Sea of Stars tells the story of two Children of the Solstice, following youths Valere and Zale as they face their fated duty to become Solstice Warriors. They wield the lone force capable of defeating the monstrous creations of an evil alchemist known as The Fleshmancer. Valere and Zale’s grand journey follows their mastery of Sun and Moon powers as they learn to combine their strengths to cast powerful Eclipse Magic. Legendary composer Yasunori Mitsuda (Chrono Trigger) also joins Sabotage Studio’s composer Eric W. Brown on Sea of Stars’ rousing original soundtrack, delivering an incredible sonic experience for one of this year’s most eagerly awaited games.
Sea of Stars features:
Active Turn-Based Combat: Pressing the action button in sync with battle animations strengthens a hero’s attacks and reduces incoming damage during defense. Along with interactive timed attacks, combat features boosting and a strategic “locks” system, providing options for leveraging different damage types in order to hinder enemies while they are preparing powerful attacks or spells, all in an immersive take on the RPG genre; no random encounters, transitions to separate battlefields, or grinding.
Unshackled Traversal: Swim, climb, vault, jump off or scale ledges while seamlessly traversing through the world with a navigation system based on platformer expertise that breaks free from classic, bound-to-the-ground tileset movement.
A Story-Rich Adventure: Meet dozens of original characters and progress memorable narrative arcs throughout a captivating journey. Sometimes epic, sometimes silly, and other times emotional, Sea of Stars explores classic themes of adventure and friendship with heart, while also being chock-full of the unexpected twists and events you’d expect from a Sabotage Studio production.
All Fun, No Tedium: Enjoy experimenting in combat without fear of hitting a wall requiring grinding or farming for unique items; in Sea of Stars, defeat calls for a change in battle plans, not hours of repetition to better the odds in a rematch.
A World You Can Touch: There are many ways to hang out in the world of Sea of Stars if you feel inclined to change the pace during your adventures. Sailing, cooking, fishing, stopping by a tavern to listen to a song, or playing the beloved tabletop game known as “Wheels” … every system has been designed to deliver a journey that pays tribute to retro classics, while rethinking conventional elements to offer a smooth and refreshingly modernized experience.
Radiant Lighting: Dynamic lighting effects pair with a world-influencing day/night cycle to make every area feel truly alive, pushing the traditional visual limits of classically stylized 2D pixel art games – the only way to properly tell the story of heroes conjuring the powers of the Sun and the Moon.
Developer Brainwash Gang and publisher Raw Fury have revealed a new trailer through IGN’s Summer of Gaming, alongside a free new content update and a look at just the start of what’s to come in Year One for Friends vs Friends, the delightfully frantic deck-building FPS that recently launched to Very Positive reviews on Steam.
Today’s free ‘Little Lars’ update adds a new skin and five new cards. Another free expansion, titled ‘Baba’s Laundromat,’ is coming in early July and will include 10 new cards, 15 cosmetics, and five skins unlocked by completing quests from the newest NPC on Buddy’s Boulevard: Baba!
Friends vs Friends puts a game-changing twist on the classic FPS formula: all your powers, weapons and debuffs are played from your deck of cards! Become a titan, summon friendly turrets, steal health with vampire bullets, or just give your opponent a big head. Earn new cards, level them up, and unlock new characters with unique skills in chaotic 1v1 or 2v2 game modes.
Key Features
Friends vs Friends: Matchmake with players worldwide in fast-paced 1v1 or 2v2 combat, or host private matches with your friends. Need support? Invite some pals to spectate!
A Game with Character: Choose from a cast of stylish characters, each with their own special abilities that improve the synergies of your deck.
Progress to Impress: Level up and get new cards through matched bouts and timed challenges.
Stack Your Deck: Collect weapon, trap and curse cards, then level them up to increase their power.
Play Dress-Up: Unlock cool cosmetics like skins and card design variants for bragging rights!
Practice, Practice, Practice: Go up against bots to try out new card combos and improve your skills for when it really counts.
Low Price + High Quality = How?! Keep the crew together! Friends vs Friends levels the playing field on cost, so jumping in is a big-brain move.
Updates & Seasonal Content: Expect loads of post-launch content, including new unique characters, cards, maps, and upgrades to your home base!
Friends vs Friends will launch on consoles later this year, along with two premium expansions. For the latest game news and updates, follow Friends vs Friends on Twitter and join the official Discord.
Pre-orders now open across all platforms; try the dark fantasy strategy game’s demo next week during Steam Next Fest.
