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

[JEMC]

Welcome to the Monday gaming news:

SALES/PLAYER COUNTS & DEALS

In a week dominated by Silksong and Borderlands, co-op roguelike Shape of Dreams still managed to launch on Steam as an instant top-seller
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/in-a-week-dominated-by-silksong-and-borderlands-co-op-roguelike-shape-of-dreams-still-managed-to-launch-on-steam-as-an-instant-top-seller/
Indie roguelike Shape of Dreams sold over 100,000 copies within its first 24 hours on sale on Steam this weekend, marking an exciting start for the new co-op roguelike, despite having its release squeezed between heavy hitters Hollow Knight: Silksong and Borderlands 4. It peaked at over 30,000 concurrent players on Steam and even popped into the top 10 on the top sellers chart.
In response to a successful launch weekend, developer Lizard Smoothie released a hotfix to address some early complaints players had, mainly around balancing and progression. Lizard Smoothie co-founder and CEO Eunsop Shim commented on the hotfix and hinted at future updates in a press release.
"Many fans have been with us since the release of our demo, and we want to continue to deliver an experience worthy of their passion and support," said Shim. "Our team also has plans for more updates, improvements and new content in Shape of Dreams. Please look forward to announcements from us in the future!"

It looks like GOG was waiting for me to skip a day of news to launch an onslaught of deals. Let’s check them out:

• The Weekly Deals will have up to 90% discounts during another 3 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/20250911_weekly_deals_1_september
• Base Building Promo has games up to 90% off during 7 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/20250915_base_building_promo
• Childhood Memories Promo is full of games with up to 95% discounts during 7 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/20250913_childhood_memories_promo
• Pixel Promo will have games up to 95% off during 7 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/20250912_pixel_promo
• Swords & Fireballs Promo also brings games with up to 95% discounts during 7 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/20250913_swords_fireballs_promo
• And the Make Your Choice Promo is going to have games up to 95% off during 9 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/20250915_make_your_choice_promo

Steam has two new deals and four sales/events:

• Harold Halibut will have a 50% discount until September 28: https://store.steampowered.com/app/924750/Harold_Halibut
• Tchia will be 75% off until the same 28th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1496590/Tchia
• And these are the sales/events:
  • Publisher Serenity Forge puts its games on sale with up to 90% discounts. The deals will last until the 25th/26th of September: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/SerenityForgePublisherSale
  • Cozy Job Simulators Event has games up to 82% off. The length of the deals vary from some that will end later today up until September 27: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/45686865/sale/CozyJobSimulators
  • Brutal Indies Unleashed is going to have games on sale with up to 85% discounts until the 27th of September: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/40645616/sale/BrutalIndiesUnleashed
  • And GrabTheGames Publisher Sale puts its games up to 94% off until the 28th: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/33066823/sale/PublisherSale

There are three new deals at Humble:

• There are two new Humble Bundles:
  • The Phunky Physics Bundle has up to 9 games to get during 16 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/games/phunky-physics
  • The Humbling Soulslike Bundle has up to 7 games to get during 18 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/games/humbling-soulslike-bundle
• The Humble Store has the One More Run Roguelike Blowout Sale, with up to 90% discounts during another 3 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/one-more-run-roguelike-blowout

And Fanatical wants to make my life miserable with 6 more deals:

• The new Star Deal is DOOM: The Dark Ages, 37% off during 48 hours: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/doom-the-dark-ages
• The former is part of the Bethesda Sale, with games up to 91% off during 13 days: https://www.fanatical.com/en/publishers/bethesda-softworks
• The Age of Empires franchise Sale is on sale with up to 78% discounts during 13 days: https://www.fanatical.com/en/franchises/age-of-empires
• SEGA also puts its games on sale, with up to 82% discounts during the same 13 days: https://www.fanatical.com/en/publishers/sega
• CAPCOM has its games on sale with up to 89% discounts during… guess how many days: https://www.fanatical.com/en/publishers/capcom
• And the NeuroVoider - Deluxe Edition bundle is back, this time with a 18% discount during 13 days: https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/neurovoider-deluxe-edition

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

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MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

