Home Blog Page 1214

BOXING HEAVY HITTER ‘UNDISPUTED’ LAUNCHES INTO STEAM EARLY ACCESS

Developer Steel City Interactive celebrates with footage of Muhammad Ali, who is a fully playable character in Early Access

Sydney, Australia, February 2nd 2023Steel City Interactive (SCI) celebrates the Early Access release of Undisputed. The first major boxing title in a decade is now available in Early Access (Steam) and will release on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S at a later date.

What could possibly be a better asset to celebrate this launch than footage of boxing legend Muhammad Ali? Here is the G.O.A.T fighting Joe Frazier in Undisputed:

For the Early Access launch, Undisputed will feature a roster of over 50 playable characters including Muhammad Ali, Tyson Fury, Canelo Alvarez, Deontay Wilder, Katie Taylor and a fully-fledged women’s division – across 6 unique fight locations, including a large arena, and Coldwell’s gym. Players will be able to fight in local and online multiplayer, in single player against the AI and in a Prize Fight Mode.

Alongside bug fixes and quality of life improvements, the planned Early Access roadmap includes additional features and content such as Career Mode, Fighter Creation tools, licensed boxers and match venues. SCI look forward to updating the community as and when they have news.

Key Features:

  • Revolutionary footwork mechanics, including a Loose Movement modifier to help players move around the ring with ease.
  • More than 60 individual punches. Players can punch from multiple angles and directions. Feint to set up a trap and counter.
  • All the tools needed to be a defensive wizard. Players can slip punches, weave, dodge and block.
  • Physics-driven interactions – punches can sometimes go around or even through the guard.
  • Up close and personal inside fighting like never before.

Players wanting to step into the ring can do so by signing up for the Early Access via the UndisputedSteam page here.

​For more information about Undisputed, please visit https://playundisputed.com/

Release Date: PC: Steam Early Access launch February 1st, 2023

*Console Release dates: To be announced

#BecomeUndisputed

About Steel City Interactive

Sheffield-based Steel City Interactive (SCI) was founded in 2020 by Ash Habib, along with his brothers Asif and Asad. Formed around the idea of creating the first major, new boxing game in over a decade. The rapidly growing studio now employs 34 people and has partnerships with the world of boxing’s leading companies including the WBC, Ring Magazine, CompuBox, BoxRec and many other prestigious boxing organisations. During development SCI has created innovative, proprietary technology to bring the world of boxing to life like never before.

About Muhammad Ali

Muhammad Ali is one of the most influential athletes and humanitarians of the 20th century and has created some of the most legendary moments in sports and civil rights history. More than 50 years after he emerged as a Gold Medalist in Boxing at the 1960 Rome Olympics, Ali’s legacy extends beyond the ring and he continues to be widely recognized as one of the most celebrated and beloved icons of all time.

His incomparable work ethic, signature boxing techniques, and fearlessness towards standing up for his beliefs, all contribute to the legend that is Muhammad Ali. Among his countless awards and accolades, he was named Sports Illustrated’s “Sportsman of the Century,” GQ’s “Athlete of the Century,” a United Nations Messenger of Peace, and has received the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Amnesty International Lifetime Achievement Award. Muhammad Ali’s legacy is celebrated across cultures and continues to inspire today’s most influential athletes, artists, musicians and humanitarians around the world.

Follow Muhammad Ali on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and Twitter.

About PLAION
PLAION is a leading independent developer and producer of games and entertainment products, with ten development studios and five publishing units based all over the world. Founded in 1994 as Koch Media, PLAION offers a unique breadth of services and solutions, dynamically growing its business to push ourselves and our partners to the forefront in all the segments we operate in.

PLAION runs a multi-label strategy, with fully owned publishing units, such as Deep Silver, Prime Matter, Milestone, Vertigo Games and Ravenscourt, publishing games for consoles, PC and VR platforms across all physical and digital channels.

Additionally – as a global publishing partner – PLAION has formed long-term multinational publishing collaborations with numerous game publishers including Activision Blizzard, Bethesda, Capcom, Focus Multimedia, Giants Software, Koei Tecmo, Paradox, Sega, SNK, Square Enix, Techland, THQ Nordic, Tripwire, Warner Bros and many others.

With its parent company in Höfen, Austria – and the HQ in Munich, Germany – PLAION owns local publishing companies in Germany, UK, France, Spain, Italy, Sweden, the Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland, Poland, Australia, the United States as well as Japan and Hong Kong.

PLAION owns nine game development studios: Deep Silver Dambuster Studios (Nottingham, UK), Fishlabs (Hamburg, DE), Warhorse Studios (Prague, CZ), Milestone (Milan, IT), Voxler (Paris, FR) , DigixArt (Montpellier, FR), Flying Wild Hog (Warsaw, Kraków, Rzeszów, PL), Free Radical Design (Nottingham, UK) and Vertigo Games (Rotterdam, Amsterdam, NL). Additionally, PLAION collaborates with numerous independent development studios around the world.