Tuesday, 13th June 2023 – Team17 Digital and Covenant.dev have today announced that dark fantasy strategy game Gord will emerge from the shadows and launch 8th August on Steam, PlayStation®5 and Xbox Series X|S. Adventurers and strategy enthusiasts alike can pre-order their copy now for all platforms. Physical edition pre-orders for consoles and digital pre-orders on Steam will receive the additional ‘Hold Your Ground’ scenario for the game’s Custom Scenarios mode, a digital soundtrack, and a digital art book; digital pre-orders for consoles will receive the ‘Hold Your Ground’ scenario only.
Created by a team that includes former Frostpunk and The Witcher 3 developers, Gord is a single-player dark fantasy strategy game where, to survive, you must build, but to prevail, you must conquer the darkness beyond the gates. Complete life-threatening quests in this dark fantasy world while managing a populace whose personal stories and well-being can decide the fate of your tribe.
Those who can’t wait until launch to test their mettle in Gord’s ruthless world of horrific beasts and rich lore inspired by Slavic folktales, can sink their teeth into an English language-only demo from next week, 19-26th June, during Steam Next Fest. Additional languages for the game will be available at full launch, including Polish, German, Spanish (European and Latin American), Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), Russian, French, Italian, Japanese, and Korean.
Keep to the light and check out a brand-new release date announcement trailer:
Gord Key Features
Mature dark fantasy adventure: Lead the people of the Tribe of the Dawn and venture deep into forbidden lands in a lore-rich, dark fantasy strategy campaign
Build to survive, conquer to prevail: Grow your gord from humble settlement to formidable fortress while protecting your citizens from invading tribes, gruesome monsters, and mysterious powers that lurk within the surrounding woods
Unique ‘Sanity System’: Keep a close eye on your townsfolk as everything from illness to hunger and the death of kin can have devastating impact on their lives and well-being
Hand-crafted quests: Take on a wide variety of quests and random encounters that will lead you deep into the wilderness to hunt legendary creatures, uncover ancient secrets, and vanquish deadly scourges
Unleash powerful incantations: Unlock a variety of offensive and defensive spells, each with custom animations, to tip combat in your favour
‘Custom Scenarios’ mode with procedurally generated levels: Take on an endless variety of challenges by creating your own scenarios. Customize your playthrough by picking a main objective, choosing your starting party, level size, number of resources, enemy types, raid intensities, and even the severity of the weather!
About Covenant.dev
Covenant.dev is an independent game dev creative house offering well-executed and fresh gameplay experiences. The company works only on proprietary IPs and champions employee empowerment to help develop these into original, globally recognisable franchises. In 2021, it was also the first game developer to be named the ‘Best Workplace in Poland’. Core team members have experience at notable Polish game development studios, including CD Projekt RED, 11 bit studios, and Flying Wild Hog. Covenant.dev’s first title will be the upcoming dark fantasy strategy game, Gord, arriving on Steam, PlayStation®5 and Xbox Series X|S on the 8th of August.
About Team17 Digital Founded in 1990, Team17 Digital is a leading developer, video games label, and creative partner for developers around the world. Part of Team17 Group plc, which floated on AIM in 2018, Team17 Digital has an extensive portfolio of over 120 titles, and fully encapsulates the spirit of independent games. Team17 Digital’s portfolio of multi-award-winning and award-nominated in-house brands include Hell Let Loose, Golf With Your Friends, The Escapists, and the iconic Worms franchise, alongside its games label partner titles, including the award-winning games Blasphemous, Greak: Memories of Azur, and Overcooked! franchise.
World Overview Trailer Explores the Vast, Ever-Changing Open World of the Overgrowth, and the Distinct Biomes Within
Amsterdam, The Netherlands – June 13, 2023 – Gearbox Publishing and Heart Machine are excited to share a new World Overview Trailer that lets you explore the vast, ever-changing open world in Hyper Light Breaker. In this brand new Hyper Light adventure, you are a Breaker, a mercenary tasked with entering the Overgrowth, a world in disarray within the Hyper Light universe. Either solo or with up to two fellow Breakers, you will explore large open biomes, with global day, night and weather cycles, along with a blended mix of handcrafted and procedurally generated elements that change with every playthrough. By wall-dashing, hoverboarding, and gliding, Breakers will have the freedom to choose their own path across the Overgrowth.
Watch the Hyper Light Breaker World Overview Trailer here:
“With Hyper Light Breaker, you’ll come to find you’re exploring an open world that you’ll only see once,” said Alx Preston, Hyper Light Breaker and Heart Machine creative director. “Once you die or once you complete a run, you’ll never see the same world again – you’ll instead find a completely different world to explore. Every new world that’s generated can present dynamic, global components that can affect your whole run or playthrough. Because of this, Hyper Light Breaker will be one of the first open world rogue-lites of its kind, and we can’t wait for Breakers to enter the Overgrowth and see for themselves the endless worlds they can explore!”
