VG247 give their first impressions of Dungeons Encounters.

Dungeon Encounters is interesting, deep, and probably the most mechanically rich Square Enix game in years

What are the most important aspects of a role-playing game? Is it the characters, the story? The artistic vision of a believable yet fantastical world? Or is it the mechanics? Hiroyuki Ito definitely thinks it’s the latter.

[...]

It’s brilliant. My worry, though, is that the stripped-back nature of this game might put some off. Certainly I don’t exactly get an air of confidence from Square Enix about the game - a skim of my inbox reveals a grand total of two press releases about it. In fairness, it was announced and released just two weeks apart - but I also got four Guardians of the Galaxy press alerts in the same period. VG247 received no offer of review code, even on release day. This made me worried it might be a bit crap - you know how publishers will sometimes hide games - but in fact, the hype machine is just dormant for what might be Square Enix’s best game of the year, probably because it isn’t loud and brash with sexy graphics and lavish cutscenes. That makes me a bit sad. This is the sort of game that, were it indie, an indie specialist publisher would make a huge deal of; they’d know it was something special.

What doesn’t make me sad is the fact that after all these years, Square Enix’s most talented designer still hasn’t lost it. This is as low budget and as simple as games from a mega publisher such as this can come - but eight years after I last asked a Square Enix executive where exactly Ito was hiding, and after some fans were left disappointed that he wasn’t on FF16, he’s sent this out into the world: a sublime bit of game design that quite possibly could be adapted for a much bigger game in the future.

Dungeon Encounters is something special. I’m only halfway into the game (at least, based on the advertised number of floors), but it’s already quietly one of my favourite games of 2021. Don’t sleep on it just because it isn’t flashy. It’s out now on PS4, Switch, and PC.

RPGamer reports that Grinding Gear Games has announced the next expansion for Path of Exile. Scourge will be released very soon, October 22nd, and is free for all players.

Path of Exile: Scourge Expansion Revealed

[...]

The Scourge Challenge League sees players coming across a figure that appears out of nowhere and trying to escape from an unseen threat. She hands players a device called the Blood Crucible, encouraging them to implant it in their body, which they do. As players advance through areas, the Blood Crucible is filled with the blood of defeated monsters. Once it fills up a certain amount, players can activate it and are sent into a parallel reality. This is a version of Wraeclast in the midst of an apocalyptic event where it being overrun by demons called the Scourge. The amount of blood collected determines how long players can spend in this reality, though players can choose to shift back early if they wish. [...]

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Owlcat Games has a new patch for Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous.

Update 1.0.9c

A new patch 1.0.9c has arrived. It’s a small patch this time, but something big is coming, stay tuned.

Beware of possible plot spoilers below!

Quests

• Areelu's insidious plan could not be fulfilled - fixed;
• 'Where's My Dragon?' quest could get stuck after talking to Early Sunset at the Fleshmarkets - fixed.

Areas

• Bastion of Justice had a wrong terrain type - fixed;
• Fixed a crash in Mage's Tower;
• Scrubland by a Bend in the River had a wrong terrain type - fixed.

Crusade

• Bait action could prevent the enemies from taking their turn - fixed;
• Fixed the missing units issue when you changed the general of an army.

Classes & Mechanics

• Angel and Lich didn't have 10 level spells on 10 level mythic if they merged spellbooks. Fixed, but it requires the summary caster level of merged spellbooks to be at least 28 for these spells to work;
• Your character could lose Sneak Attack when changing Mythic Path from Trickster to Gold Dragon - fixed.

Turn-based mode

• Experimental fix for camera behaviour in turn-based mode in places with big difference in elevation;
• Pits weren't respecting the player's decision to play in turn-based mode - fixed.

UI

• One companion could fill multiple roles during rest - fixed;
• Upon changing the language settings, the names of settlements didn't change - fixed.

Misс

• Kervil the Sparkling Fist could get carried away playing with his weapon, and forget he needs to fight - fixed;
• Using Midnight Bolt in some situations still didn't work as it should - fixed.

Soldak Entertainment contacted us to announce they had a demo for Drox Operative 2.

Anna, Texas, October 14, 2021 - Soldak Entertainment today announced the availability of the Drox Operative 2 demo. Drox Operative 2 is a starship action RPG with warring alien races, fierce space battles, a dynamic, evolving galaxy, and co-op multiplayer for Windows and Linux.

The demo for Drox Operative 2 is only around 810MB, so there's no reason not to give it a try. Go download the demo now from:

http://www.soldak.com/Drox-Operative-2/Demo.html
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1305310/Drox_Operative_2/

Eons ago the Drox crushed and enslaved most of the ancient races and ruled the galaxy through their mighty Operatives. These elite starship captains were trained to accomplish the impossible at whatever cost. Whether employing stealth or brute force, they were always deadly. Using these Operatives, the Drox ruled the galaxy with an iron grip for over 100,000 years. Eventually realizing their Operatives were a threat, they attempted to assassinate all of them. They failed. The following Galactic Civil War was so devastating that the Drox are now extinct. The Drox Operative guild, now fully independent, survived.

Newer races emerged and thrived in the power void ...for a while. Then the ancients returned. The wars were devastating, but with the Drox Operatives on their side, the ancients were beaten back and a truce was established.

