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

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The long second part of the Friday gaming news:

'Stardew Valley meets Twin Peaks' in this 'gritty farming thriller,' and if you don't find all of those words appealing I don't know how to help you
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/horror/stardew-valley-meets-twin-peaks-in-this-gritty-farming-thriller-and-if-you-dont-find-all-of-those-words-appealing-i-dont-know-how-to-help-you/
We know the trope of the cozy life sim: you've inherited a tumbledown farmhouse from a distant relative and need to grow crops, make friends with the locals, and restore the farm to its former glory.
That's not quite the case in Crop, the "gritty farming simulator" developer Carbonara Games described to me as "Stardew Valley meets Twin Peaks" when I saw a demo of it last month at GDC. First of all, you're not inheriting your farm from a beloved family member: you've just crawled naked out of the trunk of a crashed car in the woods, wandered onto some farmland, and found the previous farmer dead.

Co-op pirate survival game Windrose breaks 1.5 million Steam wishlists, and good news for everyone who's added it to their list: It's coming out next week
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/co-op-pirate-survival-game-windrose-breaks-1-5-million-steam-wishlists-and-good-news-for-everyone-whos-added-it-to-their-list-its-coming-out-next-week/
It was just over a month ago that Windrose Crew asked for more time to cook on their upcoming pirate survival game Windrose, because despite rolling out a new trailer they just weren't ready to announce a release date. But that was then and this is now, and now, courtesy of an appearance at today's Triple-I showcase, we know that Windrose will sail into early access on April 14.

The creators of 1000xResist are making a game about convincing an AI she's not a real person
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/adventure/the-creators-of-1000xresist-are-making-a-game-about-convincing-an-ai-shes-not-a-real-person/
Ursula K. Le Guin once said, "Science fiction is not predictive; it is descriptive." Sci-fi is about today as much as it's about tomorrow, and behind all its clones and aliens and time machines are metaphors for the times those stories were written in. Looking back at 1000xResist, the first game from indie studio Sunset Visitor, it's easy to see its story about the sole survivor of an epidemic cloning an entire society as being about Covid isolation. Sunset Visitor announced its latest game at the Triple-i Initiative showcase, and the contemporary issue it's grappling with is AI.
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In Prove You're Human, you're hired by a corporation working on artificial general intelligence, because they have a problem. Their groundbreaking new artificial intelligence called Mesa thinks she's human. It's your job to convince her she's not.

Fortnite teases its next collab with Toy Story, but while fans are wondering where Woody is all I want to know is whether we'll be able to play as the aliens
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/battle-royale/fortnite-teases-its-next-collab-with-toy-story-but-while-fans-are-wondering-where-woody-is-all-i-want-to-know-is-whether-well-be-able-to-play-as-the-aliens/
At this point what isn't in Fortnite? Godzilla in Jordans? Check. Our favourite virtual popstar Hatsune Miku? That would be a yes. So I'm never really surprised when I see a new collab announced for Fortnite, and the latest Toy Story crossover is no exception to that.
Teased in a short video that Fortnite shared to its socials, it shows a delivery car from Pizza Planet drive along and stop, followed by what seems to be Buzz Lightyear stepping out and walking off. I say 'seems to be' because we don't actually get a good look at Buzz.

One of Steam's most successful Pokémon-likes is doing a Palworld
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/survival-crafting/one-of-steams-most-successful-pokemon-likes-is-doing-a-palworld/
Pokémon-inspired creature collectors are an ouroboros, and it's just taken another bite of its own tail. During today's Triple-I Initiative showcase, Crema Games—developers of Temtem, one of the more successful Pokémon-likes on Steam—revealed Temtem: Pioneers, "an ambitious open-world survival crafting adventure" where players can collect, battle, and build alongside a team of tameable creatures.

Hope you're hungry 'cause Don't Starve is back with a new co-op survival crafting adventure for Wilson and the gang
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/survival-crafting/hope-youre-hungry-cause-dont-starve-is-back-with-a-new-co-op-survival-crafting-adventure-for-wilson-and-the-gang/
Forget not starving alone or Together, during the 2026 Triple-i Initiative Showcase, Klei revealed it's iterating on its gothy, sketchbook-style survival crafting series again with Don't Starve Elsewhere.
If this latest naming scheme has you worried, don't overthink it. Don't Starve Elsewhere retains the multiplayer survival we all came to love in Don't Starve Together, but with some obvious upgrades from the original solo challenge and its 2016 co-op adventure. There are also some familiar faces returning for the ride as Wilson, Willow, Wendy, and WX-78 all make an appearance in its world premiere trailer.

Over the Hill devs are celebrating reaching 1 million Steam wishlists by giving you a chance to play the Mudrunner-like off-roader early
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/racing/over-the-hill-devs-are-celebrating-reaching-1-million-steam-wishlists-by-giving-you-a-chance-to-play-the-mudrunner-like-off-roader-early/
Art of Rally is a remarkably good little racer, seeing you bomb down trails from an isometric view. It's hard but incredibly stylish and satisfying to master. So I was very excited to see developer Funselektor (in collaboration with Strelka Games) give off-road exploration a spin with Over the Hill. From the trailers, it looks equally challenging but also oddly relaxing as you explore the wilderness. It reminds me of Mudrunner—another driving game you really should play—what with the thick mud and snow, and different tools you can use.
It's clearly got its tow hooks into more than just me as Funselektor and Strelka Games have announced that Over the Hill has already soared past one million wishlists on Steam, despite having no firm release date outside of 2026. A console version will be launching at some point after its Steam debut, too.
To celebrate the occasion, the developers are hosting a closed playtest from April 24-26, with registrations open from today, April 9, until April 16. While it's unknown what content will be available, it's a good opportunity to play it early and give feedback.