Part of PLAION is also PLAION PICTURES, a leading independent film distributor in Europe with a library of more than 1.400 titles. Further business operations include Sola Media, a sales agency and production company for family entertainment, Spotfilm Networx, a multi-channel streaming network, and a sub-label dedicated to Japanese animation.

PLAION also owns the leading video game merchandise company DPI Merchandising (Denver, Roseburg, USA and Munich, DE) and a Quality Assurance Facility in Olomouc, CZ.

PLAION is an Embracer Group company.

WWE 2K23 – First Look at WarGames with New Gameplay Trailer

2K today revealed new WWE 2K23 in-game footage with the hard hitting WWE 2K23: Your Time is Now.

The trailer offers the very first look at the debut of the fan-favourite and chaotic WarGames, that delivers 3v3 and 4v4 single player or multiplayer mayhem inside two side-by-side rings, all while surrounded by a double-steel cage.

The new footage also showcases exhilarating match-ups between WWE Superstars and Legends including cover Superstar John Cena, The Rock, Bianca Belair, Logan Paul, “The Undertaker”, Rhea Ripley, Bobby Lashley, and more.

Rhythm Sprout Slays to the Beat on PlayStation 5|4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC Today

TRONDHEIM, Norway — February 1, 2023 — Rhythm Sprout: Sick Beats & Bad Sweets, the deliciously silly rhythm game from developer SURT and publisher tinyBuild, boogies out on PlayStation 5|4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC via Steam and Epic Games Store today.

Join Sprout, the Chosen Onion, on a whimsical adventure across the Vegetable Kingdom to save the realm from the threat of King Sugar Daddy’s Bad Sweets army. Attack, dash, and dance across handcrafted, musically themed levels like Fruitopia, Daddy Club, Winter Woods, Haunted Mansion, and more, each with its own original soundtrack.

Find Princess Cauliflower, the rightful heir to the throne, to restore order amongst the peaceful fruits and veggies. Perfectly sync to the beat multiple music genres including K-pop, lo-fi, EDM, disco, and metal, while slaying tough bosses like the Candy Mama, Count Arelle, and Chock. And don’t miss King Brock’s calls–the sovereign is always on the lookout for updates!

Conquer sickly sweet foes, from ice cream cones to evil gingerbread people, to unlock new levels, bonus challenges, and cosmetic skins for the heroic Sprout and his weapon. Remix past levels with game modes including Turbo, Mirror, Shuffle, and Totally Random to become the rhythm master of the land and enjoy hours of replayability on high-sync beatmaps that will sweeten rhythm game connoisseurs and newcomers alike. 

Rhythm Sprout takes players into a world bursting with imagination,” said Jon Vait, CEO at SURT. “From an original soundtrack featuring old favorites and the newest genres of today, hand-draw artistry, and a quirky story, we’re glad to offer players a wholesome experience and sweet twist to the rhythm genre.”

Rhythm Sprout: Sick Beats & Bad Sweets is available now on PlayStation 5|4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC via Steam for USD $14.99. It supports English, Chinese (Simplified), Japanese, Korean, German, Brazilian Portuguese, Russian, Italian, Polish, Norwegian, French, and Spanish (European and LATAM) languages.

For more information, visit the game’s official website, wishlist it on Steam, follow @RhythmSprout on Twitter and Instagram, like the game’s official Facebook page, and join the sweet adventures on Discord.

About SURT

A three-person studio for Norway, SURT originated from a desire to create wholesome experiences and fill the gaps in the industry with the games they would love to play. Rhythm Sprout: Sick Beats & Bad Sweets is their first title.

About tinyBuild

tinyBuild is a Seattle-based indie label behind the Hello Neighbor franchise and over 30 renowned titles, including Hello Neighbor, Graveyard Keeper, SpeedRunners, Happy Humble’s Burger Farm, and Party Hard. With additional development offices in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Belgrade, Serbia, and Riga, Latvia, tinyBuild is rapidly building a portfolio of fun, high-quality games across multiple platforms.

SEVEN KNIGHTS 2 DEBUTS NEW REAPER OF THE ABYSS DELLONS HERO AND VALENTINE’S DAY FESTIVITIES

LOS ANGELES – February 1, 2023 –  Netmarble, a leading developer and publisher of high-quality mobile games, announces a new global update for the mobile role-playing game Seven Knights 2. The new update includes a new Legendary+ hero, scenario content, pet dispatch system, costumes, and Valentine’s Day Event.