Since the devastation, a 4th wave of sentient races are emerging in the galaxy. Unlike previous waves, there are thousands in this one and no one knows anything about them. In the new space race, the ancient, mature, and young races are all scouting, colonizing, and expanding, trying to take over the galaxy through diplomacy, technology, war, and any other means necessary.

As a Drox Operative it's NOT your job to manage an empire, you are after all the captain of a single starship. It IS your job to pick the winning side and maybe even help them conquer the galaxy if you're being nice, more importantly though is to rake in as many credits as possible, well that and build the deadliest ship in the known universe. Who will you back as an Operative? The ancient, mature, or young races? The pacifist or militaristic races? The xenophile or xenophobe races? The races that value freedom or the races that use slave labor? The strong or the weak? Your actions and inactions will impact trillions of alien lives!

Drox Operative 2 is scheduled to be released October 20th 2021. For more information about Drox Operative 2 head over to http://www.soldak.com/Drox-Operative-2/Overview.html

Features:

• Explore a dynamic and evolving galaxy
• Explore a unique sector of the galaxy in every game, with different "monsters", ship components, quests, and even races
• Fight in the galactic war between the various alien races
• Battle hundreds of different enemy starships
• Build the coolest and deadliest starship in the galaxy
• Outfit your ship with thousands of components and crew
• Adventure with your friends with co-op multiplayer
• Essentially play an action RPG inside a universe of alien races playing a 4X game

Larian was interviewed by Eurogamer about patch 6 for Baldur's Gate 3.

I saw you talk earlier this year about Baldur's Gate 3 now "aiming" for release in 2022. Oh Swen! I was convinced it would spend a year in Early Access like Divinity: Original Sin 2 did, but no! And it doesn't even sound like you're fully set on 2022 either.

Swen Vincke: Ha ha. So, what do we do - what is our job when making this game? It's really trying to create moment-to-moment gameplay that's really good for you and that's rewarding at every single step. It takes an insane amount of time to do this in a game with so much freedom. And we're trying to really reward you if you're going to go on your evil playthrough, or your good playthrough, or your chaotic playthrough. We're trying to give you something at every single step. And just the creation of that is an exponential effort, unfortunately, and so it takes much more time than we expected, I can tell you that!

There's no way back for us. I mean, we've committed to doing it this way so we're going to do it this way. And, yeah, we just discovered it takes much more time. Doing it cinematically on top of it, with the graphical polish that we're putting on it: it's really - it's tough. It's a lot. It's really a lot. But it's cool - when it pays off then it's cool, so it's worth it, but yeah, it just takes more time. The company also had to grow tremendously to be able to make it, much more than we expected. So that's the price of making this type of gameplay, I guess, so it's not as if we're doing it on purpose, being slower.

I was looking at the game's page on Steam and it's quite astonishing how much support you already seem to have with the game. There are something like 40,000 reviews, and "very positive" ones at that, which is a figure only the biggest games on Steam get. How many people have bought the game?

Swen Vincke: I don't think we announced it, but a lot. 

[...]

Tomorrow, ROCKFISH Games will stream a live gameplay preview of the upcoming EVERSPACE 2 Khait Nebula: Stranger Skies content update.

LIVE: Watch the devs play a snippet of the upcoming EVERSPACE 2 Khait Nebula!

Hey there, pilots!

Your 1st Communications Officer here with an important PSA: The upcoming EVERSPACE 2 Khait Nebula: Stranger Skies content update is ready for official live gameplay previews on our Twitch and YouTube channel and here on Steam, starting this Friday at 8:00 pm CSET / 2:00 pm EDT / 11:00 am PDT.

In fact, Erik, our beloved Community Ambassador, already gave a little sneak peek during last week's ROCKFISH Games Show:

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The Steam exclusive experimental release of the 3rd EVERSPACE 2 content update is scheduled for October 22nd with the official release dropping on Steam and GOG on November 3rd.

Keep it civil on the forums, and see you in space!
Michael and your dedicated ROCKFISH Games Team

Larian has released patch #6 of Baldur's Gate 3, and a new community update.

Community Update 14: Forging the Arcane

It’s that time again! For months, strange chanting could be overheard from the offices of the Larian Studios dev team, their mysterious incantations pausing only when one would leave to go accept a food delivery. But today, our team emerged from their darkened tomb. “It is finished,” they said in unison, holding up to the sky a large stone tablet into which they had carved the patch notes for our latest update. Looking for those patch notes? You can find them here!

Patch 6: Forging the Arcane is now live and it is our biggest Baldur’s Gate 3 patch to date. This new update introduces a playable Sorcerer class, a mysterious new region called Grymforge, lethal new weapon actions, a huge graphical overhaul, newly-added orchestral music to delight your ears, and hours of fresh content to explore – and that’s merely a bite-size taste of the 10 pages-worth of improvements and changes made to the game this time around.

You can also expect to find new cinematics throughout the Underdark and Druid Grove, completely updated animations for Githyanki characters, Turkish language support, as well as something for those of you misbehaving sorts who tend to get sent to jail. [...]

The dungeon exploration RPG Dungeon Encounters has been released:

DUNGEON ENCOUNTERS is now available on Steam!

20% launch discount! Dungeon Encounters is out now - offer available until October 28 16:59 BST / 08:59 PDT.

Dungeon Encounters is a unique dungeon exploration RPG in which you lead an expedition to chart the depths of an otherworldly labyrinth. Plan and prepare to surmount numerous obstacles, solve puzzles, and defeat monsters. Strategize to survive!

