Sprout life wherever you go through the power of light
Gliwice, Poland – May 5th, 2022 – Indie developer DreamStorm Studios has revealed its upcoming narrative-driven puzzler Narru: The Forgotten Lands, is coming to PC, PS5, and Xbox consoles. Use the power of light to resurrect an abandoned world and discover the mysteries of its past.
Narru: the Forgotten Lands is a story-driven puzzle game about bringing a dead world back to life and uncovering the secrets of an ancient civilization. As a mysterious orb of light, you must explore this derelict landscape searching for clues about its past inhabitants. Everywhere you go you leave a trail of blooming flora in your wake, offering a colorful painterly experience to your movement.
As you explore the land you’ll solve puzzles to activate ancient mechanisms and reveal secrets of those who came before you. Learn and master new abilities like water walking, wall climbing, and more to reach new secrets as you explore the island. Travel through forests, seas, mountains, and underground ruins to explore different stages of the lost civilization’s history.
“There are many puzzle games on the market, but we want Narru to be something more than just a relaxing puzzle game,” said Michał Łazowski, Art Director at DreamStorm Studios. “We want it to be an experience, with its deep narrative and mesmerizing world-painting system that allows you to break away from everyday worries. It’s a game that helps calm your mind. With Narru, we wanted to explore the idea of bringing life to the world, instead of destroying it.”
About DreamStorm Studios Based in Poland, DreamStorm is a team of over 40 artists, programmers and all around passionate people, working together since 2018. Over the years, the studio worked on various projects, ranging business applications to games like the wildlife management sim Natural Instincts and the mobile builder game Kayko and Kokosh. Now it’s using its cumulative experience to create a truly inspiring game with the upcoming story-driven puzzle game Narru: the Forgotten Lands.
Cyberpunk Styled Shooter Brought To Life by Neill Blomkamp (District 9, Elysium) and a Script Writer Richard K. Morgan (Altered Carbon, Crysis)
Frankfurt – May 5th, 2022 – Gunzilla Games announced today OTG (Off The Grid), an all-new AAA Battle Royale third person shooter, due for release on PlayStation®5, Xbox® Series X|S and PC, and expected to arrive in 2023.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6InNyCE2Rc
Set within a dystopian future, the cyberpunk styled shooter plans to evolve the genre through strong emphasis on narrative progression, led byChief Visionary Officer Neill Blomkamp and Script Writer Richard K. Morgan. In addition, industry veteran Olivier Henriot (Far Cry, Assassin’s Creed) assumes the role of Executive Narrative Director, ensuring a wealth of top-tier talent to bring the world of OTG to life.
Set within a dystopian future, the cyberpunk styled shooter plans to evolve the genre through strong emphasis on narrative progression, led byChief Visionary Officer Neill Blomkamp and Script Writer Richard K. Morgan. In addition, industry veteran Olivier Henriot (Far Cry, Assassin’s Creed) assumes the role of Executive Narrative Director, ensuring a wealth of top-tier talent to bring the world of OTG to life.
A Battle Royale like no other, in OTG, 150 players fight each other in PvP (Player Vs Player) skirmishes, as well as PvE (Player Vs Environment) storyline missions using the same map inhabited by other players in real time. Players have the freedom to control how the hard-boiled story unfolds, with each decision made directly impacting everyone’s gameplay. Core to the experience and deep narrative structure is the unique way in which players can craft, customize, and trade their in-game items with each other. In OTG, the lines between hero and villain become blurred as players fight to survive the covert corporate battles of the future.
Commenting on OTG, Neill Blomkamp, CVO said, “With OTG, our ambition is not only to create the Battle Royale 2.0 by adding deep player progression, but to build an evolving world designed to take on a life of its own, changing in unexpected ways each time a player rejoins the game. With an innovative approach to the Battle Royale core session flow and a deep narrative experience, we add purpose to each element of the game, allowing players to revisit the OTG world repeatedly where there is always something new to find and explore, and for us to expand upon.”
Founded in 2020, Gunzilla Games is a fresh, independent AAA developer working on its next-generation multiplayer shooter IP in three metropolitan locations: Frankfurt, Germany (HQ); Los Angeles, USA; and Kyiv, Ukraine. The company is helmed by serial entrepreneur CEO, Vlad Korolev and CSO Alexander Zoll. Gunzilla is built on the desire to innovate and push the limits of the industry. Gunzilla’s formidable team of talent come from a variety of industry-leading studios and publishers, including Ubisoft, Electronic Arts (EA), THQ and more. Oscar-nominated screenwriter, director and producer Neill Blomkamp joined Gunzilla as Chief Visionary Officer. In addition, the team features industry veterans like video game writer Olivier Henriot who helped shape the story of such notable games such as Assassin’s Creed, The Division, Far Cry and many more, and Richard K. Morgan, the author of the Altered Carbon series, which has since been adapted into a popular Netflix show. Gunzilla’s Chief Technology Officer Timur Davidenko led the development of CryEngine as Technical Director, and worked on Far Cry, Warface and Crysis. Art Director Jussi Keteli was involved in the iconic Gears of War series, Star Citizen and Hunt: Showdown.
