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

[JEMC]

Even after that long second post, here’s a third one with more news:

Weird aesthetics abound in point-and-click comsic gothic Blood on the Thames
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/adventure/weird-aesthetics-abound-in-point-and-click-comsic-gothic-blood-on-the-thames/
Here's one for those of you that enjoy an odd little bit of indie storytelling: Blood on the Thames is a "murder mystery puzzle game with visual novel elements in a Gothic, Lovecraftian world." In it, your sleuth must solve a supernatural murder in a Victorian London still reeling from the Jack the Ripper murders.

Gear up to explore some sky whales, build a few towns when survival crafter Towers of Aghasba releases next month
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/survival-crafting/gear-up-to-explore-some-sky-whales-build-a-few-towns-when-survival-crafter-towers-of-aghasba-releases-next-month/
We really loved the vibrant world of Towers of Aghasba when it was revealed earlier this year: Giant flying whales, rideable mouse-horse-things, a stunning variety of strange creatures and hairy tortoise things and interesting-looking stuff wielded and worn by the characters. The list just went on and on. Now, towers of Aghasba is nearing an early access launch on Novermber 19 with six regions, three ecosystems, and three villages for your junior architect to develop.

ColdRidge, the game about cowboys doing 4x-style exploration, hits release
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/strategy/coldridge-the-game-about-cowboys-doing-4x-style-exploration-hits-release/
French indie studio Frog Collective is set to drop their first game on October 28: ColdRidge, a wild west-set adventure that has your cowpoke adventuring out into the wilderness each spring in the hopes of scouting out resources that the guild needs—and making enough cash before winter comes to survive until you can work again. Otherwise, well, you're outside the walls when those world-scouring snowstorms come.

Vermintide 2 is getting a progression rework in time for the official release of Versus mode
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/vermintide-2-is-getting-a-progression-rework-in-time-for-the-official-release-of-versus-mode/
Darktide enjoyed a progression rework earlier this year, and it's Vermintide 2's turn next. As design director Joakim Setterberg explained in a developer blog, with Versus mode on the way Fatshark has decided to smooth out the way Vermintide 2 welcomes new players and how its progression mechanics keep them around.

JRPG Ys 10: Nordics comes to PC with a heap of PC-specific features
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/jrpg-ys-10-nordics-comes-to-pc-with-a-heap-of-pc-specific-features/
The Ys games (it rhymes with "peace", you're welcome) are a series of JRPGs that go back to 1987, and have recently begun receiving English localizations sooner than they used to. The latest example of that is Ys 10: Nordics, which just released in English following a Japanese/Korean/Chinese PC port in March of this year.

This visual novel about hunting supernatural oddities in urban environments will definitely be one for the Persona crowd
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/visual-novel/this-visual-novel-about-hunting-supernatural-oddities-in-urban-environments-will-definitely-be-one-for-the-persona-crowd/
The intriguingly-named Urban Myth Dissolution Center has that style of animation and use of color and typography that makes me immediately pay attention because, well: Not every developer does this, do they? That, and the occult investigation theme, make me immediatley curious at what this one's bringing to the table when modern fantasy juggernauts like Persona dominate the landscape.

Obsidian says choices both big and small will matter in Avowed, and 'the choices you get and the outcomes in front of you are going to depend on what you're able to find'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/obsidian-says-choices-both-big-and-small-will-matter-in-avowed-and-the-choices-you-get-and-the-outcomes-in-front-of-you-are-going-to-depend-on-what-youre-able-to-find/
I've said it before and I'll say it again: Pillars of Eternity 2 is one of my favourite CRPGs of all time, and one of the most underrated, too. That's in no small part down to the themes it takes on and the choices it lets you make. PoE2 is about imperialism, colonialism, how we construct and conceive of notions of 'progress,' and it's also about chasing an incredibly large green man across half the planet. The way you could define your character in relation to those themes, not according to some shallow binary, but in all sorts of weird, idiosyncratic and nuanced ways, is still impressive today.
Which is why, despite the weirdly timid marketing Obsidian has been doing for the game, I'm excited to get my hands on Avowed—set in PoE's universe after the events of the second game—this February. After all, the devs say they're thinking about choices just as must as they did in the isometric games. In a recent chat with Edge magazine (via GamesRadar), game director Carrie Patel said that one of the things Avowed is trying to emphasise is "giving the player moment-to-moment choices to express and explore where they're leaning."

