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

[JEMC]

The Monday gaming news, part two:

Umamusume's horse girl lore has grown so out of control that its developer has had to put real-life stable etiquette in place
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/sim/umamusumes-horse-girl-lore-has-grown-so-out-of-control-that-its-developer-has-had-to-put-real-life-stable-etiquette-in-place/
I had no intention of taking Umamusume: Pretty Derby seriously. Yet here I am, deeply invested in all of these goddamn anime horse girls. I've only fallen deeper in the trenches since discovering that they're all based on real life racehorses, with Cygames putting a staggering amount of effort into incorporating each one's real-world mannerisms into their anime counterparts.
Now a good chunk of these horses have long galloped off this mortal coil, but a handful are actually still alive—like Haru Urara, famous for having never won in her 113-race career, and Gold Ship with all his eccentric mannerisms that have been faithfully recreated in both the game and the anime adaptation.
As Umamusume's popularity continues to climb—the Steam version has pulled in around 50,000 concurrents over the last couple days—it's also seen a surprising spike in people's interest in actual racehorses. Presumably, that also comes with the caveat of people not actually knowing how to behave around them, which has led to Cygames releasing a whole info page on proper stable etiquette.
>> Things are so crazy with this game that people are breaking the donation site (to take care of the retired horses).

Playdead's classic minimalist platformers Limbo and Inside are being pulled from GOG next week, so grab 'em while you can
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/playdeads-classic-minimalist-platformers-limbo-and-inside-are-being-pulled-from-gog-next-week-so-grab-em-while-you-can/
Playdead's puzzle platformer Limbo came out in 2010, and Inside followed in 2016, so the odds are pretty good that if you have any particular interest in playing them, you already have. But if you've simply been waiting 15 years for the right moment to strike, I'm here to tell you that the clock is ticking—at least if you want to buy them on GOG—because both games will be removed from the storefront on July 17.

BioShock maestro Ken Levine says Judas is 'very old school' because 'you buy the game and you get the whole thing… no online component, no live service'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/bioshock-maestro-ken-levine-says-judas-is-very-old-school-because-you-buy-the-game-and-you-get-the-whole-thing-no-online-component-no-live-service/
It's been more than a decade since Bioshock Infinite's 2014 expansion, Burial at Sea, tied a bow on the series that Irrational Games and director Ken Levine will always be best-known for. Infinite was an infamously chaotic development that resulted in a divisive game and a bloated studio, which would go through brutal layoffs before being re-branded as Ghost Story Games: the whole point of which is to operate on a much smaller scale than Irrational reached.
Its first game, Judas, certainly looks familiar. And in a new chat with Nightdive's Lawrence Sonntag (spotted by GR+), Levine says that being "very old school" is what they're going for. Discussing Ghost Story's approach and how Judas fits into the contemporary gaming landscape, where singleplayer narrative-led shooters are now something of an endangered species, Levine reckons that the player appetite for such self-contained experiences is still out there.
>> And he wanted the final level of System Shock 2 to be in outer space level for.

Final Fantasy producer Yoshi-P says 'there's no clear-cut answer' to whether Final Fantasy will return to turn-based RPGs, because the direction of the next Final Fantasy will be up to the directors of the next Final Fantasy
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/final-fantasy/final-fantasy-producer-yoshi-p-says-theres-no-clear-cut-answer-to-whether-final-fantasy-will-return-to-turn-based-rpgs-because-the-direction-of-the-next-final-fantasy-will-be-up-to-the-directors-of-the-next-final-fantasy/
The advent of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has generated a lot of conversation this year about whether we're going to see a resurgence in the popularity of turn-based JRPG gameplay—conversations that have admittedly felt a little confusing to anyone who, for example, has played an Atlus game in the last decade. Even Final Fantasy 14 director and FF16 producer Naoki "YoshiP" Yoshida has been drawn under the discourse spotlight.

