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ajnwordvomit · 1 month ago

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Batman: Arkham Asylum (Finished Feb. 5 2024)

Finished Batman: Return to Arkham - Arkham Asylum Platform: PS5 (via PS4 Backwards Compatibility) Difficulty: Hard Completion: Story Mode + some Joker challenge maps

---SLIGHT SPOILERS AHEAD---

Back in the PS3 era the only Batman games I had were Arkham Origins and I guess MK vs DC. The Arkham titles had always been on my radar, and seeing a bundle of the 3 mainline titles in the series with all dlc go on sale for $6 felt like the sign to hop on and see what all the hype was about. I plan on playing all of these games including a proper playthrough of Origins between City and Knight.

Arkham Asylum places Batman in his worst nightmare: being in a Metroidvania. The game pits Batman against the Joker as he must explore and backtrack through an island full of thugs and a glass half empty of villains from the Batman comics. The island and its interiors are all fun to explore and backtrack to once new gadgets are unlocked, the game's flow is very natural and there's never a moment where you'll get lost. Outside of treading old ground with new tools to progress, you'll also be using them to track down The Riddler's trophies and visual riddles. Scanning the environment to solve a riddle in each area was a highlight of the game, an addicting side activity that'll either make you think or carefully examine the immense detail of the game world.

Arkham combat gets shit on a lot online but I understand why it caught on for various Warner Bros and miscellaneous titles. While you're primarily punching goons with one button and countering with another, the game lends itself an addicting rhythmic depth that's still satisfying to this day. While the action and different moves take place automatically on screen, you'll be timing your button presses with punches as they happen and guiding Batman's next attack with the analog stick. As you glide across the arena from one enemy to the next, you'll watch your combo counter rack up and grant you instant finish moves. Time punches, direct Batman, counter attacks, use gadgets, stun blocking enemies, and execute finishers until you master the system to where you're untouchable.

While the combat is addictive, I feel as though enemy and boss variety is lacking. Enemies get different weapons and there's Titan infused inmates but that's about it. To be fair there's not a WHOLE lot you can do with crime fighting thugs, but with the presence of Titan there could've been more than one enemy type infused with it. The boss fights here are primarily glorified combat arenas where there's an extra environmental factor thrown in, making them feel a bit underwhelming.

The stealth sections in this game feel very creative, like intricate puzzles. Players will either find themselves naturally guided through an intricate route to takedown the patrolling inmates or be left in a more sandbox environment where it's the player and their own playstyle. It's great and feels like the second half of what the game has to offer rather than being a half assed attempt to slow down gameplay.

The story I feel is fun, it's not here to be intriguing or some sort of character analysis, rather just be a fun romp of fighting classic Batman villains in the setting of a correctional facility. The game's highlight moments I feel are the hallucination segments, as Batman must fight through dreamscapes or find himself in grim situations such as re-witnessing his parents' deaths or find himself swapped with The Joker in a very cool reshoot of the game's opening scene.

Extra modes include combat and stealth challenges which I didn't go out of my way to try out or to unlock, however I did try my hand at The Joker's challenges. From what I played there's not much of a difference between his combat and Batman's, but his animations and voice lines make it worth a play.

Arkham Asylum is a great start to what I hear is overall an amazing series of games and I'm excited to play the next entries in the series, hoping to see what's laid out here expanded on while at the very least see improved boss fights and villain variety.

#batman #arkham asylum #ps4 #ps5 #review #video games #portfolio

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boxkeith · 2 months ago

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Video Games I Played in April 2025

As a birthday present I was given a hacked PS3, which of course I used to play a bunch of games I own on disc and could’ve used my normal PS3 to play. There’s definitely some things in the back catalog I need to explore, but I’ve been on a bit of a kick replaying games lately. It’s bittersweet to put 20 hours into retreading old ground rather than discovering something new but also it’s a hobby and literal play. I don’t need to be efficient about it.

Nomad Survival – Normally, if I write about something a few weeks after playing it, I remember it enough to have cogent thoughts or at least have an inkling of what it looked like. I try not to refer back to my notes when writing these blurbs because how the games strike me in the abstract is more interesting to me than a formal review. That being said, Nomad Survival I really had to dredge up. It was one of the pieces of chaff on Humble Monthly and even by the standards of the hypersaturated Survivors genre it had nothing going on. Sometimes you’re in a mood to hit buttons but even by those standards there’s nothing here.

Fountains – An absolute delight of a game. I feel like not enough indie games are taking from Hyper Light Drifter in terms of dense world design, combat with a melee primary that recharges your ranged attacks, and enough lore to keep things interesting without bogging down pacing. Fountains excels at all of those, but it unfortunately falls into a pretty sharp rut where progress is gated by increasingly nonsensical bosses and because of Dark Souls your healing is piss-poor while opening you up to attacks that deal more damage than you restore. I had a lot of fun over 10 hours and even redownloaded the game to try something after thinking I’d given up, but it doesn’t quite stick the landing despite the overall level of quality. Still deeply compelling, and it’s not like I beat Tunic’s final boss either.

Ascent DX – Free and exceedingly simple metroidvania that I tried because I need to broaden my palate to a wider range of scales. Unfortunately when a metroidvania is very short it needs to either be exceedingly dense like Return of the Slimepires or a compelling vertical slice like most student projects. This is simultaneously overwrought and overly simple, which is a bad place to end up. For 15 minutes and 0 dollars I could do worse though.

AWAKEN – Astral Blade – Afterimage surprised me with its exceedingly strange cadence, beautiful art mixed with aggressively motion-tweened animation, disconcerting storytelling, and combo-centric combat. Apparently that’s just a house style for a whole family of East Asian metroidvanias because much like Demon Within: Satgat and to a lesser extent Vigil: The Longest Night, AWAKEN is positively delirious. Whether it’s the hypersexualized protagonist with a variety of skin-tight plugsuits, one of the main collectables being large Christmas trees in a game that is otherwise set in magitech jungle, the story full of waifish clones of the protagonist trying to murder each other, or the veneer of jank coating the entire experience; the game has a very particular flavor that I’m baffled to see in multiple titles despite this instantiation being inimitable in its specificity. The game itself is not very good even by 6/10 metroidvania standards but at this point I worry that’s not enough to stop me.

Solas 128 – I bought an Armor Games bundle and this was one of them. Mirror puzzles are fun sparingly in something like a Zelda dungeon, but when you try to build a whole game around them I have the same mental shutdown as I do in sokoban games where I go to the next room and there’s just more fucking mirrors and more fucking lasers. Lots of clever puzzles, could definitely do without the timing puzzles because once you add an execution layer to complex spatial puzzles it becomes infinitely harder to diagnose mistakes.

Swords & Souls: Neverseen – This is a flash game with several minigame dexterity checks like DDR-style arrow mashing, clicking on targets, and spinning the mouse around to block shots. This increases stats that you use to do basic turn-based combat with some timing elements in the vein of Paper Mario and some special attacks that can be used regardless of turns. It all comes together into a vaguely pleasant pile but once the minigames got stale it collapsed. Makes me wish something like Burrito Bison was on steam.

