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

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And here’s the third part of the Monday news:

Nested Lands is a 'brutal' survival city-builder about guiding villagers through a plague-infested world, and you can play its open alpha right now
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/city-builder/nested-lands-is-a-brutal-survival-city-builder-about-guiding-villagers-through-a-plague-infested-world-and-you-can-play-its-open-alpha-right-now/
No city builder is complete without a healthy dose of misery. That's been true since SimCity, where constructing your virtual metropolis came with the understanding it could be wiped out by an earthquake or tornado at any second. It's become a heavier theme within the genre of late, however, thanks in no small part to the popularity of 2018's Frostpunk. Now, the ominously titled Nested Lands further doubles-down on grimdark settlement simulation, and you can see for yourself just how nasty things can get through the open alpha which is playable right now.

A month into early access, Hyper Light Breaker has already added a new playable character, with a perk designed for players who like to 'shoot fast and shoot a lot'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/a-month-into-early-access-hyper-light-breaker-has-already-added-a-new-playable-character-with-a-perk-designed-for-players-who-like-to-shoot-fast-and-shoot-a-lot/
Hyper Light Breaker may not have enjoyed the smoothest early access launch, but developer Heart Machine has been diligent in listening to feedback and striving to update the game since its initial release last month. The studio issued numerous hotfixes in the wake of launch, addressing players' most grievous complaints, and provided a more thorough roadmap of its future plans for the action roguelike last week. Now, it has debuted the first "monthly update" for the game, which among other things introduces a whole new playable character.

Dota 2 remembers water is very important, adds more, in latest map shakeup
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/dota-2-remembers-water-is-very-important-adds-more-in-latest-map-shakeup/
Dota 2 has had a firecracker few years, consistently remaking the game and shaking things up when players least expect it with map and hero changes coming fast and furious. The developers have, frankly, slipped the leash. Valve's got no control of them anymore. They can't, as evinced by the latest update: 7.38, Wandering Waters.
They just added a bunch of water. For decades there's been a fixed amount of water on that Dota map, one little river in the center and honestly it's just aesthetic gloss for the lowest point on the map. Now the map's river is no longer alone. Two new waterways traverse Dota 2's jungles, each flowing toward a low wetland on the map's north and south.

Remedy's Sam Lake and Papers, Please creator Lucas Pope will receive major achievement awards in March
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/remedys-sam-lake-and-papers-please-creator-lucas-pope-will-receive-major-achievement-awards-in-march/
Two high-profile developers will be honored at the 25th Annual Game Developers Choice Awards at this year's Game Developers Conference in March. The Lifetime Achievement award will go to writer and creative director Sam Lake, whose work on Max Payne, Alan Wake, Quantum Break, and Control has been hailed as some of the industry's finest. Lake has previously won over 200 industry awards, says the GDCA.

23-year-old Dungeons & Dragons RPG Neverwinter Nights just got a new, official expansion that continues its original story in a 'love letter' to the game and its community
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/23-year-old-dungeons-and-dragons-rpg-neverwinter-nights-just-got-a-new-official-expansion-that-continues-its-original-story-in-a-love-letter-to-the-game-and-its-community/
It's not every day that you see an expansion for a 23 year-old game, but thanks to its undying community, Neverwinter Nights isn't just any game, with a level of support and fanmade content that calls to mind the likes of Doom or Thief. With the blessing of Wizards of the Coast, fantasy author, RPG developer, and Neverwinter Nights enthusiast Luke Scull has released Doom of Icewind Dale, the first act of a sequel campaign to Neverwinter Nights, as an official $10 expansion.
>> The article only lists the Steam links, but it’s also available at GOG.

Obsidian CEO reveals it's just half the size of many triple-A studios, even as it prepares to launch its 4th game in 5 years
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/obsidian-ceo-reveals-its-just-half-the-size-of-many-triple-a-studios-even-as-it-prepares-to-launch-its-4th-game-in-5-years/
As reported by Windows Central, Obsidian CEO Feargus Urquhart revealed the extent of the studio's expansion since it was acquired by Microsoft in a recent interview with IGN. Since 2018, Obsidian has grown to nearly 300 employees, which is still pretty lean in the triple-A space.
"When we came on with XGS and Xbox , we were about 170, 180 people," Urquhart told IGN. "And through the course of the last five or six years, we've not only grown the studio to about 285 people, but we also have a lot of really good co-dev partners with Heavy Iron and Beamdog."

There's hunger at Obsidian for a Pillars of Eternity Tactics game after Avowed, says studio design director Josh Sawyer, but it doesn't sound like it'd get that Baldur's Gate 3-size budget he was fantasizing about
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/theres-hunger-at-obsidian-for-a-pillars-of-eternity-tactics-game-after-avowed-says-studio-design-director-josh-sawyer-but-it-doesnt-sound-like-itd-get-that-baldurs-gate-3-size-budget-he-was-fantasizing-about/
Here's the thing: people don't talk enough about Pillars of Eternity. It's all 'New Vegas' this and 'KOTOR 2' that. Those games are incredible, sure, but Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire is an all-time classic of a CRPG, if you ask me, while PoE1 is a damn good revival of the genre that deserves a lot more praise than it gets.
I'm not the only one who thinks so, of course, and in a recent Twitch livestream of Avowed, Obsidian studio design director (and lead on PoE 1 and 2) Josh Sawyer chatted about the possibility of any of us living to see another isometric Pillars game. Maybe that Pillars: Tactics idea he's discussed before?