An ambitious upcoming Eurojank RPG is holding a closed playtest on Steam and it's probably worth your time if you're into that sort of thing
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/an-ambitious-upcoming-eurojank-rpg-is-holding-a-closed-playtest-on-steam-and-its-probably-worth-your-time-if-youre-into-that-sort-of-thing/
Of Ash and Steel is a third-person open world RPG that sets players off on a once-prosperous island to explore, fight, and "shape the fate of the world," or at least the fate of the island. It's still early in development (which presumably explains the lack of detail on what the game is actually about) but developer Fire and Frost has kicked off a playtest on Steam, so you can get an early look at what it's all about.
>> The article is from Friday and it doesn’t say how long will this playtest last.

Rematch developers didn't 'get' the game, Sloclap boss says, until they started playing internal tournaments: 'I don't give a s**t about football, but this really struck something in me'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/sports/rematch-developers-didnt-get-the-game-sloclap-boss-says-until-they-started-playing-internal-tournaments-i-dont-give-a-s-t-about-football-but-this-really-struck-something-in-me/
The multiplayer soccer game Rematch was a surprise departure for developer Sloclap, previously best known for the martial arts actioners Absolver and Sifu. But it turned out to be really good, and a genuine hit to boot: Currently there are 37,000 people playing Rematch on Steam alone.
What's also a little surprising, Sloclap CEO Pierre Tarno said in an interview with Eurogamer, is that it's not necessarily die-hard soccer fans who are driving those numbers. "We see via data, currently the core audience of Rematch lean towards those who play online competitive games rather than those who are fans of football," Tarno told the site, using the preferred European term for the game.

Witchfire's massive next update is inspired by games like Syndicate and Bloodborne, and it's the biggest one yet: 'We really mean it'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/witchfires-massive-next-update-is-inspired-by-games-like-syndicate-and-bloodborne-and-its-the-biggest-one-yet-we-really-mean-it/
Witchfire has been in development for nearly a decade at this point. But the "new" FPS from Painkiller creator Adrian Chmielarz has been gathering pace since its arrived on Steam in early access last year (following an initial launch on the Epic Store in 2023). The RPG-infused shooter has received two chunky content patches in the last seven months, and now developer The Astronauts has announced that its "biggest update yet" is brewing in the cauldron, and will be poured into players' mouths later in July.

Two Point Museum's latest update lets you manage a museum atop a massive mountain, and allows all players a taste of its upcoming fantasy-themed DLC
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/sim/two-point-museums-latest-update-lets-you-manage-a-museum-atop-a-massive-mountain-and-allows-all-players-a-taste-of-its-upcoming-fantasy-themed-dlc/
Late last month, Two Point Studios unveiled the first paid DLC for its excellent management sim Two Point Museum. Titled Fantasy Finds, it adds a dungeon's worth of treasures to discover and display. While impressed by the expansion's showing, I questioned the apparent lack of a new museum scenario for the campaign, which would have rounded off the package nicely.
Well, excuse me while I wipe the dragon's egg off my face, as it turns out Two Point Studios planned to add a new museum all along. Instead of arriving as part of the DLC, however, it's bundled into the game's free 4.0 update.

Norland's 'big summer update' is even larger than March's 'damn big update', introducing a politics system, a new economy and more authentically medieval buildings to the Crusader Kings-inspired colony sim
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/sim/norlands-big-summer-update-is-even-larger-than-marchs-damn-big-update-introducing-a-politics-system-a-new-economy-and-more-authentically-medieval-buildings-to-the-crusader-kings-inspired-colony-sim/
Fair play to Norland's developer Long Jaunt, it doesn't do patches by halves. Back in March, the medieval colony sim's "damn big update" overhauled several of its most fundamental systems, stripping out character needs, reworking crime and punishment, and radically changing how your colony's horny lords give orders to peasants. Now, Long Jaunt is rolling out an even bigger patch that leaves virtually no part of the game untouched.

Krafton confirms Subnautica 2 leak showing that the publisher wanted more content for the early access launch, leading to delay and leadership ouster
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/survival-crafting/krafton-confirms-subnautica-2-leak-showing-that-the-publisher-wanted-more-content-for-the-early-access-launch-leading-to-delay-and-leadership-ouster/
In a statement to PC Gamer, Krafton has confirmed the legitimacy of a leaked Subnautica 2 development assessment previously reported on by Kotaku. The Krafton development analysis "recommended to enhance the content volume and level of polish before launching."
The delay of Subnautica 2 has been the primary driver of the dispute between former Unknown Worlds senior leadership Charlie Cleveland, Ted Gill, and Max McGuire, and mega-publisher Krafton, which purchased the studio back in 2021.
>> *This “leak” changes the perspective of what happened. The article is worth a read.