Prototype – I love Prototype. I have replayed Prototype probably 10+ times between NG+ runs and fresh file starts. Moving through the city is a dream, the helicopter is still the best of any game I’ve played, and the powers feel viscerally satisfying. The writing is campy, the boss fights are all infuriating, but it’s such a joy to run around and explore that everything else falls into place. I feel like superhero sandboxes have forgotten that the draw is being able to fuck about in the city with just enough breadcrumbs to incentivize going from place to place with various forms of traversal, not a trickle of audio logs and quippy sidequests in a sterile terrarium.

Polimines – I’ve been trying more and more esoteric puzzle games, and this is a fucked up little crossbreed of Minesweeper and Picross. Short, simple, well-crafted, but the UI is a little unclear and there’s essentially no QoL tools like notes or ways to mark hints as having expended their information.

Polimines 2 – They added the QoL tools and some more puzzle elements. It leans a little too heavily on deriving information through counterfactuals when the UI doesn’t really support it, but that’s also the nature of a game like this. The mixture of visible picross hints and hidden hints means it’s never clear how much progress you make revealing an individual cell, and sometimes that leads to situations where you’re lead by the nose a bit as only one cell can be determined and that cell is what has the next hint. The rudest bit by far is that the level select menu has the same color scheme as a puzzle, and beating a puzzle with a mistake marks that level with the same color as a mistake in the menu.

Forklift Load – I’ve never been one for games like Surgeon Simulator or Octodad where the deliberately imprecise controls are “the fun”. I can’t tell if this is on that level of irony, because it’s about sentient cars and forklifts clumsily navigating a world built for humanity but devoid of humans, but it also has a jump button and a ‘get unstuck’ button that frequently gets you even more stuck. Not for me, whatever it is.

Genopanic – I need to read steam pages more ardently. Genopanic is “Metroidvania-inspired,” by which they mean that you get upgrades and proceed through areas with an expanding toolkit but it’s linear with no ability to backtrack. Most of its mechanics are rote and their obsession with crumble blocks went from clever to amusing to insipid at a fairly rapid pace. The platforming wasn’t precise enough for how punishing and frequent death is, and overall it didn’t appear to be doing anything with its short runtime. Dropped after an hour.

Bookworm Adventures Deluxe – I ended up playing a lot of flash game-esque stuff this month for some reason, possibly because I’m lacking a big game to sink my teeth into for more than a handful of hours now that Monster Hunter has given up all but the last of its juice. I also thought this was normal Bookworm, but instead it’s a very odd word game where longer and more complex words deal more damage to enemies. I’ve been watching a lot of scrabble videos so I’ve gotten better at conceptualizing the words as components, but this game’s dictionary is also bizarre in its inclusions and exclusions. Corvid and Shire aren’t legal but slurs are?

Super Motherload – Unlike many, I do not feel the pull of the mines. Dome Keeper, Undermine, and Spelunky didn’t do it for me. I’ve never even played Minecraft. As expected, I tried this for 10 minutes and got bored. Props to Steam Family for making it free at least.

Prototype 2 – It’s always surprising when a sequel is a regression on every axis, and I’d be fascinated to know what caused the problems here. If I had to guess the easy answers are an overreaction to the Arkham series and a desire for graphical fidelity that heavily constrained the map scale and number of actors present onscreen at once, but that still wouldn’t explain the Blaxploitation writing and complete gutting of the movement and combat options. It’s a shame this is what killed Radical Entertainment, but who knows, maybe Microsoft has its corpse floating around in a vat somewhere.

The Mummy Demastered – Wayforward got me again. I’d heard this get moderate amounts of praise as an interesting take on a metroidvania, but what they didn’t mention was that it’s under 4 hours long and exceptionally simple. The core gimmick is that when you die your corpse becomes a zombie you have to fight to get your gear back, but the game itself was easy enough even with the HP-sponge bosses that I never died. Making the fail state the interesting part of your game is a rookie mistake, though it’s interesting to see someone other than a roguelike make it.

#video game review #metroidvania #fountains #probably not what people go to the fountains tag for but y'all can deal #prototype #Might not be what the prototype tag is for either #I also played like five minutes of KH3 but I fucked up my starting choices and decided I was going to deal with it later

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strikersin · 5 months ago

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I WANT "cozy games". I have been looking for the right title since I started playing games like the sims 3. Since barbie and polly pocket had online games.

It doesn't hold any water. Stop. We need to go further. I'm so mad. Cozy. Cozy games. It's missing something, called spirit. Called soul. It has no heart. It's stealing the essence of heart imbued into each individual game, and giving them nothing in return, called "cozy games". It is taking the good will of the people and sapping them for corporate means. It is "self care day" in gaming form. Light candles and bundle up so the mood is just right for your gaming session. You know what else this applies to? Skyrim in spring with your bedroom window opened and favorite candle lit. Stay hydrated while gaming <3. Who benefits from this? It's a sham. Even if you make a game with the right heart, having to market it as a "cozy game" is such a disappointment. There is so little thought put into this. It is the very first draft of a thought. Cozy is not that kind of word. Using it sparingly is what makes it special. Not like what you see here. Why are we settling for this.

The heart of these games is not that playing them makes you "feel cozy", it's not inherent to the mechanics, even if that is the type of game you aspire to make. "Minecraft is a cozy game" Minecraft is a survival horror game. It's a crafting and mining game. The fervor of the genre is only because it aspires to mass appeal for a main range of marketability. Identify a little more what makes individual games unique and find the common trend. It's worth it. And God forbid use more words and even bigger words. Why is "games" in the genre when other types of games are called metroidvanias and roguelikes. I would appreciate "stardew crusaders" as a first draft more than this. Even though harvest moon was its predecessor.

Please.

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billloguidice · 1 year ago

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Get one or both of these value-packed beat 'em ups and Metroidvania PC Steam game bundles!

Get one or both of these value-packed beat 'em ups and Metroidvania PC Steam game bundles! #sale #pcgamer #steam #steamdeck #pcgaming #beatemup #metroidvania

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#axiom verge #battletoads #beat em up #double dragon #humble bundle #metroidvania #pc gamer #pc gaming #steam #steam deck

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gaming-pasq · 7 years ago

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UnEpic

(roll of the dice)

UnEpic (Steam store link) is a game I actually ended up getting through a trade. With all those humble bundles, I have several game keys of games I already have, so I have them available for trade. Someone wanted one of those games, but didn’t have much I wanted in return. UnEpic was one of those games I always was somewhat interested in but never enough to get it myself, so I ended up choosing that game for the game they wanted.

This is what the kids these days call a metroidvania style of game. And generally, I like the concept of metroidvanias, but never ever finish them (there’s only one exception so far.) Now this one also comes with all the RPG things, with a mass load of different weapons, spells, stats, items, and way too much other stuff. And then on top of all that, it is covered in a massive amount of pop culture references and questionable jokes and dialogue. It’s a mess. But one that somehow works.

