The Friday news, the second part:
Hooray! You can now 'voluntarily amputate your own limbs' in the last major update before full release for the best roguelike out there
https://www.pcgamer.com/hooray-you-can-now-voluntarily-amputate-your-own-limbs-in-the-last-major-update-before-full-release-for-the-best-roguelike-out-there/
I keep Caves of Qud and Dwarf Fortress in the same mental filing cabinet. Both consist of a very thin layer of graphics (though thicker now in Dwarf Fortress' case) spread atop a fathomless clockwork of interlocking gameplay systems and strange simulations. They are, if you ask me, two of the best and most impressive games ever made, and now Qud has gotten even wider, deeper, and weirder.
Todd Howard reflects on Fallout 76's poor reception: 'we struggled [but] it made us much, much better developers'
https://www.pcgamer.com/todd-howard-reflects-on-fallout-76s-poor-reception-we-struggled-but-it-made-us-much-much-better-developers/
Fallout 76 landed with all the grace of an atom bomb. Back when it first released, PC Gamer's Christopher Livingston called it a "A beautifully crafted but ultimately repetitive world", giving it a 60 in his Fallout 76 review.
It arrived with a bunch of glaring flaws, too: game-breaking bugs, a whole host of missing features like no FoV slider (this happened again with Starfield, somehow), and a bungled $200 edition which promised fancy canvas bags that… turned out to be made of nylon (which Bethesda did eventually fix, though not until a whole year later). 'Troubled history' is an understatement, which is something Todd Howard's wildly aware of as per a quick jaunt through Bethesda's history with WIRED.
Mass Effect veteran Mac Walters is heading up a new studio with NetEase
https://www.pcgamer.com/mass-effect-veteran-mac-walters-is-heading-up-a-new-studio-with-netease/
BioWare veteran Mac Walters left the storied RPG studio earlier this year after a 19-year career, during which he served as writer (and later lead writer) on the Mass Effect trilogy, creative director on Mass Effect: Andromeda, and production director on the still-in-development Dragon Age: Dreadwolf. Now he's announced his next venture: A new studio at NetEase called Worlds Untold, dedicated to developing "triple-A action adventure games with an emphasis on narrative and worldbuilding."
Baldur's Gate 3 cinematic animation lead Jim Southworth has died: 'We will all forever have a Jim-shaped hole in our lives'
https://www.pcgamer.com/jim-southworth-obituary/
Larian Studios announced on Monday that Jim Southworth, who led the Baldur's Gate 3 cinematic animation team, has died. He was 56 years old, and had been diagnosed with cancer at the end of 2022.
>> D.E.P.
If, like me, you're bummed for missing out on that monster Baldur's Gate 3 collector's edition, Larian's got you covered with an upcoming big box 'Deluxe' release
https://www.pcgamer.com/if-like-me-youre-bummed-for-missing-out-on-that-monster-baldurs-gate-3-collectors-edition-larians-got-you-covered-with-an-upcoming-big-box-deluxe-release/
Larian has opened preorders for an $80 physical Deluxe Edition version of Baldur's Gate 3 on PC, PS5, and Xbox. The new variant comes with disc copies of the game and soundtrack, as well as assorted "feelies" like stickers and a poster, all in a glorious throwback case that feels like the PC big boxes of yesteryear. The Deluxe Edition is expected to ship in the first quarter of 2024.
>> It's nice to see physical copies of the game included (something not guaranteed in this day and age). I'm sure they'll sell as many as they want. The article has a couple pictures of the items included in this deluxe editon.
Embracer CEO just flat-out refuses to talk about the KOTOR remake now: 'Anything I say to this becomes a headline'
https://www.pcgamer.com/embracer-ceo-just-flat-out-refuses-to-talk-about-the-kotor-remake-now-anything-i-say-to-this-becomes-a-headline/
The Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Remake sparked some serious excitement when it was announced back in 2021. KOTOR is a seriously good RPG and a top-tier Star Wars experience, but at 20 years old it's also very dated. Unfortunately, it has not been smooth sailing since, and at this point there's legitimate doubt that the remake will ever see the light of day. And there was no good news on the status of the game in the most recent Embracer Group financial report—in fact, it was quite the opposite.
A Highland Song, the narrative platformer survival game from Heaven's Vault studio Inkle, is coming in December
https://www.pcgamer.com/a-highland-song-the-next-game-from-heavens-vault-studio-inkle-is-coming-in-december/
A Highland Song, the next game from 80 Days and Heaven's Vault studio Inkle, was announced last year as a side-scrolling platformer "with rhythm and survival elements." At the time it was listed only as "coming soon," but now we've got a proper release date, and it's close: Inkle will set its latest narrative-heavy tale free on Steam on December 5.
