Oh Snap! Pre-Order The Big Con on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One & Wishlist on PC Today
Now accepting legal tender for the ‘90s cross-country comedy crime adventure from Mighty Yell & Skybound Games, launching August 31
LOS ANGELES — Aug. 11, 2021 — Indie developer Mighty Yell and publisher Skybound Games are excited to announce the ‘90s cross-country adventure game The Big Con is now available for digital pre-order on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and available to wishlist on PC Steam with a 10% launch discount on select storefronts. Jump into this comical trip that lets you live out a life of petty theft, sneaking around, and more silly mischief when the game launches on August 31.
But that’s not all — Mighty Yell has just wrapped up the year’s biggest community CONtest to find the perfect stars to voice the game’s 13 powerful words of spoken dialogue, and now they’ve released a new trailer revealing the final in-game voice actors. Which prolific voice actor will deliver a performance of a lifetime in The Big Con?
The Big Con is all about Ali, a teenage con artist trying to save her mom’s video store from unscrupulous loan sharks any way she can. In this colorful adventure filled with punchy puzzles and dialogue, how you make that money is up to you: travel across the country picking pockets and locks, persuading marks, sneaking around in disguises, and even profiting off the latest plushie fad.
The Big Con Features:
An irreverent comic adventure game with open-ended situations, puzzles, and exploration.
Crime is cool now — sneak, pickpocket, wear disguises, and grift and con anyone you can!
Mouth off! Talk your way into deals and out of trouble across the country.
Meet a cast of weird ‘90s characters and rip ‘em off (or help them, if that’s your deal).
Original theme song from Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? house band Rockapella!
Call home and argue with your mom!
About Skybound Games
Skybound Games is a division of Skybound Entertainment with the capabilities to produce, develop, and license video games. The team works closely with creators to expand their unique and exceptional IP to new platforms. The Skybound Games slate houses everything from indie projects to high-budget franchise titles, with recent games including Telltale’s The Walking Dead, Ori and the Will of the Wisps, Before Your Eyes and The Big Con. The studio can be found on YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and www.skybound.com.
About Mighty Yell Studios
The Big Con is the debut game from Mighty Yell, a fully remote team of developers whose individual credits include Jazzpunk, Guacamelee! 2 and Runbow. Mighty Yell is a smart bunch of fun folks from across the Toronto game dev community who like to laugh and play together and support each other in creative endeavours. The studio’s name came from a playlist of punk tunes founder Dave Proctor listens to on repeat, and the team brings that same uplifting energy to everything it does. You can find Mighty Yell on Facebook, Twitter, and Discord.
Innominate Games developers explain the reasons behind postponing the release date for their upcoming turn-based strategy game.
CountryBalls Heroes – a crazy, turn-based strategy game full of memes and real-world references will launch on Steam in Q4 2021. Read below about further plans for the game, content updates and next steps developers have planned.
Here’s what Innominate Games has to say about the game’s release date change:
“Hello!
Today we have planned to inform you that everything is good and the game is coming to you according to the plan. Unfortunately, we’re coming with bad news. The Steam support informed us that its crew needs more time to review the game. Usually, it takes from 3 up to 5 days. In this case, we received a recommendation from Steam to change the game’s launch date because they won’t be able to review CountryBalls Heroes in time. Therefore, we need to postpone CountryBalls Heroes’ premiere. The game is 100% complete, and it has been ready for you for a couple of weeks. However, Steam procedures require that we wait at least 30 days before setting the new launch date. Therefore, we’ve decided to change the date to Q4 of 2021 and give you some more specific information on the premiere’s day once Steam’s review is complete and we have a green light.
We are aware that many of you awaited this game, and you’re probably as heartbroken as we are right now. We have some good news as well, though. There were a lot of discussions about making this delay up to you somehow. Finally, we came up with an idea to use this time to create one more playable map. You’ll receive a bit more content in exchange for some more patience. What’s more, initially, we wanted to give you a launch discount of 15% on the day of the game’s premiere. In this case, we’ve decided to change the discount to 20%. Again, anything to make this prolonged wait up to you! Finally, we will use this time to start working on the multiplayer mode that you’ve been requesting a lot! Stay with us, and remember that without you, we won’t be able to protect all those vodka supplies!