Players can now choose the new hero Dellons, the Reaper of the Abyss (Legendary+ / Attack type), who is designed to deal massive damage to a single target. His special abilities can synergize well with other Attack type heroes. Dellons gets stronger as he continues to attack each enemy with a stacking debuff, making him the perfect hero to take down specific targets.

Additional new game content includes the Scenario Season 3 update that will continue the story of Lene and her party who are trying to stop those who threaten the peace on the continent of Asgar after the devastation of the war in the Kingdom of Terra. A Pet Dispatch System has been added as a new way to utilize pets. Players can dispatch their pets on various missions, earning special rewards upon completion. Four new costumes are now available, including two skins for the new hero Dellons, Darkness Wedding Karin (exclusive for Valentine’s Day), and Victory Outfit Karin.

From February 1 through February 15, players can enter the new Valentine’s Day Event to earn the Chocolate of the Abyss and exchange them for various items, including a costume for the new hero Dellons. Additionally, The Victory Outfit Conqueror Mission invites players to enter the Arena and obtain the Victory Outfit costume for Karin (event exclusive) by completing the Prestige Mission.

The official sequel to Seven Knights, a game enjoyed by 60 million players globally, Seven Knights 2 takes place 20 years after the original and introduces beautiful open world gameplay. The story centers on the Daybreak Mercenaries who embark on a journey to find the last member of the Seven Knights, “Rudy,” after a series of events involving a mysterious girl named Phiné. Stunning cinematics and graphics powered by Unreal Engine 4 will immerse players in this epic game story filled with unique characters and powerful bosses. Players can collect and develop their heroes and experience a new combat system with powerful ultimates and suppressors.

Seven Knights 2 is available now for download on Google Play, App Store and Windows PC (beta).

More information on Seven Knights 2 can be found on the official Facebook page, YouTube and forums or by visiting Netmarble’s Global YouTube channel.

About Netmarble Corporation

Established in Korea in 2000, Netmarble Corporation is a top developer and publisher pushing the boundaries of the mobile gaming experience with highly innovative games including Marvel Future Revolution, Ni no Kuni: Cross Worlds, Lineage 2: Revolution, The Seven Deadly Sins: Grand Cross, Blade & Soul Revolution and Marvel Future Fight. As a parent company of Kabam, and a major shareholder of Jam City and HYBE (formerly Big Hit Entertainment), Netmarble strives to entertain audiences around the world with a variety of mobile games based on its powerful franchises and collaborations with IP holders worldwide. More information can be found at http://company.netmarble.com.

# # #

World-Building FPS Gunscape Brings Custom Battlegrounds to Nintendo Switch Today

Player-made FPS experiences shared across all major platforms

SYDNEY – Feb. 1, 2023 – Gunscape, the first-person shooter and world-building hybrid inspired by classic 90s FPSes from developer and publisher Blowfish Studios, constructs worlds ripe for discovery and carnage on Nintendo Switch today.

Join a talented collective of community architects empowered to create, develop, and challenge each other with their original visions of the ultimate deathmatch. Employ the tools of an expansive construction kit containing almost every block, biome, weapon, add-on, and adversary any boxy crusader could dream of.

Once an arena has been created, unleash all hell on precisely placed units of deadly droids, skillful soldiers, massive beasts, and even dinosaurs – yes, DINOSAURS. If meticulously positioning fine details like walls, weapons, and enemies isn’t on the agenda, enjoy everybody else’s creations and bask in the mayhem. Dive into an impressive collection of fan-created single-player maps, co-op campaigns, and hand-crafted multiplayer arenas.

Gunscape takes the most memorable elements of FPS history, puts them into an intuitive creation tool kit, and hands them all over to gamers,” said Benjamin Lee, Blowfish Studios CEO. “Designers of all skill levels can let their imaginations run wild, then upload their works directly to the game’s servers for the whole world to experience. The Nintendo community is particularly well-known for its inventive community creators, so we’re very excited to see what they dream up with our tools!”

Gunscape is available now on Nintendo Switch for $14.99 USD/€ 11.99 and was previously released on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC via Steam. 

About Blowfish Studios

Blowfish Studios is an award-winning game developer and publisher based in Sydney, Australia. The studio strives to release original multi-platform games, while also collaborating with developers from around the world. As developers first, they bring a wealth of knowledge and expertise to any partnership. The studio provides development services to get the game release ready, porting to all major platforms, platform approval, marketing, and promotion to the world. Blowfish Studios is a part of Animoca Brands’ gaming-focused endeavors.