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Warner Bros. Games celebrates Star Wars™ Day with the launch of two new DLC (downloadable content) packs forLEGO® Star Wars™: The Skywalker Saga – “The Mandalorian™” Season 2 and “Star Wars: The Bad Batch™” Character Packs. The Mandalorian Season 2 Character
Pack will include Ahsoka Tano, Boba Fett™, Bo Katan, Fennec Shand and Moff Gideon. “Star Wars: The Bad Batch” Character Pack will include Hunter, Wrecker, Tech, Crosshair, and Echo. Released on April 5, LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga has since set the record as the biggest LEGO game launch and is available for Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One consoles, PlayStation 5® (PS5™), PlayStation®4 (PS4™) consoles, Nintendo Switch™ and PC.
View the official LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga– DLC Trailer
Developed by TT Games in collaboration with the LEGO Group and Lucasfilm Games team, and published by Warner Bros. Games, LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga features the biggest roster of LEGO Star Wars characters to date with over 300 unlockable characters from across all nine films and the Character Collection Pack (Season Pass) further expands on the roster by including characters from beyond the three trilogies. In addition to “The Mandalorian” Season 2 and “Star Wars: The Bad Batch” characters released, the Character Collection Pack includes previously released character packs “The Mandalorian” Season 1, “Solo: A Star Wars Story™”, Classic Characters, Trooper Pack, and “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story™”. All seven packs are included in the Character Collection Pack or via standalone purchases.
LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker SagaStandard Edition is available for $89.95 (RRP). The LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker SagaDeluxe Edition is available for $109.95 (RRP) and includes the base game, Character Collection, and physical retail versions will include an exclusive LEGO Star Wars minifigure, Luke Skywalker™ with Blue Milk.
With the undeniable success of Ghost of Tsushima, we’ve been seeing more western-developed games with Asian themes and backgrounds lately; more precisely, games focused on the rich Chinese and Japanese history, folklore, and, of course, martial arts. The recently released SIFU -an excellent kung fu-based brawler- is a very good example of this. The newest game following this trend is Trek to Yomi. A -very- cinematic action game inspired by the celebrated filmmaker Akira Kurosawa and developed by Polish studio Flying Wild Hog.
Story
Trek to Yomi is set in Japan during the Edo period (Sometime between the 16th and 19th century). A young boy named Hiroki trains under his master Sanjuro in order to become a samurai. Unexpectedly, thieves invade the village, killing everyone in sight mercilessly. Hiroki is able enough with a sword to hold his own and help drive off some bandits. Upon confronting Kagerou, the leader of the thieves, Hiroki is completely powerless. Luckily for Hiroki, Sanjuro steps in in the nick of time and is able to slay Kagerou although at the cost of his own life. Several years later, Hiroki, now an adult, is the head of samurai in the village. A new group of bandits has been causing trouble lately. Fearing that his village may be the next to be invaded, and also blinded by anger and pride, Hiroki assembles a group of samurai to take the fight to the thieves. This sets Hiroki on a path of grief and revenge that will take him to Yomi itself; the land of the dead and darkness.
Despite its clichéd premise, Trek to Yomi tries its best to capture the feeling of many of Kurosawa’s movies. A lot is left for the player to imagine or simply feel. Even then, Trek to Yomi doesn’t do a very good job of balancing the story along the length of the game. There’s a lot of very good Japanese voice-acting in the beginning. After that, the dialogues and story bits grow more and more sparse. This wouldn’t be much of a problem if the gameplay held up better.
Gameplay
While playing the introduction as young Hiroki, the game basics are explained well and fast. The player is able to explore the environments in a third person view with mostly fixed camera angles, think PlayStation One’s Resident Evil titles, or more aptly, Onimusha. There are also optional corners and rooms, where you can collect artifacts that tell us a bit more about how people lived in that era in Japan, such as drawings of Shinto gods and amulets; this is a very neat feature for those interested in Japanese mythology as there is a good amount of these artifacts to find, each containing a brief but insightful description. You can also find new skills in the form of new sword combinations, defensive maneuvers, and ammunition for your ranged weapons. There are even alternate paths that allow you to avoid engaging in direct conflict with enemies by setting off traps and dispatching them all at once.