From some of the key development team behind the legendary FINAL FANTASY franchise, DUNGEON ENCOUNTERS features a streamlined interface that gives you the freedom to prepare and manage your party as you strive to reach the final floor.

During your expeditions, you'll discover rare and powerful items, meet lost adventurers who might just become new allies, and come face-to-face with deadly fiends.

Do you have what it takes to overcome the numerous trials that await you and discover the labyrinth's secrets?

Dungeon Encounters is available now!

Josh Forde notifies us that he launched a Kickstarter campaign on September 28th for Eternal Exodus.

Eternal Exodus: a monster-taming RPG with fusion & crafting

Hell is a scary place. Fortunately, you can capture demons and use them in battle to survive.

Eternal Exodus is a story-driven monster-catching RPG set in the afterlife, with unique mechanics like crafting and fusion.

The game will launch in 2022 on Steam, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox One with 15-20 hours of main story content, plus several hours of sidequests.

[...]

Features: (from the game website)

• Capture demons and fuse them into new species
• Craft weapons, armor, and potions for your party
• Studying a language? Play in two languages at once
• Fully original soundtrack inspired by composers like Nobuo Uematsu and Yasunori Mitsuda
• Massive 16-bit world map to explore
• 15-20 hours of main gameplay + several hours of content-heavy, rewarding sidequests
• Minigames galore

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As promised, Dark Crystal Games have uploaded their first regular patch for Encased. This update to version 1.1.1013.1238 weighs 9.3 GB (on GOG anyway).

ENCASED — PATCH 1

As you probably already noticed, the work on Patch 1 took a little delay, but there are objective reasons for this – there really are a lot of changes and improvements. In addition to fixing the voiceover, incorrect descriptions, bugs and typos, we focused on improving the user experience: a lot of changes were made to the game interface, balance, mechanics and, of course, optimizations – now the game runs faster and a little more stable. This is partly attributable to you, Dear Players, as many errors in the game have been fixed thanks to your bug reports.

We also listen closely to the suggestions you offer across our social networks. Thank you for your words of support and well-reasoned criticism. And above all, thank you for staying with us – it matters a lot to us.

[...]

Mech Armada is a post apocalyptic turn-based game where you can command and design your own Mechs.

The world as we knew it ended when the Swarm came. Hordes of terrifying creatures out of our worst nightmares ravaged the Earth, destroying every living thing in sight.

We few survivors fled underground, desperately searching for the tech and resources to survive - and fight back. To battle the monsters we created an armada of war machines called Mechs.

Thanks to ground-breaking replicator tech these Mechs could be generated almost instantly in the battlefield, turning the tide of what seemed to be an unwinnable war. As we pushed back, we used every resource to power our way forward to destroy the Swarm.

Mech Armada puts you in command of a team of custom-built Mechs. Push your strategic skills to the limit in this fresh combination of turn-based tactics, roguelikes and deckbuilding, as you save what's left of the Earth from the Swarm.

You'll need to plan carefully if you want to overpower the invading Swarm in a series of small tactical battles. Upgrade and build your deck of available Mechs, manage your resources and leverage your territory wisely. Get it wrong and it's game over. Start again with a whole new experience as monsters, maps, resources and rewards are all randomly generated.

Key Features

• Turn-Based combat: You can move into position and attack with each of your mechs, in any order. Then it's the Swarm's turn...
• Design your own mech: With 70+ available Mech parts, you can create thousands of unique combinations. Each part has its own strengths and weaknesses, giving you an enormous range of possibilities.
• Deep strategic combat: There are no perfect solutions. Create your own strategy by cleverly making the most out of your resources and the situation.
• Procedurally generated: All the gameplay elements (monsters, maps, resources and rewards) are randomly combined and balanced ensuring no two battles are the same.
• Rogue-like campaign: Death means game over. Try again with an entirely new run, with new random parts and encounters. You'll have to make do with what you get!
• Environment variety: From the outskirts of destroyed cities, to desert wastelands, the battle for survival rages on.
• Epic bosses: They're massive, ugly and ridiculously tough. Are you up to the task?
• Auto-save: Never worry about saving again. Leave your game at any point and return exactly where you left off.

Ocean Drive Studio posted two updates, one on how they are using the feedback they collected during the first beta of Lost Eidolons and preliminary results, another one to announce the upcoming livestream.

How we’re working with beta feedback!

It’s been about a week since the first Lost Eidolons Closed Beta ended, and we wanted to take some time to address some of the feedback the community has been providing us regarding the current state of Lost Eidolons. It’s a major philosophy of Ocean Drive Studio to leverage the feedback loop between the community and the development team as an instrumental tool when creating a game. We have our vision of where we want to take our games as a studio, but we have faith in our community’s ideas and suggestions as well. Teamwork makes the dream work, right?

During the first Closed Beta, over 300 participants tried out the game and gave us their feedback. 65 players gave us a detailed survey summary of their experiences (spanning 87 questions) while 80 Feature Upvote submissions were upvoted 730 times with nearly 100 comments total.

[...]

October 14th Dev Update Livestream

It's about that time of the month where we get together and talk about the latest and newest developments in Lost Eidolons on our local Twitch channel!

When:

• 6:00 PM PDT, Thursday October 14th (US West)
• 9:00 PM EDT, Thursday October 14th (US East)
• 2:00 AM BST, Friday October 15th (London)
• 10:00 AM KST, Friday October 15th (Korea)

[...]