To learn more about Blowfish Studios please visit the team’s website and follow them on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

About Animoca Brands

Animoca Brands, a Deloitte Tech Fast winner and ranked in the Financial Times list of High Growth Companies Asia-Pacific 2021, is a leader in digital entertainment, blockchain, and gamification that is working to advance digital property rights and contribute to the establishment of the open metaverse. The company develops and publishes a broad portfolio of products including the REVV token and SAND token; original games including The Sandbox, Crazy Kings, and Crazy Defense Heroes; and products utilizing popular intellectual properties including Disney, WWE, Snoop Dogg, The Walking Dead, Power Rangers, MotoGP™, and Formula E. It has multiple subsidiaries, including The Sandbox, Blowfish Studios, Quidd, GAMEE, nWay, Pixowl, Forj, Lympo, Animoca Brands Japan, Grease Monkey Games, Eden Games, Darewise Entertainment, Notre Game, TinyTap, Be Media, PIXELYNX, and WePlay Media. Animoca Brands has a growing portfolio of more than 380 Web3 investments, including Colossal, Axie Infinity, OpenSea, Dapper Labs (NBA Top Shot), Yield Guild Games, Harmony, Alien Worlds, Star Atlas, and others. For more information visit www.animocabrands.com or follow on Twitter or Facebook.

NEXON LAUNCHES UPDATE FOR BLUE ARCHIVE EVENT STORY: “BUSINESS TRIP! MOMOYODOU”

Check out the new Event Story and earn rewards from the new Conquest content
See what happens to Momoyodou as the team is embroiled in a plot to ruin their summer beach vacation.
Get four new students, including Hoshino (Swimsuit) and Shizuko (Swimsuit)
Get 10 Free Recruitments from Feb. 5-13

SEOUL – Feb. 1, 2023 – On Feb. 1, NEXON Korea Corp. (CEO: Jung-Hun Lee) announced the latest Event Story, “Business Trip! Momoyodou,” for the subculture game Blue Archive developed by their subsidiary company Nexon Games (CEO: Yong-Hyun Park).

Players can complete new Conquest content to earn growth currencies, Pyroxene and other rewards. They can also join the students of Momoyodou on their summer beach vacation as they find themselves at the center of a nefarious plot, battling to survive.

Blue Archive is also adding four new students. Hoshino (Swimsuit) from the Abydos Academy, available from Fest Recruitment, is an Explosive Striker whose EX skill both increases the ATK of allies within range of her and grants an Explosive Effectiveness buff. During the event, players can also recruit Shizuko (Swimsuit), a Mystic Special whose EX Skill moves four allies within a circular range to a designated location and grants them a Shield proportional to her Healing.

Chise (Swimsuit) from the Allied Hyakkiyako Academy is a Mystic Striker that alternately fires grenades at three enemies with her EX Skill. The grenades deal damage to enemies in a circular range of the target and Stuns them, dealing additional damage to the enemy proportional to her ATK if they are already under a CC effect. Izuna of the same academy is a Mystic Striker whose EX Skill deals damage proportional to her ATK to a single enemy. It also concentrates her attacks on the designated target for 30 seconds.

Additionally, Nexon will be hosting a Free Recruitment x100 Campaign from Sunday, Feb. 5 through Monday, Feb. 13 to celebrate the update. Players who log in every day will get a 10-Free Recruitment and a special 20-Free Recruitment on Monday, Feb. 13. Players who log in for seven days during Arona’s Special Bonus! Login Campaign can also get Pyroxene x200 and Hoshino (Swimsuit)’s interactive Beachside Water Floaty furniture. But that’s not all: If a total of 500,000 people pre-register, participants will also get Pyroxene x 1,200, Advanced Tactical Training Blu-ray Choice Ticket, Advanced Activity Report, various growth currencies, and 10-Free Recruitment Ticket. Players also shouldn’t miss the Triple Rewards Campaign from Tuesday, Jan. 31 through Tuesday, Feb. 28, so they can get triple the rewards from Bounty and Scrimmage.

Visit the official community for details about the Event Story “Business Trip! Momoyodou” and the rest of the update.

Blue Archive Official Forum: [LINK]
Blue Archive Official Twitter: [
LINK]
Blue Archive Official Facebook: [LINK]

Atomic Heart: Over 8 Minutes of Frenetic New Gameplay for the Anticipated Action-RPG Unleashed in New Trailer

PARIS Feb. 1, 2023 Atomic Heart, the action-RPG set in the mad utopia of an alternate post-WWII world, has revealed brand-new gameplay footage in a fresh, in-depth trailer! Developed by Mundfish and published by Focus Entertainment, the game is coming Feb. 21, 2023, to PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One and PC. Pre-order it now and prepare for frenzied action in a wacky and visually stunning world!

Gameplay Overview Trailer:

Atomic action to get your heart pounding

Today’s gameplay overview trailer features juicy new footage, showcasing a cinematic shooter that shines not only for its combat but for its intrigue, setting, characters and deep mechanics.

