Those Ever Crisis outfits... I mean, they are perfect. Ever Crisis comes out on mobile September 7th.

Modders for Final Fantasy VII Remake for PC will be ready to put them in it.

Let's go with the Friday news!

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

The Humble Store brings the Assassin's Creed Weekend Sale, with up to 75% discounts during 3 days. All the keys are for UbiConnect: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/assassins-creed-weekend-sale/.

Fanatical... well, they're late again with their Flash Deals. So, I don't know, check it here by yourselves whenever they update it if you feel like it.

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

NVIDIA GeForce Hotfix Driver 537.09 fixes DirectStorage performance issues in Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/nvidia-geforce-hotfix-driver-537-09-fixes-directstorage-performance-issues-in-ratchet-clank-rift-apart/
NVIDIA has just released a new hotfix driver for its graphics cards. According to the release notes, the NVIDIA GeForce Hotfix Driver 537.09 fixes DirectStorage performance fluctuation issues in Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart.
Alongside this fix, the NVIDIA hotfix driver 537.09 features all the tweaks, fixes and improvements of the WHQL 536.99 driver. Thus, we highly recommend downloading it, especially if you’re currently playing Baldur’s Gate 3.

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

Baldur's Gate 3 transmog mod won't make you choose between armor and drip
https://www.pcgamer.com/baldurs-gate-3-transmog-mod-wont-make-you-choose-between-armor-and-drip/
It is just me or do big RPGs often neglect to include the same handful of features that players always want? First, we always need a way to change our character's appearance after we create them at the start of the game—neither The Witcher 3, Cyberpunk 2077, or Baldur's Gate 3 included that at launch.
And we always want a transmog feature, but that seems to get left out of RPGs pretty often, too.
Transmog is a way to display the clothing or armor you like most without losing the superiors stats afforded by clothing or armor that's less aesthetically pleasing. In other words, if Baldur's Gate 3 had a transmog feature and you really liked Wyll's original padded armor, and later on you found armor with better stats but not as much style, you wouldn't have to compromise. A transmog feature would continue to show Wyll wearing his original togs while giving him the stats of the superior (but uglier) kit in his inventory.
(...)
Well, now you can transmog in Baldur's Gate 3—not completely, but enough to make a big difference. The Baldur's Gate 3 Transmog mod makes use of the camp clothing slots to let you display your character's original starting armor even if you add superior armor later in the game. I really hated slapping new armor onto Astarion because his original look is so damn cool, and now you won't have to.
>> There are no screenshots nor videos about this mod.

Bionicle is so back, baby—this fan made game released a new trailer with its own banging soundtrack, and it's a complete nostalgia blast
https://www.pcgamer.com/bionicle-is-so-back-babythis-fan-made-game-released-a-new-trailer-with-its-own-banging-soundtrack-and-its-a-complete-nostalgia-blast/
I owned a lot of Bionicles as a kid. While I fell off after the Toa Nuva stuff, the movie tie-in Bionicle: Mask of Light was tiny Harvey's DVD go-to, and I have its corny "Unity, Duty, Destiny!" chant imprinted into my brain. Those neurons have been reactivated by the demo trailer for Team Kanohi's Bionicle: Masks of Power, which dropped on its Youtube channel yesterday.
Typically when you hear the words "fan made" and "Unreal Engine" next to each other, you imagine oversaturated, high-bloom Mario tech demos with ray tracing and zero actual appeal. This trailer, shock of shocks, freaking rips.
(...)
The game has more info available on its official website. The full release—which will be available for free, considering it's subject to the LEGO group's fan content policies—plans to let you play as all six Toa on an island-spanning quest to collect the masks of power. We actually see Lewa the mask of speed up, using it to wavedash across a lake.

GAMING NEWS

Quake 2 Remastered released, includes Quake II 64 and a new expansion
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/quake-2-remastered-released-includes-quake-ii-64-and-a-new-expansion/
Bethesda has just released the rumored remastered version of Quake 2. Simply titled Quake II 2023, this remaster features the base game as well as its Mission Packs, The Reckoning and Ground Zero. Moreover, it includes the Nintendo 64 version of Quake 2, a version that most PC gamers never experienced.

Valheim Patch 0.217.12 released and fully detailed
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/valheim-patch-0-217-12-released-and-fully-detailed/
Iron Gate has just released Patch 0.217.12 for Valheim on its Public Test Server, and shared its complete changelog. According to the release notes, Update 0.217.12 brings a number of tweaks, fixes and improvements.

Remnant 2 Patch 08.10.23 brings further performance optimizations
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/remnant-2-patch-08-10-23-brings-further-performance-optimizations/
Gunfire Games has released Patch 08.10.23 for its third-person action-survival shooter, Remnant 2. According to the team, this latest update brings further performance optimizations, packs some Quality-of-Life improvements, and resolves a number of bugs.