Sit back and roast some sinners by the fire while you craft the hell of your dreams!
Rome, Italy – 18th August 2021. Welcome to Hell. It’s hot, noisy and it’s looking a little run down. It’s time for a makeover and YOU are the best person for the job! It’s time to unleash your creative side as the highly anticipated, dark humoured and gore filled survival sim Hell Architect launches today for PC via Steam and GOG.com for £19.49 / €22.99 / $24.99 with a day one 15% discount.
Published by Leonardo Interactive and developed by Woodland Games, Hell Architect puts you in the role of, you guessed it, an architect of Hell. Your task here is to craft new prisons for the lost souls and sinners who have found themselves ‘downstairs’. Just like all good (or bad) big corporations, Hell is a tightly run ship and under the watchful eye of Lilith from the HR department, you must devise the most creative ways to squeeze as much suffering as you can out of the sinners who will be spending eternity in this hot spot. That’s not all. To climb down the corporate ladder, you must gain the approval of the greatest and most feared devils in Hell, including the head honcho, Lucifer himself, as they evaluate your hard work as well as your sense of aesthetics and thriftiness!
You will have a host of options available to start crafting your own Hell. All the lost souls who arrive through the gates have their own abilities and traits so put them to work harvesting resources and doing the grunt work while you concentrate on researching buildings to make sure their stay in Hell is as ‘comfortable’ as possible. From toilets and canteens to shrines and demonic conference rooms, your Hell must be ready to accept more lost souls and demon VIPs who will continue to drop into your domain, all requiring your attention in many different ways. Remember, the more souls that arrive, the more demands placed upon your resources, so make sure to manage your workers and continue to expand your empire to impress the boss. And don’t forget, if any of your workers step out of line you have the tools at your disposal to whip them back into shape. Literally.
Features of Hell Architect:
Create the Hell of your dreams: Flex your creative muscles to design, build and furnish 9 infamous levels of Hell in the single player campaign mode, or spend a hellish eternity designing your own chaotic masterpiece from scratch in sandbox mode.
If you build it, they will suffer!: Begin with basic buildings like power stations (yup they need those in Hell too!) and canteens for your hungry workers and expand your empire to include shrines and intricate torture contraptions to increase the level of suffering for your weary residents.
Management is key: Harvesting resources, building an infrastructure and expanding your Hell will be key in your success. A constant stream of new lost souls will provide more hands to use, but will require managing to keep them working.
Crack the whip: Treat the sinners sent to your humble abode to different fun (or not so fun) sources of suffering, be it punishing them for disobedience or just for fun. Your Hell, your choices.
Hell never looked so good: Thestylish 2D art style perfectly blends with the brutal, gorey themes and is topped off with outstanding dark humour.
Guest appearances: Play as Legendary Characters, a motley crew of history’s most despicable sinners who drop into your domain, each possessing special abilities to help build your devilish masterpiece.
Developed by Woodland Games and published by Leonardo Interactive, Hell Architect is out today for PC via Steam and GOG.com
Leonardo Interactive is an award-winning video games publisher based in Rome, Italy and it has produced and published award-winning titles across all major platforms. Bringing games to market in both physical and digital media, the company has made notable launches to date including the award-winning Dry Drowning and the point and click adventure Willy Morgan and the Curse of Bone Town and will launch Seed of Life, Hell Architect and the survival horror prequel Daymare: 1994 Sandcastle through 2021 and beyond. Leonardo Interactive is also the owner of VLG publishing.
About Woodland Games
Woodland Games is a development studio from Poland. We know one thing for sure – we want to give players the best games we can possibly make, and games that we ourselves would like to play. We believe that true passion and putting heart into our work can, and will, result in great products. We pay attention to every detail of our games, from graphics to gameplay.
CD PROJEKT RED today announced the latest patch for Cyberpunk 2077 — Patch 1.3 — is now available for the game across all platforms.