Bin or Fin?

I am completely undecided on this one. I honestly can’t tell right now if I want to try and finish it or not... One hour of gameplay gave me enough of a taste to say that I am somewhat interested in playing more, but at the same time I know that once I get to the more complicated stuff in the game I will probably end up quitting it. Plus, the jokes and references haven’t been too bad yet, but I can see them becoming an annoyance in the long run.

I know for sure I’m not in the mood to play it more right now though, but I feel like I will give it another go when I’m more in a mood for this kind of game, so I ended up putting it in the “To Finish” list for now.

#backlog challenge #gaming #unepic

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pixelrender · 6 years ago

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Every game on my wishlist, part 1

Let’s do this, I’ll share all games on all of my wishlists and write a short reasoning for every single one of them. My goal is to find out, whether I really want to own and play all of these games and how many I will be able to remove from them without much of a regret. There probably are more productive ways to spend free time, but let’s do this.

Itch.io

The list on itch.io is the messiest one of the three. I keep adding and removing and returning games a lot. Right now it features 6 times, 2 games I would like to write about here and 23 games I intended to buy and play at some point. I know I will only have time to play 3-4 or four big games in next 2 years and this list consist mostly of smaller and experimental projects. So, many of them have a good chance of getting played. Let's take a look at individual items now.

1. and 2. Far Future Tourism and Zones

I really want to play some of Sherlock Connor's walking sims. The world's he created are different, a personal expression through the medium of video games. It's not necessary to have two packs on the wishlist and I'll remove one for now.

3. Walden, a game

I guess I might read Thoreau's book first? He's a personality, who intrigues me a lot and a game based on his life could be an interesting time. Also, the game's nature looks stunning. It makes me want to go outside and I don't think I ought to play this instead. To keep my life simple, the game leaves the list.

4. Sagebrush

I'm excited about this one. It's a walking sim with little more direction, a disturbing theme and stunning lo-fi graphics. My cup of tea and an item of high priority on the list.

5. The Haunted Island: A Frog Detective Game

It just feel like a kind game, which can help you out, when you feel down. Together with Sagebrush, these are the two games I need to play asap.

6., 7. and 8. Sokpop Games

A small selection of Sokpop titles (kamer, moreas, huts). They're cheap, original and bite sized. The three selected titles focus more on ambiance than activity/action and that's why I'm interested in them. I don't see any reason in favour of removing them.

9. Voyageur

This game's very likely an underrated gem. It has trading and an interesting narrative but it's also way more stressful than survival space games. Just check out the trailer, this game stays.

10. EarthTongue

You care about an alien ecosystem mostly composed of fungi. That and a recommendation from Natalie Lawhead Is enough for the game to be kept on the list.

11. Of Gods and Men: Daybreak Empire

I want to keep track of this game, but there are so many other tactics games I'd rather play and I own many of them already. This has to go.

12. Dujanah

They say the story is incredible and the art direction reminds me of Catemites, but I'm tired of narrative games rn. Dujanah, you're off the list.

13. Seek Etyliv

This is the most minimalist grid based game I know. Everything about it intrigues me and that's why I need to play it.

14. Overland

I love polished low poly micro worlds of this tactics game. Also, it's a road trip. They say it's not as good as Into the Breach and I agree that they should have released it earlier. But I still want to play it. 15. Sunset

An ambient game about revolution and class, but I'm not all that interested in it and I probably wouldn't be able to run it on my potato of a machine. 16. Art Sqool

It rhymes with cool! Also, I think that it brings something new in video games, that this game indeed is art. I definitely need to play this soon.

17. The Stillness of the Wind

I appreciate a lot what is this game trying to accomplish with minimalist storytelling devices, but I can't get over the color palette.

18. Glass Staircase

I enjoy Puppet Combo. I admire their low poly approach to horror games. They def participated on the renaissance of the genre and ps one era graphics. This is probably their most polished game, but It would be possible to replace it with something else from their catalogue.

19. and 20. Far Blade and Backlands

The two Bcubedlabs' games have stunning graphics, simple mechanics and almost no stories. Their visual value and low price tag are the two reasons both games are staying.

21. The Space Between

A year ago, even six months ago, I would have been thrilled about it. But that was before I lost interest in stories of any kind. Now I only want an impression or an emotion. I don't want to follow a story to feel sad. I feel sad right now. This might return on my list in 2021, when I change mind again.

22. Caves of Qud

This a complicated hardcore retro hardcore everything ultima inspired features and death heavy rpg I'd love to try out one day. But it will take a long time for me to get there. Also, I don't think it fits with the rest of the list.

23. Pagan: Autogeny

I added this few days ago and I'm interested in it because the gamepage promises a bag of candy. In this game you roam around an abandoned mmo and occasionally come across content. I especially like the promise of 100 acres. It clearly invites the photographer in me in. This might be the right game to make paintings of too.

Humble Bundle

My second wishlist is neatly organized. It contains 16 items in a 4x4 grid. Each row is supposed to have a theme and every purchase breaks it a little. I removed some 30 items from this wishlist in May, so there aren't any items I think should be removed. But talking about every one of them might change that. 1. Gris

I used to be a Devolver fanboy and I still like their making off documentaries, but the majority of their releases are too violent and too much of a crowd pleaser. I still enjoy a game of theirs from time to time and I received a super strong recommendation to play Gris, which isn't violent. It's melancholic. And I think I might add to the discourse, which has been uncritical so far.

2. Timespinner

I like myself a good metroidvania and despite the average reviews, Timespinner has that Mega Drive aesthetic I can't resist.

3. Chasm

They say it's only decent, but let's consider two other factors. Comfort food is 7 out of 10 and so are Comfort Games. Metroidvanias became that for me as a genre and Chasm looks like a delightful diversion from all these superb titles coming out.

4. Feudal Alloy

Another decent non-linear platformer with rpg elements on my list. This one earned its spot with the unique combination of theme and graphic style. It's just lovely looking.

5. and 6. Banner Sagas

I like tactics games and for some reason the story of Banner Saga still appeals to me. I want to play through it and see how much I will have to sacrifice and to which end.

7. Expedition: Vikings

Expedition: Conquistador is one of the most underrated tactics games. It's because fights themselves are little less involved that the rest of game. You play with a flawed crew, which forces you into bad decisions all the time. I heard great thing about it in an episode of 3MA dedicated to Vikings.

8. Bad North: Jotunn Edition

Bad North is purty and it looks like delightful, smart little game made with minimalism on mind.

9. Titan Souls

To be totally honest, this one's on the list for graphics. They're great and I really appreciate selection of browns and greys, which are dominant, but without an effect of the game looking lifeless.

10. Samurai Gunn

I talked about this game many times. It looks pretty, it sounds amazing with the soundtrack from Doseone. The trailer is my favourite video game trailer of all times and the gameplay looks like fun if you have couch and friends, who enjoy games.

11. Nantucket

It's all about the theme of whale fishing and the swag this gem has. Mechanically it seems to be quite a journey too. I enjoyed FTL and this is building upon some of its mechanics, but makes it less about surviving and more about chaining successful hunts, methinks.

