Couchpotato's Random RPG News

Here is a Chinese MOBA game that has a similar art style to Breach, but characters don't look like SJW feminist millenial hipsters.

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joxer said:

Anthem is RPG?! Since when.

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Anthem is one of the most anticipated games of any genre in 2019, and it is BioWare's answer to the Destiny formula of sci-fi RPG blended with FPS shooter. Simply referring to it as a Destiny competitor does a disservice to the amount of work BioWare has put in to developing a game with its own identity and innovations, however.

Anthem is still first and foremost an RPG, as evidenced by BioWare General Manager Casey Hudson's post earlier this year emphasizing narrative, character design, and storytelling. BioWare is a developer renowned the world over for creating compelling tales and characters to match, and despite the fact that Anthem won't feature the hallmark romancing options of some other BioWare greats, it will still be focused on building a world that friends will want to explore and get more invested in together.

Anthem's gameplay is something of a revelation, showcasing some really cool mechanics made possible by the game's jetpacks-and-guns aesthetic. Players will have their Freelancer character don Javelin exosuits that are customizable and offer different methods of gameplay, letting people tailor the way they approach Anthem to their own strengths as a player.

Following Mass Effect: Andromeda was always going to be hard, given that game's relatively poor reception. The stakes are even higher for BioWare with Anthem. Luckily, all signs indicate a game that could kickstart a whole new series of beloved sci-fi epics.

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Overall, Jagged Alliance: Rage! is not even in the same ballpark as the early entries in the series. But while it's not the glorious return to form we've all been waiting for, it's not completely devoid of merits either.

It's not pretty, it sorely lacks polish, its story is on the “so bad, it's good” level, and its mechanics are slightly above average, but even so, the game has its moments and can be quite fun despite its numerous glaring issues and lacking features.

Those of you looking for a worthy Jagged Alliance successor should stay as far away from this game as possible. But if you're good at tempering expectations and have $20 and 15 hours to spare, you may want to give Jagged Alliance: Rage! a shot. It's really not as bad as it initially appears, and that's the highest level of praise I'm willing to give it.

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Top Upcoming Action RPG Video Games Of 2019

Tom Clancy’s The Division is making a return in 2019. The sequel is slated to follow just a few months after the events of the first installment where players find themselves battling a new enemy. A brand new civil war has broken out after the corrupt government officials begun to make life increasingly difficult for the innocent civilians seeking refuge.

Players will step back into the role of an agent within The Division as they attempt to bring peace and order back into The United States of America. Much like the previous installment, this is a third-person shooter with RPG elements sprinkled about.

Within the game, players can team up and go through various missions or game modes such as the introduction of Raids. We’re still a bit off from the release of the game so we’re waiting to hear more details regarding the leveling and progression system.

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Anthem hits the shelves on February 22 and the hype train is at full steam. But will this be the game that clears EA's name and brings BioWare out of the woods, or is there yet more trouble ahead?

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ElderScrolls.net has details (in Russian – hat tip to ResetEra) on the recent datamine, which also suggests that a new Necromancer class will be coming with the next expansion. Dataminers have looked at text, new icons, and other art found in the client files, and it paints a pretty clear picture of some of the features we’ll be seeing in the next chapter of The Elder Scrolls Online.

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When designing GWENT’s economy, our principles were fairness and simplicity. We also always understood that generosity goes a long way. This will never change. However, we made some calls along the way which resulted in our economy slowly shifting toward directions that are not favourable for the players — most notably those who put a lot of time and effort into completing their collections of normal and (especially) premium cards.

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Most game designers know from the beginning that they will be working within the boundaries of an existing genre, whether due to their own predilections or to instructions handed down from above. A minority are brave and free enough to try something formally different from the norm, but few to none even of them, it seems safe to say, deliberately set out to create a new genre. Yet if the game they make turns into a success, it may be taken as the beginning of just that, even as — and this to me is the really fascinating part — design choices which were actually technological compromises with the Platonic ideal in the designer’s mind are taken as essential, positive parts of the final product.