Dark Horizons reports that System Shock is being adapted for TV.

A live-action TV series adaptation of Looking Glass Studios’ famed 1994 video game “System Shock” is in the works for the upcoming U.S. gaming entertainment streaming platform Binge.

The original game unfolds on the cyberpunk-esque Citadel Space Station in the year 2072 where you play a nameless security hacker who awakens from a coma. You end up taking on murderous robots, killer cyborgs, mutants, and the malevolent artificial intelligence named SHODAN which seeks to control Earth.

[...]

Eurogamer reports on a mod called the lay-d-denton project that lets you play as a female in Deus Ex; which was originally a cut feature.

The mod is a significant effort. All of JC Denton's 1700 lines of dialogue have been re-recorded by voice actress Karen Rohan, under the vocal direction of Chris Rohan.

"The performance strives to faithfully preserve the character of JC," reads the mod description.

"Every single line was performed directly after listening to the original Male JC's read. While not blatantly copying every single line, the original performance was used as the primary anchor point for the line reads. Variations were only made after careful consideration.

"In addition, we have strived to preserve the more beloved community one-liners as accurately as possible."

[...]

Wccf Tech looks at the launch trailer, which is ahead of the game's release planned for October 26th.

Guardians of the Galaxy Launch Trailer Delivers Action and a Major New Character Tease

The release of Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy is still a couple weeks away, but we’ve already got a launch trailer for the Eidos-Montreal-developed adventure. Most of the trailer focuses on the game’s action, all set to a Motley Crue classic, but the final moments will be the most interesting to fans, as they seem to tease Adam Warlock will be playing a role in the game. One of the Marvel Universe’s major “cosmic” characters, Adam Warlock will also be appearing in the next Guardians of the Galaxy movie, as played by Will Poulter. You can check out the Guardians of the Galaxy launch trailer, below.

[...]

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RPGFan reviewed The Ascent, and didn't like it so much.

The Ascent

Boy howdy do I love me some cyberpunk. Action RPGs, top-down shooters, always-night cities, dingy everything — sign me up! The Ascent is distinctly cyberpunk. Artistically similar to the Shadowrun series on PC, The Ascent turns the visuals up to eleven. Not only is this a technically beautiful game, but the degree of detail in every single location is staggering and borderline intimidating. Match those visuals with astounding voice acting and engrossing vignettes from passersby as players explore the world, and what’s not to love? Well, the gameplay and bugs, for starters.

[...]

Pros

Shocking level of detail, outstanding voice acting, a visual sense of personality.

Cons

Some of the most poorly executed and planned game design in recent memory, bugs everywhere, shallow central narrative.

Bottom Line

I know this is beautiful — how bad could it be — but please avoid it at all costs, no matter how cheap it is on sale.

Overall Score: 58/100

Eurogamer reports that the upcoming Anniversary edition of Skyrim will disrupt many mods due to the new entry being an update of the existing Special Edition. This will apparently force modders to rewrite many function calls.

The Anniversary Edition release includes the Special Edition version of the game along with all mods available in the Creation Club and more yet to be announced.

However, as reported by PC Gamer, rather than releasing the game as its own version on Steam, the Anniversary Edition will be available as an update to the existing entry. This will have a major impact on mods using the SKSE.

"Bethesda has decided to update the compiler used to build the 64-bit version of Skyrim from Visual Studio 2015 to Visual Studio 2019," explains one of the SKSE developers on Reddit. "This changes the way that the code is generated in a way that forces mod developers to start from scratch finding functions and writing hooks.

"Plugins using the Address Library will need to be divided in to 'pre-AE' and 'post-AE' eras. Code signatures and hooks will need to be rewritten. We will all need to find functions again. The compiler's inlining behavior has changed enough that literally a hundred thousand functions have disappeared and been either inlined or deadstripped, to put it in perspective," explains the developer.

[...]

Alconost wrote an article for GamesIndustry.biz to share their experience with demo trailers, giving some tips that could be useful for game developers. The article is mainly targeting video content, but gives good insights at the reflexion process that should be made when presenting a product in that industry.

Creating game videos: best practices and pitfalls to avoid

Alconost is a localization company, but we also create videos for games.

We've been creating game videos since 2013, and in that time we've amassed considerable production experience that I think you'll find useful. In this demo reel you can see what our experience is based on.

Videos vary considerably. But to produce any video, be it a trailer for a marketplace or a teaser for an advertising campaign, we use the same video production workflow for each project. You can easily follow the same process when creating a video on your own.

[...]

Windows Central has posted an article according to which an early working version of the game would be close.

Details on Xbox exclusive Avowed: The Outer Worlds meets medieval fantasy

[...]

Sources familiar with internal plans have reached out to us in recent months offering details on Avowed, moving through pre-production towards a playable alpha state. Indeed, Obsidian is likely close to having a working early version of the game, with many mechanics and core gameplay pillars already implemented. I can't be sure how old some of the footage I've seen is, and there's a good chance it's far further along.

[...]

