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

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Thursday news, part two:

Cyberpunk 2077 update promises 'up to 33%' higher frame rates on Arrow Lake and at the very least we gained 8% in the benchmark
https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/cyberpunk-2077-update-promises-up-to-33-percent-higher-frame-rates-on-arrow-lake-and-at-the-very-least-we-gained-8-percent-in-the-benchmark/
Cyberpunk 2077's 2.2 update could be fantastic for anyone with a machine packing an Intel Arrow Lake chip—all five of you—thanks to announced CPU-threading optimisations for the game. The changes would reportedly put CPUs like the Core Ultra 9 285K up to the same performance figures of Ryzen 7 7800X3D, albeit in one game, but our own tests don't quite show that level of improvement.
>> Fpr those with mods, there’s also a Beta branch, so you can still play with them while you wait until they’re updated.

Cyberpunk 2077's new update secretly added a Balatro-based sidequest, among other unlisted changes
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/cyberpunk-2077s-new-update-secretly-added-a-balatro-based-sidequest-among-other-unlisted-changes/
Yesterday, CD Projekt RED released a pretty sizeable update for Cyberpunk 2077 out of nowhere. The 2.2 update came with an improved photo mode, a bunch of new cars to buy from Autofixer, the ability to save and apply your custom car coatings to other vehicles, and ol' Keanu Reeves zapping himself into the passenger seat as you cruise around the city, commenting on your surroundings and flipping off passers-by like the bad boy he is.
There's a bunch of other new tweaks listed in the 2.2 update too, but IGN uncovered something that didn't make it onto the official patchnotes: a whole new sidequest based on this year's roguelike poker-like deckbuilder Balatro.

Detective adventure Strange Antiquities makes me want to be an apprentice thaumaturge, right after I look up what thaumaturge means
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/puzzle/detective-adventure-strange-antiquities-makes-me-want-to-be-an-apprentice-thaumaturge-right-after-i-look-up-what-thaumaturge-means/
As we wind down this year in games, what are you looking forward to most in 2025? Becoming an adventurer in Avowed? A crook in GTA 6? A Norman Reedus in Death Stranding 2? A… civilization, I guess, in Civilization 7?
Me, I want to be a shop owner. Helping customers, petting my cat, and, oh yeah, using detective work to solve a string of baffling mysteries revolving around bizarre occult antiquities. The sequel to 2022's excellent detective game Strange Horticulture is called Strange Antiquities, and developer Bad Viking just gave us our first look at the type of sleuthing you can do in a new gameplay trailer

OG Fallout lead Tim Cain explains just how much thought went into the timeline, and why canned beans were key: 'Post-apocalypse, but not so far post- that everything's collapsed and everyone's dead'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fallout/og-fallout-lead-tim-cain-explains-just-how-much-thought-went-into-the-timeline-and-why-canned-beans-were-key-post-apocalypse-but-not-so-far-post-that-everythings-collapsed-and-everyones-dead/
The original Fallout's lead developer Tim Cain has been sharing his memories about the early games in the series for a while over on his Youtube channel. Cain's had a long and eclectic career (the only sequel he's ever worked on, funnily enough, is Fallout 2) and also seems to have a razor-sharp memory for details and discussions that happened decades ago. His latest video concerns the specific dating of Fallout, which is set in Southern California in 2161, 84 years after a nuclear war between China and the US devastated the globe.

Star Wars: The Old Republic's modernisation update has turned some players' characters into corpses, flattened abs and introduced other quirks: 'Look how they massacred my boy'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/mmo/star-wars-the-old-republics-modernisation-update-has-turned-some-players-characters-into-corpses-flattened-abs-and-introduced-other-quirks-look-how-they-massacred-my-boy/
Yesterday saw Star Wars: The Old Republic developer Broadsword release the first part of its modernisation plan, boosting the fidelity of several planets and tweaking player character models with new textures and ocular specularity (eyeball highlights), as well as lighting and shader improvements. The effect was meant to be subtle, so as to not dramatically change the appearance of characters which some players have been rolling with for over a decade. The reaction has been… mixed.