12. Dishonored

The last game from the row of giants and whales is the single first person modern AAA title I crave to play. Architecture and world-building in the series are exceptional and the whole design reminds me of Half-Life, the best shooter of all times.

13. Ultraworld

A weirdly available commercial piece from the creators of Secret Habitat, one of my favourite walking sims and my favourite digital gallery. Obviously, this can't be removed.

14. Koma

I wasn't interested in this atmospheric roaming game at first but the more I heard and saw, the more hooked I got. I don't care about the mystery being second tier. The atmosphere is dripping from screenshot and that's enough (btw can't run it, so it's of lower priority).

15. Californium

I like that it's a French game about America inspired by an American. I remember people talking about it quite fondly, when it was released. Californium is weird and colorful and filled with things to take a picture of.

16. Crying Suns

An upcoming game published by Humble Bundle. The hook is that it takes FTL and battles from games such a Homeworld and stories such as Dune and meshes it all together. If it turns out to be any good, this might be my next time submarine.

Steam

The third and last list has 22 items and more than a half of them are metroid inspired designs. Both released and upcoming. I curated this list a lot in the past as some of my friends can see it and I felt little embarrassed, when it was reaching over 100 items. Truth to be said, I bought most of these items meanwhile. Now let's see what I can do about the rest.By the end of 2019 I would love this list to consist only from Symphony of the Night clones.

1. Knights and Bikes

I bragged about this one a lot recently. Just scroll down for more. It's number one, because it's the next game I'm buying (unless sales).

2. Legendary Gary

I really hope I will find funds and time and play what could be the Bojack Horseman of nerds. The trailer for this game deeply resonated with the situation I've been for several last years and I think the game can have a deep impact on me if the writings as good as its soundtrack.

3. Anodyne 2: Return to Dust

Ok, one more time. Anodyne was unique and the sequel looks great in its low poly glory and promises to be bigger and better.

4. The Eternal Castle

The trailer for this one's stylish. I watched it at least five times in a row. But it doesn't tell a whole lot about the game and It's possible that the intro is the best part of the game. It probably will leave my list. 5. INFRA

Infra is s a puzzle game made in source (half-life engine, the best engine). Basically it all starts as a surveillance of pipes and ends up with you uncovering a conspiracy. What attracts me to it are beautiful environments and some well remembered textures and it should perform great on my rustworthy laptop. Also, I read great things about it on RPS before it became a completely different site.

6-22. Non-linear platformers

I won't be buying or playing any of these this or the next year. But 2022 should be a year for them to thrive. I will feature here some of them in a foreseeable future as some of them are pretty interesting and maybe make a comprehensive piece on castleoids for Christmas. The list goes: Axiom Verge, Timespinner, Chasm, Feudal Alloy, Visual Out, Redo!, Gato Roboto, Grizzland, Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom, Eagle Island, Minoria, Witch and 66 Mushrooms, Refoil, Nykra, Outbuddies, Biomass, Divinium

And that used to be my wishlist. I don’t know why I had such a sudden urge to make an article about it, but here it is and now I can delete some of these items without regret and always look back here if I need to find them.

#wishlist

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frozendoorgaming · 5 years ago

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Morning Mist #92

Announcements, Releases, Trailers

Sega sets tongues wagging with mysterious anniversary tease

Valorant sniper Sova shows off his drone and sonar in a new gameplay teaser

Marvel Future Fight adds in crossover content from House of X/Powers of X

Sony clarifies "overwhelming majority" of PS4 games will be backward compatible on PS5

Cities: Skylines takes a fishing trip to Sunset Harbor next week

Fights in Tight Places has some stylish turn-based fisticuffs

Graffiti Games' Blue Fire Has High-Flying Parkour in a Long-Forgotten Land

The Riftbreaker is a base-building action-RPG for mech lovers

Riot Games’ Teamfight Tactics is out now on Google Play

Sea of Stars is a gorgeous retro RPG from the makers of The Messenger

Sam Fisher's heading to Ghost Recon Breakpoint next week

Jill Valentine's New RE3 Remake Design: Less Sex Appeal, More Practicality

Nintendo Indie World: Quantum League Is An FPS That Plays With Time

Roundguard is Peggle mixed with a dungeon crawling roguelike

Summer in Mara Coming This Spring in Nintendo Switch and PC

Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town out for Switch in July

Hidden Through Time makes me want a Where's Waldo NES remake

Explore The Afterlife On The Switch In I Am Dead

Open World RPG Baldo Coming to Nintendo Switch Summer 2020

Sakura Wars gets first update and new trailer for anime series

Fairy Tail Delay Lets Studio Add New Arcs, Character

Amazon's New World Combat and PVP Details Class-less Weapon System

Milestones, Industry

Untitled Goose Game, A Short Hike winners in last night's GDC and IGF virtual awards ceremony

Pro gamers and streamers come together to promote coronavirus awareness

Call of Duty: Warzone sees 30m players in 10 days

Doom Eternal off to a flyer on Steam despite DRM gaffe

Humble Bundle is the latest company to adopt Nintendo Direct-style news format

Gamestop Shuts Down All Stores in California; Retracting Their Earlier Statement

This weekend's Overwatch League matches are cancelled following California lockdown

Postponed Game Developers Conference returns for special three-day event this August

Riot is boosting League of Legends server capacity to handle increased demand

Ring Fit Adventure continues to sell out when quarantined people need it more than ever

The largest prize pool for Age of Empires 2 since 2002 is up for grabs this weekend

Steam has a record-breaking 20 million concurrent users as coronavirus keeps people home

Monster Hunter World: Iceborne expansion has pushed past five million sales

Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous has raised $2 million on Kickstarter

Nioh 2 cuts right into the top spot of the UK Charts

Maplestory 2 is Shutting Down After Less Than 2 Years

Deals, Freeware

Steam's latest Game Festival event has over 50 playable demos of upcoming indie titles

Indie devs on Itch.io are offering free games to help people who are self-isolating

Assassin's Creed Odyssey is free to play this weekend

The Stanley Parable and Watch Dogs are this week's Epic Games Store freebies

Tomb Raider 2013 free to keep forever as part of Stay Home and Play campaign

Mysterious metroidvania Mable and the Wood is free right now

Core is a multiplayer game creation and sharing tool, now in free open alpha

This free game accurately simulates the game convention social experience

Hunt prey as a wily fox in striking hunting game Rev

Battle monsters and puns in this stylish, free roguelike

Grab your boots, Football Manager 2020 is free for a week

Google discounts Stadia Premiere Edition for the first time

You should absolutely play Pikuniku for $0.99 on Nintendo Switch

All Final Fantasy games on Switch are on sale at the Nintendo eShop

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Steam adds in a new interactive recommendation feature

Half-Life: Alyx is available for preload now

A surprise message from Valve hints at the return of Artifact

Sea of Thieves' competitive Arena mode will get nastier and shorter in April

Doom Eternal guide: You need to use the whole arena to survive on higher difficulties

COD Warzone loadouts – the best loadouts and perks for Modern Warfare's Battle Royale

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Animal Crossing: New Horizons has a bunch of cute freebies if you spend two minutes downloading Pocket Camp

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Join PC Gamer's Folding@home team and help research a cure for Covid-19

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Cops bust real-life gang stash house, find weapons, cash and... PayDay masks

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#gaming news #gaming industry #morning mist

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bmaxwell · 6 years ago

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Top Games of 2018

For me 2018 was the year of Playstation VR. I never felt especially drawn to VR, assuming I’d give it a try one day years from now when the tech would be improved and more affordable. My buddy brought his headset over and I tried it out briefly but wasn’t blown away. My kids loved it though, so when opportunity presented itself, I traded in my Nintendo Switch* for my own PSVR bundle.