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On January 31st 2019, music and video games meet in what Celtic Connections is calling one of the "Must See" shows at this year's festival!

The 1980’s Bard’s Tale computer-game trilogy has been hailed as “One of the most iconic RPG series of all-time.” Three decades on, The Bard’s Tale IV: Barrows Deep was released in September, 2018. Featuring a Gaelic-based soundtrack created by Simple Minds bassist Ged Grimes, this latest entry retains the original’s signature use of songs to drive the action.

This music works its magic again live in concert, taking the audience on a virtual quest through 18th Century Scotland. The show incorporates live music, synchronised video, gameplay and narration from the Bard himself…veteran actor John Buick.

Grimes leads a stellar line-up of Scotland’s finest musicians through this musical odyssey, a celebration featuring acclaimed Gaelic and traditional singers including Gaelic Singer Of The Year Eilidh Cormack, Kathleen MacInnes, Kim Carnie, Fiona Hunter, and Isle of Lewis sister vocal group Mackenzie.

For fans of The Bard’s Tale, meet inXile leader Brian Fargo, Ged, and the Bard’s Tale musicians after the show for a dram in the Concert Hall bar. Come join us and be a part of an amazing, once-in-a-lifetime musical experience!

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Diablo’s anniversary is right around the corner, along with the Darkening of Tristram event! Whether you’re a series veteran craving nostalgia, or a newcomer hungry for your first taste of the franchise’s past, this annual loving homage to the earliest days of Diablo is for you.

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It's another year, and seemingly we're on the eve of the next console generation. Rumors are swirling about, and will only spiral more viciously in the tornado of 2019. Looking ahead to the rest of the year of what's been confirmed, it's looking shockingly bare past May. We have Rage 2 in May, but beyond, there isn't much else on the level of, say, God of War or Red Dead Redemption 2.

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You don’t need to create a BackerKit account to fill out your survey. When you receive the email with the survey, click the survey link to respond. Answer the questions about your reward preferences, provide shipping information, and purchase add-on items if you like. You don’t have access to this survey link yet, but it will be available soon via email!

After you respond to your survey, you can go back later and change your responses at any time before we close the surveys and get our final counts.

If you need to review your information or pledge status, you can return to your survey by clicking the link in your survey email or requesting your survey link under "Lost your survey?" on our BackerKit project page at https://realms-beyond.backerkit.com.

If you used your Facebook credentials to log in to your Kickstarter account, the BackerKit survey is sent to the email address you use for your Facebook account. If you have another email address that you prefer to use, please contact support at https://realms-beyond.backerkit.com/faq.

Due to the request of some backers, we created some add-ons like additional digital versions, the digital soundtrack, the digital world map and others.

For late backers, we added the option to support us by PayPal and other payment types through our pre-order store.

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Welcome back to Grim Misadventures as we herald the arrival of 2019 and all the exciting content still to come! Nearly three years ago, we unleashed a little big game called Grim Dawn to the world. Just over a year ago, we doubled it with the release of Ashes of Malmouth, which was some of our finest work yet. And as you well know by now, 2019 is going to round out the game with another massive addition through the upcoming Forgotten Gods expansion.

As tradition dictates, let’s see what it took to get us to this point with everything that’s happened in 2018.

2018 saw the announcement of Grim Dawn’s second expansion, Forgotten Gods, as well as 3 major patches and content updates, including our largest balancing pass yet. The game as a whole is in a better place than ever and build diversity has grown substantially.

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Breach will be coming to Steam Early Access on January 17, 2019! Disrupting the traditional action-RPG genre by fusing explosive combat, RPG-like depth, and a flexible, customizable open-class system, Breach empowers players to build their ideal hero and battle monsters on an adventure that fuses modern and mythological Earth. In addition to building their own custom heroes, players can switch sides and play as the menacing Veil Demon, a malevolent spirit that wreaks delightful havoc on and brings doom to aspiring heroes.