The patch includes an array of improvements and fixes, both stability- and performance-wise, geared toward enhancing the overall gameplay experience for all players. The full, detailed patch notes can be found in a dedicated article on the official Cyberpunk 2077 website.
Patch 1.3 also includes the first batch of free additional content for Cyberpunk 2077. These include the brand new Archer Quartz “Bandit” car, two new jackets for V to wear around Night City, and an alternate appearance for rebel rockerboy Johnny Silverhand. To find out more, including how these free pieces of content can be accessed in-game, go to this website.
So far this year, CD PROJEKT RED has released numerous patches and hotfixes for Cyberpunk 2077, including Patch 1.3. Later in 2021, a next-gen update for the game will be coming, taking full advantage of the power of the Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5 consoles. This update will be free for all owners of the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 versions of Cyberpunk 2077. For more information on Cyberpunk 2077, follow Facebook, Twitter, and visit cyberpunk.net
About Cyberpunk 2077
Cyberpunk 2077 is a narrative-driven, open world RPG set in the most vibrant and dangerous metropolis of the future — Night City. The game follows the story of V, a hired gun on the rise in a world of cyberenhanced street warriors, tech-savvy netrunners and corporate life-hackers. Featuring CD PROJEKT RED’s hallmark concept of choices and consequences, players will face difficult decisions that ripple through the entire game. Winner of over 200 awards, Cyberpunk 2077 is set in the universe of the classic pen & paper RPG system, Cyberpunk 2020.
About CD PROJEKT RED
CD PROJEKT RED is a game development studio founded in 2002. It develops and publishes video games for personal computers and video game consoles. The studio’s flagship titles include The Witcher series of games, Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales, GWENT: The Witcher Card Game and the futuristic AAA role-playing game — Cyberpunk 2077. Together with GOG.COM, a game store offering hand-picked titles for PC and Mac, CD PROJEKT RED is part of the CD PROJEKT Capital Group. CD PROJEKT S.A. is listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange (ISIN: PLOPTTC00011).
Fans can now chat with Arona using in-game messenger “MomoTalk” and check out a new trailer
SEOUL – Aug. 18, 2021 – An all-new trailer and teaser page is now live for Blue Archive, the mobile anime RPG from publisher Nexon. In anticipation of the game’s upcoming global launch, the latest trailer introduces Blue Archive’s cast of adorable schoolgirl characters while showcasing stunning anime-style key art. The teaser page also includes an exclusive version of the game’s messenger “MomoTalk,” (available for players to converse with the in-game characters), which allows fans to chat back and forth with the game’s main NPC Arona.
Blue Archive is a mobile RPG developed by NAT GAMES, where players take on the role of an academy teacher who must work together with their students to solve mysteries around town. The game is set to launch globally later this year.
NEXON Co., Ltd. (“Nexon”) (3659.TO) is a worldwide leader in free-to-play online and mobile games. Founded in Korea in 1994, Nexon developed one of the world’s first graphics-based massively multiplayer online games. Nexon also pioneered the concept of microtransactions and the free-to-play business model, setting a new standard in which play is free, and users have the option to purchase in-game items to enhance their experience. Nexon currently services nearly 100 titles in more than 190 countries. The Company is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan and its shares are listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
Kraków, Poland – August 18th, 2021. All in! Games is excited to reveal that Arboria, a roguelite, third-person action RPG developed by Polish indie developer Dreamplant Studio, will be fully released for PC on Steam, September 9th, 2021. The dark fantasy, 3D soulslike game is currently available in Early Access and still growing with new gameplay updates.
“Arboria is the first game to combine 3D roguelite features with dynamic real-time combat on Steam. It has something exceptional, like each of the games in our portfolio,” said Piotr Żygadło, CEO at All in! Games. “The massive jump in its player review score that occurred during its time in Steam Early Access is a clear indication that, not only is the innovative concept and bizarre world of Arboria appealing to the community, but that the game has made huge strides in the run-up to its launch this September.”
