West of Dead Launches June 18 on PC & Xbox One, Night Call Arrives June 24 on Nintendo Switch & Xbox One
STOCKHOLM — June 13, 2020 — Raw Fury has brought a full day of video game news and reveals to the first day of the Guerrilla Collective showcase, leading with the world premiere of GONNER2. This sequel to developer Art in Heart’s award-winning roguelike action platformer is coming later this year to PC, PlayStation®4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch. Ikk is back, and this time Death needs his help! Journey through nonlinear, procedurally generated levels in a surreal world featuring intense and unimaginable boss fights, visuals and mysteries!
West of Dead Launches June 18 on PC & Xbox One! Upstream Arcade’s fast-paced, twin-stick, rogue-lite shooter featuring the voice of Ron Perlman takes you to a gritty gothic underworld of brimstone, gun smoke and darkness. Take cover and test your skills in the open beta now on Xbox One and Steam (Steam users who play the beta will get a bonus discount if they buy the game at launch). West of Dead is also in development for PlayStation®4 and Nintendo Switch.
Night Call Comes to Nintendo Switch & Xbox One on June 24. The award-winning neo-noir murder mystery game from Monkey Moon and BlackMuffin puts you behind the wheel of a Paris taxi cab on the night shift. Talk to your riders to learn more about their secret lives and try to uncover the identity of the serial killer stalking the streets. Night Call arrives on consoles with all the content included in the new “Long Way Home” update on PC, including new stories, free roam mode and more.
The Guerrilla Collective is going on now through June 15, featuring news, reveals, trailers and more from gaming’s top studios, publishers and companies. Raw Fury will be back on tomorrow’s broadcast with even more surprises, starting at 9:00 AM PT/12:00 PM ET at twitch.tv/GuerrillaCollective.
Catch all of the news coming from Raw Fury this weekend on our Guerrilla Collective landing page: rawfury.com/raw-fury-guerilla-collective-games.
Give us a shout!
Official Site: rawfury.com Discord: discord.gg/rawfury Twitter: @RawFury
The Kickstarter campaign for this new board game will launch this fall.
Warsaw, Poland – June 13th, 2020 — Frostpunk, the bestselling survival city-builder game, is officially going unplugged! Frostpunk: The Board Game will provide tough moral choices, challenging and strategic gameplay, emotion-driven narrative, and snow. Lots of snow. The core features of this popular 11 bit studios title will be transported to your table next year!
Frostpunk: The Board Game is coming to fruition thanks to the combined efforts of 11 bit studios and Glass Cannon Unplugged, a new tabletop game studio formed by a group of industry veterans, including Jakub Wiśniewski, creator of the highly acclaimed This War of Mine: The Board Game and Michał Ozon, former COO of board game publisher Phalanx, both accompanied by an independent author Adam Kwapiński, a world-class board game designer who has worked on titles such as Nemesis and Lords of Hellas.
Frostpunk, a BAFTA-nominee that originally launched in 2018, tells a story of a frozen Earth in an alternative XIX century. In Frostpunk: The Board Game, up to four players will take on the role of leaders of a small colony of survivors in a post-apocalyptic world that was hit by a severe ice age. Their duty is to effectively manage both its infrastructure and citizens. The core gameplay will be brutal, challenging, and complex, but easy to learn. The Glass Cannon Unplugged team understands how important emotions and moods are in Frostpunk’s gameplay, and their goal is to integrate this core mechanic into this version of the game. The citizens won’t just be speechless pieces on the board. Society members will issue demands and react accordingly to the current mood, so every decision and action bears consequences.
The players will decide the fate of their people. Will you treat them like another resource? Are you going to be an inspiring builder, a fearless explorer, or a bright scientist? Is your rule going to be a sting of tyranny or an era of law and equality?
Follow social media for more details about Frostpunk: The Board Game and get ready for the start of the game’s campaign on Kickstarter this fall!
About Frostpunk Frostpunk is the first society survival game. As the ruler of the last city on Earth, it is your duty to manage both its citizens and its infrastructure. What decisions will you make to ensure your society’s survival? What will you do when pushed to breaking point? Who will you become in the process?
About 11 bit studios 11 bit studios is a Warsaw-based Polish game development studio known for This War of Mine and Frostpunk as well as a publisher teaming up with indies to bring their gems to life, lately with Moonlighter by Digital Sun Games and Dead Mage’s Children of Morta.
See more of Baldur’s Gate 3 on June 18th as Larian kicks off the D&D Live show, as Early Access content gets locked in.