As players explore Hyper Light Breaker’s vast, ever-changing open world, the Overgrowth, they’ll discover distinct biomes that are filled with vicious enemies and intense bosses, deep labyrinths and hidden secrets. Each biome in the Overgrowth is vastly different from the next, each presenting its own set of challenges, environments and stories.
Within every biome, players will find that the day and night cycle completely changes the world around them, and makes the Overgrowth even more deadly. As each day passes and night begins, players will discover that enemies get more powerful, foes slain during the day have a chance of respawning, and more hazards occur across the world – making each run satisfying and challenging even as players grow in skill and knowledge in this world.
ABOUT HYPER LIGHT BREAKER
From Heart Machine, the award-winning team behind critically-acclaimed titles Hyper Light Drifter and Solar Ash, comes Hyper Light Breaker, a new co-op rogue-lite adventure set in the beloved Hyper Light Drifter universe. Set decades prior to Drifter, Hyper Light Breaker has youtake on the role of a Breaker to help establish a settlement in a new frontier. Using a combination of fast-paced hack-and-slash combat, ranged weaponry and gadgets, players can expect to fight through and explore a wide array of procedurally-generated open worlds. Though you’ll start your journey trying to help the settlement, it’s clear that there’s something sinister in this long-forgotten land. Only through tenacity and rigorous exploration will you uncover the dark truths of the Crowns, The Abyss King and this brutal, eerie new landscape.
ABOUT GEARBOX PUBLISHING
Founded in 2016, Gearbox Publishing was established with the goal of helping developers around the world bring their products to market while retaining their unique creative visions. The mission began with the critically-acclaimed Homeworld Remastered Collection for PC, and has since been followed by many partnerships that include Hello Neighbor, Astroneer, We Happy Few, Star Trek Online, Neverwinter, Remnant: From the Ashes, the Torchlight series, Have a Nice Death, Risk of Rain 2, Tribes of Midgard, and PlayStation®5 launch title, Godfall. Gearbox Publishing remains committed to its mission to entertain the world and become the most developer-friendly publisher in the industry. The Gearbox Entertainment Company is a proud member of the Embracer Group AB family of companies, which is publicly traded at Nasdaq First North (EMBRAC B).
ABOUT HEART MACHINE
Heart Machine is an award-winning development studio based in Los Angeles with team members from across the globe working on incredible projects. The team focuses on creating games with gameplay that’s engaging, fluid and fun, while also building worlds through vibrant art, great stories and incredible sound design. Heart Machine is immensely excited to be creating things they love every day.
Orwellian-inspired adventure game coming to consoles across Europe this summer.
Chesterfield, UK – June 13th 2023. International publisher Funbox Media Ltd invites you to a near-future dystopian world of adventure and intrigue in Beholder 3, coming this summer as a boxed retail edition for Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 and 5 consoles. Working with developer Paintbucket Games and digital publisher Toplitz Productions, Funbox Media will be publishing and distributing the boxed retail editions across EU, ANZ, SA and ME territories.
When a high-ranking security officer saves you from prison, you end up a pawn in her schemes. Now you must eliminate anyone standing in the way of her secret plans and try to get your life back while working two jobs. No tenant, employee or superior is safe from your spying.
Watch the Beholder 3 trailer here
Welcome to The Greatest Union! A totalitarian state that controls everything and everyone through oppressive laws, total surveillance, and intimidation.
You are Frank Schwarz, a husband, and father who lost his cushy office job at the Ministry after someone set him up. The only way to avoid jail time was to make a deal with a high-ranking security officer.
Now a government spy working undercover as a landlord, you must break into tenants’ apartments, search them for contraband and eliminate anyone your boss wants out of the picture.
At the same time, you’ll have to spy and scheme against co-workers and superiors in the Ministry to work your way back up the ladder. Different factions are secretly vying for power over the Ministry and the country – play them against each other to your advantage.
Can you get your old life back, or even something better?
Will you fight for change and truth or uphold the status quo?
Who are you willing to sacrifice to get what you want?
Features:
Work two jobs: in an apartment block and in the Ministry.
Different political factions are fighting for power. Pick your side wisely.
Complete quests from the Ministry: promote the ideology of the totalitarian state, manipulate flags, and spread whatever propaganda you’re told to.
Install surveillance cameras and search apartments and offices.
