I thought possible. Even in the context of an XCOM-inspired strategy game, chainsawing baddies in a shower of ludicrous gore is still the good stuff. 

Gears Tactics brings several surprising and thoughtful new ideas to what could've been a very derivative game, and the developers at The Coalition and Splash Damage really wanted to get across how serious they're taking this as a game built first and foremost for the PC. "From day one we wanted to write a love letter to PC gaming, care of the Gears brand," said design director Tyler Bielman. "It was really always in our minds that we wanted a deep enough experience, with compelling enough gameplay to really hold a PC gamer's attention."

That commitment to the PC also extends to the tech powering Gears Tactics, from its detailed cutscenes to its embarrassment of graphics settings. But first, we had to talk about executions.

[...]

The post-apocalyptic RPG OUTTA GAS has been released:

OUTTA GAS

In OUTTA GAS, you play as “Full Metal” Jack on an epic quest to find gas in a post-apocalyptic wasteland RPG. Travel across four unique acts and blast your way through a bizarre cast of monsters to achieve your goal and get back on the road. Will you make it to the Party at the End of the World on time?

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Features

• Unique shooting gallery combat lets you destroy body tiles to damage monster health and decrease their combat stats. Go for the eyes to reduce their aim, take out legs to make them easier to hit, or blast away claws and teeth to decrease their power - it’s all up to you! Decimate your enemies bit by bit!
• Over 25 weapons add spice to your savagery. Slash, shred, explode, burn, radiate, or inflict pain on your enemies in many other ways!
• Over 200 weapon upgrades to increase your deadliness and overall badassery.
• Over 70 unique monsters to strategically disassemble, any way you like. Master your enemy’s anatomy, uncover their weaknesses, and use the perfect weapon to destroy them in style!
• Over 50 utility items to fine tune your death-dealing experience. It’s after the apocalypse - do things YOUR way!
• Over 50 character upgrades to unlock new abilities on your way to becoming the ultimate wasteland warrior!

The tactical RPG Grand Guilds has been released:

Grand Guilds

Grand Guilds is a story-driven, tactical RPG with unique card combat mechanics. You and your comrades will journey the lands of Irin, a continent on the brink of another war, while engaging in challenging tactical combat. Each playable character has unique mechanics and abilities that, when combined properly, will make the difference between complete victory or utter defeat.

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Features:

• Turn-Based Strategy - Learn and master the fundamentals of tactical combat. In Grand Guilds positioning, terrain, and your action points will mean the difference between victory and defeat.
• Card Combat System - A diverse set of skill cards will form the abilities of your units, making every turn more dynamic and each decision more important and meaningful.
• Deck Building - Tailor each character to your playstyle by customizing their skill decks. Obtain powerful new abilities by completing quests or leveling your characters.
• Guild Quests - Embark on challenging, procedural missions that yield exciting rewards. Increase your guild's reputation to earn bonuses that will aid you in combat.
• Diverse Cast - Each playable character has unique mechanics and abilities that enable them to fill various roles in your squad such as tank, support, and damage dealer.
• Epic Narrative - Unravel the mysteries shrouding Irin, a continent on the brink of war. Follow Eliza and her companions as they journey through this vast, magical world.
• Partial Voice Acting - Heroes will shout out their actions in combat and express their feelings during dialogue with short voice lines.

Will you help Eliza in her struggle to save the beautiful world of Irin? 

The open word prototype of Vagrus: The Riven Realms has been made available to Fig backers.

The Open-World Prototype of Vagrus has been released to all our Fig Backers. It is a major step towards getting the game ready to eventually bring it to here on to Steam for all of you to enjoy.

What It Brings

A ton of stuff, really. This is the game we've been working on, compared to which 'Pilgrims of the Wasteland' was only a small appetizer. That said, this large segment is only the beginning, and areas (with their content) will be added later on at intervals. We have discussed this an other details of the Open World Campaign here.

In short, a gigantic area with

• dozens of settlements and points of interest to explore,
• six Companions,
• over 20 new enemy types,
• five new soundtracks,
• character creation,

and a ton of story content for you to discover are coming in the build.

