Carzy Zarx’s PC Gaming Emporium - Catch Up on All the Latest PC Gaming Related News

[JEMC]

Monday news, part two:

 

Blizzard accidentally revealed that Overwatch's Horizon Lunar Colony map is getting a major rework
https://www.pcgamer.com/blizzard-accidentally-revealed-that-overwatchs-horizon-lunar-colony-map-is-getting-a-major-rework/
Horizon Lunar Colony is one of Overwatch's most-hated maps.
It looks like Blizzard has taken notice, as a map rework is currently underway, dramatically changing the potential attack and defense avenues surrounding each point. Several flanking routes have been changed—some opened, some closed—and there's more available high-ground access sports.

 

Hollow Knight Lifeblood update now available, Gods & Glory DLC 'coming together'
https://www.pcgamer.com/hollow-knight-lifeblood-update-now-available-gods-and-glory-dlc-coming-together/
Hollow Knight's long-awaited Lifeblood update is now available, developer Team Cherry announced today. If you purchased the game through Steam or GOG Galaxy, it will automatically update. DRM-free GOG and Humble buyers will need to download an updated version from their respective storefronts.

 

Side-scroller Aura of Worlds opens its ever-changing labyrinth next week
https://www.pcgamer.com/side-scroller-aura-of-worlds-opens-its-ever-changing-labyrinth-next-week/
Shaun played a bit of Aura of Worlds at PAX Australia last year and found it rather promising, calling it a neat randomly generated side-scroller with a focus on improvised weapons. After a stay in early access on Itch, Aura of Worlds will enter Steam Early Access on Tuesday, April 24, developer Cognitive Forge announced today.

 

Edmund McMillen's next game, The Legend of Bum-bo, gets its first trailer
https://www.pcgamer.com/edmund-mcmillens-next-game-the-legend-of-bum-bo-gets-its-first-trailer/
The Binding of Isaac creator Edmund McMillen first teased The Legend of Bum-bo in March 2016 as a "turn-based puzzle RPG thingy that's randomly generated," and this January confirmed it had been delayed to the second half 2018. Today, McMillen and co-creator James Id revealed the first trailer for Bum-bo in a Tumblr post outlining the gist of the game.

 

Hearthstone game director Ben Brode is leaving Blizzard
https://www.pcgamer.com/hearthstone-game-director-ben-brode-is-leaving-blizzard/
Ben Brode, game director on Hearthstone and rapmeister extraordinaire, is leaving Blizzard. Brode dropped the surprise announcement today in a message saying that he's going to help start a new company that will "probably make games."

>>They should have used a better pic in that article...

 

After giving up on arcade games, it sounds like Housemarque is making a battle royale
https://www.pcgamer.com/having-given-up-on-arcade-games-it-sounds-like-housemarque-is-making-a-battle-royale/
"Arcade is dead," Housemarque said in January following poor sales of its latest arcade shooter Nex Machina (which was a very, very good game). After years of focusing on shoot 'em ups like Resogun and Dead Nation, the Finnish developer was on the hunt for a new genre—and it appears to have settled on battle royale.

 

Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire director urges RPG developers to be more 'radical', says some fans 'resistant to change'
https://www.pcgamer.com/pillars-of-eternity-2-deadfire-director-urges-rpg-developers-to-be-more-radical-says-some-fans-resistant-to-change/
Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire is just over two weeks away, and I can't wait. The first game was an homage to classic RPGs like Baldur’s Gate, Icewind Dale, and Planescape: Torment, and that was part of why players loved it so much. But the man in charge of directing it, Obsidian's Josh Sawyer, says that the genre needs to be more "radical", and that both Pillars 1 and 2 are "contributing to the problem" of a lack of innovation.

 

Iratus: Lord of the Dead, an RPG inspired by Darkest Dungeon, is heading to Kickstarter next month
https://www.pcgamer.com/iratus-lord-of-the-dead-an-rpg-inspired-by-darkest-dungeon-is-heading-to-kickstarter-next-month/
Iratus: Lord of the Dead is a roguelike inspired by Darkest Dungeon, the party-based dungeon crawler from 2016, and I can think of worse games to emulate.
The game is largely complete, but the team plan to launch a Kickstarter at the start of next month. They're searching for $10,000 so they can "polish it up and perhaps add some extra content", they said in a Steam post.