Maintain your cover by doing everyday chores like paying bills, fixing up apartments, and keeping your tenants happy.
Beholder 3 will launch this summer for Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 and 5 consoles as a physical boxed retail edition across EU, ANZ, SA and ME territories. For more information, please visit Funbox Media’s Beholder 3 Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 game pages.
Funbox Media Limited, established in 2010 and located in Chesterfield, UK, is a licensed third-party developer, publisher, and distributor for all physical, digital, and mobile gaming platforms. Originally focusing on casual, affordable games, Funbox widened its catalogue by bringing to market established brands such as the hit TV game show The Cube, Super Street, Warhammer 40,000, Waifu Uncovered and the Pretty Girls series, alongside its existing impressive portfolio of titles. Distributing across the globe and with over 60 years of combined experience, Funbox Media Ltd is an established and reliable partner in the video games industry.
Core Engage developers partner with Daedalic Entertainment for their first project— the post-apocalyptic strategy title, New Cycle
Istanbul, Turkey. June 13, 2023— Today developers at Core Engage revealed a gorgeous new gameplay trailer for their upcoming post-apocalyptic base-builder: New Cycle. Set in the aftermath of a devastating solar flare, players oversee a colony of survivors, building a small fort into a thriving metropolis while managing existential threats to their power and survival. While a demo is publicly available at the moment, the team is preparing to release major updates to the game in a Steam Next Fest demo, launching on June 19th, 2023. The game’s Early Access release to Steam is slated for 2023.
Watch the new gameplay trailer for New Cyclehere
New Cycle is the first project from Core Engage, a team of innovative developers who seek to bring new life to the colony survival genre by iterating on its cornerstones, both narratively and mechanically. The game takes place in a near post-apocalyptic future. After the Earth got hit by a severe solar flare, the planet’s magnetic field collapsed, temperatures began to rise, the equator turned into a desert, and humanity crumbled. The only habitable zone left is the Northern Hemisphere where the player creates a settlement that will save humanity and nature. To keep the settlement alive, players must gather vital resources, make tough decisions and manage relationships with neighbouring settlements, as they work to uncover lost technologies and overcome obstacles of the post-apocalypse. Regardless of player designs and decisions, nature marches on; the eroded atmosphere of the New World presents fickle cycles and destructive events that add dynamic challenges to the game. Players will need to contend with natural and political threats in order for their settlement to survive.
Alongside the new trailer, Core Engage announced they will be partnering with publisher Daedalic Entertainment to bring the game to global audiences. New Cycle joins an impressive roster of indie titles released by the German publisher, including Inkulinati, Deponia, Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun, Ken Follett’s The Pillars of the Earth, The Long Journey Home, Barotrauma, and more.
Core Engage plans to work closely with the community through Early Access. Players interested in the development progress can sign up to the game’s newsletter on the New Cycle website, wishlist the game on Steam, and follow Daedalic Entertainment on Twitter.
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About Core Engage
Core Engage is a videogame development studio based in Istanbul. Founded in 2019 with the partnership of Verusa Holding under the leadership of two developer brothers, the company aims to produce management-based, systems-driven games with rich mechanics, comprehensive worlds and high levels of scientific reality, especially in the strategy and simulation genres. Core Engage, which has been working non-stop and expanding its development infrastructure since the day it started its development life, is now preparing to launch its first product, a post-apocalyptic colony survival city builder titled New Cycle.
About Daedalic Entertainment
Daedalic Entertainment publishes and develops high-quality games for all platforms. The company has a diverse line-up of high-quality titles, including classic adventures, RPGs, and strategy and multiplayer games. With an international team of around 90 employees, Daedalic is currently developing a new line-up of innovative games across consoles, PC, and mobile platforms. Based in Hamburg, Germany, Daedalic is one of Europe’s most acclaimed publishers and developers. With a total of 32 awards in the German Developers Award (including multiple accolades for ‘Studio of the Year’) and 12 German Computer Game Awards for genre-defining games such as Deponia, Edna & Harvey, Silence, Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun, Ken Follett’s The Pillars of the Earth, The Long Journey Home, and State of Mind, Daedalic is a record holder for the two most prestigious game awards in Germany. Recent publishing hits include Barotrauma, Unrailed!, Cryofall, Iratus: Lord of the Dead, Partisans 1941, and more.
Sydney, Australia – June 13th, 2023 – Today’s Capcom Showcase provided a glimpse at the latest releases coming from the storied publisher. The digital broadcast unveiled new updates on upcoming and recently released titles, including the latest dinosaur forecast on Exoprimal™ unveiling its second Open Beta Test, a look at the road ahead for competitors in Street Fighter™ 6, and an introduction to the engrossing fantasy world of Dragon’s Dogma™ 2.