Rockstar support sites let slip that we might be getting current(ish) gen versions of GTA4 and Red Dead Redemption 2—but they probably won't be anything to write home about on PC
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/rockstar-support-sites-let-slip-that-we-might-be-getting-current-ish-gen-versions-of-gta4-and-red-dead-redemption-2-but-they-probably-wont-be-anything-to-write-home-about-on-pc/
First reported by GamingBible (via GamesRadar), Rockstar support pages for Red Dead Redemption 2 and Grand Theft Auto 4 may have let the cat out of the bag on a current gen re-release of RDR2, as well as a confounding last gen re-release of GTA4.

Warhammer 40k: Rogue Trader just received another 'massive' update, this time directed at its expansion
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/warhammer-40k-rogue-trader-just-received-another-massive-update-this-time-directed-at-its-expansion/
A question: has Owlcat Games considered not releasing a game in a buggy and unbalanced state? Just over a year ago, the studio issued one of the biggest patches I'd ever seen for its incredibly ambitious and equally wonky CRPG Warhammer 40k: Rogue Trader. Now, another voluminous changelog is upon us, this time directed at Rogue Trader's recently released expansion: Lex Imperialis.

Total War: Warhammer 3's Tides of Torment DLC is delayed: 'We asked ourselves if this next DLC met the standards that we’ve set in recent releases, and the short answer was no'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/strategy/total-war-warhammer-3s-tides-of-torment-dlc-is-delayed-we-asked-ourselves-if-this-next-dlc-met-the-standards-that-weve-set-in-recent-releases-and-the-short-answer-was-no/
Creative Assembly has delayed the release of its upcoming Tides of Torment expansion for Total War: Warhammer 3, pushing the launch back from this summer to an unspecified date later this year.

The Expanse RPG's developers are 'humbled' by comparisons to BioWare's heyday, but don't expect it to be a straight Mass Effect clone: 'We make our story a little bit differently'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/the-expanse-rpgs-developers-are-humbled-by-comparisons-to-biowares-heyday-but-dont-expect-it-to-be-a-straight-mass-effect-clone-we-make-our-story-a-little-bit-differently/
Through this summer's deluge of game announcements, nothing made me sit up quite so fast as Owlcat revealing it's making an Expanse RPG. One that seems, from its initial trailer at least, heavily inspired by Mass Effect. Much as I've enjoyed PC gaming's recent return to highly complex CRPGs, watching the trailer made me realise how much I miss a bit of BioWare-style guns & conversation. The Expanse: Osiris Reborn seems to channel that era of roleplaying in all the right ways.
Now, Osiris Reborn's creative director Alexander Mishulin has addressed the comparisons directly. Speaking to Polygon, Mishulin said that he was "humbled" by players aligning Owlcat's latest with BioWare's beloved sci-fi series. "Mass Effect is a great inspiration for us because it’s an iconic game for [the] Xbox 360 generation, and a lot of [Owlcat] team members played it in their youth," he explained. "It would be impossible to deny that Mass Effect has [had] a lot of impact on us as game developers."

Ahead of its remaster, GOG added Neverwinter Nights 2 to its preservation program and is also giving owners of the original a 'loyalty discount' on the enhanced edition
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/ahead-of-its-remaster-gog-added-neverwinter-nights-2-to-its-preservation-program-and-is-also-giving-owners-of-the-original-a-loyalty-discount-on-the-enhanced-edition/
First spotted by Blue's News, GOG is showing some love to Neverwinter Nights 2 and its fans ahead of the launch of the game's enhanced edition this week. The original game has been added to GOG's preservation program, and owners of NwN2 on GOG have a 15% off "loyalty discount" on the remaster, one that stacks with the 10% off preorder discount.