The Outer Worlds fans already have plenty of reasons to be excited about Obsidian's upcoming slate, given that The Outer Worlds 2 has been confirmed. Avowed seems to be based on a similar, albeit enhanced engine from The Outer Worlds, complete with action-oriented first-person combat and deep RPG exploration and narrative systems. We were told Avowed will feature multiple class playstyles and borrow from Skyrim's two-handed combat system. You could wield two daggers and be a stealthy rogue, or dive into archery with a two-handed bow. You could use a combination of swords and magic, or go full two-handed magic, which is required to wield some of the game's more potent spells and abilities.

Avowed will feature many elements Pillars of Eternity fans will be familiar with. Wizard spells like Jolting Touch, which can fry enemies with forks of lightning, will be present. Two-handed spells like Fireball are conjured using complex-looking hand gestures, but decimate enemies in a storm of magma and fire. I also saw status effect spells like Fetid Caress, imbuing enemies with corrosive poison. Weapon enchantments seem to be a big feature too, with magically enchanted swords and frozen arrows, as examples. Pillars-style guns may also appear in the game, similar to the muskets and arquebuses found in the original two titles. Familiar creatures such as the lizard-like Xaurips will appear, alongside much larger and deadlier threats, all the way up to wyverns and drakes.

The combat seems to be more loadout-based than The Elder Scrolls, which gives you mountains of spells in a gigantic list. Warriors will get access to more physical attacks like swordplay, powerful kicks, and shield bashes, while casters will be given a range of spellbook options to customize and tailor their combat style, with attacks bound to specific buttons.

[...]

The Gamer reports that the GFWL DRM has finally been removed from Fallout 3: Game of the Year Edition on Steam, seven years after being discontinued by Microsoft.

Fallout 3 On PC Finally Removes Games For Windows Live, Seven Years After It Was Discontinued

[...]

In the latest Steam patch notes for Fallout 3, it was announced that it would be removing all trace of Games for Windows Live, bringing it more in-line with the GOG and Windows Store versions that forgo it. If you already have Fallout 3: Game of the Year Edition installed through Steam, Bethesda recommends that you reinstall the game to remove any of the previous dependencies.

[...]

Larian announced on Twitter that their event would take place on October 14th, 9am PT / 6pm CEST.

Join us October 14th for a live deep-dive into the depths of Patch 6. We'll be exploring Baldur's Gate 3's first new location, in the Panel From Hell: Grymforge.

An Indiegogo campaign is currently running for the tactical RPG Paths & Danger:

 Paths and Danger

Hello! Thank you for your visit to our game.

First of all, we'd like you to get to know us a little bit as we are a small team of just two people, eager to make big games. We feel that Indiegogo is perfect for creating 'Paths and Danger' with great detail. We aim to involve you in the game design during this time, carefully hearing your opinions and suggestions.

Paths & Danger is a procedural turn-based RPG.

Join in on an adventure to gather a balanced group of characters to embark on a series of quests for the sake of good or evil. Which side will you choose?

Travel many paths in which you have to deal with random encounters and different situations and make the best of it.

You must hire and recruit new members for your party, each with different skills, to complete the quests. You can also increase the success of your adventures by improving your character's gear and equipment. Plus, pack up all sorts of potions, loot precious gems and gold to help you along the journey.

Main Features

• Lead groups of 30 different characters, each one with unique abilities and weapons 
• Manage your heroes stats to get them stronger
• Deal with dangerous circumstances, events, and quests 
• Solve the story of the mystery surrounding the town of Westwall
• Fight in a strategic turn-based combat system on a hex grid
• Characters with unique traits and features may give or take when you expect less, changing the course of battle.
• A deep atmospheric environment that suits different world places (6 unique types of world places)
• Emerge in a diverse stunning dark fantasy world 
• Roguelike features, including permadeath
• Procedural map generation giving endless replay 
• and count with the traditional RPG elements, loot, inventory, character level up, upgrade on stats, weapon, and armors...

[...]

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Gamedec gets a new patch.

Patch 1.1 is now live!

Hello, gamedecs!

It's been three weeks since you can solve crimes in Virtual worlds, and well... it was intense! Thanks to your support, we've been working hard on fixing bugs that you reported for the last couple of weeks. Your feedback is vital to us, so we thank you and encourage you to continue to send us all the comments and ideas you have for the Gamedec.

The most important thing we are fixing with this patch is solving all known language issues. Besides, we have improved performance, SFX's, polished up the sounds and many many more - see the full patch notes below.

[...]

TechRaptor reports that Suikoden: Woven Web of the Centuries has received an English translation thanks to a fan translation group.

Suikoden: Woven Web of the Centuries was released in Japan in 2012 for the PlayStation Portable and is the 14th game in the Suikoden series. It never received an English translation until now, apparently. It's the last game released in a series that ran from 1995 to 2012, with Woven Web of the Centuries receiving decent scores from contemporary Japanese reviewers.

Suikoden is a series that's languished in recent years, with players attempting a #SuikodenOnSteam campaign (to bring the series on Steam) that failed to work. While Suikoden 2 was released as a PS Classic for PlayStation 3, Vita, and PSP, it's not available these days either. For fans of Suikoden, the only real ray of hope is its spiritual successor Eiyuden Chronicle, which should be coming sometime in 2023.

[...]

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The Steam page is now available for Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes and lists an expected release window of 2023.

Welcome to the Eiyuden Chronicle community!

Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes became the No. 1 funded Kickstarter video game of 2020 thanks to phenomenal support from the community.

Visit our new Eiyuden Chronicle Discord server.