Unforgiving combat and explosive encounters have you blasting rogue robots, giant machines and even mutants. Make sure to adapt your fighting style to each opponent, stay wary of your environment and upgrade your equipment to make your way through artificial madness. With three difficulty levels to choose from, you can decide just how atomic you want the experience to be—whether you’re a hardcore player looking for ever more challenging action, or an adventurer eager to explore eerie environments and an engrossing narrative in a Story Mode-type experience.

Four editions available for pre-order

Atomic Heart can be pre-ordered now, with four editions to choose from:

  • The Limited Edition Bundle, exclusive to the Focus Entertainment Store, which includes the base game, a Steelbook®, a metal poster and the official artbook designed by Mundfish
  • The Standard Edition, which includes the base game
  • The Gold Edition, which includes the base game and the Atomic Pass
  • The Premium Edition, which includes the base game, the Atomic Pass, an exclusive digital artbook and extra cosmetics

The Atomic Pass takes the Atomic Heart experience even further with four DLCs, opening access to new areas and labs, as well as new weapons, enemies, bosses and more! The “Labor & Science” DLC is included in physical editions and granted as a bonus for digital pre-orders of any edition.

Sign up as a Focus member to get the latest info and upcoming exclusive offers for Atomic Heart and the whole Focus catalog.

DECEIVE INC., the Multiplayer Game of Deception Launches March 21, Steam Next Fest Demo Starts Feb. 6, Cross-Platform Open Beta Begins March 10

Developer Sweet Bandits Studios and publisher Tripwire Presents, today announced that DECEIVE INC. will open for business soon, launching on March 21, 2023 on PC (via Steam and Epic Games Store), the PlayStation®5 computer entertainment system, and the Xbox Series X|S console systems. Starting soon, aspiring agents can stake their claim on upcoming super spy assignments with the DECEIVE INC. Standard Edition (MSRP $19.99 USD) and the DECEIVE INC. Black Tie Edition (MSRP $29.99 USD).

Players ready to start their career as a world-class Agent can look forward to diving into the world of DECEIVE INC. early, starting with a free PC multiplayer demo on Steam during the Steam Next Fest from Feb. 6 through Feb. 13. In addition, the developers at Sweet Bandits Studios have prepared even more early access spy training time with the upcoming DECEIVE INC. Open Beta, featuring cross-platform support. The DECEIVE INC. Open Beta is scheduled to run from March 10 @ 2 p.m. Eastern Standard Time through March 13 @ 11 a.m., and will be available to play for free on all platforms that the game will support at launch. Learn more and join the DECEIVE INC. community on the official Discord.

New players can expect hands-on time with all eight launch-day agents while they explore and master the art of espionage on two multiplayer maps: “Hard Sell” and “Silver Reef.” Hard Sell takes place at a luxurious mansion on a private island next to the Mediterranean Sea. Offering a mix of wide-open courtyards and close quarter rooms, Hard sell features a little bit of everything that DECEIVE INC. has to offer. Silver Reef pits players against each other deep under the North Sea in an underwater luxury resort. Players will navigate glass tunnels, luxury restaurants and guest rooms to hide from their opponents. To get the objective, agents will have to infiltrate a high tech submarine docked to the hotel which offers a close quarters feel for those agents who enjoy a healthy dose of action while they’re in the field.

DECEIVE INC. deploys you into the world of high-stakes subterfuge, working for a private corporation with a complete monopoly over the international espionage market. Disguise yourself as anyone (or anything) you meet in an instant, access state-of-the-art gadgets the rest of the world can only dream of, and unleash powerful skills that would make Hollywood super spies jealous. But you are not alone. Rival Agentsare after the same objective and every single one of them is as skilled, cunning, and well-equipped as you. Blend in, grab the objective, and break out. In the end, only one agent can complete the mission and get the paycheck when working at DECEIVE INC. Company policy.

For further information on Sweet Bandits Studios please visit their official website and follow them on Twitter, Instagram, Discord, and Facebook.

For more information on Tripwire Presents please visit their official website and follow them on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.

###

Mr. Sun’s Hatbox, the Slapstick Roguelite Platformer from Kenny Sun & Raw Fury, Will Feature Co-op & PvP Multiplayer at Launch

Experience new story and multiplayer content for the first time with the game’s Steam Next Fest demo, coming February 6

STOCKHOLM Feb. 1, 2023 – Hat-wearing video game publisher Raw Fury and solo developer Kenny Sun have revealed that Mr. Sun’s Hatbox, the slapstick roguelite platformer recently nominated for “Excellence in Design” at this year’s Independent Games Festival, will feature co-op and PvP game modes via local multiplayer and Steam Remote Play Anywhere at launch. Fans will have their first opportunity to experience these modes, as well as even more of the main story campaign, with the new Mr. Sun’s Hatbox demo, coming February 6 as part of Steam Next Fest.

