Review: Steel Seed (Steam NextFest Demo)
Developer – Storm in a Teacup Publisher – ESDigital Games Platforms – PC (Reviewed) Review Code provided by Developers Note: The Following Review is of the Steam NextFest Demo Build Note the game may change before release, and this review is strictly of the Steam NextFest Demo. Storm in a Tea Cup has made some amazing games , from Nero to Enki and Close to the Sun, they put there heart and soul into making great games, and Steel Seed looks to be no different. Steel Seed is an immersive single-player stealth-action adventure game set in a foreboding sci-fi world. Players follow Zoe on her epic journey through a perilous underground facility dominated by hostile artificial intelligences. Navigating this treacherous environment, Zoe’s only ally is Koby, a versatile flying drone that aids her in various tasks. Together, they must outwit the relentless AI overseers, uncover hidden secrets, and overcome formidable challenges to survive and succeed in their mission of Saving humanity, and finding Zoe’s father. A key focus of Steel Seed is Zoe’s impressive parkour skills, which play a crucial role in her journey through the complex terrain. Each section presents unique challenges, from narrow passageways and towering structures to wide-open spaces where danger can strike from any direction. Zoe’s parkour prowess allows her to leap across gaps, scale walls, and perform acrobatic maneuvers that are essential for both evasion and strategy. Her agility provides a significant tactical advantage, enabling her to outmaneuver and outsmart her adversaries, who are relentless in their pursuit. The ability to quickly traverse the environment not only helps Zoe evade capture but also allows her to reach strategic vantage points where she can better assess threats and plan her next move. The game emphasizes the strategic use of stealth-based techniques to bypass robotic entities and guards, allowing players to progress without engaging in direct confrontations. By utilizing shadows, silent takedowns, and distraction tactics, players can move efficiently and avoid unnecessary battles. The design of the environments encourages thoughtful planning and clever movement, rewarding those who can blend into their surroundings and outsmart their adversaries. This stealth-focused gameplay not only heightens the tension and immersion but also offers a sophisticated and cerebral approach to overcoming the game’s challenges. I’m very excited to learn more about the story and have more fun with the parkour movement in the game upon its full release soon. The rich narrative promises to delve deeper into the complexities of humanity’s struggle for survival and the moral dilemmas faced by an advanced AI tasked with saving the remnants of human civilization. This exploration of themes such as the intersection of technology and humanity, the ethics of artificial intelligence, and the quest for redemption adds layers of depth to the gameplay experience. As the release date approaches, my anticipation grows for what promises to be a compelling and action-packed journey.
Avowed might release on November 12, 2024
When the Xbox Games Showcase concluded, developers shared a lot of posts regarding each of the games. Obsidian Entertainment made a blog post about Avowed’s latest story trailer and the game director, Carrie Patel might have leaked the release date for the upcoming Action RPG. First spotted by Wario64 on X (Twitter), a quote from Carrie Patel shared that Avowed would be released on November 12, 2024. A little after that was noticed, Obsidian Entertainment immediately removed the date from the post. You can see the sequence below that has an image of the original quote: Very weird. They immediately removed the Avowed release date after I posted this. Before and after pics attached. pic.twitter.com/vfH9QVlwzo — Wario64 (@Wario64) June 9, 2024 The updated quote reads: “The last few months at Obsidian Entertainment have been fast-paced and exciting. Since we saw you at the Xbox Developer Direct this past January, we’ve been busy with Avowed. Today, we’re thrilled to have revealed our first-ever story trailer at Xbox Games Showcase 2024, and to talk with you more about what we’ve shared.” It remains to be seen if Avowed will still come out this year, but it has been known that the game is planned for a release this Fall. Interestingly, Microsoft and Obsidian Entertainment have not mentioned a launch date with only months to go.