Marvel Rivals director says Concord 'didn't bring any unique value' that would convince players to give it a shot, but admits that no one can really predict what will or won't succeed
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/marvel-rivals-director-says-concord-didnt-bring-any-unique-value-that-would-convince-players-to-give-it-a-shot-but-admits-that-no-one-can-really-predict-what-will-or-wont-succeed/
Marvel Rivals and Concord are both hero shooters, but they couldn't be more different in the one way that really matters: Concord was one of the most notorious flops in videogame history, while Marvel Rivals—at least in the early going—is a big hit. Marvel Rivals game director Thaddeus Sasser has some thoughts as to why: Speaking in a new VideoGamer podcast (via Eurogamer), he said Concord "didn’t bring any unique value" that would convince people to give it a shot.

Build a floating neighborhood with your friends in this vibrant MMO life sim that crowdfunded over $1.2 million
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/mmo/build-a-floating-neighborhood-with-your-friends-in-this-vibrant-mmo-life-sim-that-crowdfunded-over-usd1-2-million/
Spending hours passing the time in a colorful life sim by farming, crafting, decorating, and exploring is great—but it's even better with some friends along for the ride. In upcoming cozy MMO Loftia, that's just what you'll do: build a house on a floating island in the sky and connect it up with your friends' cozy homes. Then build, craft, farm, and explore the world together.

Assassin's Creed Shadows will have a 'Canon Mode' that will make all the correct RPG decisions for you
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/assassins-creed-shadows-will-have-a-canon-mode-that-will-make-all-the-correct-rpg-decisions-for-you/
It's a little embarrassing to admit but I am sometimes paralyzed by choices in RPGs. In fact, I am currently in the midst of a Very Big Situation in Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty (if you've played it, you'll know what I mean, and if you haven't I'm not going to spoil it), and it is absolutely killing me. Which isn't to say that I don't appreciate the freedom to choose my own destiny, but sometimes it's nice to just lie back and let the currents take you where they may.
People who share that feeling as they're forced to choose this guy over that guy may appreciate a clever new addition Ubisoft has cooked up for Assassin's Creed Shadows called "canon mode," that literally takes the choices out of your hands.

'Destiny has a long history of reinventing itself in response to feedback': Assistant director teases a Metroidvania-inspired future, talks weapon crafting and vault space, but fails to address the shocking number of bugs
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/destiny-has-a-long-history-of-reinventing-itself-in-response-to-feedback-assistant-director-teases-a-metroidvania-inspired-future-talks-weapon-crafting-and-vault-space-but-fails-to-address-the-shocking-number-of-bugs/
For Destiny 2, the afterglow following The Final Shape, last summer's saga-capping expansion, has long faded. Those players who have stuck around (like me) for the next phase now have a shopping list of complaints about the episodic format that has followed, exacerbated by how buggy the game has become in the wake of the mass layoffs conducted by Bungie in July.
Into that atmosphere it's important to strike the right balance between contrition over mistakes and the optimism necessary to convince players that the good times are coming again. In today's end of year communique from assistant game director Robbie Stevens, he largely gets the tone right, acknowledging that since The Final Shape "some changes have been well received by the community…" while "others have had a rocky start."
Recent updates
Global community lead at Bungie, Dylan Gafner, has addressed widespread criticism of Destiny 2's The Dawning seasonal event, admitting that it "didn't kick off on the high note that we intended it to," and that Bungie is "fully aware of the general conversation around bugs and quality". Gafner notes that "we [Bungie] have work on our plate to reinvigorate the desire to play Destiny. We'll need to re-earn your trust, not just for our future, but our studio as a whole."

I'm bewitched by this hyper-violent fantasy FPS where you feast upon the brains, eyes, and spleens of your brutalized foes
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/im-bewitched-by-this-hyper-violent-fantasy-fps-where-you-feast-upon-the-brains-eyes-and-spleens-of-your-brutalized-foes/
Fantasy FPS Coven opens with you, a young woman living in the 1600s, being burned at the stake as a supposed witch. As the flames lick higher, your screams of agony ring out over the assembled crowd and through the trees of the surrounding forest. Blackness engulfs you, and your end arrives.
And then, for some reason beyond your ken, you’re crawling your way out of your hastily-dug grave, scrabbling against mud and stone, worms and detritus. You have been reanimated, and now you’re breaking through the ground and into the dark night’s damp air. You have been reborn, part dead, part not, and there’s only one thing left to do: You must end those who sent you to your grave, as well as their masters.