We are very excited to see and hear your reactions, how long it takes you to find all the content, and of course to find out how difficult it is to stay alive for players in the cruel wastelands of the Riven Realms.

See you soon on the dark continent!

The second part of Matt Chats interview with Kevin Saunders talks more about Torment: Tides of Numenera.

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Kevin is back to talk more about the development of Torment: Tides of Numenera and how he applied lessons he learned from his earlier involvement Shattered Galaxy MMO. We also discuss the pros and cons of commercial publishers vs. crowdfunding and the fallout from the infamous turn-based vs. realtime with pause poll for TS:T. How faithful is Torment to Monte Cook's vision?

Gamedec has been funded on Kickstarter and they have announced their first stretch goal.

Thank you all for this fantastic support! The last two days were mesmerizing - you showed us so much love, gave tons of energy to carry on with our work, and stood with us on our Discord around the clock!

We have more ideas to share, and hopefully, this is a promising start to a grand voyage. Together, let’s make Gamedec even bigger and better! You were so kind and spread the word about this project so well that we hit the 100% mark in such a short notice! On our first-ever crowdfunding campaign! We couldn’t do this without you! Every retweet, every share, and article brought us to this update. So for that reason - We thank you!

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The $60,000 stretch goal is: A True Detective mode!

Feel that you've made the wrong decision? Too bad - You won't get a chance to revise your actions. In this mode, we have omitted the option to reload.

A progress update for Stoneshard dubbed Trollslayer promises to be available April 14th.

In the Kickstarter update of today, we learn that Gamedec is also coming to GOG and that they have reached 70% of their goal.

The responses we've received during the first 24 hours, and a fact that we reached 70% of our goal makes us very happy. Thank you for so many questions, comments, shares, posts, and of course - pledges! It's so good to see such a big response from the Kickstarter community. 

We have some HUGE news about the distribution platforms of the Gamedec.  

Many of you asked us in comments and private messages about GOG.COM!

You’ve commented, you’ve asked for it, and now we can announce it – Gamedec will be available on GOG.COM at launch! 

That also means that when the campaign will end, and we will start sending surveys - You will be able to choose the platform of your choice (Steam/GOG.COM) and will receive the key to that platform!

The second installation of the Developer Diary for King's Bounty II is here, in the form of a video.

King's Bounty II - Dev Diary #2: Evolution of the series!

Prague, Czech Republic, March 26, 2020 - 1C Entertainment presents the second episode of the King's Bounty II  dev diaries series. In this new entry you will learn about the lineage of King's Bounty, which is rooted deep in the history of the gaming industry. You will also find answers to important questions:

• What are the signature features of the King's Bounty series?
• What are the differences and similarities of all the games in the series?
• Are the King's Bounty games a single franchise?
• And finally - why is King's Bounty II considered the heir to the previous games?

King's Bounty II  is offering a fresh take on one of the oldest series of fantasy role-playing games. Players will enjoy a fantasy adventure with non-linear plot combined with the original turn-based tactical battles of King's Bounty. Every decision of the player matters - whether it is in battles against hordes of undead or communicating with local folks. Immerse yourself in an amazing world where fantasy mixes with reality. This world is full of bright events, memorable characters, and moral dilemmas!

Stay tuned for more inside stories, exclusive updates, and latest news, only available through 1C Entertainment's video diaries video diaries! King's Bounty II  is set to launch in 2020 on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.

Upcoming dev diary episodes will provide more details on story, combat systems, and playable characters in King's Bounty II.

Some Wasteland 3 previews and a 53 minute gameplay video.

DSOGaming reported on a gameplay video from Rob Cram.

inXile Entertainment has launched that Closed Beta phase for Wasteland 3. Therefore, below you can find a video showing 53 minutes of gameplay footage from it. This video showcases the game’s player customization, as well as its opening combat area.

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Twinfinite was not overly impressed with what was shown.

