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

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Tuesday gaming news, part two (and last!):

Baldur's Gate 3 Shadowheart actor Jennifer English has advice for AI pushers: 'Don't'
https://www.pcgamer.com/software/ai/baldurs-gate-3-shadowheart-actor-jennifer-english-has-advice-for-ai-pushers-dont/
Pay no attention to the well-heeled gentlemen whispering 'What if it's a bubble?' behind the curtain—AI is the all-revolutionising tech that's here to change the world. Ubisoft reckons AI is a revolution for games on par with "the shift to 3D." EA's buyers plan to lean on AI to make its $20 billion debt disappear. Microsoft's AI boss doesn't understand why some folk don't like AI! Which, to be fair, might also be true for me if my generous executive pay package depended on me not understanding it.
But one person who's not all in on the AI-fication of everything is voice actor Jennifer English, who you almost certainly know as Baldur's Gate 3's Shadowheart and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33's Maelle. In a chat with GamesRadar at this year's Golden Joystick Awards, English had one piece of advice for anyone looking to apply generative AI to games: "Don't."

Metaphor: ReFantazio and Persona 5 director wants to usher in the age of 'JRPG 3.0', which will change 'the genre's structure and presentation at a fundamental level'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/metaphor-refantazio-and-persona-5-director-wants-to-usher-in-the-age-of-jrpg-3-0-which-will-change-the-genres-structure-and-presentation-at-a-fundamental-level/
At the Korean gaming conference G-Star 2025, Katsura Hashino, creative producer and game director at Atlus, presented a talk alongside fellow Atlus art director, Shigenori Soejima exploring the impact of visual storytelling: "When experience becomes memory—designing lasting impressions through art and structure".
Hashino also discussed how he's gearing up for what sounds like a literal upgrade to the JRPG genre, except there are no patch notes yet. As reported by 4gamer and translated by GamesRadar, Hashino sees the genre as three distinct eras—the past (JRPG 1.0), present (JRPG 2.0), and future (JRPG 3.0). The 'ghosts of JRPG past, present, and future' would have switched up the story of A Christmas Carol a bit, and now I'm wondering what that looks like.

The Chinese Room's cofounder told Paradox 'we can't make Bloodlines 2' but then they did make Bloodlines 2 and it was like 'untangling an anaconda f***ball of competing priorities'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/the-chinese-rooms-cofounder-told-paradox-we-cant-make-bloodlines-2-but-then-they-did-make-bloodlines-2-and-it-was-like-untangling-an-anaconda-f-ball-of-competing-priorities/
Vampire: The Masquerade—Bloodlines 2 released last month after a lengthy, difficult development, one that saw the project taken off original developer Hardsuit Labs by publisher Paradox Interactive and handed over to The Chinese Room. When it finally burst from its coffin, the critical reaction ranged from mildly positive to firmly negative, with our own Fraser Brown giving it a respectable score of 78 in our Vampire: The Masquerade—Bloodlines 2 review.
(...)
As is so often the case, it appears Bloodlines 2's adoptive developers were highly aware of this potential problem. Speaking to Cat Burton of the Goth Boss Podcast (via PCGamesN) TCR cofounder Dan Pinchbeck explained how he urged Paradox Interactive not to call Bloodlines 2, well, that.

Escape from Tarkov director says the launch week's wobbles were 'actual stress testing not only of our servers but also our mind and nerves'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/escape-from-tarkov-director-says-the-launch-weeks-wobbles-were-actual-stress-testing-not-only-of-our-servers-but-also-our-mind-and-nerves/
Escape From Tarkov released on Steam on November 15, taking the excellent extraction shooter out of beta after a mere eight years, and almost immediately had a bit of a wobble. Players found themselves unable to log in, with demand being such that developer Battlestate Games acknowledged severe server woes, and then came the inevitable review bombing from those who couldn't play. Welcome to Steam, comrade!
"What a week," wrote director and Battlestate COO Nikita Buyanov on X. "This week was actual stress testing not only of our servers but also our mind and nerves for sure. But seeing you enjoy the game makes us feel better."