Review: Wizardry – Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord
Developer – Digital Eclipse Publisher – Digital Eclipse Platforms – PC, Nintendo Switch (Reviewed), Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4/5 Review copy provided by Publisher Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord was recently released on the Nintendo Switch and is a remake of the original Wizardry from the 1980’s. While some remakes fail at what they are trying to achieve, this game is an absolute love letter to the original game. It features all-new selectable options and baked-in old ones that create a perfect balance of old-school brutality and modern quality-of-life adjustments. The premise of the game is fairly simple, a band of adventurers are venturing into the depths of a maze at the center of town in order to try and find this powerful amulet and defeat the wizard Werdna. You can either choose a set of premade characters or create your own party and can even recruit other members as you level up. Character classes include Bishops, Fighters, Thieves, Ninjas, Samurai, Lords, Clerics, and you can choose the character’s moral alignment such as Evil, Neutral, and Good. Another option for when you are creating your characters is using random dice rolling for stat allocation. With the modern system, you have a preset dice roll which limits the number of starting class options, but with the old-school mechanics, I’ve seen rolls upwards of 29 points. This is a great way to start your character classes as you have more options and can buff the strength of your characters right from the start. The maze itself is fairly large and has a lot of twists and turns, traps, and evil monsters lurking every corner. In the past, you would have to draw out your map as you progress through the maze, but with the modern settings, you can see the surrounding area a bit easier as the walls and doors automatically appear on a small mini-map. I ended up going with the old-school option for this part of the game as I loved making the maps as I explored. A few pictures are below. In terms of difficulty, Wizardry can be absolutely brutal! You can find yourself progressing at a good pace and then all of a sudden find yourself fighting several groups of monsters that decimate a few party members and you will be forced to backtrack to the start to visit the temple and revive the dead. Unfortunately, this is very expensive. To put it into perspective, the cost of reviving the party members that I had was about 1,500 gold each, and each fight was giving about 50 gold. Of course, since I lost my best fighters, I had to create 3 more fighters from scratch and then farm level 1 to build them up to farm some gold and hopefully continue progressing. This set me back quite a bit and made me want to create a full backup party for these scenarios. Another aspect of the game that makes it quite difficult is the aging and healing system. The primary way of healing is by resting your characters at the inn, in the old school settings you can rest for a certain amount of gold per amount of health gain, or in modern settings healing is free. Either way, you will also age your character by 1 week. This is a huge detriment to healing, and while you have quite a lot of time before it really starts to impact it is something that made me hesitant. The other way to heal is by using your healing class characters, but the starting spell literally only heals a random value of 1-8 HP and can only be cast a few times before they also need to rest to replenish their spell-casting abilities. Healing items are extremely expensive and heal the same way, so you will find yourself creating healers just for keeping in town that can heal your party and age without worrying about quickly aging your primary characters. The best addition to the game is the ability to pick and choose what settings you want. Do you want to have an old-school map but modern healing mechanics? You can do that! Each setting from the classic version of the game and the modern mechanics are available to turn on and off making the game much more accessible for those wanting to have a more relaxed experience but can be the same experience from back in the day. It’s a great system and I wish more remasters would follow this route. Visually the game is great looking even on the Switch, however, if you want, you can turn on the old-school graphics as an overlay to the newly updated visuals. The sound effects, monster design, and music all do a wonderful job of making you feel like you are exploring the murky depths of a treacherous maze. While there isn’t much of a story, that isn’t what this game is about. I loved coming up with the team that I wanted to create and seehow I could make everything work and discovering the secrets that were in store deep in the maze. I can’t recommend Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord highly enough for those of you that enjoy games such as Etrian Odyssey, Legend of Grimrock, and Eye of the Beholder. Of course, Wizardry was the foundation for all of these games so it is to be expected, but how well the modern updates have helped keep this game from showing its age is a testament to Digital Eclipse and their love for the source material.