While in combat, the camera will take on a side view, like in a 2D action game. This is all seamlessly implemented, meaning that there are no transitions between camera angles. Everything is done in a way to make the game feel as fast and easily digestible as possible. There are four difficulty options, with the final and hardest setting being locked until you finish the game once. I found the normal mode to be too easy, so this review is based on the hard setting.
The game’s controls are responsive, and the combat is fast and fun enough for the movie-like experience that the game proposes. You can attack using your sword or a ranged weapon, block, and also parry enemies’ attacks. Sword strikes consume your stamina bar, as does blocking. Parrying and countering, on the other hand, won’t consume stamina and will also replenish some of your health if you happen to kill an enemy with a counter. You have a large enough window to parry which makes the game very welcoming to even those inexperienced in action games. Later on, you’ll discover skills that can stun enemies, allowing you to perform finishing moves that also restore health; these mechanics are crucial to survive in the game as they are your only way to replenish your health besides save points.
Unfortunately, there isn’t much gameplay variety as the introduction would make you believe. Towards the second half of the game, which is already fairly short, you’re basically left with moving forward, and cutting down a limited variety of enemies while you collect more artifacts and skills. There are also some inane puzzles that involve aligning some Kanji characters in a wheel. These puzzles are so ridiculously easy that you’d think that they’d at least have some kind of meaning. I think that they probably do, but the game won’t tell you what those Kanji mean. The highlight of the gameplay, in my opinion, are the bosses; they’ll certainly provide a challenge and break the monotony a bit, especially since the rest of the game is relatively easy and won’t prepare you well enough for them.
Visuals
Trek to Yomi’s visuals are presented entirely in a black and white, letter-boxed way, and with a lot of video filters to deliver the feel and look of an old movie. What it lacks in high-production values, it more than makes up for it with its graphical artistry. The game uses a now -sadly- outdated way of presentation that uses semi-static camera angles, like those seem in early Onimusha games, except in Trek to Yomi everything is rendered in real-time with no use of pre-rendered images. Every screen is full of life and details. The characters models are nothing fantastic, but fulfill their purpose. All these features combine to make Trek to Yomi a veritable “playable movie” in the most essential meaning of the expression.
Audio
The soundtrack, much like how it’s presented in Ghost of Tsushima, comprises traditional Japanese instruments, ambient sounds such as rain falling, and the sounds of swords clashing or meeting flesh. A special mention goes to the quality of the Japanese voice-acting; the dialogues feel natural and serious, fitting of the game’s themes. Screams and cries for help from dying villagers are so believable it’s frightening.
Overall
Despite its shortcomings, I had a good time with Trek to Yomi. The presentation alone is worth the price of admission, and the combat works much better than what I was anticipating. Ultimately, the lack of varied gameplay and an enticing story holds back what is otherwise a treat to the senses.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Join us for our latest gameplay for Trek to Yomi, as we guide young Hiroki’s first steps on his Trek to Yomi. An action adventure game with gorgeous photography inspired by Akira kurosawa’s movies.
As a vow to his dying Master, the young swordsman Hiroki is sworn to protect his town and the people he loves against all threats. Faced with tragedy and bound to duty, the lone samurai must voyage beyond life and death to confront himself and decide his path forward.
Trek to Yomi Developer: Leonard Menchiari, Flying Wild Hog Publisher: Devolver Digital Website: http://devolverdigital.com/ Platform: Windows Release Date: 6 May, 2022 Price: $19.99 USD
Recommended – “Trek to Yomi has an astonishing film-like presentation that pays homage to Akira Kurosawa’s samurai movies. Unfortunately, the gameplay fails to match its audio and visual excellence.”
All Elite Wrestling has announced that the name of their first official video game will be called AEW Fight Forever and that it is being developed for release on unspecified consoles as well as PC, though the company did not reveal when fans could expect the wrestling game to be released.
What was revealed is some new footage showing off a bit of gameplay from the Yuke’s developed game, highlighting two of the more popular female wrestlers that will be in the game’s roster, Nyla Rose and Kris Statlander, as they perform a few in-ring moves and show off their entrances. Both videos can be found below.
After being delayed for well over a year and a half past its original set release date, Ubisoft has announced that Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Remake is no longer being developed by Ubisoft Prune and Ubisoft Mumbai and instead Ubisoft Montreal will be taking over development of the remake. This follows multiple delays, issues with early footage, and more as the developer has stated that the development team “now take the time they need to regroup on the scope of the game to deliver you the best experience for this remake of an all-time classic, when it’s ready.”