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As far as I see it, you, my dear reader, have two choices: play ATOM RPG as a Fallout clone or, if you’re feeling adventurous, try to approach it a bit differently.

As a clone, it’s pretty solid. It’s got purty graphics, quests with multiple approaches to solving them, gunfights against a variety of human garbage, S.P.E.C.I.A.L. After helping out in Otradnoye, you’ll encounter the usual world map (and two extra empty ones with a couple of locations each; these desperately need more content), its own Necropolis, The Hub, Deathclaws. During your trip down the memory lane, the moody ambient soundtrack will remind you of Mark Morgan a lot. You’ll be able to level up, shoot a variety of rusty Soviet guns, and have generally good RPG fun. There’s nothing to say that you don’t already know. And if for some unthinkable reason you haven’t played Fallout yet, you’ve got bigger fish to fry than playing ATOM. But if you’re a fan, you’ll most likely have a mighty good time exploring this little DIY reimagining of a beloved game.

It’s my sincerest belief that if we get more games like this one, our grandchildren won’t laugh at us as hard. And thank god for the strange and eccentric.

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I remember one thing, specifically, that really blew me away. There’s a mission where a lady asks you to recover a painting stolen from her house. And I couldn’t do it for ages. There’s also a separate mission where a man asks you to deliver a note to an address, without opening it. I bumbled around for a bit and forgot about it, and accidentally opened the note without knowing what it was. Then I accidentally went to what turned out to be a delivery address, and accidentally found a bunch of lads in there. I said hello and they attacked me for reading their note! The note contained directions to a second address, where, low and behold, I found the lady’s painting! I had no idea games could do that. What further wonders awaited young Alice in Arcanum?

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There’s more coming in Fallout: New California’s future, too. Radian-Helix are working on additional side-quests centred around the NPC companions, and of course the door is open for mods to be made using New California’s massive map as a foundation. Depending on what ending you get in New California, your character can continue their life as The Courier in New Vegas proper, and the upcoming Fallout: The Frontier will let you extend that story further north. Combined with New Vegas’s excellent DLC, you might be in the wastes for a while – I’d pack strong sunscreen.

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It's a New Year and a new stream! Moments before the stream, our regular camera bit the dust so we had to improvise.

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A deep dive into the Interceptor Javelin in Anthem and the ability combinations that'll likely make it a favorite for fans of speed and agility.

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Following the release of Fallout 76, we thought it was a good time to look back at the previous Fallout game: Fallout 4. The Fallout 4 map isn't as big as 76's, but it's still packed with interesting and memorable locations, many that are part of quests but a few that you'll just stumble across at random. Some of these great spots aren't even marked on your Fallout 4 map at all, which makes them even more intriguing. Here are our favorite places on Fallout 4's map, in no particular order.

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Baldur’s Gate is powered by the Infinity engine, a bespoke technology created by BioWare specifically for the game. Simple in its exterior, Infinity makes the complexity of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons playable with just a mouse, and makes use of a visual style that boils down to a bunch of animated sprites walking on top of some beautiful paintings.

Looks can be deceiving. Beneath those simple backdrops was a deep and complicated engine made up of many different tools and technologies. It was hugely advanced and also hugely idiosyncratic, while getting it to work in the way BioWare wanted was, frankly, a nightmare.

While BioWare itself was not a new studio, the Baldur’s Gate team was almost entirely new to the games industry, with many of its designers coming straight from university. “It was just a bunch of crazy kids going, ‘Let’s just do this thing! How hard can it be?’” explains Trent Oster, formerly senior artist on Baldur’s Gate, and one of the founders of BioWare. “The answer is it’s really hard, [and] really easy to do things in a bad way that makes things slow and makes things horrible.”

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Greetings warriors of Calradia!

2019 is upon us, and we are back, as promised, with a Bannerlord blog to ring in the New Year. We want to ease back into them with a small update about a change we made quite recently to our conversation camera.

Those of you with a keen eye will have noticed that the conversation screenshot in our previous blog looked a little different to a standard Mount & Blade dialogue screen. And it wasn’t just the UI overhaul and new persuasion system that were on show, although admittedly, they are probably the things that caught your attention!