Studio Lead Yoshitaka Murayama and Director Osamu Komuta are joining forces once again to bring an unforgettable journey into their fully-realized world of Allraan. In Eiyuden Chronicles: Hundred Heroes Rabbit & Bear Studios are taking the turn-based strategy game experience to the next level with a fine crafted six-character battle system. The developers are using meticulously created 2D sprites and 3D backgrounds to deliver a riveting story with over 100 playable characters and engaging gameplay that’s meant to bring players a modern take on classic JRPGs.

We still have some time until Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes launches, but our community continues to grow exponentially. Everyday within our community there are countless discussions about the world of Allraan and the future of Eiyuden Chronicle. Rabbit & Bear and 505 Games are eager to find out your suggestions so we can deliver what our fans truly desire. After you wishlist please join our Discord community because we are also hosting many fun events with prizes including cosplay, art, trivia, and so much more. Please stop by and introduce yourself so we can get to know you better.

Wishlist Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes now on Steam and stay up to date on all the exciting happenings coming to the Eiyuden Chronicle community.

After you Eiyuden Chronicle Discord server for events, updates, and live chat!

Here is a list of our official Eiyuden Chronicle social channels:
[...]

ATOM RPG: Trudograd gets a new patch.

Patch 1.03

Today we present to you a very special patch, which contains not only several very important bug fixes and typo fixes you helped us discover in the game, but also the full Simplified Chinese translation we have promised!

We really hope you enjoy.

Next time, we will share more information on our plans for Trudograd, which are already set in motion. Please stay tuned! As for now, here’s the changelog:

• Added Chinese translation;
• Fixed a bug that caused the console in the inventory;
• The transition to the Seventh Heaven no longer causes a critical error in rare situations;
• Fixed a bug in the mission "Villainous Brothers";
• Fixed logic in Nechaev's quest;
• Fixed a bug due to which Senya Markov "revived" after death;
• Fixed the logic in the plot branch where you buy yourself the way to the Seventh Heaven;
• The quest to find tellurium is now correctly ending if the blanks are stolen, rather than bought;
• A duplicate note was removed from Shcherbetov's desk;
• A number of fixes for the quest "Not a child's game";
• Fixed the behavior of Lydia Nechaeva when attacking her son;
• Fixed the logic of movement and location of a number of characters;
• Fixed the mechanics of a number of skills;
• Fixed the work of the counter of killed characters;
• Correction of pop-up messages for a number of characters;
• Correction of many typos and errors in the text.

Henriquejr spotted Explorminate's review of the strategy title Old World:

Old World Review

Ashurbanipal had been ruling the Assyrian Empire through discipline and an iron fist. His son and only heir was a deviant and a miscreant, cast away from family and throne. For 20 years, Ashurbanipal had no heir, despite having outlived four wives. A long war with the Greeks was exhausting him and while he enjoyed initial victories, the Assyrian king hit a quagmire as his men were falling by the day trying to capture the Greek capital of Pella. Eventually, the opportunity presented itself to add a member to the family, an orphan who he saw himself in. And not a moment too soon, as Ashurbanipal passed from this world. Unfortunately, the cowardly Carthaginians took advantage and declared war on an embattled Assyria. Soon the Assyrian Empire would not be more than a memory…

And that is how my first game of Old World went, a game created by the excellent team at Mohawk Games. Led by renowned game designer Soren Johnson and talented CEO and writer Leyla Johnson, Old World is [spoiler alert] one of the finest and most innovative 4X games to be produced in this era. Admittedly, I was a bit skeptical despite Soren’s previous work on Civilization IV, another great title and one of my favorite genre-defining 4X games. My concern was the limited scope of the Old World setting being solely in the Pre-Classical (aka the Classical Antiquity) era, whereas Civ IV covered pre-history to the near future. Old World, however, succeeds in digging deep into the era and making a remarkably interesting game in the process. As an aside, I highly recommend that you read a bit about the Classical Antiquity era, as it is a fascinating period of human history.

[...]

TL;DR
Old World pushes the boundaries of the 4X genre and does it extremely well in a fun and tight package. This is one of the best 4X games of this generation and should be at the top of your list of games to play if you are a 4X fan.

Score: 9.5/10

RPGFan checked out the Adventure-RPG Death's Door:

Review

We continue to live in a long, arguably golden age of retro-inspired games with modern twists. Death’s Door is an example of that, with clear homages to classic 2D Zelda titles mixed with its own extremely unique audiovisual flair. This results in a title with mostly familiar and simple gameplay mechanics repackaged in a way that makes it more memorable than most, though still falling short in some areas.

Death’s Door begins in the Reaping Commission Headquarters, which has a neat aesthetic that reminds me of Chrono Trigger’s End of Time. The player, a crow working as a reaper, is assigned the task of reaping a soul from a being that’s lived past its expiration date—which incidentally causes them to become a formidable monster. You begin what should be a routine mission; however, it quickly goes south when the soul from the vanquished beast is stolen by a haggard looking crow and secreted away to the Lost Cemetery, the game’s main hub. What’s worse, failure to retrieve the soul will lead to entrapment and eventual death for our hero.

[...]

Overall, Death’s Door is an enjoyable homage to 2D Zelda games with some additional quirky flair thrown in. It is a satisfying experience whose main drawback is its overall safeness, plus a lack of replayability. Some may also be turned off by the lack of extreme difficulty, which can be another source of replay value for many similar games. I would recommend Death’s Door to those looking for a nostalgia fix that won’t try your patience or just want to enjoy a memorable and contemplative audiovisual style.