World of Warcraft's upcoming patch will finally start fixing how much its dungeons suck for new players
https://www.pcgamer.com/world-of-warcrafts-upcoming-patch-will-finally-start-fixing-how-much-its-dungeons-suck-for-new-players/
The next World of Warcraft patch is in development, and it's called Seeds of Renewal (as announced by Blizzard on its official news blog). Aside from the exciting news that Dragonflying will become globally available in all old-world content, Blizzard has taken the first step to fixing a glaring flaw in the game's levelling process. Simply put, dungeons are pretty terrible if you're new to the game.
An ARPG I love from 2016 just had a massive update that gives players a Diablo 4-style dodge, among a huge list of other goodies
https://www.pcgamer.com/an-arpg-i-love-from-2016-just-had-a-massive-update-that-gives-players-a-diablo-4-style-dodge-with-invincibility-frames-among-a-huge-list-of-other-goodies/
Grim Dawn's one of my favourite ARPGs—and it just had a massive update, despite releasing in 2016. While I'm really excited for its upcoming expansion, Fangs of Asterkarn, I figured Crate Entertainment would save its big overhauls for that. Boy oh boy was I wrong.
You can see the full patch notes here on the game's steam forums, and they're huge. The changes therein are a genuine attempt to modernise Grim Dawn—it'll never be as flashy as something like Diablo 4, sure, and that's part of its charm. Doesn't mean the more sensible upgrades from modern ARPGs can't be worked in, does it?
Fortnite players revolt as the game’s 'Roblox-ification' with baffling age ratings stops them accessing paid cosmetics
https://www.pcgamer.com/fortnite-players-revolt-as-the-games-roblox-ification-with-baffling-age-ratings-stops-them-accessing-paid-cosmetics/
Fans of part-time battle royale and full-time brand chimaera Fortnite are in an uproar right now, following an update to the game's Creative mode islands that's left players unable to equip some of their paid cosmetics.
The update in question is Fortnite's introduction of island age ratings. Released yesterday, the new patch has made it so that the game's islands—spaces mostly created by players where they have full creative reign—can now be given their own age ratings. That means island makers can, if they so choose, set a rating lower than Fortnite's own T for Teen ESRB rating on their created spaces.
All well and good, except Fortnite's head-spinning array of cosmetic items also have their own age ratings now. Try to equip a cosmetic rated T for Teen on an island with a lower E10+ or E rating, and you'll find that it's been replaced by a dull and miserly default skin, no matter how much you paid for it.
>> Way to go, Epic.
Let's end the news with a look at what we'll find this weekend at GOG and Steam:
+GOG
- GOG has three Deals of the Day, with the first one being Hero of the Kingdom, 85% off during 22 hours: https://www.gog.com/en/game/hero_of_the_kingdom
- The second one is Rise of the Triad: Ludicrous Edition, with a 25% discount during 70 hours: https://www.gog.com/en/game/rise_of_the_triad_ludicrous_edition
- And the last one is Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice, 85% off until Monday: https://www.gog.com/en/game/hellblade_senuas_sacrifice_pack
+Steam
- The first one is the Cozy Quest 2023 Sale/Event, with up to 80% discounts until Monday: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/CozyQuest2023
- The Early Access title Railroads Online is free to try during the weekend and 30% off until Tuesday: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1696810/Railroads_Online/
- Oxygen Not Included gets a 66% discount until the 21st: https://store.steampowered.com/app/457140/Oxygen_Not_Included/
- Publisher Neowiz puts its games up to 80% off until November, 21st: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/neowiz2023
- The Red Faction Complete Collection gets an 84% discount until Tuesday, 21st (at least that who long the discounts for the individual games will last): https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/26835/Red_Faction_Complete_Collection/
- Victoria 3 will be free to try during the weekend and 50% off until the 28th of November: https://store.steampowered.com/app/529340/Victoria_3/
- And the last one, the Earth Defense Force franchise goes on sale with up to 81% deals until the 28th: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/EDF2023
And done. No more news to share. Until next time, I wish you a happy and gaming weekend.
Please excuse my bad English.
Currently gaming on a PC with an i5-4670k@stock (for now), 16Gb RAM 1600 MHz and a GTX 1070
Steam / Live / NNID : jonxiquet Add me if you want, but I'm a single player gamer.