Super Mario Bros. Remastered PC Is Available for Download
https://www.dsogaming.com/pc-performance-analyses/super-mario-bros-remastered-pc-is-available-for-download
In July 2025, we informed you about Super Mario Bros. Remastered for the PC. Super Mario Bros. Remastered is a fan remake of the classic NES Mario game for PC. And, as you may have guessed from the title, the game has been released and is available for download.
According to the team, Super Mario Bros. Remastered has been recreated from the ground up. As such, it has improved physics, audio, and graphics. It also has support for full wide-screen monitors. As such, you will see more of the level now on your PC monitor screens.
Perhaps one of its coolest things is the fact that you can use resource packs to change how it looks and sounds. For instance, you can use a pack to make it look like the SNES version of Super Mario World. Or you can use other packs to change the look and feel of it.
Not only that, but it also comes with a Level Editor that will allow you to create your own levels. My guess is that there will be a way to share the levels players create with other people. Still, even if you can’t do that, the Level Editor will allow you to experiment with it.
Super Mario Bros. Remastered includes The Lost Levels, Super Mario Bros. Special, and an overhauled All Night Nippon: Super Mario Bros. Right now, downloading LSS levels in the game does not work. The team promised to fix it in a future version.
The modders claim that Nintendo will not be able to take it down. They said they took steps to ensure Nintendo won’t be able to shut it down. As such, Super Mario Bros. Remastered will not have any game assets. To work, it will require a ROM of the original NES game. In other words, it will be similar to the N64 recompilation projects. And, since those are still up, we can assume that this fan remake will also be able to avoid Nintendo’s hammer.
>> Besides a link to get the game, from a Discord server, the article also has a 1:37 trailer of the game.

Download 18GB Fallout: New Vegas Mod That Replaces All Textures with HD Versions
https://www.dsogaming.com/pc-performance-analyses/fallout-new-vegas-gets-new-18gb-mod-that-overhauls-all-textures
Modder ‘WestAard’ has released a new HD Texture Pack for Fallout: New Vegas. This new mod is around 18GB in size, and it will upscale all of the game’s textures. As such, I highly recommend it to everyone who plans on replaying this classic Fallout game.
To upscale the original textures, the modder used a node-based upscaling program called chaiNNer. WestAard upscaled the original textures by four times. This means that the new textures look sharper and retain the art style of the original ones.
As I said, this mod is around 18GB in size. Right now, the FNV Texture Upscale Project only upscales the textures of the base game. In future versions, the modder plans to add support for its DLCs.
You can download the mod from this link. To install it, you’ll simply have to drop the ‘Textures’ folder into your Fallout: New Vegas Data folder. And that’s it.
>> The article has some comparison screenshots.

Saints Row 2's Juiced Patch makes the PC port so much better it's criminal
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/saints-row-2s-juiced-patch-makes-the-pc-port-so-much-better-its-criminal/
I have to admit I played Saints Row 2 on Steam unmodded, all the way through, twice. So if you tell me it's "unplayable" without a fan patch I'm going to do that thing where I raise one eyebrow at you. Did the PC port have problems, though? Oh, hell yes.
Cutscenes were wonky as all get-out, with characters not appearing where they were supposed to (if at all), and sometimes sliding into or out of frame as if they were on rollerskates. Cutscene audio often crackled, making dialogue sound cheap and staticky. There were graphical problems too, with resolution options I would charitably call "limited" and water that turned black at a distance. It wasn't a great port, it was just a great enough game that I could overlook those and other flaws.
There have been multiple attempts to improve Saints Row 2's PC port over the years, and the latest is the most impressive. Called Saints Row 2 Juiced, it fixes all the problems I mentioned in the previous paragraph and more. For example, it adds more than 30 animations that were included in console versions but not on PC, which will make you look much cooler while you're shooting a minigun or running with the rocket launcher equipped. Another change copied over from the console is the Xbox 360 version's better gamma settings.
The big visual improvement is an optional one you'll have to look through the menu to find. VanillaFXPlus is a lighting overhaul that disables Saints Row 2's filter and makes colors more high-contrast and vibrant. I can see some people preferring the classic look, but I'm into the new visuals. I'm also into the option to keep a weapon equipped if you run out of ammo instead of immediately swapping back to the cane or whatever by default.
You can check out a fuller list of fixes on the Juiced Patch Github page. Apparently the multiplayer is working again too. There's another reason to be excited about it, though. The upcoming Saints Row 2 DLC Port Project, which will require the Juiced Patch to run, will bring Saints Row 2's console-exclusive DLC to PC at last. Ultor Exposed, Corporate Warfare, and The Unkut Pak added more missions, vehicles, and customization options I have been waiting like 15 years for. Bring it on.
>> There is an over 5 minutes video of the mod.