'Most of the innovation in gaming has happened on PC' says EVE Online studio boss: 'When I love a game, it's so deeply PC'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/mmo/most-of-the-innovation-in-gaming-has-happened-on-pc-says-eve-online-studio-boss-when-i-love-a-game-its-so-deeply-pc/
The PC is still the center of innovation in gaming, according to Hilmar Veigar Pétursson, CEO of CCP Games, which is known for long-running, esoteric space MMO EVE Online.
"I think most of the innovation in gaming has happened on PC, to some extent on mobile, just because of sheer volume," Pétursson told me at EVE Fanfest earlier this year. "But I don't think we're observing a lot of innovation in mobile right now. I think we're observing a lot of refinement and execution and formula, kind of hardening. On PC, we still see a lot of experimentation."
>> Totally not biased...

'It wasn't fun for the first 7 years' says maker of fantasy sim Tavern Keeper, which spent more than a decade in development
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/sim/it-wasnt-fun-for-the-first-7-years-says-maker-of-fantasy-sim-tavern-keeper-which-spent-more-than-a-decade-in-development/
It's obvious a ton of work has gone into fantasy sim Tavern Keeper, from the intricate and often hilarious animations of the patrons and staff to the flexible and easy-to-learn item design tools to the fully-narrated interludes that make your pub feel like it's part of a storybook adventure.
(...)
I spoke last week with Patrick Klug, director and co-founder of Greenheart Games, and asked why the tavern sim took so long to belly up to the bar.

2025 Steam Awards nominations are open, and I wonder if Valve's wonky personalized suggestions will affect the results—you'll know they did if Bongo Cat gets nominated in the 'story-rich' category
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/2025-steam-awards-nominations-are-open-and-i-wonder-if-valves-wonky-personalized-suggestions-will-affect-the-results-youll-know-they-did-if-bongo-cat-gets-nominated-in-the-story-rich-category/
Another year on this godforsaken rock is grinding to a close, and you know what that means: award season! The Golden Joysticks just wrapped up, The Game Awards are coming, and to kill some time in between you can now nominate your games of choice for the 2025 Steam Awards.
>> If you need inspiration, one of the stars of Ghost of Yotei knows who to vote for: Blue Prince (link).

Demonschool's credits go one step further than names and job titles, adding full descriptions for designer roles: 'We wanted to give people proper, actual credit'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/demonschools-credits-go-one-step-further-than-names-and-job-titles-adding-full-descriptions-for-designer-roles-we-wanted-to-give-people-proper-actual-credit/
I'm as guilty as anyone for hammering the skip button when a videogame's credits begin to roll, but I acknowledge that a scrolling list of names is an important part of the game. At a time when layoffs abound, projects are cancelled at a moment's notice, and work in the games industry is more difficult to find than ever, designers being able to show potential employers the work they've done is vital. Hence, diligent, accurate crediting is important for any creative's career, as well as just being the decent thing to do.
In most cases, a credit is formulated as the developer's name and the nature of their role on the project, whether that's a fixed job title or a specific type of work they contributed on a part-time or freelance basis. But with the credits for Demonschool, developer Necrosoft Games went one step further, adding paragraph-long descriptions for every role on the project.

Disappeared survival horror Cold Fear magically returns in GOG's immortal games lineup, with 4K, crash fixes, and support for modern controllers
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/horror/disappeared-survival-horror-cold-fear-magically-returns-in-gogs-immortal-games-lineup-with-4k-crash-fixes-and-support-for-modern-controllers/
Remember—let me see here—one week ago? When 2005 survival horror shooter Cold Fear disappeared from Steam completely out of the blue? Well, disregard that entirely. It's back in GOG Preservation Program form.
In other words, GOG's done some work on this one. "The new GOG release of Cold Fear isn’t just a reappearance on a storefront—it’s a quality re-release with extensive under-the-hood work," reads the blurb.

Please stop scooting around while you're downed in Arc Raiders: it's making you die faster
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/third-person-shooter/please-stop-scooting-around-while-youre-downed-in-arc-raiders-its-making-you-die-faster/
I don't know about you, but when I go down in virtually any game, I'm immediately crawling around, going on a journey. I'm on the brink of death, sure, but that's not gonna stop me dancing and shimmying about for literally no reason other than it's hard to sit still, like I'm a child who's had too many energy drinks.
I'm no different in Arc Raiders. If I'm playing with a buddy and I go down first, yes, I want a front row seat to the shootout, so I'll crawl around for the best view and start doing doughnuts to distract the enemy. Surely this could have no downsides whatsoever…is what I thought until today.
After seeing side-by-side testing by creator Jinko, I now realise I've been doing it wrong this whole time, and I'm riddled with the mental anguish of knowing I didn't need to bleed out on a few occasions.