Apart from that, 2018 wasn’t as strong a year for my kind of games as 2017 was. Most of the AAA blockbusters of year didn’t quite land for me or weren’t appealing enough to make me want to try them at full price.

That said, I still had to put some games I genuinely enjoyed outside of my top 10. We’ll start off with a couple of categories I’d like to call out before getting into the ones that didn’t quite make the cut, followed by my ordered top 10.

Old Game of the Year: SUPERHOT VR

2018 was the year of PSVR for me. SUPERHOT VR pulled off the triple header of making me feel like a total badass, making me feel like a clown, and reminding me of how wholly out of shape I am.

In the world of SUPERHOT time only moves when you move. The VR stages each take only a minute or two, and are played in batches of ~5. When you are killed, you start that batch over from the beginning. At first, I hated this. I don’t want to replay the same stuff again and again! But then I started getting familiar enough with these encounters to do them really fast, make no-look shots and the such. And it feels fucking awesome.

The game made me feel like a clown when, after finishing a stage where I was ducking behind a low wall for cover, I reached out to put my hand on the wall to help me stand up and promptly fell right on my ass. This happened more than once.

One time I was sweating profusely after a SUPERHOT VR session and my wife asked “You okay?’ the way you’d ask a child if they’re okay after picking up all of their toys. “Superhot is a workout!” was my response. She just looked at me with a smile that said “That’s stupid in an adorable way.”

I amend my statement to “Superhot VR is a workout for people who don’t work out.”

Also very good old games: Persona 4, Transistor, American Truck Simulator, The Lion’s Song

Best Music: Donut County

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Sometimes it’s nearly impossible to separate a game from its music. One feels incomplete without the other. So it is with Donut County.

Also some fine music: Moonlighter, Pit People, Tetris Effect

Honorable mention: Return of the Obra Dinn

This game is such an impressive package. The visuals, the audio design, the entire concept is just cool and unique. I wish I was better at the game. There’s some combination of intelligence, patience, and focus that I lack for Obra Dinn. I have started over twice as of now.

The game casts the player as a sort of insurance claims adjuster auditing a recently-discovered ship that had disappeared 5 years ago (in 1803). You are equipped with a magic pocket watch that lets you see and hear the last moment of each person’s life on the boat, you get to walk around a still scene like a diorama. You're tasked with figuring out each person’s name and how they died. It requires attention to detail, deductive reasoning, and a few minor suppositions along the way.

It is such a neat thing and it is so exhausting and difficult for me. If I could find a way to grapple with it in a satisfactory way, it would be very near the top of this list.

Honorable mention: Yoku’s Island Express

Developer Villa Gorilla threw together Metroidvania gameplay, a light and breezy tropical setting, and pinball of all things and gave us Yoku’s Island Express. It’s a charming, well-made little game. I wasn’t sure it would come together as well as it did. It sounds like a gimmick, but it’s a quality game full of personality. I had it mentally penciled in on my top 10 until very late in the year.

Honorable mention: Dead Cells

Dead Cells is one of those games that appeals greatly to me on paper. The controls are tight, there are plenty of unlockables to work toward, and the game makes it easy to get into a good rhythm flowing from fight to fight. I put a lot of time into the game and, while I enjoy and admire it, Dead Cells never really hooked me the way I thought it would. I still had a great time with it, it just never quite reached my too-high expectations.

Honorable mention: Florence

It’s hard for me to know how to rank a game like Florence. It took me about 30 minutes to complete from start to finish and there isn’t much cause to replay it. I try to judge a game by how well it does what it sets out to do, and by that metric Florence was a huge success.

This largely dialogue-free mobile game beautifully captures the feeling of finding romance and tells a touching story that doesn’t play out in the way I expected. The music is gorgeous, and the game makes good use of the phone’s touch interface.

In this day and age, a short mobile game that you have to pay for ($3!?! *gasp*) is a hard sell for a lot of people, which is a shame because Florence is a work of art that deserves to be played.

10. Gris

Seems like every year there’s one game that sneaks in right at the end of the year and complicates the top 10 list. This year that game was Gris. Gris may be the most artistically beautiful game I’ve ever played. The closest thing I can compare it to is Journey, though they aren’t similar enough to feel like one would make the other obsolete. Gris’ visuals are creative and inspired. They frequently match the game’s melancholy tone, but they are also often vibrant, lush, and playful. It’s outstanding music walks hand in hand with the visuals, with mournful piano and strings.

Something impressed me about Gris is that it doesn’t feel like it’s trying too hard to be a video game, it is content with being a piece of art (something I wish I could say for 2017′s Hellblade, a near-miss for me that failed in this regard). There are no enemies to fight. No pits to fall in. And those elements gave me a freedom to explore with abandon. The game was never going to kill me or punish me for wandering off the track. The game’s puzzles never got complicated enough to fluster me, pulling me out of the experience.

The game tells you very little in the way of story, leaving you to take from the imagery what you will. Because of that, it didn’t quite resonate with me the way Journey did. Gris isn’t a great video game, but it is a great experience that knows how to get out of its own way.

9. Tetris Effect

Tetris is one of the best pure, easy to learn but tough to master video games ever made. The Tetris Effect added trippy visuals and terrific music along with the ability to play the game in VR. I’ve heard plenty of people say “I’m not paying $40 for Tetris.” While I can understand that approach maybe if you’ve bought a lot of the many versions of Tetris to have come out over years, the price tag is justified by how much the additional effects add to the experience

Tetris Effect bills itself as a trippy experience where you can, like just chill out and think about how we’re all connected and just, like, we’re all together, right? Get into a zen place with some Tetris and some chill music and, like, maybe you play Tetris in a dark room where every time you complete a line, the windows open momentarily letting some light in. Or maybe it’s snowy Tetris where each line is accompanied by the sound of snow crunching under winter boots. The game has dolphins, and birds, and windmills and just, like....space....man.

The crazy thing is, that all works. Especially in VR. A game where I’m Tetrissing against a backdrop of hot air balloons and hearing a song about how all of life is connected could have easily come off as tryhardy, hammy, and insincere. But Tetris Effect was a hopeful bright spot in a year that saw a lot of darkness.