The Crew Unlimited Revives Ubisoft’s Online-Only MMO CarRPG on PC – Free Download Available Now
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/the-crew-unlimited-revives-ubisofts-online-only-mmo-carrpg-on-pc-free-download-available-now
And the time has finally come. The team behind the mod that basically revives Ubisoft’s online-only MMO CaRPG, The Crew, has released it. The Crew Unlimited brings back to life the first entry in The Crew series, and you can download it right now.
The Crew was supported for 2 years after it’s launch, the game received 2 expansions each year. The first expansion came out in 2015, and it was called Wild Run. The second was the Calling All Units expansion, which came out in 2016. By around 2020, the game had over 12 million players total. However, in 2024, Ubisoft pulled the plug. For those unaware, Ubisoft shut down the game’s servers on March 31st, 2024. As such, the game became inaccessible and completely unplayable to everyone.
At its core, The Crew Unlimited brings the game back online by swapping Ubisoft’s servers with new community-made ones. This means all the MMO features are working again, like free-roam lobbies, co-op missions, PvP races, and faction challenges. Players can team up, race across the U.S., and build their own crews just like in the original game.
On top of bringing the game back online, the modders also made it run better and more stable. They fixed problems with lag, matchmaking, and server crashes. The Crew Unlimited also adds a bunch of helpful improvements that weren’t in the original game. For example, it has smoother matchmaking for lobbies, stronger servers for today’s player counts, and it brings back old events and faction missions that were missing. There are also bug fixes and small tweaks to make the game more fun overall.
In short, this is one of the best mods ever made. The modders brought back an online-only game, and that’s really impressive. This shows why devs should give players tools to keep their games alive when they decide to stop supporting them. Sure, it’s not always easy, but it’s the best choice when a company no longer wants to support its own game.
>> The article has a video but, while it’s from The Crew, it’s not from this mod.

GAMING NEWS

Hollow Knight: Silksong September 12th Patch Released & Detailed
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/hollow-knight-silksong-september-12th-patch-released-detailed
Team Cherry has released the second patch for the epic sequel to Hollow Knight, Hollow Knight: Silksong, and shared its full patch notes. So, let’s see what this new update brings to the table.

Here’s the second official trailer for Resident Evil Requiem
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/heres-the-second-official-trailer-for-resident-evil-requiem
Capcom has just released the second official in-engine trailer for Resident Evil Requiem. According to the team, the in-engine and gameplay footage that is shown in this trailer is from the PC version.

Dragon Quest VII Remake Coming to PC in February 2026 with Denuvo and Full PC Requirements
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/dragon-quest-vii-remake-coming-to-pc-in-february-2026-with-denuvo-and-full-pc-requirements
Square Enix has announced a remake of Dragon Quest VII, called Dragon Quest VII Reimagined. This remake will come out on PC on February 5th, it will use the Denuvo anti-tamper tech, and we’ve gotten its PC requirements. So, let’s take a look at them.

FATAL FRAME II: Crimson Butterfly REMAKE is coming to PC in 2026
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/fatal-frame-ii-crimson-butterfly-remake-is-coming-to-pc-in-2026
KOEI Tecmo has just announced an official remake of FATAL FRAME II: Crimson Butterfly. This game will come out on PC in early 2026, and below you can find its debut trailer.

The Open Beta for the STALKER-inspired FPS MMORPG, PIONER, will launch this October
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/the-open-beta-for-the-stalker-inspired-fps-mmorpg-pioner-will-launch-this-october
GFA Games has announced that the open beta phase for its STALKER-inspired FPS MMORPG, PIONER, will launch this October. According to the devs, this will mark another step in the game’s development, following closed testing that took place in recent weeks. To celebrate it, GFA Games released a new trailer that you can find below.