The entire Capcom Showcase is available to view on the official Capcom YouTube and Twitch channels.
Exoprimal Summons New Open Beta, PvE Challenge Mode, and Exosuit Variants
Suit up, Exofighters! Today’s dinosaur forecast revealed that a second Exoprimal Open Beta Test is imminent. The online team-based action returns Thursday, June 15 at 5:00pm PDT – Sunday, June 18 at 4:59pm PDT across Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Windows, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, and Steam. The Open Beta Test 2 includes new elements, including 10-player co-op missions and story content that provides a more in-depth look at the ever-changing main game mode, Dino Survival. Open Beta Test 2 participants will also qualify to receive the “Flash” Zephyr skin as special bonus item in the full game.
The Capcom Showcase debuted the first glimpse of a new Exosuit variant, the Deadeye Alpha: Burst Fire. Director Takuro Hiraoka also introduced a special co-op mode, Savage Gauntlet, which challenges teams of five players with PvE missions that rotate weekly. Beyond survival, teams can compete with other squads around the world for fastest completion times. To learn more about Savage Gauntlet and Exosuit variants, tune in to the Xbox Games Showcase: Extended on June 13 at 10:00am PDT.
Exoprimal releases July 14 for Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Windows, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, and Steam. The game also launches on day one with Xbox Game Pass for console, PC, and Cloud.
First Gameplay Details for Dragon’s Dogma 2
Dragon’s Dogma 2 Director Hideaki Itsuno joined the Capcom Showcase to provide a deeper look at combat, Pawns, and gameplay systems for the hotly anticipated action-RPG. The vocations players choose shape whether they tackle foes with swords at their side or magick incantations, and varied elements such as terrain and enemies create dynamic combat scenarios throughout the game. AI-controlled Pawns return from the original Dragon’s Dogma™ and accompany players throughout their journey to form a party of up to four characters. In addition to customizing their Arisen, players can also personalize their main Pawn, who can in turn be recruited by other players’ Arisen to borrow their skills and knowledge. What Pawns learn through these experiences will be reflected in their behaviour, making them worthy player companions.
Dragon’s Dogma 2 harnesses the power of the RE ENGINE to create a world map about four times the size of the original Dragon’s Dogma that is densely populated with enemies, events, and locations rendered with the latest graphical technology. The environment is complemented by immersive physics and character AI that brings Pawns, monsters, and NPCs to life. Pawns organically guide players to new locations, dynamically cooperate during battle, and even react to special moments such as celebrating narrow victories with high-fives. Monsters new and old encourage players to devise numerous strategies to succeed in combat, or even avoid it all together. NPCs, such as the bow-wielding Ulrika who has a deep connection to the Arisen, or the high priestess of the beastren Nadinia, will form intricate relationships with the Arisen that set the stage for nuanced story moments.
New information on vocations and other experiences unique to Dragon’s Dogma 2 will be shared in the future. Dragon’s Dogma 2 is in development for PlayStation®5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.
Street Fighter™ 6 – The Hits Keep Coming!
Street Fighter 6, which recently announced that it surpassed 1 million sales and more than 50 million franchise sales, spotlighted the game’s three core game modes – including World Tour, Fighting Ground, and Battle Hub – and showcased the upcoming hype of Street Fighter 6 esports! Capcom Pro Tour 2023 will feature Online Premiers, Offline Premiers, and World Warrior Events with a $1 million prize for the winner of Capcom Cup X. Street Fighter League: Pro JP 2023 will begin on July 7 with nine teams, 36 players, and the opportunity to be crowned the best team in Japan on the line!
Get all the latest info at the Street Fighter 6website, Capcom Pro Tour website, and Street Fighter League website. Street Fighter 6 is available now across PlayStation®5, PlayStation®4, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam.
Capcom 40th Anniversary
Capcom celebrates its 40th anniversary this month, and today, festivities continued with details regarding the many exciting experiences in Capcom Town, a digital theme park that commemorates the historic milestone. Fans can enjoy various attractions such as taking a stroll through a digital museum to view artwork and other materials from the publisher’s storied history, playing classic Capcom titles, and visiting the castle to vote in the Capcom elections for their favourite characters and games to receive rewards for participating. Even more attractions await, so come celebrate 40 years of Capcom with us.
