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

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Gaming news, part two:

'Eventually the slop will just fall to the bottom': Garry's Mod sequel launches to 'mixed' reviews, but Garry himself isn't worried about AI games on the main page
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/eventually-the-slop-will-just-fall-to-the-bottom-garrys-mod-sequel-launches-to-mixed-reviews-but-garry-himself-isnt-worried-about-ai-games-on-the-main-page/
Today saw the release of s&box, the long-in-development successor to Garry's mod that's also open source and hopes to become a kind of Roblox for dads. There's no denying the potential of this toolkit, nor the commendably generous principles behind why it's been released in the way it has, but it does have one immediate issue. And it's 2026, so of course that issue is AI-generated slop.

Helldivers 2 finally buffs mechs with double durability, and in unrelated news, Arrowhead is selling new mechs for $10
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/third-person-shooter/helldivers-2-finally-buffs-mechs-with-double-durability-and-in-unrelated-news-arrowhead-is-selling-new-mechs-for-usd10/
Many Helldivers 2 fans weren't thrilled to learn last week that Arrowhead is locking two new mechs behind the $10 Exo Experts warbond. It's the first time the vehicle has seen any evolution in two years, and the decision to sell its flamethrowing and grenade-lobbing variants furthers a trend of all (not just some) new Helldivers 2 equipment coming with a price tag.
To help ease the tension, and make the premium mechs more enticing, Arrowhead is introducing sweeping buffs to all mechs (including the ones you can unlock for free) in patch 6.2.2, which dropped at the same time as Exo Experts today.

'Please have faith in us once again' says Windrose dev, revealing its first big content update won't arrive for 'at least 6 months'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/survival-crafting/please-have-faith-in-us-once-again-says-windrose-dev-revealing-its-first-big-content-update-wont-arrive-for-at-least-6-months/
Pirate survival game Windrose is a megahit, but after two weeks of sailing the early access seas, a lot of pirates have run out of new discoveries and have fully explored the game's initial three biomes. Many players are naturally asking: what's next? And, perhaps as importantly: when?
Today developer Kraken Express outlined some of its plans for the future. That includes a host of fixes it expects to deliver over the next couple of weeks, including performance and stability improvements, solutions for connectivity issues, CPU usage on idle clients and servers, and a bunch of "quality of life" changes.
As far as new content like more biomes and boss, that's going to take considerably longer to arrive.
>> The devs have also said that they don't have any progress wipes planned for early access, but 'of course s**t happens' (link).

Bad news, that adorable backpack that mysteriously appeared in Final Fantasy 14 players' inventories isn't meant to be there
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/final-fantasy/bad-news-that-adorable-backpack-that-mysteriously-appeared-in-final-fantasy-14-players-inventories-isnt-meant-to-be-there/
Patch 7.5 for Final Fantasy 14 landed today, and with it a strange appearance in the inventories for some players: an adorable otter backpack that reminds me of those weird Loungefly bags that seem to permeate every pop culture store in the UK.
It wasn't mentioned in the patch notes, and stuff randomly appearing without due notice is very rare. It also wasn't immediately obvious exactly what was triggering it to show up for some but not for others—I didn't have it, but my friend did.
After some tinkering around and dropping 140,000 gil on a Black Embroidered Parasol (and a handful of other registrable accessories), I saw the backpack instantly pop into my fashion accessories tab as if by magic. My friend surmised it was probably an accidental item ID overlap, and I now have to regrettably tell him that he's pretty smart since Square Enix has now confirmed this to be the case.

Here's the Neverness to Everness release date and time for your region
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/nte-release-date-launch-times/
If you're the gacha gaming type, it's almost time to add a new game to the daily rotation as the Neverness to Everness release date is almost here. NTE is the next free-to-play, open world action RPG from Hotta Studio—the same developer that launched the now reformed gacha Tower of Fantasy just a few years ago, but this one is launching with its RNG mechanics intact.

Gothic Remake will be just as strict on murder as the original, and if you get caught NPCs will remember 'you're kind of a rude guy'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/gothic-remake-will-be-just-as-strict-on-murder-as-the-original-and-if-you-get-caught-npcs-will-remember-youre-kind-of-a-rude-guy/
(...)
In Gothic, while beasts in the wilderness will kill and eat you given a chance, humans will happily let you live. Melee attacks default to non-lethal, and only when you've knocked someone down do you have the option to finish them off. If you do, it's a big deal. Even among the rough-and-tumble miners, renegades, and drug-addled swamp cultists of the penal colony, murder is considered a bit of a no-no.
That'll be true in the remake as well, game director Reinhard Pollice explains. "For the humans, that's definitely the case," he says, "and it's connected to a crime system. Obviously, if somebody would see that, word would get out in the whole faction—that you're kind of a rude guy who is attacking people. And then at some point, people won't talk to you."

Resident Evil 9's director reveals there was a 'phantom Chapter 2' that was cut 'in the process of finalising the game's structure'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/resident-evil/resident-evil-9s-director-reveals-there-was-a-phantom-chapter-2-that-was-cut-in-the-process-of-finalising-the-games-structure/
Resident Evil Requiem managed to snag the spot of my favourite modern Resi game on release. At just 10 hours long it managed to have me hooked for every zombie jumpscare and complicated puzzle. I didn't think it could get much better, but now I'm finding out that there was even more to it.
"I've mentioned in interviews before that there was a phantom 'Chapter 2' for Resident Evil 7 that was cut during development," director Akifumi Nakanishi explains in an interview with Denfaminicogamer. "It was a scene where you move from the first annex to the main building. But actually, there was also a phantom Chapter 2 for Resident Evil Requiem.
>> More RE Requiem articles: 1- Only 40% of players switched to third person during Grace's parts in Resident Evil Requiem: 'There are clear differences in this data depending on the platform and region' (link) ; 2- Resident Evil Requiem devs thought it would take 2 weeks to crack the Final Puzzle, but players did it in 4 days (link).