DUBLIN, Ireland (13th June 2020) – Larian Studios has today announced that Early Access for Baldur’s Gate 3 will launch this August, maybe.
Announced back in June 2019 before the final E3 conference, Baldur’s Gate 3 is a sequel to CRPG staples Baldur’s Gate 1 and 2, bringing the IP into the modern era, with AAA production values, including fully cinematic dialogues, authentic gameplay based on 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons and cooperative multiplayer.
Today’s trailer is indicative of the mood and tone of Baldur’s Gate 3, a game that pushes Larian’s lauded RPG depth into an entirely new level of production value and ambition. Between the original announcement a year ago, and what will be shown prior to D&D Live, Baldur’s Gate 3 is starting to take shape, and that shape will continue to evolve as Larian works directly with the community during its Early Access campaign.
Covid-19 has affected Larian as it has affected many people around the world, but the shift to work-from-home has been a successful one, allowing Larian to continue working towards the Early Access period of (maybe) August. We’re happy to announce that we’re now able to resume performance capture, to put the final pieces in place for the Early Access release.
The mood, depth, and tone of Baldur’s Gate 3 are extremely important aspects of the experience, and Larian is now able to continue to work to create what will be the initial Early Access release build.
Larian will be announcing the specific Early Access content closer to the August (maybe) release date.
About Larian Studios Larian Studios is an independent RPG developer founded in 1996 in Ghent, Belgium. Over 200 people work between the five worldwide studios in Ghent, St Petersburg, Quebec, Dublin and Malaysia. Larian is best known for the Divinity universe, which they introduced to the world with Divine Divinity in 2002. In 2014, Larian launched Divinity: Original Sin, a classic CRPG that won over 150 awards and nominations. The company released its critically acclaimed sequel Divinity: Original Sin 2 on September 14, 2017, followed by the Definitive Edition in August 2018 for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One to a 93 Metacritic rating. The Nintendo Switch version released in September 2019 featuring cross save progression between Nintendo Switch and Steam. Divinity:Original Sin 2 won a Bafta for Best Multiplayer Game. In June 2019, Larian Studios announced the development of Baldur’s Gate 3.
Get ready to raise hell in this cover-based, twin-stick, action game
WEST OF DEAD’s launch date has been revealed at the Guerilla Collective event tonight. The cover-based, twin-stick, action game with roguelike elements is set to release on Xbox One and Steam on the 18th of June.
Awaken, trapped in the underworld, surrounded by evil souls bent on hunting you down. To escape your grim and gritty Purgatory, make sure to take the tactical approach and vary your playstyle, weapons, and abilities for each new threat.
GET READY TO RAISE HELL – PLAY WEST OF DEAD’S OPEN BETA: The Open Beta is live until launch day, the 18th of June.
[There is a 15% bonus discount on Steam at launch for everyone that played the Beta]
WEST OF DEAD stars the vivid voicework of Ron Perlman(Hellboy, Sons of Anarchy) as the protagonist William Mason, a dead man who awakens in purgatory.
Your path will lead through the procedurally generated maze of the underworld which will change every time you enter. The deeper you get in your run, the more intense the danger will become.
Find your flow and sharpen your reflexes to dodge bullets, slide behind cover and take out undead outlaws and monsters that threaten you while piecing together the mystery of your own past. Think and act fast to catch your enemies by surprise before pandemonium breaks loose. Ignite light to shatter the darkness and thereby stun your enemies.
WEST OF DEAD, created by developer Upstream Arcade and publisher Raw Fury, is releasing on the 18th of June on Xbox One, Xbox Game Pass and PC, coming in August to PlayStation 4 and Switch.
For more info, enter: https://westofdead.com
ABOUT UPSTREAM ARCADE Upstream Arcade is a small team of four veteran Indie developers based in Godalming, UK. They all met while at Lionhead (the studio is a bit of a reunion), and have individually contributed to loads of games including Black and White 2, Max Payne 3, as well as multiple titles in the Fable Franchise. Having left AAA to go Indie, the studio is bound by a desire to use everything they’ve learned toward developing action games with something different to offer. They sure hope that shows in their upcoming game West of Dead.
Stay one step ahead of a mysterious serial killer as you drive the streets of a tumultuous Paris in Night Call. Coming to Xbox One and Nintendo Switch on June 24th.
Friend. Confidant. Therapist. Voyeur.