8. The Red Strings Club

This game’s themes of control and free will set in a dystopian future really resonated with me this year. The way you pour different drinks to put people in a specific mood during conversations is really inventive and just plain fun. Red Strings Club made me think about my world views and question them, which is rare for a game to pull off. It overstayed its welcome a little bit near the end, but it was still one of the most memorable experiences of the year.

7. Donut County

When I finished Donut County, I was initially a little disappointed. I played the game from start to finish in about 2 hours, and I wanted more. I think that’s a normal reaction, I also believe that there’s value in a game that does what it does well and finishes before it overstays its welcome (see also: Moonlighter). On its surface, Donut County is a game about swallowing things up into an ever-widening hole in the ground. Looking a little deeper, it’s about gentrification and how those with privilege have no regard for those without.

BK is an awful little shit, but he’s also an adorable and well-written little shit. The game’s dialogue is smartly written and conveys conversations sent via text in a believable way. The soundtrack is a toe-tapping joy, and once again this game does not overstay its welcome.

6. Moonlighter

A few years ago I played game called Recettear where you owned a shop dealing in fantasy RPG goods, and alternated between dungeon delving for stock and haggling over prices selling that stock in your shop. I never quite fell in love with that game, but I thought the concept showed a lot of potential. I’m surprised that we haven’t seen more of it. So when Moonlighter came along with its “get shit from the dungeons and sell it in your store” premise and and gorgeous pixel graphics, I was all in. When I heard the music, I knew this would be in my top 10 for the year. 2018′s game music pales in comparison to 2017 (as do most other years) but Moonlighter’s music was among the best of the year.

Everything about the town is peaceful and soothing, which is important in a game like this. Finding respite, and caring about home gives context to everything, and helps anchor me to the game. If the town is uninspired then there’s a voice in the back of my head while I’m fighting in the dungeons asking “Why do you care about any of this?” The dungeon runs have a lovely push your luck element where going deeper means more danger but also more wealth, and I am great/awful about convincing myself to push for one more floor.

The game isn’t without its faults, most glaringly the inventory system. You have to constantly move things around your backpack and throw stuff out, and there was no mouse support so a tedious task became mind-numbing. Which is a shame, because the game gives you good reason to be constantly shuffling things around your inventory. I also would have liked a few more options in the town for upgrades and new buildings, but the flip side of that coin is that Moonlighter took me about 20 hours to complete and never wore out its welcome. It left me wanting more, but I’m not sure that the gameplay loop would have held up for longer. It serves as a good reminder that not every game needs to be padded out to a 40+ hour experience.

5. Dragon Quest XI

My very first RPG experience was Dragon Warrior on the NES. The experience of walking out of the starting village and fighting a smiling blue slime with a cypress stick is big part of my gamer DNA. Dragon Quest has never forgotten its roots - to a fault, some would say. It’s a valid complaint, but not one that I share.

One of my favorite games ever was Dragon Quest VIII on the PS2. I hadn’t played a Dragon Warrior Quest game since IV on the NES, and DQ8 recaptured those crusty old RPG’s that made me fall in love with the genre. Dragon Quest XI feels like more of Dragon Quest VIII, and that is no bad thing.

Give me more turn-based combat set in a colorful world full of the best worst puns, goofy monsters, where I am a mute hero who must save the world from the great evil. It’s tired old Japanese RPG tropes all the way, and I am along for every mile of this ride.

4. Moss

Moss was not my first VR experience, but it was the game that really made me a believer in the medium. The game feels like being inside a diorama. You’re guiding your adorable little mouse heroine Quill on a journey to find her uncle. Much like with Astro Bot, making me fall in love with the character went a long way toward making me fall in love with the game.

The beauty of the forests broken up by moments in the library as the day turns to night and the candle burns lower and lower really made this feel like it was mine in a way that is rare for a game. I felt like a kid again for a few hours, something I never expected to feel again. The moment to moment gameplay is pretty by the book, and it isn’t impressive in screenshots or video. But that feeling of “Holy shit I’m inside this video game!” is something I won’t forget.

3 .Slay the Spire

Slay the Spire is another game that reminds me how futile and silly it is to take these things seriously. How do I compare a card game to an RPG to a racing game to a game about rolling debris up into a giant ball?

If this list were ordered by time spent playing, Slay the Spire would be number one as I am nearing 300 hours. It’s a deckbuilding rogue like with 3 different classes, each with their own unique set of cards. You move from room to room through a map doing combat, buying cards, resting at campsites, and engaging in little story events. Each run has the controlled chaos of doing your best with the choices you are given. Most runs follow an arc where I come up with a plan for how to my deck effective, I feel unbeatable for a short time, then it all falls apart and I can’t believe I lost.

Don’t let the visuals put you off (I don’t think they’re bad but they’re not my style). Don’t be scared off by the term “rogue like”. Play Slay the Spire. It is perfect at what it does.

2. Monster Hunter World

Like a lot of people, I’d never played a Monster Hunter game before and only knew of it as a weird, opaque Japanese game about fighting monsters. World was touted as a more welcoming game in the series, a Monster Hunter for the rest of us. And the fact that the game does a rotten job of onboarding new players to go along with the game’s awful implementation of (fun once you get it working) multiplayer were just enough to help me tip it down into my #2 slot.

Monster Hunter World scratched an itch I’ve had since I fell off PS2′s Demon Souls years ago after a dozen hours or so. It’s a game that made me work at it to appreciate the experience. The Barroth (the 5th monster you hunt) was the first monster to kill me, and it did so repeatedly. It was a point in the game that forced me to decide whether to work at improving or give up. I looked at the Barroth’s weaknesses in my journal, changed my gear accordingly, and loaded up on items before heading back out. This was the moment I fell in love with Monster Hunter World in a way that led to me putting over 100 hours into the game on my own, then more again with a friend playing on PC.

Monster Hunter World is a game where I got more powerful over time not just because of getting better gear, but because I feel myself getting more skilled at the game. Improving mastery is an incredibly satisfying feeling in any game, and this one had me sitting at the end of the bed playing into the small hours of the morning, continuously doing One More Hunt when I knew I should have gone to bed hours ago.

1. Astro Bot Rescue Mission

Monster Hunter World dropped early in 2018 and had me captivated for months. I loved it and, after looking at the 2018 release schedule, mentally penciled it in as my likely 2018 game of the year. That held true for most of the year, until the most unlikely hero of all came along: a corporate mascot in a character platformer. I mean, it’s a robot wearing a fucking PSVR helmet.

The robot rescue portion of Sony’s tech demo-esque Playroom VR was the highlight of that experience, but by no means was the idea of an entire standalone game a slam dunk for me. Quite the opposite. In fact, I would have likely never given the game a second thought had the game not started receiving the kind of praise I couldn’t ignore. People were saying that it did for VR what Super Mario 64 did for 3d platformers.

That elicited one of those “What?! Bullshit!....let me see that.” responses from me. As it turns out, that’s a pretty fair comparison.