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About Capcom
Capcom is a leading worldwide developer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment for game consoles, PCs, handheld and wireless devices. Founded in 1983, the company has created hundreds of games, including groundbreaking franchises Resident Evil™, Monster Hunter™, Street Fighter™, Mega Man™, Devil May Cry™ and Ace Attorney™. Capcom maintains operations in the U.S., U.K., Germany, France, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and Tokyo, with corporate headquarters located in Osaka, Japan. More information about Capcom and its products can be found at www.capcom.com or www.capcom-unity.com.
Capcom, and the Capcom logo are registered trademarks of Capcom Co., Ltd. in the U.S. or other countries. Ace Attorney, Devil May Cry, Mega Man, Monster Hunter, Resident Evil and Street Fighter are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Capcom Co., Ltd. and/or its subsidiaries, in the U.S. and/or other countries. All other trademarks and trade names are the property of their respective owners.
KONAMI & KeelWorks confirm final cover art for launch in 2023
Sydney, Australia – 13th June 2023: Konami Digital Entertainment B.V. and Scotland-based studio KeelWorks Ltd announced pre-orders for the physical edition of CYGNI: All Guns Blazing are going live this week for both PlayStation®5 and Xbox Series X. This launch simultaneously reveals the final cover art, with the Orca taking centerstage as it prepares for the onslaught ahead!
To coincide with this announcement a brand-new Story Trailer has also been released today, showcasing a cinematic inspiring call to arms, alongside mind-bending high-octane action in never-before-seen levels – all in stunning next-generation visuals.
Watch the new story trailer online here
CYGNI: All Guns Blazing is a twin-stick vertical scrolling shooter that delivers old-school nostalgia with next-generation graphics, Hollywood-grade animation, and intense action. For more information, please visit the links below:
KeelWorks is a Scottish video game development company founded by brothers Meher and Nareg Kalenderian, along with Helen Saouma. Their debut game, CYGNI, was first announced in 2020, showcasing an early prototype stage, entirely created, and developed by Nareg and Helen in their spare time.
The initial trailer for CYGNI gained significant online traction and media interest, leading to a publishing deal with Konami Digital Entertainment in October 2021. With this new partnership, the team gradually grew to around 11 members, dedicated full-time to the production of CYGNI.
About KONAMI GROUP
KONAMI GROUP was established in 1973, starting as an amusement machine manufacturer for arcades. Over the years, the company has grown to include different business units across various markets. Currently, KONAMI GROUP CORPORATION includes the Digital Entertainment, Amusement, Gaming & Systems, and Sports Businesses. The company went public on the Osaka Securities Exchange in 1984, the Tokyo Stock Exchange in 1988, and the London Stock Exchange in 1999.
About Konami Digital Entertainment
Konami Digital Entertainment, which is the core company of KONAMI GROUP, develops entertaining content for mobile, console and card games. The company is known for global franchises such as eFootball™, Metal Gear, Silent Hill, Castlevania, and Contra, as well as the Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game series.
Join us in the first hour of Diablo IV as we rummage through bone chilling Icehowl Taiga, find some unfriendly followers of Lilith and explore a dungeon or two as we work our way to obtaining more skill points.
Seeking refuge from the eternal conflict between the High Heavens and the Burning Hells, Inarius and Lilith formed Sanctuary and gave life to the Nephalem with the stolen Worldstone. Fearing for the destruction of her hybrid offspring, Lilith led a violent, protective act to protect the Nephalem; ultimately leading Inarius to turn his back on her, banishing her to the abyss, becoming enemies henceforth. Lilith’s return ushers in an age of darkness and misery. What fate awaits?
Diablo IV Developer: Blizzard Team 3, Blizzard Albany Publisher: Blizzard Entertainment Platform: Windows, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5/4 Release Date: June 5, 2023 Price: $69.99 USD
Recommended – “Diablo is back, better and more addicting than ever, and with an insane level of post-campaign content. It takes some time for the game to open up, but once it does you won’t be able to put it down.”
The concept of a time loop isn’t uncommon among video games, especially when one attributes it to the roguelike genre where players start over from the beginning, only slightly stronger or having more resources for their next loop. Usually these types of games involve things such as escaping a dungeon, facing numerous monsters, or conquering a difficult puzzle without failing but what happens when you take a looping element and blend it with JRPG gameplay and visual novel storytelling? You get Marvelous’ Loop8: Summer of Gods. Featuring a school-life setting with an ever approaching world-ending threat, do these elements manage to blend together to create a satisfying JRPG?
