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

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The second part of the gaming news:

Crimson Desert is made by the devs of MMO Black Desert, but it won't have any non-preorder microtransactions on launch: 'This is the premium experience, that is the transaction'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/crimson-desert-is-made-by-the-devs-of-mmo-black-desert-but-it-wont-have-any-non-preorder-microtransactions-on-launch-this-is-the-premium-experience-that-is-the-transaction/
Crimson Desert, an upcoming singleplayer action RPG by the same studio that made Black Desert Online, is looking real promising. I've had the pleasure of playing it a couple of times myself, and while I can only speak for the combat, it's shaping up to be a textured, complex RPG with some fighting game-tier combo potential.
But it's also the first proper singleplayer effort from a studio known for Black Desert, which is a buy-to-play game with plenty of microtransactions in lieu of a mandatory subscription. Which might raise the question: Am I gonna have to grapple with a cash shop in my fully-priced singleplayer game?
No, says head of marketing Will Powers in a recent interview with the Dropped Frames podcast (thanks, GamesRadar).
>> Don’t expect to do an evil run in the game, tho (link)

Yakuza Kiwami 3's blunders have made it the worst-reviewed game in the series on Steam: 'Creatively bankrupt doesn't even begin to describe the current state of RGG'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/yakuza-kiwami-3s-blunders-have-made-it-the-worst-reviewed-game-in-the-series-on-steam-creatively-bankrupt-doesnt-even-begin-to-describe-the-current-state-of-rgg/
Yakuza Kiwami 3—seemingly the last in RGG Studio's series of Kiwami remakes—released last week, though not without controversy. Between some baffling cuts, strange retcons, and the casting of an actor, Teruyuki Kagawa, who confessed to sexual harassment in 2022, even stalwart series fans weren't predisposed to love Kiwami 3.
So it's no surprise they don't. In fact, at the time of writing, Kiwami 3 is the worst-rated game—by the metric of user reviews—of the entire series on Steam. Make no mistake, it's not been review-bombed and it's not universally loathed; Yakuza Kiwami 3 doesn't occupy the doldrums of an Overwhelmingly Negative user rating. Nevertheless, it's currently at a 63% 'Mixed' review score, putting it squarely bottom of the leaderboard relative to the rest of the games.

Surprise! Baldur's Gate 3 got a fresh patch. Unsurprise! It's vanishingly small, but at least it repairs some corrupted saves
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/baldurs-gate/surprise-baldurs-gate-3-got-a-fresh-patch-unsurprise-its-vanishingly-small-but-at-least-it-repairs-some-corrupted-saves/
Baldur's Gate 3—a videogame about dressing up hot elves—had fans scratching their heads earlier today when it suddenly pulled down north of 100 MB with no explanation whatsoever. What could it be? What could it mean? What's Larian up to now?
(...)
It's just, you know, doing patch stuff: fixing crashes and ironing out glitches. Well. Fine.

Total War: Warhammer 3's first character pack stars an all-new legendary lord that puts the 'cat' in Grand Cathay
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/strategy/total-war-warhammer-3s-first-character-pack-stars-an-all-new-legendary-lord-that-puts-the-cat-in-grand-cathay/
Where are the cats? I'm saying this every time I boot up Total War: Warhammer 3, the map-painting strategy tour de force where you can play as every major Warhammer Fantasy faction under the sun. There's far too many ratlike Skaven in the game, though, and I've long yearned to see them get trounced by any animated rodent's natural enemy: the cat. Thankfully, Creative Assembly has finally delivered the goods in the form of a new character pack.

NetEase breaks up with another western studio, but it refuses to die and instead 'remains motivated and deeply committed to the incredible game we’re building'
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/netease-breaks-up-with-another-western-studio-but-it-refuses-to-die-and-instead-remains-motivated-and-deeply-committed-to-the-incredible-game-were-building/
NetEase's tumultuous relationship with its own western studios shows no sign of abating, as action-adventure studio Anchor Point declares it's parting ways with the corporation and going independent.
The shift was announced by Anchor Point CEO (and former lead designer on Remedy's Control) Paul Ehreth on LinkedIn (via Game Developer). "We will be transitioning to operate as an independent studio. This is a significant change for us, but one that we’re approaching with optimism, clarity, and excitement for what’s ahead."

Blizzard isn't going to let World of Warcraft players suffer from outdated character customization for long, but it's going to take some time to fix
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/world-of-warcraft/blizzard-isnt-going-to-let-world-of-warcraft-players-suffer-from-outdated-character-customization-for-long-but-its-going-to-take-some-time-to-fix/
One thing is immediately noticeable when you create a character in World of Warcraft as one of its newest races: The amount of customization options eclipses that of the older races.
Play an undead man and you get to change what hue your rotting skin looks like and what kind of malformed jaw you want. Meanwhile, on the newer races, you can change tiny details, like fur color and eyelash style.
Blizzard has been fairly open about the dramatic difference in the customization options in the past, but recently made it clear it wants to go back and improve things for the older races in an interview with Windows Central.

Lego Batman system requirements drop memory down to 16 GB, which I'm hoping becomes a trend now that memory is stuck up in the sky
https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/lego-batman-system-requirements-drop-memory-down-to-16-gb-which-im-hoping-becomes-a-trend-now-that-memory-is-stuck-up-in-the-sky/
If you're looking forward to Lego Batman and are worried that the whopping 32 GB memory system requirement is too rich for your blood, I've got some good news. In a pleasant surprise, that figure has halved, going down to just 16 GB.
>> How the F did a Lego game came to need 32GB of RAM?!