There is a cover system at the heart of combat encounters, with your Rangers being harder to hit depending on whether they are in half or full cover. Cover is directional, so flanking is essential to overcoming the oftentimes overwhelming numbers of foes that are thrown at you in any given encounter.

Character progression goes beyond simply combat efficacy, and while you can spec a given Ranger towards battlefield dominance, ensuring you have squad members able to handle things like locked doors or password-protected computers and electronics can give you a huge advantage as well.

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One aspect that was disappointing though was the presentation, which definitely feels a little bit low budget. Wasteland 3’s development was crowdfunded initially, and it shows. inXile was purchased by Xbox Game Studios during production and received additional funding, but the majority of it went towards implementing conversational scenes and hiring more voice actors.

Entertainium wondered how stealth would work.

A spot that the beta didn’t make very clear upon getting to that objective was how stealth could ultimately work in the final version of the game, as we got to a spot where yet another insect droid was patrolling. I was able to sneak by while its back was turned, as the flavor text humorously mentioned that that thing would totally cream us in battle, but it didn’t make clear how detection works within the game, which I’m hoping will be developed in the final version.

Anyway, The Patriarch made quite the impression as he quickly explained what he needed from us in exchange for sending supplies to our starving comrades back in the desert. We were to help him attack and capture his estranged kids who took up residence in a few different spots in Colorado. His dialog was on par with his attitude, for someone who would call a whole state as his own, and expectedly grand for someone who names their kids Liberty, Valor, and Victory. 

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CG Magonline wanted to try the multiplayer out more.

One aspect that I did not play, however, that I want to test myself is the multiplayer component. Wasteland 3 allows for two players to play with each other in the same campaign, dividing up the playable characters evenly in order to do so. Both players are free to fight side by side with each other in tactical battles, but they are also free to explore opposite ends of the map and tackle challenges on their even. The multiplayer is even asynchronous, and one player is fully capable of continuing the campaign by themselves while the other is asleep. That said, InExile didn’t want to facilitate harmful griefing as a result, instead focusing on playful interactions and accounting for the edge cases that result from two players exploring the same map at the same time.

“We didn’t want to make it so that you were trying to kill the other person, but we allow you to grief the other player,” Fargo said. “ I think one of my favourite things [you can do] is like, you can make a snow pile and throw snow at the other player. Or you can urinate on the snow, turn it yellow, and throw it and give the guy a disease instead.”

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Thanks Farflame!

Gamingbolt interviewed the devs of Nioh 2 about the game.

Difficulty and accessibility in games is something that’s become a pertinent topic over the last year, especially in games like Nioh that seem like they’re designed around challenging the player. What’s Nioh 2’s approach to difficulty in light of that?

Because Nioh is an action RPG franchise, our top priority was pursuing the response time of the actions. Next, to ensure the exhilaration from victories, we set out to find the perfect balance between game difficulty and options of various solutions for single play, including RPG elements that help strengthen the characters.

On top of that, if RPG elements are still not enough to overcome game difficulty, or one cannot invest too much time and effort into character development, there are online features that allow players to enlist help from others in order to progress in the game.

It seems like greater enemy variety is something that Nioh 2 is putting a great deal of emphasis on. How does that play into things like combat and progression?

As a game of battles, enemy variety is indispensable in delivering a rich gaming experience.  Learning about your enemies is the biggest part of understanding the game. Once you know about an enemy inside and out, defeating it should become easier. And in an effort to keep the game engaging, we created a variety of maps and situations, as well as enemy combinations for players to take on. This is not only for keeping up the challenge, but also to ensure that the game is visually interesting, bringing depth to the world of Nioh.

Nioh’s focus on Japanese history was one of the most interesting things about its setting, but with Nioh 2, it looks like things are going to be a lot more fantastical- what sort of a balance does the game strike between those two aspects?