Story
The year is 1983 and humanity has been pushed to the brink of extinction by supernatural beings known as the Kegai that are nearly unstoppable and can devastate entire countries when they appear. Humanity has made an attempt to flee to space but our protagonist, Nini, has found out the hard way that the Kegai are just as capable of reaching space as humanity. Being a survivor of the destroyed space station, Nini arrives in the small town of Ashihara where his only relatives reside and just so happens to be a location untouched by the Kegai’s advances. Things quickly appear strange however, as not only can Nini see a massive structure floating in the sky above town but before he can even settle in and learn about his classmates, danger strikes as a Kegai manages to break into the town.
Despite having no knowledge of his abilities, Nini encounters the Kegai within the alternate world of Yomotsu Hiarasaka, a twisted version of Ashihara. Despite the group’s best efforts to try and stop the Kegai from flourishing they are all slain by the beast before it goes on to lay waste to the rest of the world. All may seem lost but when Nini suddenly finds himself standing back in front of the train station where he arrived in town at the beginning of August. Although confused as to why such a loop occurs, it is up to Nini to put a stop to the Kegai that are invading the town and potentially save all of his new friends at the same time.
Loop8: Summer of Gods has a rather interesting story to tell, the problem is that actually getting it to reveal various story elements is something of a pain. A lot of context surrounding the world and its situation as well as even the events that are directly happening to Nini and the rest of the townsfolk are often kept vague and even the core storyline itself is relatively thin. The real meat of the story comes from interacting with the twelve characters that reside within the town and the only ones players will ever actually see. Numerous story revelations, details about the world, and even knowledge about what is actually happening is revealed by getting closer to the various characters as they explain various tidbits of history, talk of where their from, or even randomly reveal a significant story element as if it were nothing.
You see, rather than building a relationship with characters through various choices over a long period of time or even through events, players will instead build their friendship, affection, and hate level by simply talking to characters and selecting generic dialogue prompts. These range from something like “get to know each other” or “be friendly” to “compliment” and “tell it like it is” with each interaction returning a generic response of either success or failure with failure rates increasing the more Nini talks with a character in one day. Since time doesn’t pass by talking to characters, it is entirely possible to reveal large amounts of history for a character and even major elements of the world itself by being friendly enough with the cast far too early, with two separate characters making major reveals within the second day of interacting with them outside of the initial loop.
The ability to quickly become friends with characters isn’t a real negative, especially since it can play a major role in how players can steer the story. Not only are there certain unique events that can only be seen when players are close enough to a character but often the only way to save a possessed member of the town is by being friends with them first otherwise they may meet a terrible end even if the Kegai is defeated. The characters in Loop8: Summer of Gods are rather interesting and while they may fall into some standard tropey elements initially, players will quickly learn some surprising details about them as they learn about their history. Characters such as Machina, Terasu, and Beni serve as some great standouts and the rest of the cast is very interesting as well, meaning players will want to try their best to keep everyone alive, even if it means looping again, especially since characters can react to the death of another. Combine the enjoyable cast with some unique ways the story will play out differently every loop and there is a lot of potential in Loop8: Summer of Gods, though players will need patience for a certain poor design element we will go into momentarily to enjoy it.
Gameplay
While Loop8: Summer of Gods may feature turn-based gameplay in a dungeon, players will be spending the majority of their time walking around the town of Ashihara, talking to the twelve residents, and interacting with various objects to train their stats or potentially unlock blessings. The town of Ashihara is surprisingly small with there only being six main locations to travel to with a few having secondary screens to explore. Players can walk to these areas should they wish to, though they can choose to fast-travel while also seeing what characters are currently at the location, though since time passes while traveling they may not be there when you arrive.
Speaking of time, players will experience every day waking at 6AM and being forced to sleep at 3AM, at the latest though their stamina and health meter must be used for fast-traveling and interacting with characters. Should players run out of energy they will be forced to end the day early, though they can eat food, interact with certain characters, or even take a nap to regain energy. Different activities such as studying at school, reading magazines, or even interacting with certain characters depends on the time of day with one second of real time equaling a minute game time. Characters may not have an entirely set path through each day, they will still walk around town, though players can easily interrupt anything they may be doing since characters are always just standing around.
As mentioned before, characters will raise their affinity with characters by talking with them and selecting various “suggestions” with the success rate depending on their social standing, the character they are talking to’s attitude, and even the current mood of the location. Time can also play a factor as characters won’t want to go out to eat or start training with Nini if it is too late. The developers have stated that there is a unique AI system that dictates how characters will respond to being talked to but for the most part players will either see complete success or be stonewalled depending on how their target is feeling. In fact, there may even be moments when a completely cheerful interaction with a happy character will suddenly turn sour as they instantly are angry the second. Nini possesses the ability known as “Demon Sight” that can be used to examine the attitude and desires of the people in town as well as in combat. This can help determine whether players should even interact with certain characters sometimes as an angry or tired character will likely only grow to hate the player if they try to talk with them.