As one would expect given this announcement, no new release window was given though the last given was sometime in 2022. Currently the game is being developed for release on the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.
Here we are again bringing to you another indie release review. This time we have HunterX, an action side scroller using the now tired, but still welcome, Souls-like and metroidvania templates. I am personally a huge fan of the metroidvania formula, but not too fond of souls-like elements, especially when they’re implemented as just a way to capitalize on the ever growing hype-train that doesn’t seem to be stopping anytime soon with the release of Elden Ring. Fortunately, HunterX does more than just that; what we have here is a true classic metroidvania experience.
Story
Tsuki is the token anime school girl devil hunter with a ridiculously short skirt and her trusty katana. One day, while patrolling the streets at night in search of her next demonic prey, she happens upon a dimensional gate; one that leads directly to the demonic realm. As she decides to investigate this other dimension, she soon realizes that the demons are planning to invade the human realm. With the help of her impish companion, Tsuki decides to take the battle directly to the demons.
Over the course of the game, Tsuki will find other hunters that are already in the demonic realm, apparently waiting for the next hunter strong enough to receive their help in order to save humanity. These NPC encounters are scarce, and they provide a bit of insight to the story, although, just as it is with Tsuki, they have almost zero backstory. As you may have noticed, HunterX’s story is as deep as a puddle, and is nothing more than an excuse to get the action going.
Gameplay
HunterX is a mixed bag gameplay-wise. It combines 2D side-scrolling arcade action, Souls-like character development, and an old metroidvania aesthetic and overall game progression as can be seen in Bloodstained or any other “Igavania.” Although there are some light puzzles and platforming, they aren’t as prominent as in more pure metroidvanias. As a result, the game’s focus is much more on combat rather than on exploration. Even then, the game progresses in a traditional metroidvania dynamic; as the player advances, new obstacles appear that’ll require the use of a specific skill such as a double jump, or an air dash. At the end of a given area, a boss battle unfolds. It’s this specific gameplay dynamic that makes metroidvanias fun, and it’s well implemented in HunterX.
With all that said, is HunterX the best metroidvania to be released after Bloodstained? Far from it. Its shortcomings are as noticeable as its qualities.
Tsuki can equip a variety of weapons ranging from katana to scythes, but apart from each weapon having a distinct visual and even sometimes a discernible difference in attack speed, they all have the same move set which is the basic two hit combo that you have in the beginning of the game. Even when you unlock new moves, they never change depending on the weapon that you’re using.
Enemy variety is another problem; at the beginning it seems fine, but as you advance further you’ll come to realize that they’re mere palette or skin swaps with few exceptions. This is less of a problem with bosses, but is still very noticeable.
With that out of the way, HunterX is still an enjoyable game and a good metroidvania in general. Tsuki can level up in statues, and that’s done much like in Souls game where you use your karma – the currency of the game – to allocate points to attributes such as strength or HP. By leveling up, you are given keystones that unlock perks in a skill tree. Those include invulnerability for your dash, an extra weapon attack while you’re in the air and many more.
The combat is fast and the controls are perfect; it feels good to trample your enemies with the use of your weapon or with occult magic that is unlocked by defeating bosses or even some regular enemies. The difficulty in HunterX is high at first with enemies, especially bosses, dealing heavy damage in just one hit; even a bump with a little bat is enough to deplete half of your HP, which is a bit ridiculous but I digress.
Visuals
Graphically, HunterX is as simple as it can be. This comes with the territory when you’re an indie game dev, as the budget simply isn’t there. I have a high tolerance to low tech, low polygon graphics, which is exactly the case with HunterX. What I can’t stand is an ugly artstyle, and in this department, HunterX is a bit inconsistent. Some models are more detailed than others. The artstyle varies a fair bit too, with enemies ranging from chibi low-polygon big-headed goblins to more realistic and detailed ones like the provocative vampiress. The only thing that I can say is consistent across the board is how monotone and repetitive the backgrounds are. Sure, the locales are somewhat varied, and there are some cool lighting effects. We have an abandoned village, a castle, an underground passageway with its rustic and dungeon-like visuals and more, but the textures and layout design of these places are very repetitive and unimaginative. Thankfully, what HunterX lacks in its visuals, it makes up for it to some extent with smooth graphics and fluid animations.
Audio
Although the music in the game is mostly forgettable, it serves its function in providing nice tunes to enjoy during gameplay. The soundtrack is mostly upbeat music with a sense of danger to them. It won’t annoy you, but won’t stay with you.