As a cab driver working the Paris night shift, you are many things to many different people. You’ll need to play these roles well in NIGHT CALL, if you want to catch a serial killer who once found you on the end of his knife…
Your gift is getting people to talk; and in order to catch the killer who left you for dead, that’s exactly what you’ll need to do. You are no detective, but your gift with words will find you in that role. Around you, people feel more at ease. They talk. They share their thoughts, their emotions, their stories… their secrets. NIGHT CALL is coming to Xbox One and Nintendo Switch on June 24th.
Night Call strength lies in its narrative experience accompanied by light resource management and investigation mechanics. With a potential of 90+ passengers that may hail down your cab, you’ll encounter whimsical and lighthearted moments, intriguing stories, and tackle thought-provoking themes not often seen in games.
Night Call is not a single story, but a collective narrative seen through the eyes of your fares who may have something to share and contribute to the greater investigation to save your life.
**WARNING: Night Call is intended for mature audiences. Text references to violence, sexual acts, and use of alcohol. Potentially triggering dialogue with themes including tragedy, politics, religion and violence. Use of profanity and potentially offensive language.
Features:
GORGEOUS GAME NOIRE STYLE: Every character and location are lovingly hand-drawn in stunning black & white, evoking the pure tension of the noire style of art.
A VIVID AND ORIGINAL CAST: Meet dozens of original, surprising, realistic characters and share their lives for a few brief moments. Listen and help they might have something useful for you.
NON-LINEAR NARRATIVE GAME: Encounters are random. Every run is different.
INVESTIGATION VS. SURVIVAL: Will you forsake information for more money, or sacrifice your income to get the info you need? Make your choices quickly time is running out!
MULTIPLE ENDINGS, MULTIPLE KILLERS: Can you uncover the identity of the killer each time? Be careful: a guilty suspect in one playthrough may be completely innocent in the next.
FREE ROAMING MODE: Sometimes you just want to roam the dark city streets and enjoy some interesting conversations. Free Roaming lets you do just that — this highly requested fan feature is perfect for drivers looking to relax and fill up their Passidex!
A new shop simulator/potion brewing game is on the way for PC as XSEED Games has announced that they will be publishing Voracious Games’ Potionomics sometime in the future. Players will take on the role of Sylvia, a penniless young witch, who must save her shop from the clutches of a debt collector, but she can’t do it alone. With the help of fellow merchants, fledgling adventurers, and an overbearing owl, Sylvia will master the art of potion brewing and the nuance of salesmanship to rescue her shop.
After using magical ingredients to brew up a bevy of potent wares, the budding entrepreneur will wheel and deal to make sales with a colorful cast of fickle customers, all while tackling fierce competition and an ever-changing economy. The announcement trailer showing a bit of what players can expect from Potionomics can be found below.
Originally Bandai Namco and Supermassive Games were hoping to continue their anthology of horror games this summer with the release of The Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope but that will no longer be the case as the developer wished to make sure that its workers were protected from COVID 19 as best as possible.
Since the Supermassive Games team was working from home, things did slow down a bit and now in an effort to deliver “the best possible game” Pete Samuels, the CEO of Supermassive and executive producer of the title, announced that the game will now be releasing sometime this fall for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.
For now, those who want a small taste of what to expect from the game can always check out the first game in the anthology, The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan which was released August of last year.
Summer in Marais a crafting, exploration, and farming game. Players take on the role of Koa, a girl who is now in charge of a little farm after the passing of her adoptive grandmother. Koa is struck by the need for adventure, desiring to leave her tiny island and explore new places. Her wish comes true when a mysterious creature lands on her island and an evil alien corporation appears in Mara.
Story
The story is the sort of relaxed and heart-warming fare that is perfect for a player looking for a calm andd enjoyable gaming experience. It is just as much about the journey as it is the completion. The writing rarely gets too heavy and is generally joyful and lighthearted. Getting to know the citizens of Mara is an important part of the game, and the people are mostly loveable, even if it takes a little time to warm up to them.
Gameplay
Summer in Mara is a laid-back game that runs at the player’s pace. The game mixes Harvest Moon with the island-hopping elements of Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. The world is set to a day/night schedule where players have a limited amount of energy to expend on whatever task they wish to do. While energy and hunger can be replenished with food, energy is consumed at a faster pace as the evening wears on. Sleeping for the night will restore energy, but only sleeping in the comfort of home will bring Koa back to full energy in the morning.