Fallout Creators See Five Seasons In Reach For The Series, Season 2 Still In Early Production
The shockwave that came following the release for Amazon Prime video’s Fallout was certainly one many were excited to watch as close as possible. It did not take long before the show already surged to #1 worldwide on the platform. And just a over a week later did Amazon greenlit season 2 for the series. All that leaves is for production to commence on the next season. When speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, showrunner Graham Wagner says work is still early for production, but is moving as fact as it can. “We are going as fast as we possibly can, and we’ve got a lot of heavy lifting from Season 1 already done. We have sets, assets, visual effects, that are already done. We are hitting the ground running this season. We’re going to be pedal to the metal to get season two out as fast as humanly possible.” In addition to confirmation that the next season is already underway, the show creators expand further on plans for the overall series. Although nothing is in stone for the entirety of Fallout, Wagner does entertain that five seasons seems very tangible with the success so far for the series. So our hope is to end every season with a semi-satisfying, semi-open-ended kind of shape. Look, we’ve talked about three seasons and we’ve talked about five seasons. Given the success of the show, five is suddenly feeling a little more appealing. But the industry is a temperamental thing and we kind of have to go into each season being like, “This is our last.” Additionally, Geneva Robertson-Dworet goes on to express the window of directions for season 2 that could not make it the first time. “There were so many things that we were not able to put in the show that we really desperately wanted that are either brilliant ideas for characters, creatures, set pieces. We’re always going to be bringing in new things from the Fallout mythology as we move forward with the show.” What’s most intriguing is the evolution of Lucy’s character thus far and how much the wasteland could further this in season 2, Wagner elaborates. “What we’re already into in Season 2 is exploring how far we want to push this character, how much do we want to see her hang onto to herself. It becomes the game of the show in its own way.” How excited are you for season 2 of Fallout? Source: The Hollywood Reporter
BioWare Renames Dragon Age: Dreadwolf To ‘The Veilgaurd’, Announcement Coming June 11th
After major releases Mass Effect Andromeda & Anthem, BioWare pledged on one commitment: to re-earn the trust of its players. In a statement from 2022, the firm elaborated on a new effort to do so and promised its new endeavor for both Mass Effect & Dragon Age will do things right. By June that year, BioWare officially confirmed the new title for the long-awaited sequel is ‘Dragon Age: Dreadwolf’. And almost two years later little on the game has been revealed. In one update, it was indicated that Electronic Arts are considering BioWare to go full hands on for its new projects whilst ongoing live-service game Star Wars: The Old Republic be passed to a separate studio. Additionally, a separate update shared that plans for a new announcement in summer 2024 is slated for the next Dragon Age title. Recently, BioWare announced an abrupt change for the next installment of Dragon Age – a name change. Going forward, Dragon Age: Dreadwolf is no more as Dragon Age: The Veilguard is the new title for the next release. “to capture what this game is all about, we changed the name as the original title didn’t show just how strongly we feel about our new heroes, their stories and how you’ll need to bring them together to save all of Thedas We proudly introduce to you Dragon Age: The Veilguard.” Dragon Age executive producer Gary McKay goes on to elaborate that the new announcement for the newly titled ‘Dragon Age: The Veilguard’ will also take place on June 11th. “This moment means so much to everyone at BioWare, and we wouldn’t be here without you. We’re ready to have some fun, so join the chat early…we’ve got a few special surprises for you,” he added. What’s more, the Xbox Games Showcase offered a glimpse at the new game. “Dragon Age: The Veilguard expands upon the Dragon Age stories, worlds and characters from previous games, where players will enter a vibrant land of rugged wilderness, treacherous labyrinths, and glittering cities – steeped in conflict and secret magics,” the synopsis reads. “As a new hero – a character you create – along with your companions, you will challenge and take a stand against a pair of corrupt ancient gods who have broken free from centuries of darkness and are hellbent on destroying the world.” Are you interested in Dragon Age: The Veilguard after this name change? The Dragon Age: The Veilguard announcement is set for June 11, 2024 at 8 AM PST / 11 A EST. Source: BioWare
Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League Dev Confirms To Deliver Its Full Year 1 Promises, But Nothing Is Concrete After That
Ever since the game’s arrival in January, there has been little nice to say towards Rocksteady Studios’ Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. Following the hallmark trilogy for Batman Arkham, many were surprised to find that the universe’s continuation was a lukewarm misfire from all four members on Task Force X. Following its release, the game found its Steam peak player count only reaching just over 12,000 players roughly. Additionally, the addition of Joker for season 1 did not show to bring much of a change to that. In one financial report, Warner Bros. revealed that the project overall was a $200 million loss for the firm after chasing this effort for almost a full decade. However, that does not mean that post-launch support is folding just yet. The full year 1 promises from Rocksteady Studios for Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is to remain until fulfilled. Beyond that currently appears to be still in the air. In a statement to IGN, a spokesperson said this: “We are not yet discussing anything that is not announced.” What’s more is that Warner Bros. is still committed to its further push on live-service projects. Despite the underwhelming release of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League and the recent 2023 juggernaut that was Hogwarts Legacy, it is stated that the firm is not continuing with its established AAA model for emphasis on service IPs instead. More interesting is the coming collaboration with Meta. In development by Camouflaj, Batman Arkham Shadow is the next entry as part of a continuation to the Batman Arkham series. Coming later this fall, it is surprising how soon a new interaction is overshadowing on of Warner Bros. largest investments to gaming. You can read the full report by heading here. Are you surprised by the statement made by Warner Bros? Source: IGN