Wishlist on Steam: Steam Store Page

When the dastardly Mr. Moon and his troublemakers steal poor Mr. Sun’s hatbox delivery, it’s up to you as an honorable courier to get that hat back! Establish and upgrade your HQ, build up a crew of reformed hat thieves, and go on dangerously ridiculous heists to get the job done. Whether you opt for careful stealth or charge into combat guns blazing, you’ll make use of a closetful of diverse headgear and weapons to return the stolen package to its rightful owner.

As showcased in today’s latest gameplay trailer, each mission of the main story campaign can be played solo or by teaming up with a friend in co-op via local multiplayer* or Steam Remote Play Together. Players can also face off in head-to-head battles! Jump into the arena with swords, guns, stale baguettes and more in 1v1 or Last One Standing PvP modes.

Key Features:

  • Start small and build up a crew to take down the mischievous Mr. Moon and his cronies across a challenging variety of action-platformer missions.
  • Grow your base of operations to fuel even more daring feats. Build a brig to brainwash captives, a lab to experiment on your staff, and a black market to purchase illicit contraband.
  • Eliminate Mr. Moon’s minions, or capture them for your cause! Recruit a team of ex-crooks with an array of unique traits to use on future missions.
  • Collect over 50 hats with special properties, including Dynamite Headbands, Cardboard Boxes, Noise-Canceling Earphones and Jet Packs! Choose the best hats to complement your play style.
  • Play each mission solo or with a friend in co-op, then duke it out in 1v1 and Last One Standing PvP modes via local multiplayer and Steam Remote Play Together.
  • Colorfully vibrant retro pixel art design from Mr. Kenny Sun, creator of visually stylish experiences like Circa Infinity and Yankai’s Peak.

Mr. Sun’s Hatbox is available to wishlist now on Steam. For more information, visit www.MrSunsHatbox.com, and check out the latest new clips from the game on TikTok.

*Controllers required for local multiplayer.

About the Developer

Kenny Sun is an award-winning game developer based in Brooklyn, New York. He’s been making games since 2007 and has developed a wide variety of titles including Circa Infinity, Twinfold, and Tender: Creature Comforts.

Website: http://kennysun.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/KennyYSun
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mrkennysun

About Raw Fury

Raw Fury is a boutique indie (un)publisher founded in 2015 by Jonas Antonsson, Gordon Van Dyke, and David Martinez. We do not care about genres or mechanics. We care about experiences and emotions. We want to help developers make magic.

Forspoken Review

Forspoken

Developer: Luminous Productions
Publisher: Square Enix
Platforms: PC, PlayStation 5 (Reviewed)
Release Date: Available Now
Price: $69.99 USD – Available Here $114.95 AUD – Available Here

Overview

Fish out of water stories are a great way to see how different characters will react to being placed in completely ridiculous situations and while the concept is far from new, it has seen quite a resurgence over the last decade. Most of these stories come in the form of “Isekai” that see a teenager or adult, either through death or mysterious transportation, find themselves transported from their normal humdrum life on Earth to a fantastical realm where they are given great powers that can shake the new world to its core. With Square Enix and Luminous Productions’ Forspoken players will find themselves firmly set in the most generic storyline possible with plenty of great magical powers and quick-footed parkour abilities at their fingertips.

Story

Frey Holland never had much of a chance at a normal life. Found abandoned as a baby in the Holland tunnel in New York she has spent her twenty years of life in turmoil leading to a life of crime that has culminated in a lengthy criminal record based around thefts. Frey manages to avoid being thrown in jail for her latest crime by a lenient judge who let’s her off with a slap on the wrist for the holidays but warns that this is her last chance. What little fortune Frey has is quickly used up as a street gang that had been pursuing her sets fire to her abandoned apartment, burning any chance of a better future away while also placing Frey and her cat on the street.

After giving her cat to her judge in hopes of giving it a safe home, Frey returns to where she was found as a child and before she has a chance to do something she cannot take back, a mysterious vambrace catches her eye. With the expensive looking jewelry offering a chance to set her life back on some sort of track, she quickly steals it only to find herself transported to the fantasy realm of Athia.Not only does Frey find herself trapped in this magical land but Cuff as it is called now speaks directly in her mind and has bonded with her, making it impossible to remove. Cuff explains that Frey’s mysterious transportation to this land has placed her in great danger as “The Break” has ravaged the land for some time turning almost every living creature into a monstrous shell of itself and forcing the few normal residents to take shelter within the last standing city Cipal. With the lands’ former rulers and protectors, the Tantas, twisted by the corruption into being its new torturers, Frey finds herself in a strange land with perhaps the only power and resistance capable of fixing the land and setting the people of Athia free from the Break.