Crimson Desert devs are addressing all your complaints (and then some) in a long list of planned updates, which includes adding difficulty options
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/crimson-desert-devs-are-addressing-all-your-complaints-and-then-some-in-a-long-list-of-planned-updates-which-includes-adding-difficulty-options/
One of Crimson Desert's most frustrating issues is running out of enemies to kill, which isn't an issue I thought we'd have in a massive open-world game. Pearl Abyss, I want to turn Kliff into a cannonball and body slam enemies like an anime character, and I can't do that if there are no enemies left to kill. That's a sentiment shared by an increasing number of players as they make it out of Hernand and start clearing up the map.
Just three weeks after launch, Pearl Abyss is addressing these fan requests straight up—and working on even more upgrades we never asked for—with a preview of changes coming in future updates. These updates will roll out gradually from April through June.

Wait, how many 'horror Stardew' farm sims are in development right now?
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/life-sim/wait-how-many-horror-stardew-farm-sims-are-in-development-right-now/
We've all heard about that "dark Stardew Valley" horror farm sim right? No, I wasn't talking about—no, not that one either. Hold on, how many horror farm sims are in development right now? I thought it was just one, maybe two, but I just learned about three more not-so-cozy horror-ish farm sims during today's Triple-I Initiative showcase.
>> They’re 4 and the article only shows a very small description of them.

Survival shooter Road to Vostok 'secured the entire production budget for this game for years and years to come' within 24 hours of its Steam early access launch
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/survival-shooter-road-to-vostok-secured-the-entire-production-budget-for-this-game-for-years-and-years-to-come-within-24-hours-of-its-steam-early-access-launch/
Road to Vostok, the hardcore survival shooter developed by Finnish former army officer Antti Leinonen, has built up a lot of hype since Leinonen released its first demo in 2022, thanks in no small part to how terrifying it is to be shot at by its bandits while you're scavenging for soup cans.
That hype, it seems, has delivered for the solo dev: After launching in early access on Steam earlier this week, Leinonen says Road to Vostok's "absolutely insane" day one sales success has brought in enough funds to support its development for the foreseeable future.

Graveyard Keeper 2 is coming this year, and the original is free to keep on Steam if you grab it now
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/sim/graveyard-keeper-2-is-coming-this-year-and-the-original-is-free-to-keep-on-steam-if-you-grab-it-now/
I played nearly 50 hours of Graveyard Keeper in 2018 and its grim take on a Stardew Valley life sim turned me into one of the most evil characters I've ever played. As the caretaker of the dead, I quickly came to view human body parts as just another crafting resource to be harvested for profit—and business was booming.
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Looks like I'll get the chance to delve back into the organ trade this year, as Graveyard Keeper 2 was announced at today's Triple-I Initiative showcase and will launch in 2026. While the trailer begins with some standard life sim activities like chopping down trees and fishing in ponds, it gets down to the real work quickly enough: burying bodies, decorating the graveyard, and battling the undead as they try to invade your grim little town.
>> So it actually had an article.

World of Warcraft player housing was sorely lacking PvP so Blizzard is dropping its own version of prop hunt
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/world-of-warcraft/world-of-warcraft-player-housing-was-sorely-lacking-pvp-so-blizzard-is-dropping-its-own-version-of-prop-hunt/
You could build a cozy cabin or recreate an entire Counter-Strike map with World of Warcraft's player housing tools, but imagine the fun of pulling one over on other players by becoming a table and hiding in plain sight.
Blizzard's huge catalog of household objects are practically begging for a prop hunt mode and it looks like one is finally coming in a few weeks with patch 12.0.5.
>> The update will go live on April 21 (link)

Dune: Awakening is finally making Deep Desert and shipwreck PvP fully optional
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/mmo/dune-awakening-is-finally-making-deep-desert-and-shipwreck-pvp-fully-optional/
After spending the better part of a year sanding down the edges of Dune: Awakening's PvP system, Funcom has finally decided to throw in the towel. In a new developer update for April, Funcom said it's become clear that it needs to "rethink our approach and underline the PvE-first nature of the game," and so it's disabling all PvP zones in Hagga Basin and adding separate PvP and PvE instances for endgame players.

Darkstone, a classic 1999 action RPG about eating apples and trying not to die of old age, is being remastered by its original creator
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/darkstone-a-classic-1999-action-rpg-about-eating-apples-and-trying-not-to-die-of-old-age-is-being-remastered-by-its-original-creator/
Remember Darkstone? Probably not. It's one of many Diablo-likes of the 1990s largely forgotten today like Revenant or, er, one of the other examples I could come up with except for the fact I seem to have forgotten them as well.
I remember Darkstone because, while a fairly generic fantasy hack-and-slash, it had a few features that marked it out. For starters, while it did have multiplayer, you could also play solo with a sidekick—a full second character with their own class, skills, and inventory, who you could switch to whenever you felt like it. The CPU did a decent job managing them when you weren't, but as someone who frequently regrets picking the "wrong" class in an action RPG, it was great to know you had a backup choice.
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While Darkstone's been available on digital storefronts for years, it doesn't run well today. The music stutters, the framerate drops if you dare to play it in fullscreen, the UI's hard to read—it's a mess. Fortunately it's coming back in a remastered version called Darkstone Restoration, with development led by original creator and producer Paul Cuisset.