The team behind GTA 5 FiveM and RDR 2 RedM is now part of Rockstar Games
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/the-team-behind-gta-5-fivem-and-rdr-2-redm-is-now-part-of-rockstar-games/
Rockstar has just announced that Cfx.re, the group behind GTA 5 FiveM and RDR 2 RedM, is now officially a part of Rockstar Games. Rockstar claims that by partnering with the Cfx.re team, it will help them find new ways to support this incredible community and improve the services they provide to their developers and players.

Friday news, part two:

Darkwood studio releases new game's alpha then promptly says it's going on hiatus but may return 'in 5-10 years when we get our s*** together'
https://www.pcgamer.com/darkwood-studio-releases-new-games-alpha-then-promptly-says-its-going-on-hiatus-but-may-return-in-5-10-years-when-we-get-our-s-together/
As developer names go, Acid Wizard Studios is a great one, but fans of horror game Darkwood may well wonder what kind of acid it's talking about. The Polish studio has announced that, following the release of Darkwood's 1.4 update and the alpha of Soccer Kids, it's going to be shutting down.

Bungie confirms Commander Zavala is staying in Destiny 2, with Keith David taking over the role from the late Lance Reddick
https://www.pcgamer.com/bungie-confirms-commander-zavala-is-staying-in-destiny-2-with-keith-david-taking-over-the-role-from-the-late-lance-reddick/
Bungie has announced that actor Keith David will assume the role of Commander Zavala in Destiny 2, taking the place of Lance Reddick, who died unexpectedly earlier this year.

Escape Simulator gets official Portal DLC
https://www.pcgamer.com/escape-simulator-gets-official-portal-dlc/
Pine Studio's Escape Simulator, a first person puzzle game based around escape rooms, has announced an upcoming free and Valve-approved Portal DLC. Portal Escape Chamber arrives on September 7 and is based in the Aperture Science Enrichment Center from the games.

After battling server issues, cozy MMO Palia enters open beta today
https://www.pcgamer.com/after-battling-server-issues-cozy-mmo-palia-enters-open-beta-today/
After a week in closed beta, cozy MMO Palia is entering its open beta phase today, welcoming everyone into its online life sim of gathering, gardening, and decorating. It's been a hectic week for the developers, who have been combating server issues all throughout the closed beta. Despite that, Singularity 6 is pushing its free-to-play game out into the public today with promises to continue working on fixes to the issues players have been experiencing.

Blizzard just dumped buckets of demons on Diablo 4 to make the endgame grind way less miserable
https://www.pcgamer.com/blizzard-just-dumped-buckets-of-demons-on-diablo-4-to-make-the-endgame-grind-way-less-miserable/
Diablo 4's patch 1.1.1, which dropped this week, included a ton of welcome changes to its weakest classes and builds, but one wide-reaching change has started to improve the action RPG for everyone.
In the patch notes, it's only one line: "We are increasing monster density in Nightmare Dungeons and Helltides." The developers showed a visual comparison between an old and new Nightmare Dungeon on a recent Campfire Chat stream, but Diablo 4 has far too many dungeons and Helltide locations to be able to trust one example. We needed to wait for someone to do the math.

Metro 2033 author Dmitry Glukhovsky sentenced to 8 years in prison for criticizing Russia's invasion of Ukraine
https://www.pcgamer.com/metro-2033-author-dmitry-glukhovsky-sentenced-to-8-years-in-prison-for-criticizing-russias-invasion-of-ukraine/
An Associated Press report says Metro 2033 author Dmitry Glukhovsky has been sentenced to eight years in prison after being found guilty of spreading false information about the Russian military in online posts.

Papers, Please celebrates 10th anniversary with a retro LCD demake, merch, and a big donation
https://www.pcgamer.com/papers-please-celebrates-10th-anniversary-with-retro-lcd-version-merch-and-a-big-donation/
Papers, Please was a singular experience when it released in 2013: A subdued narrative game in which you check the papers of immigrants to a fictional eastern bloc country and determine whether or not to let them in, leading to hard decisions and heart wrenching consequences. The influential game has sold over five million copies in the last 10 years, and in celebration of that anniversary, developer Lucas Pope has released some cool stuff for fans and made a contribution to those suffering in real life.

Overwatch 2's Steam release means players can finally review it, and it's not going so well
https://www.pcgamer.com/overwatch-2s-steam-release-means-players-can-finally-review-it-and-its-not-going-so-well/
Overwatch 2 came to Steam today as part of a new Blizzard initiative to publish some of its games on Valve's platform. The debut is an opportunity to attract a new audience, but it has also opened the gates to an onslaught of negative player reviews.