The farming and resource gathering gameplay is pretty standard fare. Players buy seeds from the vendor, plant it in their plots, and harvest their crops several days later. The plots are quite limited to begin with as they can only be constructed in pre-determined spots. Some of the spots are blocked in the beginning and can only be cleared as the player progresses through the story. While the hardcore farming sim fan will be disappointed with the restrictions, the limited number of plots is balanced well with the shorter day/night cycle and the rate energy is expended. There are just enough plots to maintain every morning while still having enough time to run to town to restock supplies, do a few missions, or explore an island and still be able to make it home to sleep.
How Summer in Mara handles water and fertilizer is unique. Instead of having each plot consume a single charge of a watering can or similar implement, players simply need to run over a plot while holding a bucket of water or a bag of fertilizer. Players do need to plan their path for maximum efficiency as the bucket and the fertilizer bag can only be carried for a limited number of steps. The system is an interesting twist, but I would have preferred to see the bucket and the bag last for a few more steps, so an extremely efficient route could hit all the plots. This would be a great way to reward skill while keeping the original design in mind.
The crafting system is decent, but it could use some quality of life improvements. Players gain a large number of items to craft over the course of the game. The need to return home to craft is a bit restrictive and frustrating, especially when players need to take two boat rides to turn in the quest after. I would have preferred to have the ability to craft some simple recipes on the boat right away. I would have also liked to see the number of raw materials in my inventory when crafting, instead of having to back out to the inventory to check. Finally, a faster way to craft missing raw materials for complex recipes would have been a great time saver, whether it meant automatically crafting the needed material or offering some sort of shortcut to access the missing material.
The questing system is how Summer in Mara tells the story, but also drives crafting progression forward. There is plenty to do as many of the game’s NPCs will need a favour or will barter with Koa. They almost always involve instructions to fetch, craft, or explore. The system works well, but the progression of the side quests is a bit uneven as they require items that haven’t been unlocked yet by the main quest line. The worst offenders are the quests involving flour and pineapples. The flour will be addressed in a future patch by having one of the vendors sell flour, according to the developers.
While there are several quality of life features that can improve Summer in Mara, the gameplay is enjoyable overall. It manages to strike the right balance of activities, without being wildly punishing if a player focuses slightly more on one thing or another. The rate of progression is set that players are getting a steady stream of new recipes and quests to keep them going. The pacing of the game is excellent, and it is easy to fall into a rhythm that makes hours go by quickly. As a fan of the Harvest Moon franchise and the sub-genre it spawned, Summer in Mara’s gameplay is the perfect blend of something familiar and something new.
Visuals
Summer in Mara has a bright and eye-catching animated look inspired by Studio Ghibli. Even the cut scenes are done in a similar anime style. The style, animation, and models are excellent. The only issue with the game’s visuals is some of the smaller, more desolate islands as they tend to look too similar and visually blend into a single mass.
Audio
The audio experience in Summer in Mara has its ups and downs. The sound effects are good, but the volume of some sound effects is quiet compared to the rest of the game. The mining sound and the breaking boxes sound are more extreme examples. The soundtrack is excellent. The music gently swings back and forth from relaxing tunes to uplifting songs. The problem is how the game decides to play music and when to stop. The game tends to choose a song, play the entire song, and then leave the player to contemplative silence until an event or a location triggers the next track. The end of the track can be very abrupt. At the bare minimum I would have preferred to hear the music fade out gently into silence, though I think I music backing the entire game would be ideal.
Overall
Summer in Mara is perfect for anyone looking for a relaxing game paired with a colourful, Studio Ghibli inspired look. While the game does struggle with some odd quality of life issues, these are mild nuisances, not game breaking experiences. I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Mara and only wish I could have stayed longer.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
While we already knew that Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town would be heading to the Nintendo Switch in the West on July 14th XSEED Games has announced that PC players will also be able to revisit the classic game as the game will be coming to PC through Steam on that same day. To go along with this announcement a new trailer can be found below.
For those who haven’t been following the game, Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town is a rebuilt version of the 2003 Game Boy Advance release of the game and this new version features not only updated systems and character designs but also a number of brand new additions.
Quite some time ago Vanillaware announced that they were working on a brand new sci-fi game and now that game is finally heading to the West as Atlus has announced that 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim will be released on the PlayStation 4 on September 8th in North America and Europe. It is worth noting that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the game will only feature a Japanese voice track at launch but the company will be releasing a free English voice over patch sometime after the game is released.
13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim is a 2D sidescrolling adventure that will feature battles against kaiju in fast-paced top down battles where players will use an arsenal of mechsuit weaponry to defeat their foes. A new trailer to accompany this announcement was released and can be found below.