Astro Bot isn’t just an excellent platformer that happens to be in VR; it feels more like a well-made character platformer elevated to greatness by way of VR. The world is vibrant and joyous, but it also does an incredible job of integrating the player into the game world. In Astro Bot the player’s perspective is behind the robot you are controlling. He is ever running forward and you are being pulled along with him. This isn’t terribly unusual, the player is the god controlling his tiny avatar and surveying the world before them. And it is so with Astro Bot, at least at first glance.

It doesn’t take long to realize that you are in the game world. You have a physical form. You cast a shadow. Your little Astro Bot buddy will occasionally look up at you and wave excitedly. I wanted to hate this. But couldn’t. He is goddamned adorable. The entire game is goddamned adorable.

The stages are colorful and inventive. And they involve the player in some pretty creative ways. Obstacles and enemies must be headbutted. Your controller will get different modifications from time to time, changing it into a water blaster, or an automatic gun (that feels like it is shooting tennis balls), or a hookshot. The game frequently rewards being inquisitive about its environment. Peeking down over an edge, or around a corner, or standing up from your seat to look around typically pays off with some coins, or a little robot to rescue.

And the little robots are so ecstatic when you rescue them. They fly around the screen and land in the touch pad on your controller. They pop out and wave at you gleefully before disappearing until the end of the stage where all the bots you rescued do a little dance for you. Your Astro Bot does the Carlton Dance. I can’t not love this. I really did try.

*I love the Switch hardware. I really do. And the library of ports is getting more impressive every day. I just wish it had more exclusives I could get into.

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smlpodcast · 7 years ago

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The SML Podcast - Episode 404: Not Found

Download Episode 404

News, reviews, and Indian wedding ceremonies are ahead on this episode of SML!

The show kicks off with our recap of the past week including time spent at a friend's engagement party/pre-wedding reception and the struggle of kids returning to school before tackling the news of the week including all of the Smash Bros. Ultimate info from the recent Nintendo Direct, Sony's new 500 Million Limited Edition PS4, Cuphead sales, Xbox BC additions, and tons more! Plus reviews!

Dead Cells is a brutally addictive Metroidvania rogue-lite from Motion Twin. Flipping Death puts you in Death's shoes in this puzzler from Zoink Games. DarkMika checks out point and click adventure Unavowed from Wadjet Eye Games. Jump Gunners puts your dexterity and aim to the test from NerdRage Studios.

DarkMika covers walking sim puzzlers Asemblance & Asemblance: Oversight from Nilo Studios. Doughlings Arcade is a fun mix of brick breaker and bubble popper from Hero Concept. Finally, Zazmo Arcade Pack bundles up five retro throwbacks in one package from Donley Time Foundation.

The show ends with three tracks from The Grammar Club off of their brand new album Live Slow. Die Whenever.!

The Grammar Club - Food Court Pretzel The Grammar Club - Froggy Refresh The Grammar Club - Hot Garbage Redux (feat. Devon Riley)

https://dead-cells.com https://motion-twin.com http://www.flippingdeath.com http://www.zoinkgames.com http://www.wadjeteyegames.com http://www.nerdrage.co.uk http://asemblance.com http://nilostudios.com https://heroconcept.com https://www.donleytimefoundation.com https://thegrammarclub.bandcamp.com https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-sml-podcast/id826998112 https://twitter.com/theSMLpodcast/ https://www.facebook.com/theSMLpodcast/ https://streamlabs.com/thesmlpodcast

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buytabletsonline · 7 years ago

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Welcome to the 230th edition of Android Apps Weekly! Here are the big headlines from the last week:

WhatsApp confirmed a mobile payment service last year. The beta is live in India this week. WhatsApp connects to your bank. It then sends money to other users. The service may show up in other countries over the coming months or years. However, it looks like India has the exclusive first beta. Hit the link for more details!

Snapchat might be fun during the Winter Olympics this year. The service teamed up with NBC. It’ll broadcast big moments from the Winter Olympics directly to the app. NBC is producing two Snapchat-exclusive shows for the event as well. Snapchat isn’t the usual spot for stuff like this. However, it could be a decent way to catch the biggest highlights. NBC’s shows won’t have advertising and that’s a plus.

New emoji are right around the corner. A list surfaced with 161 emoji on it. The list includes hot and cold faces, pleading, partying, woozy, bald, superheroes, and many more. Most of the people ones also come in multiple skin tones. Number 161 on the list is a pirate flag. Hit the link to learn more!

Spotify may lose its crown as king of the streaming services this year in the US. Apple Music is apparently growing at an exceptional rate right now. It boasted 36 million subscribers recently with a 5% increase every month. There is every chance that Apple Music slows down. However, there is a real chance that they dethrone Spotify before the end of the year.

The latest Humble Bundle is out! It’s actually a pretty good one this time around. Some of the game selections include Mushroom 11, Another Lost Phone: Laura’s Story, Oxenfree, Splitter Critters, and Death Road to Canada. You get three games for $1, six games for the average, and then every game for $5. A few of these games cost $5 on their own.

For even more information, check out this week’s newsletter by clicking here! You can subscribe to the newsletter with form below as well if you want to!

Android Apps Weekly

Subscribe to the Apps Weekly newsletter.

Dandara is a new action shooter game with puzzle elements. It refers to itself as metroidvania with similar elements as the old Metroid games. Some of the features include hardware controller support, tons of places to explore, puzzles to solve, and a decent progression system. It’s all wrapped up in retro graphics. The game is also fairly expensive at $14.99 but at least there are no in-app purchases. It might be fun for platformer and Metroid fans.

Thrive is an app for smartphone addicts. It has a variety of features that help you get away from your smartphone for a little while. For instance, it auto-texts people letting them know that you’re busy. It also silences notifications, app locking, and VIP lists for those who always have access. The app can, for instance, shut you out of Facebook after you spend enough time there. It’s something a little bit different. The app is by a company founded by Ariana Huffington. However, tons of famous people make apps so that doesn’t really matter. This one is actually pretty good, though.

The X-Files: Deep State

Price: Free with in-app purchases

The X-Files: Deep State had a bit of hype before its release. It’s a mobile game revolving around the popular series about paranormal stuff. The game includes puzzles, mysteries, and hidden-object mechanics. It also feature story lines and characters from the X-Files universe. There are a few bugs here and there. Those should get fixes in the relatively near future. Other than that and the absurd freemium elements (up to $349), there isn’t much to complain about.

WhatsApp Business

Price: Free

WhatsApp Business is a new messenger app from WhatsApp. Many of its features remain between it and the regular WhatsApp. However, this one also includes a business profile, business-oriented messenger tools, fixed number support, and more. It has potential to be a very powerful tool. However, there are a few issues that need work first. We might not recommend it right away. It’s one to keep your eye on, though.

Final Fantasy XV: Pocket Edition

Price: Free / Up to $19.99

Final Fantasy XV: Pocket Edition hasn’t been out a week yet, but it’s already one of the biggest mobile game releases ever. It features the entire story (and many of the side quests) of the console Final Fantasy XV game. Square Enix lowered the graphics and adjusted the mechanics for smartphone play. It’s quite a bit more restrictive than the console game. Of course, the chibi graphics don’t look as good as the console game either. However, the voice overs are intact as well as the various stories and quests within the game. This is easily a candidate for game of the year and one of the best RPGs ever on mobile. The first chapter is free. The rest of the game costs $19.99.