The period in which the story takes place is the most interesting time of the Japanese history. Having such a background, we cannot ignore the actual historical events nor not take advantage of them. That said, it was important to interpret the time from Nioh’s perspective with its own fantastical touch. The defining factor for that would be the setting of “two individuals, one Hideyoshi.” The identity of Hideyoshi that people are familiar with is only one of them, and the success of Hideyoshi was also built on our protagonist’s contribution, bringing about a fresh tale without conflicting with the well-known historical facts.

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Thanks Farflame!

@Gematsu HOLMGANG: Memories of the Forgotten is described as a 3D Quick RPG Action-Adventure Game inspired by an epic fantasy saga of books and it is on Kickstarter now.

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Holmgang is a hack n’ slash at its core, and each character will have their own unique combat style. Additionally, you’ll be able to craft your own combos in the combo editor and evolve each character’s skill tree to make the experience truly unique and personal. 

During the game, you’ll face lots of enemies with different behaviors, weapons and weaknesses, so your gear and combo configuration will decide if you’re victorious! 

JOURNEY

In Holmgang, you’ll explore the world of Dracorum by land and sea, finding friends and foes along the way. Some of them will give you quests or sell you unique items, but others will try to deceive you. Choose your path wisely, because there’s not only one, and some of them have intricate environmental puzzles that could lead you to certain death. Plus, each main character will be able to access secret areas with rare loot. This adds a high replayability factor, like any good old “Metroidvania”.

Remember, there's no single right way to play the game… so experience them all!  

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Thanks Farflame!

@DSOGaming Wolcen Studio announced their future plans for Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem.

Operation: Second Dawn

We initially planned to put a top priority on new league content and on the new Chapter shortly after the release of the game. We’ve decided to swap the priority between the production of new content and bug fixing, game stabilization, quality of life, and recruitment during the next 4 months.

This decision comes with a name: Operation Second Dawn. Its goal is to focus on fixing several issues and invest in resources and infrastructures to make sure that the game will grow on a healthy base and a happy community.

Testing improvement

This is one of our primary objectives: reinforce the testing. We’re now working with an external QA team to improve our testing process, spot issues sooner, and fix them before a new version goes live.

On that note, we want to inform you that patch 1.0.10 will be deployed early next week instead of this week. We’ve made some changes that require extensive testing and we want to make sure that it works properly.

Story improvements

We want to bring some love to Chapter 3 and improve the diversity and the pace to make its gameplay events and encounters more appealing. In addition to adding more visual diversity, we will also add new enemies and new enemies variants.

Quality of life improvements

Localization quality and clarity, the possibility to rebind left-click(we heard you!), a Gate of Fates search function, ailment stack numbers on monsters, a new quest reward system to avoid having a window in the middle of your screen when you receive your reward(along with the possibility to stack your reward and collect them whenever you want), and more...

Balancing

You can also expect balancing improvements in addition to bug fixing. Our goal is to improve the skills that are currently less played, there should not be a lot of damage reduction or skill nerfs. The Patch 1.0.10.0 will start to bring some improvements in that direction.
We will, however, continue to intervene on extremely unbalanced skills, items, or nodes as we did for Bleeding Edge if any come to our attention.

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Thanks Farflame!

The tactical RPG Iron Danger has been released:

Iron Danger

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Iron Danger is a tactical combat game with a unique time manipulation mechanic. A never before seen combination that combines the tactical depth of turn-based games with the exciting action of real-time games. 

Dragon Banner is a fantasy game of strategy and building, is now raising funds on Kickstarter.

Dragon Banner is a video game of strategy and building coming to PC (Windows). It is built from the love of building blocks and real-time strategy games. Dragon Banner is created by one person over the course of seven years, working on it here and there.

In Dragon Banner you take on the role of a commander. You hire villagers to gather or generate resources, build defenses to protect them, and hire an army to fight alongside you. You will customize a town as your headquarters, where you take on quests and purchase equipment to alter your command style.

The good news is that Dragon Banner will be complete in 2020!  The developer is passionate and motivated to finish the project.  The Kickstarter campaign supports development on new content to expand the game and to build a community of backers to help spread word of the game. Some backer rewards include multiple keys to download multiple copies of the game to share with a friend!

You can also check the video out on Steam.