That is if Frey can manage to stay out of her own way for any length of time without either blowing up at random people wishing to help her, making jokes during the game’s few meaningful moments, or simply acting genuinely unlikable throughout the first half of this roughly twenty hour journey that sees her uncaring almost hostile attitude eventually shift towards wanting to help those around her and making some effort to conquer her trauma. As such, one must wonder what the writers for Forspoken were thinking when it came to crafting Forspoken’s storyline as well as trying to develop the few actual characters in the story that have any meaning since the story is so incredibly bland and predictable that anyone even remotely familiar with isekai tropes or paint-by-numbers drama will be able to predict everything that happens throughout the game. Even major twists that are meant to be a surprise that would turn the story on its head are telegraphed and are not only quite obvious but not they aren’t even given time to actually sink in since the story is quickly rushed along or ruined by a bad joke.

It doesn’t help that while players will find various documents and other pieces of writing throughout Forspoken that try to expand a bit on the world’s lore, almost everything narratively happens in the form of lengthy lore dumps that are spaced between the open world sections of the game. This poor pacing gives everything a fairly rushed feeling to it even though players can spend hours running around and taking care of little objectives in the open world or taking on “Distractions” that serve as side-quests but only occasionally provide a bit of extra character building.  As a result, only a few of the characters are given any time to really grow on the player and those that do see some development aren’t given time to actually shine with it. Of course there are also magical cats that players can tame and visit at any safe house which is always a plus. Otherwise nearly all interactions that Frey will have happen with Cuff.

Despite being bonded together, Frey and Cuff’s interactions with one another rarely comes off as playful banter. Whether players are in the middle of a story cutscene or simply exploring the world, Cuff will chime in with thoughts about what is happening, often either encouraging Frey to actually care about helping the people of Athia or poking fun at her while she curses at the drop of a hat. Occasionally these back and forths between the two can be rather entertaining but these moments are few and far between as most of their exchanges are cringeworthy at best. In fact, especially since Frey and Cuff have only so many interactions before they quickly begin repeating themselves, players have the option to adjust just how much banter they will actually hear between the two. This means players can completely silence the talkative treasure should they please and let Cuff only speak for story segments or even increase the dialogue above normal should they feel like a bit of a masochist.

Gameplay

As players enter the world of Athia they will find that their initial few hours will actually be rather limited and slow as the game takes far too long before it allows players to truly run free. These initial hours are slow and serve mostly as small tutorials to ease players into various aspects of the game, including how to use basic magical attacks and support spells together while dodging attacks, while also holding players’ hands through drawn out story sections. Once players finally get their first taste of freedom outside of the walls of the town of Cipal that is where things quickly begin to come together.

One of the most striking and standout elements in Forspoken comes in the form of its traversal system which is based almost entirely around freerunning and parkour. Right away players will find themselves easily able to sprint at high speed and leap over small obstacles and walls with ease before quickly gaining the ability to launch themselves further up larger walls and this is only the tip of the iceberg here. As players progress through the game and obtain additional forms of magic, Frey’s ability to navigate the world grows in leaps and bounds, providing her abilities that allow her to zip along tether points on mountains, float across gaps, surf across water, and much more. This parkour and freerunning aspect to move around the world is also only half of how enjoyable it can be to run around since this freedom of movement plays heavily into combat as well.

Whenever players encounter an enemy or group of enemies the camera will begin to focus on the foes with players being able to lock on to a target should they desire and one of the key concepts to fighting in Forspoken is staying on the move. Players can freely run around the battlefield blasting away at enemies using multiple types of magic, jumping into the air to dodge attacks or around an enemy while continuing the onslaught, and even attacks that do manage to land on Frey often don’t break her momentum and give players plenty of opportunity to strike back. It is interesting to note that Forspoken is not a hard game by any means on Normal difficulty so players can choose to opt for more difficult fights if they so please but Square Enix has also offered a number of accessibility options to make the game available for everyone. This includes the ability to auto-swap to support spells that aren’t on cooldown, decreasing or increasing the damage dealt to monsters or to the player, and most of all auto-dodging that, when briefly tested, saw Frey nimbly dodging every attack coming her way outside of Area of Effect blows from boss style enemies.

When Frey isn’t jumping and flipping around the battlefield to avoid incoming attacks she deals out plenty of elemental damage on her own. Initially players will find their spells a bit limited as Forspoken does take a bit of time to unlock additional elements for players to use, lacking a proper melee ability until players complete the first major boss, but as players make their way through each main area in the game they will find Frey’s arsenal growing rather extensive. As players run around the battlefield they will be able to target Break-stricken enemies with a wide array of spells ranging from initially throwing rocks with earth spells to wielding a flaming sword or even raining down powerful finishing blows on an entire group with water magic. 