Immersion is something we have talked about multiple times throughout this blog series, so we won’t go on about it too much in this blog, however, it is safe to say that it was the main factor in our decision to make a change to the dialogue system camera. We want players to have a fluid and immersive experience with Bannerlord, which means that we look at all of our previous work with a critical eye to see where improvements can be made to match the high standards we have set ourselves for Bannerlord.

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Publisher Team17 has announced that village life sim My Time at Portia, developed by Pathea Games, will be leaving Steam Early Access and launching in its Version 1.0 guise next week, on January 15th.

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henriquejr said:

Hey Couch!

May I intrude myself here?

Not RPG-related but anyway….

Paradox acquires Prison Architect and is exploring new 'Architect' games

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The Resource Opposition System is a core gameplay feature from Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem, and allows you to use both magical and physical skills using opposable resources.

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An early look at Anthem Freeplay Expeditions where you can explore the world to find world events, lore items, bosses, and more.

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Sheogorath is coming back to TESLegends with our upcoming Isle of Madness story expansion!

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[PS4/X1] Ready your blades! Geralt of Rivia from @witchergame voyages into #MHWorld in a free title update on Feb 8.

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We’ve updated Hero-U: Rogue to Redemption with several “quality of life” improvements along with dozens of game tweaks (mostly audio, along with a “final” fix to the long-troublesome Katie quest chain) to reported issues. Steam or GoG Galaxy will automatically give you the new update when you play the game.

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A bunch of curious players wanted to learn some more about our plans regarding certain features, so – welcome to the first part of Q&A!

To keep it short – we’ve decided to limit each one to 5 questions, but we will likely repeat it every once in a while. Here we go!

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Path of Exile’s attractiveness is summed up on the Overview page on the game’s website. Several mission statements regarding its skill tree and skill gems, the bleak and brutal tone of Wraeclast as defiance against “bright, cartoony RPGs”, and the games’ deep commitment to the itemization of nearly everything under the sun give it a flavor that tastes distinctly of Diablo and other similar titles. GGG set out to make PoE a gritty, complicated experience from the outset when it was just a few developers working out of Chris Wilson’s garage, driven only by their love for ARPGs and desire to see a game heavily tailored towards the dedicated player.

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A first look at the Story space in Anthem, the characters you'll meet, and the systems that'll be available while you're exploring Fort Tarsis.

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We sat down with Cinematic Project Director Terran Gregory and Senior Game Designer Steve Danuser for a story and lore live stream.

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It’s customary at this time of year to look back over the past 12 months in reflection, and look forward to the coming year with anticipation. For many people, the new year is a time to make resolutions on things they wish to improve upon. We here at Visionary Realms are no different, as we continually set goals, adjust our timelines, make improvements and index our progress. One of our resolutions last year was to grow our team with a key addition or two if the right candidates came along and it was financially prudent. Little did we know of the upheaval the gaming industry would face in the final quarter of year and the glut of supremely talented people it would leave looking for a new opportunity.

While our team is very financially disciplined - as you have to be when you’re an independent developer that has been largely crowdfunded - we also know when to take action on a rare event. With your unwavering support, we were able to offer positions to several key areas of development, and keep our long term budget in tact. Knowing that we could increase production speed and increase implementation of a myriad of systems and features without impacting our long term finances was an incredible boost to the team and showed us once again that we have the single greatest community in gaming. So from each of us here at Visionary Realms thank you for your continued support.

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With most of the team back and rested from their various holidays over the New Zealand summer, we wanted to give you an update on what the plan is for Path of Exile's development for this year.

2019 will see the release of four significant Path of Exile updates, in the form of 3.6.0 in March, 3.7.0 in June, 3.8.0 in September and 3.9.0 in December. These releases will follow the formula we have been using over the last few years, introducing a challenge league, various expansion features, new character skills/archetypes to play and masses of other fixes and quality of life improvements.

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