Overall
HunterX mostly gets the classic metroidvania gameplay right, something that is disturbingly rare to see nowadays. With a seamless and addictive sense of progression, fueled in great part by its fast paced combat, HunterX certainly deserves a look by metroidvania fans, even if its flaws bring it down a couple notches.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
New rewards, quests, and the return of Sir Dapper Duckington highlight Trove’s latest seasonal event!
Hamburg, May 3, 2022 – gamigo is happy to report spring has officially sprung in its voxel-based MMO, Trove. That could only mean one thing: Spring Fling is back! This year’s event marks the return of Sir Dapper Duckington Esquire as he provides Spring Flingers, but also new rewards, a new pack featuring all player-made content, and MORE Waspiders! Sorry, Arachna-Spheksophobics…
Starting today through May 16, Trovians can take part in several new and returning activities starting with an 8-step quest chain saving bees for bucks (aka endgame currencies) and new rewards that include two new pets, two new mounts, and a new banner.
It wouldn’t be a Spring Fling event without spring flingers! These multipurpose posies can be purchased from Sir Dapper Duckington and can be used year-round to spawn flowers at thrown locations (now with additional colors) as well as spawning a Bee Buddy Ally in the Medieval Highlands and Permafrost zones.
If flinging bombs is more a Trovians’ style, then they’ll be happy to hear a new season of Bomber Royale has also sprung! Players can bomb their buds across four new maps using the latest in bomb technology in the form of three new powerups. A new queue system and options for private matches round out this bombastic betterment!
About gamigo group
The gamigo group is one of the leading publishers of online and mobile games in Europe and North America. The company’s diverse game portfolio includes free-to-play titles such as ArcheAge, RIFT, Trove and Aura Kingdom, as well as the recently launched buy-to-play game ArcheAge: Unchained. Counting more than 400 employees, gamigo is one of the largest German companies in the gaming industry. Besides its 5 german locations in Hamburg (HQ), Berlin, Cologne, Münster, and Darmstadt, the gamigo group also has branches in Warsaw (Poland), Istanbul (Turkey), New York, Redwood City, Austin, Bellevue (US), and Seoul (South Korea). In addition to gamigo AG, the group includes the subsidiaries WildTangent, Aeria Games, Verve, and Mediakraft Networks as well as the brands Infernum, Intenium, Looki, and Poged. The company strives to grow not only organically, but also through acquisitions. Since 2013, it has made more than 25 acquisitions, including titles, gaming and technology companies as well as individual game assets.
Sydney, Australia, May 4th, 2022 – THQ Nordic and Bugbear Studios has kicked off digital pre-orders for Wreckfest for Nintendo Switch™. The game with the best looking vehicular destruction is coming to your handheld console with over-the-top crashes, neck-to-neck fights on multiple racing tracks and a considerable amount of vehicles to choose from.
Wreckfest gives you the chance to get creative when you wreck your friends online in an up to 16-player multiplayer mode as well as in offline tournaments whether you pick a lawn mower, school bus or crop harvester – this game is all about having fun and aiming for demolition dominance.
The Nintendo Switch™ version offers two acquirable season packages additionally to the base game: Season 1 package includes 20 crazy and iconic vehicles, 20 insane roof decorations, and a car customisation pack with new armour, rims, and more. Season 2 package grants you access to 12 additional cars. SRP for the digital edition of the base game is $59.95. Season packs are sold separately.
About Wreckfest Expect epic crashes, neck-to-neck fights over the finish line and brand-new ways for metal to bend – These are the once-in-a-lifetime moments that can only be achieved in Wreckfest, with its true-to-life physics simulation crafted by legendary developer Bugbear, who also brought you FlatOut 1, 2 and Ultimate Carnage. Burn rubber and shred metal in the ultimate driving playground!
Awesome Cars – Old, banged-up, patched-together cars that simply ooze style! From old American heavy-hitters to agile Europeans and fun Asians, you won’t find anything like this in other games.
Meaningful Customisation – Change not only the look of your cars but also upgrade their body armour
Receive free updates that add new tracks and tournament challenges with unique rewards!
Multiplayer – Wreck your friends online and take racing to the limit while chasing for demolition dominance!
About Bugbear Entertainment Bugbear Entertainment is a game studio specializing in action driving. The company has been developing car games for sixteen years, starting with Rally Trophy (2001, PC). With over a decade of development under its belt, Bugbear Entertainment has successfully redefined the genre of action racing and is best known for the critically acclaimed demolition racing series FlatOut (2004-2007, PC, PS2™, Xbox, Xbox 360) and street racing title Ridge Racer Unbounded (2013, PC, PS3™, Xbox 360).