Score: 85/100

Pladio spotted that Hindsight 20/20 had been released last month, and went under our radar!

A Personal Creation

We are a small indie team. That gives us a unique opportunity to make games that are very personal. Hindsight 20/20 started with a lofty goal - to better understand ourselves through a video game. Questions soon followed. Could we mix this introspection with our love of combat games? Would similarly-minded people find this compelling? How can your choices in combat and story be intertwined to make every decision, moment to moment, matter? With great humility, we think the game we’re releasing today is an answer to all those questions... and more. We hope you think so too and have fun along the way!

Jehan

Our game is centered around a one-armed warrior named Jehan. During your journey you’ll discover his potent powers in combat and learn about his personal struggles through Hindsight 20/20’s story.

We’ve spent the last few updates covering the combat in Hindsight 20/20, but the only way to truly understand Jehan’s powers is to experience them. The combat system has been crafted to make this exploration both fun and challenging.

Jehan is like most of us. His mind lingers on his decisions. Throughout your playthroughs you’ll get a glimpse into these thoughts while reading Jehan’s journal. His writings will help you understand more about the world, the people in it, and Jehan himself. It’s an atypical approach to immersion, but we think these quiet, introspective moments will make your choices in Hindsight 20/20 more meaningful.

[...]

Thanks @Pladio!

Today, Knight by Night gives a new update for FADE, The First Chapter, and a devlog.

THE SEEKERS UPDATE PART #2

In this update changes have been made to make combat more impactful with the addition of weapon trails and new systems.

Hey, Death Bringers. In this new update players will see the following improvements to the game.

• New changes to side quests and other hidden in game events.
• Updated stagger values and new weapon trails to add more of an effect to your attacks.
• A new complex weather system that impacts enemy spawns and has a chance to spawn special enemies.
• New Dialogue paths and options.

And much more. To go even further into detail on these features I uploaded a new Devlog to showcase the games new changes as well as give you insight on the games current plans.

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This video marks a big change in the upcoming content for the game as well as information regarding its future endeavors as we approach the next expansions release.

[...]

Currently I project the new update should be out by the end of October which shall finalize some new voice lines and actors. All to prepare for the games upcoming kickstarter. I hope to see you all there and look forward to your feedback on this update. Get out there, Death Bringer.

Wccf Tech saw an interview of Tymon Smektala, lead designer at Techland, explaning why the game was delayed.

Dying Light 2 Delay Explained; Dev Says Every Skill Will Be a Game-Changer, the Hook Is More Physical

Dying Light 2 recently suffered yet another delay as Techland moved the game from the previous December 7th, 2021 date to February 4th, 2022.

In an interview published in the latest issue of EDGE magazine, Techland Lead Designer Tymon Smektala explained the reasons behind the delay.

"We're double-checking everything in the game. Dying Light 2 is full of complex, intersecting systems created by hundreds of people – at some point in the production they all really click and start working together, but you also start discovering various edge cases where maybe they don’t, and you want to fix that. Those are usually simple fixes, but you want to make sure you test and catch as many of those as possible. Those extra two months will be spent exactly on this. And maybe we’ll also squeeze in an Easter egg or two…

It’s a case of needing a little bit more runway, or maybe even the control tower suggesting another approach to make the landing more clean. You have to think about the crew the same way you think about the passengers, you know."

Smektala then discussed the improved character progression systems, stating that all skills will be meaningful additions to the player's arsenal in Dying Light 2.

"It’s very difficult to create a sequel to a game with this kind of power curve. You’ve already
spent 50, 100, 200 hours on increasing powers, and now you have to do the same thing from scratch.

In the original some skills were filler, just tweaking attributes. In Dying Light 2, every skill is a game-changer. Almost every one gives you a new ability you can instantly try on enemies."

The grappling hook is also different than the original one, which according to Smektala was bending the laws of physics a lot, a bit like Spider-Man's web-shooting capabilities.

"In Dying Light 2, it’s more like Tarzan’s rope. You use it to swing on things, and it’s more physical. You get the most satisfaction when you do parkour, and you see a huge gap in front of you, but maybe there’s something you can attach your grappling hook to, so you swing to the other side of the gap and then you continue the parkour.

We understood the tool from the start of the project, and were trying to find a formula that would allow us to keep it, but also make it more supportive of the gameplay rather than overwriting it."

[...]

Mechajammer gets a new dev update.

Gangs of Calitana: Agro-Fax

Here's another installment of the series where we look into the factions and syndicates of Mechajammer

Biological research and development on the colony is dominated by the Agro-Fax syndicate. Agro-Fax is spread across multiple worlds, aggregating many bio-forms to add to its database of research and end products.

From chemical agents to dietary pills, feeding armies to feeding millions, Agro-Fax's presence is ingrained in the lives of the inhabitants of many off-world colonies.

In the colony city of Calitana, Agro-Fax is headquartered in their signature bio-domes, geological research facilities on the outskirts of the city. Surrounded by fields of crops and greenhouses, the domes house the Research and Development teams behind their innovative product lines.

Before Agro-Fax streamlined food production, the people of their colonies were at the mercy of the elements, famine, drought, weather patterns, and especially the war. But at the present, their technological advances in foodstuffs ensure food security, even if that food is a canned mixture of insect protein and synthetic vitamin matter.