The tactical roguelite game Bonfire is coming to Steam this Thursday, the 26th of March.

Bonfire is a bite-sized tactical RPG about journey and failure, centred around rapid turn-based combat, with a story so gloomy it's cute how gloomy it is.

 

It comes out on Steam this Thursday (March 26th), priced $17.99 (10% launch discount).

 

The design is all about distilling classic jRPG combat into its key strategic components, so that each battle feels less like a tax form and more like a puzzle to solve (think what Into the Breach did with strategy games). It's quick, it's punchy, and it's deeply tactical. The story is heavily character-driven and focused on the dynamic between fantasy heroes traveling through a world they already failed to save (does some funky things with it too, as the game is otherwise procedural).

 

It’s an early access release, but already highly polished and it works as a self-contained product with around 20h -30h of gameplay.

Bonfire is a tactical roguelite about journey, failure, and heroes who care a little too much.

Hildie’s world has collapsed. She and her group of heroic misfits journey through a desolate world that’s well past saving. Her quest to destroy the Faceless Overlord of the Mournfolk may be hopeless, but she’s kinda into lost causes.

Bonfire is a procedurally generated, deeply tactical RPG with a rapid battle system and heroes who care a little too much. A game of plans that go sideways, crazy builds that somehow work, quick gameplay sessions, and a cute-sad story that binds it all together.

Roadmap number five of Starpoint Gemini brings the game into beta.

As one awesome man once said: „ That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind. “, our Starpoint Gemini 3 development process is currently at one such crossroad. With Roadmap milestone 5 being reached, we're entering the second half of the entire process.

First of all, you've probably noticed there was a longer pause between the last two updates. That was planned since the amount of assets and features needed for this cross into the beta stage was really huge. After all, you'll get the chance to check it all out!

The roadmap originally called this milestone „Narrative“, but we'll call it „Beta“, since the size of this update grew significantly in the past months. Everything planned for the Narrative update is here, but so is a lot of other cool stuff.

So, what's new? Well, to check this out, you'll need about 5 seconds of playtime - starting with the main character. Jonathan Bold was given a complete overhaul, from the 3D model to animations. The old model has been removed, since, you know... Gemini isn't big enough for two Bolds.

What's more important is that Bold's journey continues further with this update. For the first time after Early Access launch, the main campaign is unlocked several steps further. There are new places to visit, new characters to meet, new intrigues to uncover... In the new missions you'll be able to start noticing changes in the main character’s personality. These changes will become more and more significant later on as we near the final stages of the campaign. The beta game version does not enables the entire storyline, but pushes it several steps ahead.

All of you that already played through the game, will also notice that the first part of the campaign has also been upgraded with new animations and scenes. This is the plan till the end of development - to upgrade and polish everything, including the already implemented game elements.

For destruction-oriented addicts we also have a couple of treats. The first is the arrival of anti capital ship combat mechanics. You now have weakpoints to target and exploit on these juggernauts, but beware - they also bite back and usually aren't alone. Note here that this system is just a small part of what we'll need later for player commanded capital ships. The second treat in this category is the addition of ADAH combat mechanics - our sweet drone can now encounter bad drones and waste them. ADAH can also find and gather loot on her away missions. Oh, and did I mention that the ADAH model is also replaced with a new enhanced one?

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A new trailer for the Falconeer has been made available, featuring The Mancer order.

Developed by Tomas Sala, The Falconeer will land on Xbox One and PC in 2020. 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 Imperial throne holds power over all of the Northern Ursee, but derives power from the noble trading houses and the ancient decrees granting it the support of the Mancer Order. 

The Order houses tremendous stores of knowledge in giant vaults. These vaults are accompanied by communities of administrators and traders, who are tasked with handling the steady stream of applicants wishing to obtain technology from the Order.

This month's developers journal for Solasta, shows information about the updated spell icons, the updated character creation, environments, giant eagles and bloopers. But, perhaps more importantly, it also has a new video showing some alpha footage (if the video doesn't show, here is the link).