Descend into the ever-changing tunnels of Durnar as a warrior, a Yotun, in this first of its kind dark fantasy roguelite on Steam. As you mutate to become stronger and use a range of Symbiotic Weapons to fight the heinous monsters that hurt the Father Tree, you’ll uncover the mysteries of your tribe. Heal the Father Tree and restore the power of your tribe.
Major game features:
Descend into Durnar—explore procedurally generated dungeons and make sure the greatest threat you find there is yourself
Use a range of Symbiotic Weapons and Bio-Mutations—gotta find them all
Unlock new traits and mutate to become stronger—power up future warriors, even if your severed head will only watch them from a jar at the graveyard
Face a gazillion unique enemies and bosses—Durnar is dark and full of terrors
About All in! Games
All in! Games is a publicly traded video game publishing and production house based in Krakow, Poland. Founded in 2018, the team creates and supports local and international games for PC and consoles. All in! Games’ portfolio features titles such as Chernobylite (The Farm 51), Paradise Lost (PolyAmorous), Alaloth: Champions of The Four Kingdoms (Gamera Interactive), Tools Up! (The Knights of Unity), and many more. For more information, visit: https://www.allingames.com/
About Dreamplant Studio
Dreamplant Studio focuses on creating high-quality video games for various Hardware platforms like PC, PS4, XBOX ONE. Experienced and ambitious team of enthusiasts aims to deliver outstanding games with high-end graphic and sound design, innovative gameplay solutions and unprecedented storylines. For more information, visit: http://dreamplantstudio.pl/index.php
Developed by Backup Plan and published by Lion Castle, Angry Alligator puts you in the paws of a baby alligator that sees its once peaceful swamp invaded by stinky “hoomans”, who are disrupting the food chain by polluting the land and causing general mess as they are wont to do. It falls onto you, the player, to raise the baby gator by eating basically everything that moves in order to grow into a true devouring machine and drive away the undesirable “hoomans”.
Angry Alligator is a cartoonish and family friendly take on last year’s Maneater. Angry Alligator features an open world to explore and new abilities and forms to unlock. Although no exact date has been announced at the moment, Angry Alligator is set to release in October, both physically and digitally for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, and PlayStation 4 home consoles.
PQube has announced that they will be bringing the original Nexomon from VEWO Interactive to the PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch on September 17th. The title was originally released on smart phones in 2017 and PC in 2020 though those who wish to play the game’s sequel, Nexomon: Extinction, will find it readily available on the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC.
While no price for the game was revealed, the company did provide a new trailer plus plenty of details such as the fact that players will be able to collect over three hundred unique creatures to battle against the NexoLord, taking part in a deep and engaging 2D battle system with animated turn-based combat against wild Nexomon, fellow tamers and legendary champions.
After the success of their first set of English characters Cover has announced that their next set of Hololive English characters will be called he Council with all five members set to debut on August 22nd. Similar to how the previous generation of characters followed various mythos, these characters are all centered around various concepts of the world, such as Chaos, Civilization, Nature, Space, and Time.
The members of Council will include Hakos Baelz who resembles a mouse and is the harbinger of Chaos, Nanashi Mumei the Guardian of Civilization that was created by mankind and based around an owl, Ceres Fauna that is the Keeper of Nature and has antlers made of branches, Tsukumo Sana the Speaker of Space who was first created by the Gods, and the Warden of Time Ouro Kronii, a quiet and aloof girl that is heavily linked with humans.
The debut trailer featuring the characters can be found below and, at the moment, it is unknown what type of genre each Hololive member may focus on, especially since these debuts often serve only as small lore introductions before transitioning into standard Vtubing.
Back when Xbox Arcade and PSN titles were booming with creativity, we saw a lot of hand-drawn animation-based platformers released in a short time. In some ways, they really didn’t go away, and that is because there usually is an audience who are happy to go in alone or with a friend to have a nice story-driven experience from time to time. Greak: Memories of Azur is the latest from Navegante Games, looking to fill any early void this generation for that genre. Does this title fall in line with the past big-hitters like Braid and Limbo? Let’s find out.
