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

[JEMC]

The second part of the Friday gaming news:

Final Fantasy 14 finally seems like it wants to make content scale to serve casual, midcore, and hardcore players: 'A deep dungeon for everyone'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/final-fantasy/final-fantasy-14-finally-seems-like-it-wants-to-make-content-scale-to-serve-casual-midcore-and-hardcore-players-a-deep-dungeon-for-everyone/
As we've discussed quite a bit on this very site, Final Fantasy 14 is in a weird spot with its content—a sluggish patch cycle has paired terribly with a somewhat scattershot design philosophy that's left casual-to-midcore players feeling underwhelmed, and hardcore players with precious little to do in between raids.
(...)
In many ways, it was kinda a raid for no-one—hard enough to put your average joe off, but too difficult to join as an organised group. While director Naoki Yoshida (Yoshi-P) and co. are making changes to it, which have been further announced in today's Live Letter, there's also been another promising sign that the MMO is slowly, but surely on the mend.

Pro wrestling legend Hulk Hogan dies at 71
https://www.pcgamer.com/movies-tv/pro-wrestling-legend-hulk-hogan-dies-at-71/
Professional wrestling legend Hulk Hogan, given name Terry Bollea, has died at age 71, TMZ reports.
According to the outlet, medics were dispatched to the wrestler's Florida home on Thursday morning to respond to a "cardiac arrest." The news of his death was confirmed by the WWE.
>> We know who will be the face of the next WWE game.

Its demo only took me 10 minutes, but this claymation picture book puzzle game inspired by medieval alchemy is one to watch out for
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/puzzle/its-demo-only-took-me-10-minutes-but-this-claymation-picture-book-puzzle-game-inspired-by-medieval-alchemy-is-one-to-watch-out-for/
All Living Things is one of those games I had to check out based on its look alone. It's an interactive alchemical picture book with claymation art, and its demo has me looking forward to the full version of this short, experimental mood piece.

My heart's already been stolen by this stop-motion adventure made out of wood and 'mostly in a garden shed'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/puzzle/my-hearts-already-been-stolen-by-this-stop-motion-adventure-made-out-of-wood-and-mostly-in-a-garden-shed/
Éalú, from first time developers Beyond the Bark, starts with a strong premise: You are a mechanical mouse looking to escape a mysterious labyrinth. But its presentation is what really blows the doors down: Nearly everything is made out of wood, and rendered in full-on, stop-motion animation.

'I can't believe I beat Minecraft in an Overwatch queue!': Twitch streamer turns interminable queue times into her advantage, completing Minecraft over 9 total hours of waiting for matches to pop
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/i-cant-believe-i-beat-minecraft-in-an-overwatch-queue-twitch-streamer-turns-interminable-queue-times-into-her-advantage-completing-minecraft-over-9-total-hours-of-waiting-for-matches-to-pop/
The only way to defeat long queue times is spend them doing something productive with your life, like beating Minecraft.
Twitch streamer Aspen spent the last week in lengthy Overwatch queues—a common annoyance for high-ranked players—digging her way to the end of Minecraft. In one particularly long queue that lasted over two and a half hours on Wednesday, she was able to gear up and slay the Ender Dragon.

Half-Life 2 just got a patch that fixes a progress-blocking teleporter bug and makes a train easier to race
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/half-life-2-just-got-a-patch-that-fixes-a-progress-blocking-teleporter-bug-and-makes-a-train-easier-to-race/
Last year, Valve brought the original development team back together for a 20th anniversary Half-Life 2 update. It integrated the post-launch episodes, added a new developer commentary track, brought in Steam Workshop support, and added a heap of map and gameplay updates. All of which was great—except for one progress-blocking bug it introduced to the Entanglement level.
Near the end of Entanglement there's a setpiece where you use turrets to defend Alyx while she resets a teleporter, then jump in with her to escape the waves of Combine soldiers flooding in. Which worked fine, until the anniversary edition. Possibly as a result of said update fixing an existing bug that could make the teleporter leave early, a new bug meant that sometimes you wouldn't be able to enter the teleporter after Alyx—and if you raced to get inside first, she wouldn't follow you.
Inventive solutions to this problem involved jumping onto Alyx's head, perhaps by dropping a grenade at your feet or leaping off one of the turrets. Now, you won't have to do either—or open up the console and mess around with cheats—as the latest patch should have the sequence working as intended once again. It also prevents enemies from being able to shoot through some of the level's walls.

Assassin's Creed Shadows has its summer roadmap and, with all due respect, how did it take this long to get a fast-forward time option?
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/assassins-creed/assassins-creed-shadows-has-its-summer-roadmap-and-with-all-due-respect-how-did-it-take-this-long-to-get-a-fast-forward-time-option/
I enjoyed my time with Assassin's Creed Shadows but, much like I did with Valhalla, I had my fill long before I ever reached credits. These games are too big, and their content becomes familiar too quickly, for me to get all the way through them without a break of at least a year or two between sessions.
So it's with some alarm that I report that Ubisoft says the game is due to get its New Game Plus update this July 29, for anyone who made it all the way through everything it has to offer and is still voracious for more. I am very glad you are getting what you want. Also, you scare me.

And these are the weekend deals at Steam (GOG has no new promos):

+Steam

• Ghost Watchers is going to be 30% off until the 31st of July: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1850740/Ghost_Watchers
• Loop Hero will have a 75% discount until the 31st: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1282730/Loop_Hero
• The 60 Parseconds! Bundle, with the two games, will be 75% off until July, the 31st: https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/11634/60_Parseconds
• GRAVEN gets an 80% discount until the 31st: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1371690/GRAVEN
• ASTROMETICA, still in Early Access, is going to be 30% off until the 4th of August: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2353250/Astrometica
• Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun will have a 50% discount until the 8th of August: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2005010/Warhammer_40000_Boltgun
• And these are the sales/events:
  • Neon Doctrine presents the Carnival of Chaos Events, with upcoming games, demos and many games on sale. The page should last until the 4th of August, byt the length of the deals vary greatly, with some ending today and others lasting beyond that date: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/32940668/sale/carnivalofchaos
  • The Octopath Traveller Anniversary Sale puts the games 60% off until the 6th of August: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/Octopath_FranchiseSale25
  • The Gams Forged in Germany Event will last until the 31st of July, has upcoming games and many games on sale, with some of those deals lasting well beyond the end of the event: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/Games-Forged-in-Germany
  • The PlayWay Publisher Sale has up to 93% discounts until the 7th of August: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/PLAYWAYPUBLISHERSALE2025

That’s all Folks! Until the next time, I wish you a happy and gaming weekend.