Thank you for reading! Here are some related app/game lists!

10 best productivity apps for Android

The reason smartphones exist is so we can be more productive. They’re like tiny super computers that we keep in our pocket. They connect to the web, let us do work, and we always have …

15 best RPGs for Android

RPGs have one of the most loyal followings of any gaming genre. Whether it’s Final Fantasy or World of Warcraft, people spend dozens of hours crafting characters, playing story lines, and enjoying themselves. RPGs were …

If we missed any big Android apps or games news, updates, or releases, tell us about them in the comments below! Check back next week for more!

#buytabletsonline buytablets buytablet iphone5s technology iphonegraphic mobile electronics

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frozendoorgaming · 6 years ago

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Morning Mist #81

Announcements, Releases, Trailers

Nintendo tempts new devs with behind-the-scenes details of how Breath of the Wild 2's reveal trailer was made

BB-8 and BB-9E will be playable in Star Wars Battlefront 2

EVE Online's mobile spin-off, EVE Echoes, is now open beta

Play as Jesus and Perform Miracles in I Am Jesus Christ

New Plague Inc. Fake News Scenario Conquers the World with Misinformation

Untitled Goose Game waddles to PS4, Xbox One soon

Hearthstone details its December 10 Descent of Dragons expansion

Persona 5 Royal enters the fray with a March 2020 release

Square Enix opens new NieR website ahead of 10th anniversary

Square Enix pulls an unlisted Kingdom Hearts 3's Re:Mind DLC teaser… but not before fans spotted the release date

Check out the first 13 minutes of Borderlands 3 'Moxxi's Heist' DLC right here

One of the most underrated Metroidvanias on Steam is getting a sequel

Must Dash Amigos Available Now on Nintendo Switch

Konami's cutesy shmup TwinBee returns on Nintendo Switch

Pokemon-like Temtem Release Date Set for January 2020

Trip The Ark Fantastic Explores Political Intrigue... with Hedgehogs

Wandersong brings its merry ballad to Xbox One and Game Pass this week

Bethesda halts all future development for The Elder Scrolls: Legends

XenoRaptor bringing twin-stick action to consoles this month

The Outlast Trials is a 4-player survival horror set during the Cold War

That new Dark Crystal strategy RPG will launch in February, well after the Netflix show's debut

TurboGrafx-16 Mini trailer details retro console's games

Milestones, Industry

Riot Games opens Riot Forge to publish ‘bespoke’ League of Legends IP games

Riot Games will pay $10 million to settle its ‘bro culture’ gender discrimination lawsuit

Mikage and Aksys Games partner up for mystery PS5 project

Metacritic Reveals the Top 50 Highest Rated Games of the Decade

Minecraft tops YouTube list of most-watched video games in 2019

Valve Accused of Blocking Hong Kong Protest Games from Steam

Mainland China is Getting Nintendo Switch Next Week

Thanksgiving week was the best week in Nintendo's U.S. Switch sales history

Nintendo Struggling to Meet Ring Fit Adventure Demand in Japan

Spotify on Switch was one of the site's most voted suggestions, but it was just denied

After abandoning the Vita, Sony reminds us that they are out of the handheld business

Sony Announces Date for Next State of Play

Sony PlayStation Awards 2019 winners revealed

PlayStation Sets World Record as Best-Selling Console Brand

Google to open a Stadia pop-up in London

The Tomb Raider trilogy delivers Stadia's most successful ports

Deals, Freeware

Last Month of Humble Monthly Games Revealed

Six Games Coming to Nintendo Switch Online Library

Xbox Game Pass for PC is getting 9 new games 'soon'

Viking action game Jotun goes free on the Epic Games Store

Stay Out is a free-to-play early access MMO shooter in the vein of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.

Ylands, the sandbox survival game from the makers of Arma, goes free and exits Early Access on Steam

It's all downhill from here in free, turn-based skiing game Alpine Alpaca

Dragon Quest Builders 2 has a free “jumbo demo”

Have you played… ZombsRoyale.io?

The Outer Worlds for £30, Red Dead 2 for £25 and more console game deals

Bayonetta & Vanquish 10th Anniversary Bundle is Here

While we wait for MSI’s 240Hz portable gaming monitor, here’s a 60Hz version

The official Xbox onesie is back, and this time it's available in the UK

Valve has run out of Steam Controllers and is cancelling orders

Information

Dead Cells is finally getting into DLC with The Bad Seed

Diablo 4 is introducing new stats and getting rid of Ancient items

Here are the next two DLC fighters coming to Tekken 7

Fairies are taking over Fire Emblem Heroes in Book IV

Battlefield 5's custom "Community Games" servers go live tomorrow

Destiny 2 Announces Season of Dawn, Set to Start Next Week

A scene from the new Star Wars will premiere in Fortnite

Fallout 76 wraps up 2019 with Halloween and Christmas combined

Hitman 2 plans to have itself a deadly little Christmas

Safi'jiiva is the new siege beast in Monster Hunter World: Iceborne

Phoenix Point has been delayed on Xbox Game Pass and the Microsoft Store

Mario Kart Tour London event includes Waluigi and Holiday Daisy

Super Mario Maker 2 gets one of its biggest patches yet, which includes Zelda content

Pokemon VGC 2020 Rules Mark the Shift to Sword and Shield

Minecraft Realms Plus Upgrades Mojang's Subscription Service

GTA Online's Diamond Casino is the target of its "biggest, most audacious" heist next week

Hearthstone: Descent of Dragons solo adventure to add 35 new cards in January

Console Version of Gwent Shutting Down Next Year

Daemon X Machina Lets You Play as Geralt Now

Etc

Square Enix's Marvel's Avengers Getting a Book Prequel

Mortal Kombat fan video sees retro sprites meet their MK 11 counterparts

Andrew Yang Fighting Game Features Donald Trump Boss Fight

Elder Scrolls Online players raise over $200k during the Slay Dragons Save Cats charity campaign

This AI writes a text adventure while you play it

Sony pulls its own PlayStation 4 promo video accused of ripping animations

Alinity Explains Dog's Strange Behavior During Twitch Streams

Twitch Streamer SleepyMia Banned for Alleged Animal Abuse

A Jesuit priest is trying out a Vatican Minecraft server to encourage non-toxic behavior

Vatican Minecraft Server Hit With DDOS Attack

Ryan Reynolds Video Game NPC Movie 'Free Guy' Gets New Trailer

Composing a soundtrack to match the intimate game design of Telling Lies

Mother soundtrack is getting a cool vinyl release in Japan

You can now buy a vinyl record full of mechanical keyboard sounds

Google Fiber axes cheaper 100Mbps plan for new subscribers

Nvidia study finds gamers have better K/D ratios at higher framerates

#gaming news #gaming industry #gaming #gaming articles #morning mist

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