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Will Feature Round-Based Zombies
Treyarch revealed more information regarding its upcoming release for Call of Duty: Black Ops 6. They held the exclusive direct on Sunday right after the Xbox Games Showcase and gave a glimpse of its multiplayer and zombies mode. It was a long time coming, but Black Ops 6 will see the return of round-based zombies. Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 will be released with two brand-new round-based zombie maps, Terminus and Liberty Falls, along with a continuation of the intriguing and terrifying Dark Aether narrative that began in Black Ops Cold War. What Is Round-Based Zombies? Round-based zombies is a classic game mode that was introduced in Call of Duty: World at War which was developed by Treyarch. Hordes of zombies will try to rampage through these locations and it’s your squad’s goal to defeat the undead through numerous rounds. It provides countless hours of fast-paced action where power-ups are available, but look out because things will get overwhelming as you advance each round. Zombies in Black Ops 6 will feature powerful weapons, new and returning power-ups, a pantheon of revolting entities to face, and a host of secrets and Easter eggs to discover. Treyarch will reveal more about the mode in Black Ops 6 in the coming weeks. Source: Call of Duty
Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora Receives First Story Pack, The Sky Breaker This July
Ubisoft Forward took place on Monday with a lot of updates on already existing games including Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, The Crew Motorfest, XDefiant, and others. The first-ever story pack was revealed for the latest Avatar game. The Sky Breaker will make its way to Frontiers of Pandora on July 16, 2024. The Sky Breaker sees a mysterious shadow looming in the sky, threatening the Na’vi clans below who are celebrating their festival of games. To protect the Western Frontier, you must face the RDA once again and save your allies. In The Sky Breaker, you will continue your Na’vi journey, which began in the main game, to The Heart of the Plains, an area of the Upper Plains that has yet to be discovered. In this area, familiar biomes have transformed into stunning new variations, while other landscapes such as the Prism Fields, Feathered Grasslands, Stone Rapids, and more are entirely new. In the upcoming update, you will face a new type of enemy called the AMP Defender. These enemies safeguard important locations using an indestructible shield and a powerful gatling gun mounted on top. Additionally, you will encounter new RDA lieutenants, each equipped with AMP Suits that offer enhanced firepower and protection, stationed at the RDA Command Stations. Furthermore, you will have the opportunity to participate in timed challenges during the festival of games. You can also progress to become a master crafter with the new Legendary rarity category and advance up to rank 25 with various new options for spending skill points. The Sky Breaker Story Pack will be available in the Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora Season Pass and will give owners access to two story packs. The Sky Breaker and Secrets of the Spires are the two packs arriving as well as a bonus quest and cosmetics. In our review of Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, we scored the game a 6.5 out of 10. It comes with a visually stunning world, but the prevalence of bugs held the game back from being even better.
Review: Lysfanga: The Time Shift Warrior
Developer – Sand Door Studio Publisher – Spotlight by Quantic Dream Platforms – Nintendo Switch (reviewed), PC Review copy given by publisher Wouldn’t it be great if you could get a hand from your past or future self? That’s one of the premises that Lysfanga: The Time Shift Warrior investigates as you play Imë, the titular Lysfanga. She is a warrior who investigates a city that has recently been freed of a time bubble. That time bubble was all that was holding back a evil race known as Raxes that threaten the lives of regular people. But Imë finds herself outmatched and gains an assist from the goddess of time, letting her fight alongside her past selves. Imë moves from location to location, fighting groups of Raxes and getting stronger She learns new spells and gains more remnants to fight alongside more past versions of herself. As you progress through the game, you gain more options for clearing levels quickly. Enemies evolve and present new threats, forcing you to strategize and plan out your actions. If a challenge is too hard, you can come back after you feel more confident. The time shifting is a great concept since it builds on actions you have done before. It takes some time to learn and master, but the mechanics are easy to adapt to. Every time shift is a strategic layer that you consider, allowing you visually plan and test. Restarting a battle is easy if you make a mistake and you gain new tools that expand your time shifting. Seeing your past selves come together in a battle is genuinely interesting and it makes combat more fun. Rather than being a traditional hack-and-slash, there’s actual strategy when you have a time limit. That time