You may learn more about Agro-Fax as you progress across Calitana but for now, stay tuned for more dives into the lore of Mechajammer and feel free to join our Discord.

PC Gamer reviewed Eastward:

Eastward review

Spirited Away.

Set in a world where humanity clings to pockets of civilization, Eastward takes inspiration from old RPGs and the likes of Earthbound, Zelda, and Studio Ghibli films to create beautifully desolate locations filled with a mix of puzzles and action. Despite looking like a pixelated old-school RPG it's utterly gorgeous, cramming detail into each environment just like a Ghibli movie. It's so much a tribute to the famed Japanese animation studio that you can find a version of Hayao Miyazaki himself hiding out in the starting town of Potcrock Isle.

Eastward follows John, a silent miner who uses a frying pan both for cooking and hitting people, and Sam, a young girl with white hair (which is how you know she's mysterious). The two develop a father-daughter-like relationship as they eke out a living in the underground town of Potcrock Isle, but when they're exiled to the wastelands of the surface world, they discover that things up top aren't what they seemed. It takes a little while to get going, but really starts to take off when you leave the first area and deeper mysteries are introduced. 

[...]

As a tribute to RPGs of the '90s, Eastward is wonderful, with an atmosphere to be savoured. However, while the central mystery is captivating, it doesn’t quite nail bringing all of the different threads together, leaving a few plot holes open at the end. It also struggles to keep up the momentum and characters sometimes feel overwritten. I've enjoyed basking in sun-dappled forests and cowering in abandoned subway stations, but I was also willing certain bits to just get on with it. Eastward was never going to reach the same heights as its inspirations, but it makes a commendable effort.

Score: 78/100

PCGamesN checked out Far Cry 6:

Far Cry 6 review – far from revolutionary

Another gorgeous open world to explore, but the format could use a revamp

Dani is a guerrilla. Or at least, that’s what they’re told throughout Far Cry 6. Despite a story that’s all about revolutionaries, an abundance of DIY superweapons, and a lush new tropical setting, this is still Far Cry as you’ve been playing it for nearly ten years now. That formula still makes a fun game, but after another 20-plus hours fending off animal attacks, liberating outposts, and making friends with the local oddballs, there’s more than a hint of irony that you’re meant to be carrying out a ‘revolution’ on the island of Yara.

Following in the footsteps of Assassin’s Creed Odyssey – albeit a few years behind the curve – Ubisoft infuses its FPS series with light RPG mechanics, namely an obsession with collecting and crafting gear. Rather than leveling up and unlocking new skills, Dani’s abilities are defined by the guns and gear they equip. Initially, this feels a little limiting. Why can’t I have all the different stealth takedowns and resistances to all of the damage types? But after a while you’ll start to complete sets and settle on a build that suits the way you prefer to play, and as you get more comfortable you’ll spot new ways to enhance Dani’s arsenal so that you excel in your chosen field.

[...]

The series' foundations have been rejigged to offer an exciting and satisfying new gameplay loop. Not all of the revisions work in its favour, but unfortunately it's the complete lack of change with its approach to storytelling and structure that really holds Far Cry 6 back.

Score: 7/10

Action RPG Blade of Darkness has been re-released on GOG and Steam with some improvements.

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A grim new threat looms over The Central Kingdoms. The borders protected by the fierce King’s Knights are no longer secure. The fearsome orc clans, more numerous than ever, lurk on all roads. The proud nomadic peoples of the steppes are on the alert, for strange beasts prowl the darkness. Not even the stout dwarves, hidden in their underground palaces, seem safe from threat - from the unknown tunnels of its mines, a foul army of hideous creatures advances inexorably.

Chaos seizes the World. Only the memory of the oldest recalls the exploits of a hero and a few warriors, who in other times fought against the forces of Chaos. Ianna, the mother of all living beings, gave the hero a powerful sword to enter the abyss and defeat evil. But that happened a long time ago. A new hero is needed, a chosen one who is worthy to wield the Sword and destroy the enemy... this time forever.

FOUR PLAYABLE CHARACTERS

Pick your Champion of Ianna — Tukaram, the Barbarian; Naglfar, the Dwarf; Sargon, the Knight; or Zoe, the Amazon — each with unique strengths, weaknesses, and fighting skills, as you hack ‘n slash your way through a blood-drenched quest to save the world from the forces of Chaos.

BLOODY & GORY COMBAT

Learn devastating combo attacks and use them to slice your opponents into pieces. Hack off your foes’ limbs, then use them as weapons!

A DETAILED & DARK FANTASY WORLD

Battle orcs, trolls, golems, demons, skeletons, and scores of malevolent enemy creatures as you explore treacherous tombs, frozen fortresses, demon spires, deserts, temples, and palaces.

INTERACTIVE ENVIRONMENTS

Destroy in-game objects with fire or your fists as you solve puzzles and disarm traps that combine physics, hydraulic systems, and lethal traps!

RE-RELEASE OF A TRUE GENRE-DEFINING GAME

We are happy to bring Blade of Darkness back to life, an enduring classic that, at the time of its release, inspired many games in the action-adventure genre through its approach to combat. With this edition we've re-engineered the game to work on modern PC hardware, added widescreen support up to 4K resolution, introduced new display settings, and improved its overall stability. At the same time, the gameplay, content, and the story are untouched — featuring all the game’s quirks and charm.