If you're playing Baldur's Gate 3 multiplayer, Larian's boss has advice on what to do with companions: ignore them
https://www.pcgamer.com/if-youre-playing-baldurs-gate-3-multiplayer-larians-boss-has-advice-on-what-to-do-with-companions-ignore-them/
(...) So in an interview on Monday with Larian Studios founder Swen Vincke, I asked for advice on how best to interact with companions in a four-player game.
His advice? Eh, maybe don't.
"Personally, and this will be different for different people, I would keep them for a singleplayer playthrough or a co-op playthrough with just two players, where you take some companions with you," Vincke said. "A large part of the storytelling of these characters is when they're with you in the world."

Larian's had to patch Baldur's Gate 3's save files to be infinite size, 'to account for the sheer amount of things you’re all doing on your journeys'
https://www.pcgamer.com/larians-had-to-patch-baldurs-gate-3s-save-files-to-be-infinite-size-to-account-for-the-sheer-amount-of-things-youre-all-doing-on-your-journeys/
Though Larian must be delighted with the reception to Baldur's Gate 3 so far, they maybe weren't prepared for quite how much people were going to play it. Turns out, if you made too many "choices" and "actions", your "personal story database" could grow so large it broke the save system, and the developer's had to release a hotfix to nip the problem in the bud.

The Lollipop Chainsaw remake finally has a name, just in time to get delayed a year
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-lollipop-chainsaw-remake-finally-has-a-name-just-in-time-to-get-delayed-a-year/
The journey of the Lollipop Chainsaw remake has been weirdly vague so far. First, in June 2022 we were just told it was "back", without much indication what that meant; a month later we at least got confirmation it was a remake, not just a remaster, and with original producer Yoshimi Yasuda at the helm, but no actual title or platforms announced, and certainly no footage. Since then, it's been very quiet, despite a planned release this summer.
Honestly, the new announcement put out by developer Dragami Games doesn't really add that much clarity, but it at least puts an actual name to the project: Lollipop Chainsaw RePOP. It also postpones the release date to summer 2024, which isn't too surprising given it's only just been titled.

Tekken director warns fans not to make 'silly threats' over their favourite characters even in a joking way, saying that everybody suffers for it
https://www.pcgamer.com/tekken-creator-warns-fans-not-to-make-silly-threats-over-their-favourite-characters-even-in-a-joking-way-saying-that-everybody-suffers-for-it/
Tekken 8 director Katsuhiro Harada has warned fans that even the silliest of threats can have big implications on future game events, reveals and even the future of your favourite character.

And now, let's check the weekend deals at GOG and Steam:

+GOG

• The first of the four deals, all Deals of the Day that will last until Monday, is the NSFW game The Book of Bondmaids (don't worry, they sell the censored version), 49% off: https://www.gog.com/en/game/the_book_of_bondmaids
• The second DotD is Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove, with a 50% discount: https://www.gog.com/en/game/shovel_knight
• Deliver Us The Moon will be 68% off: https://www.gog.com/en/game/deliver_us_the_moon
• The last one is Vampyr, featuring an 80% discount: https://www.gog.com/en/game/vampyr

+Steam

• The first of the five deals is The Long Dark, 25% off until the 17th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/305620/The_Long_Dark/
• Youtubers Life 2 gets a 40% discount until next Thursday: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1493760/Youtubers_Life_2/
• World War Z will be 50% off until August, 17th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/699130/World_War_Z/
• THQ Nordic puts its games on sale with up to 90% discounts until Thursday, 17th: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/THQNordicPublisherSale2023
• And the last one is Marauders, still in Early Access, that will be free to try during the weekend and 25% off until August, 21st: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1789480/Marauders/

And that's it. Until next time, I wish you a happy and gaming weekend.

Chinese Tech Companies To Gobble Up $4 Billion Worth of NVIDIA AI GPUs by 2024

https://wccftech.com/chinese-tech-companies-gobble-up-4-billion-worth-nvidia-ai-gpus-by-2024/

Intel CPUs Witness Downfall In Performance After “Downfall” Vulnerability Mitigations Applied

https://wccftech.com/intel-cpus-witness-downfall-in-performance-after-downfall-vulnerability-mitigations-applied/

Intel Confirms Lion Cove P-Core & Skymont E-Cores For Next-Gen Lunar Lake CPUs

https://wccftech.com/intel-confirms-lion-cove-p-core-skymont-e-cores-for-next-gen-lunar-lake-cpus/

Alleged picture of upcoming Sony PlayStation 5 console revision surfaces

https://videocardz.com/newz/alleged-picture-of-upcoming-sony-playstation-5-console-revision-surfaces

AMD reveals Radeon RX 7900 XTX and Ryzen 7 7800X3D Starfield Limited edition

Absolutely deserved and glorious to watch unfold.