 

Super Mega Baseball 2 out on May 1, final reveal video shows off new focus on realism
https://www.pcgamer.com/super-mega-baseball-2-out-on-may-1-final-reveal-video-shows-off-new-focus-on-realism/
If you want to play a PC baseball management sim, you grab Out of the Park Baseball. If you want to actually get on the field, then Super Mega Baseball is, in my opinion, your best bet. The long-awaited sequel finally got a release date this week—May 1—alongside a video detailing how developer Metalhead Software has upped the realism this time around.

 

Upcoming PUBG weapons patch aims to stop players using assault rifles all the time
https://www.pcgamer.com/upcoming-pubg-weapons-patch-aims-to-stop-players-using-assault-rifles-all-the-time/
Assault rifles rule the roost in PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, and developer Bluehole wants to change that. In a Steam post, it said that an upcoming weapons balance patch will ensure that weapon choice is down to personal preference and the situation at hand, rather than just which gun is strongest. In other words, certain assault rifles will be nerfed, or the other weapons will receive buffs.

 

Next Stellaris update will overhaul anomalies and add multi-star systems
https://www.pcgamer.com/next-stellaris-update-will-overhaul-anomalies-and-add-multi-star-systems/
Stellaris, which we chose as one of the best strategy games on PC earlier this month, will overhaul the way that anomalies work in an upcoming update and introduce multi-star systems for the first time, developer Paradox Interactive has announced. The 2.1 update, called Niven, will remove the chance of failure when researching anomalies, which are points of interests on planets that can grant bonuses when investigated.

 

Pretty Metroidvania Faeland jumps onto Kickstarter
https://www.pcgamer.com/pretty-metroidvania-faeland-swings-onto-kickstarter/
Faeland's pretty pixel art first caught my eye in January when it was just a teaser trailer, but now it's come to Kickstarter with a prototype build in search of $29,000. It calls itself a "Metroidvania action adventure RPG", which is to say you travel back and forth between its various towns and villages, delve into castles and forests, solve puzzles, jump between platforms, slay enemies, fight bosses, unlock new areas and complete side quests to get better weapons and armour.

 

Knuckle Sandwich, the RPG about fast food and cults, smashes Kickstarter goal in 12 hours
https://www.pcgamer.com/knuckle-sandwich-the-rpg-about-fast-food-and-cults-smashes-kickstarter-goal-in-12-hours/
Knuckle Sandwich, the absurd, minigame-laden RPG about a boy working in a run-down diner, landed on Kickstarter earlier this week, and hit its $25,000 AUD (roughly $19,000) goal within 12 hours.
Tom compared it to EarthBound, the psychedelic 1994 SNES RPG, when he played a portion of it in 2015, while creator Andrew Brophy cites inspirations including Pokémon, Dragon Ball, Fargo, The Big Sleep, and American Psycho. Mix them all together and you get a surreal RPG involving a missing persons mystery and a fanatic cult.

 

Yoku's Island Express, the Sonic Spinball meets Studio Ghibli sidescroller, has a release date
https://www.pcgamer.com/yokus-island-express-the-sonic-spinball-meets-studio-ghibli-sidescroller-has-a-release-date/
I'm draugr-deep in God of War at the moment. And having spent the last few months committing crimes all over Los Santos—I most recently murdered a song—the idea of unwinding with pleasant and colourful games like Yoku's Island Express appeals to me. It's due on PC next month.

 

Final Fantasy 7 remake aims for 'quality that surpasses the original'
https://www.pcgamer.com/final-fantasy-7-remake-aims-for-quality-that-surpasses-the-original/
As reported by Gematsu (via IGN), new job postings for a Battle Planner and Level Planner reiterate the game is being made in-house, and that it'll be a "new Final Fantasy VII, not limited to a simple remake."
The original job post—featured here, translated by Gematsu here—doesn't mention the final game will be spread over multiple parts, however this is still thought to be the case. What the post does say is that the FF7 remake will blend action elements with traditional role-playing mechanics as it "preserve(s) the existing concepts users hold while creating a new world view."

>>I'm starting to doubt the game will come even during the PS5/X2 gen.