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

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And yes, today there's also a part three of the news:

This retro-futuristic platformer about rescuing spacemen on an alien moon might be the perfect Steam Deck game
https://www.pcgamer.com/this-retro-futuristic-platformer-about-rescuing-spacemen-on-an-alien-moon-might-be-the-perfect-steam-deck-game/
The escort mission is one of the most reviled of videogame tropes, but solo-developed platformer Moons Of Darsalon boldly leans into it as its whole deal. Darsalon is a puzzle-platformer in the vein of Lemmings, tasking you with hunting down hapless "Darsonauts" in its sprawling levels, then shepherding them to safety.

Square Enix's free 'AI tech preview' has a Steam user rating of Very Negative and deserves it
https://www.pcgamer.com/square-enixs-free-ai-tech-preview-has-a-steam-user-rating-of-very-negative-and-deserves-it/
Square Enix's AI Division released an updated version of adventure game The Portopia Serial Murder Case as "an educational demonstration of Natural Language Processing (NLP), an AI technology," according to its announcement. The original 1983 game was a significant influence on visual novels and graphical adventures in Japan, as well as inspiring a generation of game designers. The 2023 version, which is available for free on Steam, doesn't seem likely to have the same effect. In fact, it currently has a user rating that's 92% negative.

Mike Laidlaw explains how the Dragon Age writers' room tackled companions
https://www.pcgamer.com/mike-laidlaw-explains-how-the-dragon-age-writers-room-tackled-companions/
Companions are a defining feature of BioWare's RPGs. The band of NPC followers who join your party in games like Baldur's Gate and Dragon Age weren't just a collection of yes-elves who quietly went along with every decision you made. They pushed back and disagreed, and would sometimes leave to go do their own thing. Each of those companions had a distinct personality and voice. That's why there's still no better argument-starter among BioWare's players than asking who the best and worst BioWare companions are. (Jacob defense squad, represent.)
And so, when a group of veteran RPG designers came together for a recent GDC roundtable hosted by PC Gamer, the question of how the writers managed their casts came up. Obsidian's Josh Sawyer took the opportunity to ask Mike Laidlaw, "At BioWare, was there a standard method for the development of the cast of companions and individual companions?"

The gloves come off as NetEase sues Blizzard for $44 million
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-gloves-come-off-as-netease-sues-blizzard-for-dollar44-million/
Blizzard's games were published in China by NetEase for 14 years, until that licensing agreement came to an end in January. It was not a harmonious break-up. Both sides blamed the other for both the collapse of their agreement and the inability to work out a way to transfer player data to any new partner's servers (Blizzard still lacks a new Chinese publisher). The end came with the in-your-face symbolism of NetEase employees smashing up a giant Gorehowl statue (a legendary World of Warcraft axe) in front of their offices, before drinking "Blizzard green tea", the latter essentially a Chinese insult implying Blizzard is greedy and impure.
So that all went well, and today brings the news that NetEase is filing a lawsuit against Blizzard that's looking for 300 million Chinese Yuan ($43.5 million / £35 million) made up of various claims (the suit was first reported by Chinese media Sina Technology, via WoWhead).

Gears of War creator Cliff Bleszinski isn't bringing back LawBreakers after all, and he's 'kinda over the whole making games thing'
https://www.pcgamer.com/gears-of-war-creator-cliff-bleszinski-isnt-bringing-back-lawbreakers-after-all-and-hes-kinda-over-the-whole-making-games-thing/
Turns out Gears of War creator Cliff Bleszinski's mysterious tease about the future of his flopped FPS LawBreakers may have been a bit premature. Two weeks ago, he tweeted "Just got a text from my lawyers about… LawBreakers. Stay tuned" (before launching into a rant against people who "were rooting for the game to fail"), implying some kind of return for the now long-dead game. It's now looking like that was based on a misunderstanding of who holds the game's rights in 2023—a more recent tweet says "Well, turns out Nexon does own the rights to LawBreakers." before appealing to Nexon's CEO to DM him about a resurrection.

Vampire survival game says screw it, let's add Frankenstein's monster
https://www.pcgamer.com/vampire-survival-game-says-screw-it-lets-add-frankensteins-monster/
Almost a year after launch V Rising remains in early access, and is planning to celebrate its anniversary in the most electrifying of ways: Sod it, thought someone at Stunlock Studios, let's add Frakenstein's monster to our Dracula game. The Secrets of Gloomrot expansion is set in "a land twisted by the tortured ambitions of a scientific genius", hello Victor, who in this incarnation has a legion of followers and a civilisation built around his works and "the pursuit of evolution".

If you die in PvP while playing Diablo 4 hardcore, you're dead bucko
https://www.pcgamer.com/if-you-die-in-pvp-while-playing-diablo-4-hardcore-youre-dead-bucko/
Dying in PvP in hardcore mode in Diablo 4 will mean permadeath for that character, Blizzard has confirmed. Before you say "well duh" this is actually a change in hardcore policy, with Blizzard indicating several years ago in interviews that hardcore characters would be exempted from permadeath in PvP.