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

[JEMC]

The Monday news, part two:

Vampire Survivors skips Halloween and goes straight to a goodie-filled 1.7.0 Christmas update, because 'if big name stores can do it, why can't we?'
https://www.pcgamer.com/vampire-survivors-skips-halloween-and-goes-straight-to-a-goodie-filled-170-christmas-update-because-if-big-name-stores-can-do-it-why-cant-we/
Vampire Survivors has dropped a new patch—and you'd think, considering Halloween is fast approaching, that they might, oh, I don't know, lean into their already-present spooky themes a little? You'd think.
Instead, they've gone and swept the rug out from under just about everybody and released Patch 1.7.0, named "Whiteout", which is coincidentally what's happening to me right now as I stave off flashbacks of retail jobs past. Fittingly, the trailer asks: "if big name stores can do it, why can't we?"

Dino shooter Second Extinction pulled from sale before even making it out of early access: 'It regrettably did not achieve the success we hoped it would'
https://www.pcgamer.com/dino-shooter-second-extension-pulled-from-sale-before-even-making-it-out-of-early-access-it-regrettably-did-not-achieve-the-success-we-hoped-it-would/
After three years in early access, Second Extinction is over. Developer Systemic Reaction has announced that it is ending "active development" game, and has removed it from sale.
"After thoughtful consideration and exploration of our best course of action, we have made the difficult decision to end active development of Second Extinction," the studio wrote in a farewell message. "While Second Extinction is well-loved among our players and the gaming community, it regrettably did not achieve the success we hoped it would."

Diablo 4's new seasonal event drops so much legendary loot it feels like an exploit, but Blizzard says it's intentional
https://www.pcgamer.com/diablo-4s-new-seasonal-event-drops-so-much-legendary-loot-it-feels-like-an-exploit-but-blizzard-says-its-intentional/
Diablo 4's new season dumps so many rare items on you that I'm pretty sure it would've been deemed a game-breaking exploit around the game's release.
(... several paragraphs below...)
In Season 1, it was exceptionally rare to see multiple Legendaries drop below level 50. Now, it's practically raining Legendaries to the point that it almost feels wrong, but Blizzard president Mike Ybarra says it's totally intentional.

In case you're wondering how weird Valorant has gotten, the newest agent creates a pocket dimension where enemies are forced to 1v1 you to the death
https://www.pcgamer.com/in-case-youre-wondering-how-weird-valorant-has-gotten-the-newest-agent-creates-a-pocket-dimension-where-enemies-are-forced-to-1v1-you-to-the-death/
Valorant, a competitive FPS that I've often criticized for being too conservative with character abilities, is cooking up something weird for its next agent. Iso, Valorant's eleventh post-launch agent, is a Chinese mercenary who "reconfigures ambient energy into bulletproof protection." Pretty useful skills for the aggressive pointman of the team, but pedestrian compared to his ultimate ability that is so strange it's unlike anything I've seen in an FPS before.

The Viper is Final Fantasy 14's newest class, with tons of flair and dual swords that can be fused together
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-viper-is-final-fantasy-14s-newest-class-with-tons-of-flair-and-dual-swords-that-can-be-fused-together/
Final Fantasy 14's London Fan Festival has just kicked off, and with it Square Enix has finally revealed the first of its two new classes coming to upcoming expansion Dawntrail: melee damage dealer Viper. The job was first teased back in July's Las Vegas Fan Festival, but this is the first time we have a name and a full reveal of the kit.
>> Maybe that'll convince Hironobu Sakaguchi to change class, given that he's played a lot of FF 14.

We might not have Final Fantasy 16 on PC yet, but we can sort of experience it through Final Fantasy 14's new crossover event
https://www.pcgamer.com/we-might-not-have-final-fantasy-16-on-pc-yet-but-we-can-sort-of-experience-it-through-final-fantasy-14s-new-crossover-event/
I reckon one of the benefits of being the director on multiple games is you can just give 'em crossover events without too much faff, and with Naoki Yoshida being at the helm of both Final Fantasy 14 and Final Fantasy 16, it makes an awful lot of sense to mash them together into one cool questline.
>> But which collaboration would be like doing the most? Diablo.

Final Fantasy 14's director promises to make an ultra-challenging achievement for the player who earned every single one, if they want
https://www.pcgamer.com/final-fantasy-14s-director-promises-to-make-an-ultra-challenging-achievement-for-the-player-who-earned-every-single-one-if-they-want/
A few months back, one esteemed Final Fantasy 14 player obtained all of the 2,751 then-earnable achievements for the first time ever. That's 10 years for someone to nab every single accomplishment, with one achievement alone time-gated to around seven years of hard work.
Well, if that Warrior of Light is looking for an even greater challenge, director and producer Naoki Yoshida is more than happy to offer it to them. Speaking through a translator at a press conference during London's Fan Festival, Yoshida said, "First and foremost, I just want to say wow, big congratulations," adding "to see that player just stick with it, just pressing on... as a creator of an MMO that's a really fantastic thing to see."

Another Warhammer game's license runs out as Warhammer Quest announces its delisting on Steam
https://www.pcgamer.com/another-warhammer-games-license-runs-out-as-warhammer-quest-announces-its-delisting-on-steam/
"New sales of Warhammer Quest will end shortly on Steam", a recent news post for the turn-based dungeon crawler tersely says. "Thanks for all your support for this game over the years." Released in 2015, Warhammer Quest is an adaptation of Games Workshop's tabletop game of the same name. A sort of Advanced Advanced Heroquest, it's a halfway step between board game and RPG that combines a gloomy, dangerous underworld with an only slightly less gloomy overworld where you recuperate in town and story beats play out.

This combo of Surviving Mars with factory building has you automate and expand a lunar colony in the wake of disaster
https://www.pcgamer.com/this-combo-of-surviving-mars-with-factory-building-has-you-automate-and-expand-a-lunar-colony-in-the-wake-of-disaster/
An upcoming management-automation-strategy hybrid called The Crust is looking pretty promising, a concept that looks and plays like it'll be a combination of Surviving Mars and a Factory-building game. You're put in charge of an automated building and mining system on the lunar surface shortly before a disaster that leaves you as one of the only people with a fully functional, operating lunar colony. From there it's up to you to ship resources to Earth, aid disaster survivors, and build up your base's capabilities.

Terrifyingly fun roguelike World of Horror launches with an absolute banger of a trailer
https://www.pcgamer.com/terrifyingly-fun-roguelike-world-of-horror-launches-with-an-absolute-banger-of-a-trailer/
Delightfully strange and just generally delightful game World of Horror has finally released, leaving early access development on October 19 2023. It celebrates with a deliciously good trailer freshly scored by composer Joseph Bailey that shows off what's best about World of Horror: scared teenagers trying to save the day, moody scenes of dark landscapes, and terrifying critters coming up out of absolutely nowhere to murder you.

Overwatch harnesses the dread power of K-Pop
https://www.pcgamer.com/overwatch-harnesses-the-dread-power-of-k-pop/
In a moment that is decidedly inevitable, Overwatch will undertake a collaboration with a K-Pop group that includes a new game mode and themed in-game items, including Legendary hero skins. The k-pop group Le Sserafim, formed in 2022, will be debuting a single called Perfect Night on October 26, and will come to Overwatch shortly after.