limit also forces you to use the available tools on hand, especially if you want to finish challenges. While Lysfanga allows some degree of hack-and-slash, it becomes unreliable in later levels. Without proper planning and using all your options, it is difficult to progress through areas, let alone complete challenges. The best part is that no challenge is impossible to complete in the given time. While you might not feel confident, there’s no challenge that is out of reach. Lysfanga makes it easier for players to revisit previous areas and battles. If you miss a collectible or feel confident to take on a challenge, it’s easy to move around. The UI is simple and is easy to understand, with a detailed tutorial in case you forget anything. Should players forget something they learned, a quick view of the tutorial helps them reinforce their existing tactical options. This makes Lysfanga beginner-friendly, allowing players to build their skills before going back for greater challenges. However, Lysfanga’s unusual approach to the action genre is a double-bladed sword. As innovative as the time-shifting mechanic is, the battles feel less like action and more like puzzles. You are fighting enemies, but planning your attacks strategically doesn’t focus on the action. Victory comes with finding optimal ways to finish a battle quickly, as enemies aren’t that dangerous. While you can get hurt and this affects your past selves, enemies rarely pose a threat to your mission. The timer is by far the worst obstacle to overcome. Eventually, battles become difficult enough that you aren’t really fighting as much as you are coordinating. You are thinking more than you are fighting, controlling pieces on a board and timing your actions. The process isn’t boring per se, but your coordination and skill aren’t as important as your strategy. For an action game to eventually feel like a puzzle game, the initial fun disappears after a while. It’s also not obvious what gathering collectibles and completing challenges does in the beginning. While their purpose is revealed to you in time, it makes completing early time challenges feel pointless. Why is it important that you finish battles under a certain time limit? What are those orbs you sometimes find around the city? The tutorial doesn’t cover their importance and that makes it feel like you are wasting your time completing them early on. Lysfanga also has auto-saves to prevent you from losing your progress. The Switch doesn’t handle these auto-saves well, with notable frame rate drops when they occur. Even starting a battle causes significant drops that can interrupt your planning. While these aren’t game-ending occurrences, they happen often enough that it does disrupt your experience. Lysfanga: The Time Shift Warrior is a unique action experience that you won’t soon forget. Time shifting is an interesting concept to work with, adding extra layers of strategy onto a typical hack-and-slash. It’s genuinely fun to see your actions coordinate with your past selves and overcome difficult obstacles. But the experience feels less like action and more like a puzzle as the game goes on. Completing challenges and finding objects also feels out of place without their significance explained to you. If the Switch wasn’t prone to frame drops, this would be a great experience. But as it is, Lysfanga provides great action with the premise becoming muddied as time goes on.
Review: Pro Philosopher 2: Governments & Grievances (Steam NextFest Demo)
Developer – Intelligible Games Publisher – Intelligible Games Platforms – PC (Reviewed) Review Code provided by Developers Note: The Following Review is of the Steam NextFest Demo Build Note the game may change before release, and this review is strictly of the Steam NextFest Demo. I’ve had the opportunity to explore the demo build of Pro Philosopher 2: Governments & Grievances for over a month, and unfortunately, it has not inspired a strong desire for further play. Pro Philosopher 2: Governments & Grievances is the sequel to Socrates Jones: Pro Philosopher (which I have not played), featuring interactive debates with historical thinkers and logical puzzles reminiscent of the Ace Attorney series. While the game aims to delve into political philosophy, the execution does not capture my interest as effectively as its inspiration. The focus on political philosophy, while not 100% problematic, may contribute to the game’s reduced appeal compared to the more action-oriented and fast-paced nature of Ace Attorney. Pro Philosopher 2 often feels more like a history lesson on political theory than an engaging interactive experience. The narrative tends to be dry, and the gameplay would benefit from greater dynamism to sustain player interest. From the limited perspective of the demo, it’s evident that the game pushes players towards certain political leanings. The narrative choices, and even character interactions all seem to align with a particular ideological viewpoint. However, whether this bias is intentional or simply a byproduct of the game’s design is difficult to ascertain without experiencing the full version. Games, like any form of media, often reflect the beliefs and perspectives of their creators, however. As mentioned the game feels very much like Ace Attorney from a game mechanics point of view, and the main character Ari even exclaims “Nonsense!” during debates, reminiscent of Phoenix Wright’s iconic “Objection!”, complete with bold red text slamming onto the screen, Nonetheless, this might put the game’s potential to define its distinct character/persona at risk. Despite the overly dry history lesson, the game is not without merit. It incorporates humor and light-hearted elements that make it somewhat enjoyable. However, based on the demo, it is not a title I would readily recommend, except perhaps for a few laughs due to its whimsical nature. The original game in the series is available for free on Steam, having evolved from a Newgrounds release, and I believe this is where the series may be best suited, as a free or low-cost offering.