Every spell that Frey unleashes is a visual spectacle and while many can be fired quickly for small amounts of damage, many spells have different tiers and special effects when a charged blow is unleashed. Alongside these active attack spells Frey can make use of a number of support spells that have their own cooldown timers that can range from healing Frey mid-fight to binding an enemy and more and her abilities grow even stronger in the form of powerful ultimate attacks that charge up as players deal damage. Slinging these spells is great fun and makes combat easily one of the best parts of the game, especially when combined with the great movement mechanics that make some battles truly feel like a dance of destruction. This is fitting as the game even has something of a “style” meter that rewards players with increased XP and item drops the more players chain spells together and attack enemies from the back and sides while avoiding incoming damage. Unfortunately some of these abilities do feel like they come a bit too late in the game depending on how much players spend in the open world compared to mainlining the core storyline and it is also worth noting that, outside of boss battles, the elemental weakness and resistance system rarely feels like it plays a factor in most battles as grunt enemies are often too easy and rarely get harder even in the final areas of the game.

The open world that players explore outside of the city of Cipal is vast in size but unfortunately also rather barren. There are some semblances of life as well as a few nice looking locales but these are rare occurrences in what is generally generic landscape filled with plantlife, ruins, or occasionally some colorful rocks and crystals in the rare interesting locations. The open world is filled to the brim with check-list style tasks that players can tackle and while some may not be reachable immediately, players will quickly find nearly every challenge within reach. These can range from simply taking down a group of enemies and opening a chest nearby, facing off against a an exceptionally powerful mutated foe, cleansing a shrine for a stat boost, and even exploring underground dungeons to obtain both powerful equipment as well as a bit of backstory about the world of Athia. Keeping an eye on where to go is an easy affair as players can not only place multiple waypoints down on the map but Cuff can be used to provide both a direct path towards Frey’s goal as well as scan the surroundings to uncover everything from collectable resources, mana wells that provide skill points when traveled over, treasures, and enemies that can be taken down in the area.

As players complete various side objectives in the world they will gather various pieces of equipment that Frey can wear. This includes cloaks, necklaces, and manicure types for her nails. Each piece of equipment can be improved using material gathered from the world to increase Frey’s health, defense, and the amount of damage she deals with certain spell types. Each piece of equipment can also be further customized to provide various other effects that unlock as permanent options every time the player obtains a new piece of gear with that effect automatically applied. This leads to plenty of fun customization but unfortunately players will find that there is, at least for now, no way to take their powered up character beyond the end of the story. Sure, players can return to the open world and travel around to clean up things they may have missed before finishing the game but unfortunately there is currently no form of New Game Plus which is a disappointment thanks to how late some powerful abilities are unlocked in the main story.

Visuals & Audio

Forspoken is something of a tale of two games when it comes to its graphical presentation. The city of New York is gorgeous looking while the main city of Cipal in Athia is fairly dull in design just like the open world that players will be spending most of their time in. There are a few locations that are a bit impressive looking but otherwise players will be spending most of their time navigating an incredibly dull open world filled with monsters that come in far too few varieties to remain interesting for long. Even the game’s character models are a bit on the hit and miss side as many main characters are gorgeously detailed but they often stand right alongside poorly detailed background characters. It also is worth noting that story sequences do not handle skipping dialogue well. This means if players are reading ahead of the spoken word, the game will stutter and jump characters around in incredibly awkward fashion. As for where Forespoken’s graphics shine, it all focuses around the magic. Zipping around enemies and unleashing flashy magical attacks looks absolutely amazing and, when playing in performance mode, the game flows perfectly fine with no slowdown. This includes everything from the smaller magical blasts to powerful super attacks that can fill the entire screen with explosive destruction that is a sight to behold.

The voice work in Forspoken is handled fairly well with all of the characters performed adequately enough and there are multiple language options available including a very satisfying Japanese voice track as well. There is a nice feature with the DualSense controller that has Cuff speak through the controller as well as in-game. The soundtrack also happens to contain some rather impressive tracks, including an exceptional main theme song that fits the game perfectly.

Overall

Forspoken feels like the type of game that has so much potential but manages to squander it through poor writing and a dull open world filled with check-list style objectives. The writing in Forspoken is as generic and predictable as it comes but zipping around the open world and using Frey’s magical abilities to their fullest makes combat incredibly enjoyable. It is just a shame that players can’t take full advantage of many of her combat and traversal abilities till late in the game and must do so in a bland world that rarely makes the most out of what Forspoken has to offer.

Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.