Silly Polly Beast is a stylish, spooky survival horror game where you're packing some serious firepower
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/horror/silly-polly-beast-is-a-stylish-spooky-survival-horror-game-where-youre-packing-some-serious-firepower/
While Steam Next Fest is over (for now), there are a whole heap of demos staying out after curfew, including the unusual Silly Polly Beast. This story-driven shooter is an intriguing mix of psychological and supernatural horror, teenage angst, stylish neon horror-punk aesthetics and aggressive twin-stick shooter combat.

Randy Pitchford appears to hint at 'seamless' loading in Borderlands 4, is asked to elaborate, says 'I will absolutely elaborate', doesn't elaborate, leaves
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/randy-pitchford-appears-to-hint-at-seamless-loading-in-borderlands-4-is-asked-to-elaborate-says-i-will-absolutely-elaborate-doesnt-elaborate-leaves/
The next Borderlands game is coming in 2025—and while the recent movie was an absolute financial and critical catastrophe, I'm actually still excited. (…)
I am, however, greatly amused by Randy Pitchford, developer Gearbox's founder, who has a habit of posting through it, like the whole movie thing, which culminated in him comparing the studio to The Beatles. (...)
He's now re-emerged with a twinkle in his eye (thanks, Gamesradar) to hint at an upcoming feature for Borderlands 4. Well, sort of. As Borderlands streamer JoltzDude139 was marvelling at the nearly-seamless loading that happens when you throw an SSD at a game that came out 12 years ago (it is a fun marker of how far we've come, don't get me wrong), Pitchford appeared and, typing with a mischievous twinkle in his eye and a click in his heels, replied: "Seamless, you say?"

Dead Estate wraps up 3 years of free expansions with a fond Good Night
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/horror/dead-estate-wraps-up-3-years-of-free-expansions-with-a-fond-good-night/
Big guns, big pixels and… one particularly buxom witch—the calling cards of action roguelike Dead Estate. If you've missed out on it so far, now's a great time to check it out, because it just received its sixth and final update, freeing developers Milkbar Lads to finally explore other projects. Or just go outside.

The most promising Disco Elysium successor studio says workers must unite to topple Valve's 'digital fiefdom' of Steam
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/the-most-promising-disco-elysium-successor-studio-says-workers-must-unite-to-topple-valves-digital-fiefdom-of-steam/
According to his biographer, Max Brod, Franz Kafka once postulated over lunch that our world wasn't much more than "a bad mood of God, a bad day." When Brod asked if, then, that meant there was room for hope—perhaps God's bad mood could end—Kafka replied "Oh, hope enough, infinite hope—just not for us."
Which is pretty much the vibe I get from the devs at worker-owned studio Summer Eternal, one of the many Disco Elysium successor companies that popped up in the wake of ZA/UM's fracturing. In a recent chat with VG247, the devs at the studio were asked if they saw much chance of conditions in the industry improving following a devastating couple of years of layoffs. Their answer? "I think this ind
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Then again, maybe I'll take that back. Gavrilović says he's "eagerly awaiting a second crisis, one which would spotlight the largest structural issue in game development - the fact that one third of all PC revenue from all developers (from indies to AAA) is syphoned to digital fiefdoms."
Digital fiefdoms like who, you ask, as if you don't already know the answer? "Valve is the most egregious example," says Gavrilović. He hopes for a future where devs, not digital feudal lords, have more power, "but I lack the imagination to envision the replacement of Valve with a community owned alternative. That 'winter castle' will not fall as easily, but we should at least start openly discussing alternatives."