As players talk with characters and unlock various events they will obtain blessings specific to that character. Blessings are stat and affinity boosts that are permanently applied to a character and will remain even if the loop resets and serve as a major way to upgrade a character’s abilities. Blessings can also be obtained from examining shrines around town with Nini primarily being the benefactor unless he is traveling with someone at the time. Blessings are quite helpful as other forms of stat boosting take 90 minutes of time and reset when the loop begins again and can also make it far easier to become friends with various characters again.
After a set amount of time passes, a Kegai will invade and will randomly possess someone within the town, whisking them away to the underworld where players must venture in and defeat them. There is only one real dungeon in Loop8 and it is fairly generic as it is simply an alternate version of Ashihara except it has various monsters inside of it. Some of these monsters will simply talk with Nini while others will actively attack him. Nini can bring two allies with him into a dungeon but when fighting in battle they will not actually listen to any commands. Instead players will only be able to directly control Nini in battle while the ally AI will attack and buff on their own. This can lead to some frustration in combat especially since the game does not have any form of level with all stats being dictated by player activities during everyday life. As Nini players can select various skills and use their friendliness, affection, or hate to power the attack with hate dealing extra damage at the cost of powering up the target. Since players cannot directly control their allies it is entirely possible they may die in battle and these deaths will remain throughout the current loop. Similarly, defeating the possessed character may also end in their death. This can lead to some frustration, especially should the former happen as often deaths in combat happen due to ally AI refusing to attack properly.
Not having direct control of your team isn’t the only poor design choice in Loop8 though, as most of them revolve around the looping system itself. Should players die in combat, fail to defeat a boss before the world ends, or even choose to reset the loop themselves, they will start back over from the first day with all of their stats and relationships reset to zero. As mentioned before, all blessings will remain so players will start stronger and closer to characters but they will need to repeat various actions to regain their former strength and bonds. One way that makes this a bit more balanced is that bonds and stat growth is doubled until it reaches its former level so players will need to invest less time than before, though they will still need to go through the same motions and this is where one of the biggest issues with Loop8‘s actual loops is.
Rather than offer unique interactions that change depending on the loop, all character interactions are handled the same exact way as before. This means that players will be treated to the exact same dialogue, cutscenes, events, and even dates as before with the only reprieve being a slow skip option that is barely faster than mashing the advance button. There is some variety with who gets possessed as some characters may find themselves instantly taken in one loop only to never be possessed the next time around. This makes any loop an exercise in patience and frustration as players must rebuild their bonds and character while experiencing barely skippable repeat scenes anytime they fail or risk failing again. Any extra level of variety to repeated scenes or even a faster skip option for previously seen dialogue would do wonders for the flow of the game and spice up the story more. Instead players are treated to the same things they’ve seen before, quickly growing monotonous by the third or fourth time through a loop.
Visuals & Audio
Loop8: Summer of Gods has a number of rather interesting artistic choices when it comes to the world. The environments are nicely detailed and wonderfully colored, though they could use more variety considering the amount of time players will travel through them and the animations are rather strange. The team seems to have chosen to animate the characters in a lower framerate than the game itself, giving them an awkward appearance that stands out heavily during combat, though thankfully combat animations can be skipped through the settings. The actual character models themselves are handled nicely with each character having a unique enough look and number of expressions to go along with player interactions but unfortunately the same cannot really be said about the enemy types as, outside of bosses, enemies are incredibly generic looking.
The voice work throughout Loop8 is handled well with both an English and Japanese voice track accompanying the game. It is a bit disappointing that not all of the game’s dialogue is voiced but most is and thankfully players can even choose to mute the Musasa squirrel should they wish. The soundtrack features a great collection of background music with a number of softer tracks that work incredibly well during the slow life of living in the town and some solid background music to accompany dungeon exploration and combat.
Overall
This unique blend of genre has made Loop8: Summer of Gods an interesting game with some solid potential that is unfortunately dragged down by some far too obvious repetition and a few odd design choices. While its main storyline may not be the most interesting, the characters and world building that comes from growing close with the cast is endearing enough that players will want to do everything they can to avoid a long lasting death but unfortunately any loop sees lengthy repetition of barely skippable dialogue and scenes that undergo no changes from loop to loop. Combine this with combat that is a bit on the simplistic side and often cheap thanks to poor ally AI and Loop8’s unique premise of looping through a rural summer town loses a lot of its potential, though it is certainly worth checking out for those willing to deal with its repetitive nature.
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