Story
The storytelling in Greak is really well executed. Players take control of one of three protagonists, and must try to stop an invasion of the Urlags, who are basically a strange alien species who are destroying an entire race. Along with his siblings Adara and Raydel, it is up to our small hero to save the Courines as they set off into an adventure in a stunning world. Yes, it’s a plotline we have seen before, but the way it is told sets Greak: Memories of Azur apart. The narrative builds as you progress, with text and cutscenes giving this tale a storybook vibe of sorts, with a lot of charm and heart applied to fleshing out the meaning behind the dialogue and actions within the game. I found myself feeling fully immersed almost instantly in the rich atmosphere these environments had to offer, and I think fans of titles like Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet and other similar titles will be pleased to know how well Greak actually pulls of bringing its story to life.
Gameplay
With such an interesting plot, my hopes were high for the actual gameplay mechanics of Greak. Instead, I found there was a lot more to be desired when it comes to how our little trio of siblings actually are controlled. You see, the main mechanics of Greak are built like most side-scrolling adventures, where you control your character in a platforming adventure, stopping to solve the occasional puzzle before moving forward. Early on, the game adds in more substance to this, by allowing the player to seamlessly switch from Greak to Adara or Raydel. During these moments, it Is your goal to press switches and open doors, and then guide any controlled characters to the next destination.
It is a very familiar gimmick we have seen before, and for these moments, everything works well enough for one to quickly grasp control and get enjoyment from these sections – as some of the puzzles are very well thought out. That said, Greak’s biggest issue is that all of this is executed so well that it feels like a lost opportunity to have these mechanics without any form of multiplayer or even couch co-op tied in. When you make such a strong gimmick like this where the focus is multiple characters, single player is fine but things kind of get a bit tedious and tired early on, as the game begins to unfold like a never-ending game of escorting, which is definitely not what I believe our noble development team actually intended based on how well the story is executed and tied into the gameplay.
Making matters a little more cumbersome is the combat and control of all three of these heroes. Each one has simple attacks, with Greak able to swing a sword, his sister able to fire projectiles, and on. That is fine as the simplicity of the combat favors the experience, but sadly always feel imprecise. Sometimes it felt like I had to stop everything just to hit an enemy correctly due to the wonky range and hit detection that rarely connects, and in a game built to kind of flow natuarally with its story, it can definitely take you out of the immersion quickly. The inventory system also has issues, as the limited number of items you have compared with what you actually need for a specific section leads to unwanted backtracking. This wouldn’t be a huge issue for some, but it can make it feel like it unnecessarily is padding the length and difficulty, trying to create more substance through limitation rather than allowing the organic length of the title to stand on its own. Other than those qualms, I did enjoy what is here, I just think when you have this type of game you need to create a more fluid experience, and Greak: Memories of Azur always feels like it took one too many shortcuts to get the player from point A to point B.
Visuals
The visuals are outstanding. The hand-drawn animations truly put you in a world of awe from the start, which is why I think I was so taken back to the shortcomings in the gameplay. This world feels alive, and the minor details from both enemies and the environment make this world with exploring. The cutscenes are just as lovely, with the same attention to detail applied, making the player feel like they are in a really well polished cartoon at times.
Audio
The soundtrack captures this atmosphere further, and is the strongest part of the experience as a whole. Warm melodies greet the player in each area, adding layers of depth to the world in a haunting fashion. The sound design takes it a step further, with sound effects adding further personality to the characters and foes alike in a very nostalgic way. The Urlags oddly reminded me a bit of the foes in the old Splatterhouse franchise for the same reason, which is a compliment as their squawks and cries carry the same presence of a lot of great platformers from past eras. Even if the gameplay does have a few issues, the sound is the champion that makes Greak worth the player’s time.
Overall
Greak: Memories of Azur has a ton of potential, but never manages to reach it based on its limited scope. With such seamless one-button character transitions, it feels as if someone else should be able to drop in and make this journey feel complete, but instead we have an average adventure with one player doing all the work of three – adding tedium to the entire offering. Sure, there is still a lot of entertainment to be found here as everything is great from a presentation standpoint, but in a new era where other titles have already refined this genre several times over – Greak is one selection that seems to settle for the basics.