Blzz can't even complain to Valve to have the reviews rolled back to an earlier time either, because the game just launched on Steam and started out with negative reviews, which just climbed higher and higher.

The only way they could ever fix this is to simply cave and actually put out some fat feature rich PVE content, not fucking 30 min £15 a pop content drip fed over the course of a year. 

It's so funny to see TF2 get a summer update, and seeing ppl stoked for Sylvia the seal, Saxton Hale becoming an official game mode, 14 new maps, bug fixes (like teleporter particles after all these years are finally back), new cosmetics, 100 player mode (servers that support upwards of 50-60 are the most stable and most fun I've had so far in TF2 ever). Meanwhile OW2 is just pushing cosmetics, a training mode and one smidgen of PVE content and a new hero no one is really giving a toss about. 

Blizzard originally used to be able to make their own content and allow it's community to fill in with their own content, but fast forward to today and we've got TF2 largely surviving on community content (the summer update is 90% community made), while OW2 purely survives on Blizzard doing something that isn't the battle pass/cash shop, but letting their community not have full hands on with their games like they originally used to (like OG Warcraft 3, or back when they allowed for SC 1-2 custom maps and campaigns). 

Without a banana, or a picture that shows the whole revision, it's difficult to see how smaller that new PS5 is.

Also, the Starfield RX 7900 XTX doesn't look bad, but the CPU edition is useless. Who looks at a CPU box once you've installed it?

THQN had some decent showing with more footage of Tempest Rising (though I would have loved to see more core gameplay), and surprised they are even releasing a Titan Quest 2 (considering how old the first game was and how it faded into memory over the years).

That being said, I feel like THQN is showing and not telling with these "Wishlist now, coming soon" trailers, and no concrete dates of release (which is what I'm always after, as "coming soon" these days ends up being months to a year).

Wait, Titan Quest II is coming? Awesome! Now I hope they don't screw it up, since the devs of the original are (quite successfully) doing other things now. Sounds like there's a good chance it's going to be good, at the very least. It's been a long time since there's been much to look forward to in terms of new games, but the situation's been getting pretty good recently. I'm really surprised.

So, I got a budget Mini-ITX PC for some living room fun in the spring, and now I'm kind of arriving at the conclusion that yes, a budget SSD can be not only non-ideal but actually really bad. I got a 500 GB Kingston NV2 since it was cheap for what it offerred, and initially I was happy enough with it. However, over the months, I've been experience some random slowdowns that last for up to dozens of seconds at once, then perhaps the situation eases for a few seconds, and then it gets really bad again, and so forth. When it's bad, you can't basically do absolutely anything on the PC. For example, simply opening the Start menu can take dozens of seconds, and sometimes even the cursor stops moving. At some point the situation might get remedied entirely, and usually if I can start up a game, there are no issues whatsoever.

Anyway, recently I finally investigated the situation a bit, and it turns out that disk utilization is at exactly 100 % whenever the slowdowns occur, and then we're talking about sub-1 MB/s speeds. No wonder it's slow... When it's not terrible, it's at least several hundreds of megabytes per second, and it's supposedly capable of more, but I haven't benchmarked it properly. Not sure if a faulty disk or just bad, but some online discussions indicate that it gets really poor performance very quickly when its gets filled up, and not necessarily even very much. Gonna have to investigate further, but I kind of suspect things will improve if I uninstall some games... That, and there's some other things I might be able to try still (such as a firmware upgrade). Not at all happy though! I'm probably going to assume that cheap SSDs can be absolutely crippling, even worse than HDDs, if things get really bad (not that I was going to cheap out too much on my new desktop probably later this year).

Reading the reviews, I wouldn't have used it as an OS drive

https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/kingston-nv2-ssd

The ssd that you put the OS into is put under significant strain, especially on Windows as Windows loves it's background tasks and updates and etc. From the review, it sounds like you can either get QLC or TLC as well as the choice of a good controller and a mediocre controller. Since it's Dramless, if you got the double whammy combo with no way to tell until after you got it, yea it can certainly perform worse than hard drives. The OS SSD should always be top spec reliable SSD like a Samsung or Western Digital. Back in the day, a 970 would have been perfect or today, SN850. Getting cheap SSDs for secondary or third drives is perfectly fine however since those won't get hammered like the OS drive does.

You can also dual boot into a fresh OS by creating a custom petition on your SSD tho and see if a fresh OS will solve your issues. If it does, then it's likely something is hogging your SSD.