You may remember that back in May a game based around the John Wick franchise was announced for release in the future by the name of John Wick Hex and now Good Shepherd Entertainment and Bithell Games have released a featurette video that focuses on the “Gun Fu” aspect of the series and how the team worked with a number of stunt men that appeared in the movie in an attempt to capture its essence in the game.
Seeing firsthand how John Wick analyzes a situation and executes a full-force solution with whatever he has available was key to translating the films into a fast-paced, action-oriented strategy experience that lets players become the legendary hitman himself. You can check out the video below and keep an eye out for the game when it is released in the future for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.
For quite some time fans have wondered if we would ever see Monster Rancher again despite the fact that the best part of the game, which involved using everything from other games to music CDs, probably wouldn’t work that well these days. Well Koei Tecmo has announced that they are doing something with the franchise but it is a bit of an odd choice.
The company has revealed that they are making a port of Monster Rancher 1, or simply Monster Farm as it was in Japan, and will be releasing it sometime this year in Japan. No platforms for the game were announced but considering this is a port of a 1997 PlayStation game it may end up being a bit limited. Those who want to check out the official teaser website for the game here.
ANODYNE
2: RETURN TO DUST LAUNCHES AUGUST 2019 ON PC/MAC/LINUX
Launch
Platforms Include Steam, Kartridge, GOG, Itch, and Humble
July 24th, 2019 —
Analgesic Productions is excited to announce Anodyne 2: Return to
Dust will launch for Windows, Mac, and Linux this August for
$19.99 on Steam, Kartridge, GOG, Itch, and Humble storefronts — enter an
evocative, surreal, lo-fi 3D and 2D world in the follow-up to 2013’s standout
adventure!
Anodyne 2 combines
the thrilling scale and cinematic storytelling of 3D games with the tight
design and easy-to-pick-up satisfaction of 2D Zelda-like adventures.
Nano Dust infects the islanders of New Theland, distorting their emotions and
desires. You play as Nova, a Nano Cleaner who must explore the island, seeking
out the sick and shrinking inside their bodies to suction up the Dust.
The art of Anodyne 2 reimagines the PS1 and N64’s lo-fi
visuals, setting the stage for you to explore 3D cities, valleys, and
wastelands. You’ll also shrink into the varied 2D mindscapes of characters,
from snowy, aurora-lit valleys to perilous volcanic construction sites!
Features:
In 3D, run, jump
and drive across gorgeous and haunting locales, speaking with strange and
memorable characters.
Choose where you
want to go! The sweeping vistas of New Theland quickly open up to
exploration. Instantly transform into a car to quickly drive around the
world.
In 2D, use your
Nano Vacuum to collect dust, suck up and fight enemies, all while
overcoming mind-bending challenges related to the characters’ inner lives.
Seek magical Cards
which expand your access into New Theland’s outer reaches.
Experience the
thrilling and emotional story of Nova. Her destiny is clear: she is the
Nano Cleaner who will save New Theland. But strange characters &
painful experiences will put her loyalty to the test…
Similar to the Final Fantasy
franchise, there’s no need to play the original Anodyne to
understand the story in Anodyne 2: Return to Dust, but
longtime fans will find connections between the two! Discover the true
nature of the Nano Dust, Nova, and The Center, in the latest game from
Analgesic Productions!
Analgesic Productions is a studio
specializing in single-player, narrative-heavy adventure games with
experimental flair and twists on traditional gameplay. We are Marina
Kittaka and Sean Han Tani. We’re also the creators of Even the Ocean, All Our
Asias, Bratavism, and more.
BE THE BAD GUY! DARK ROGUELIKE RPG IRATUS: LORD OF THE
DEAD
OUT NOW ON STEAM EARLY ACCESS
Dominate your enemies and raise an
army from their corpses in this challenging new game from Daedalic
Entertainment and Unfrozen
HAMBURG, Germany — July 24, 2019 — Daedalic Entertainment and indie developer Unfrozen have unleashed the devilishly evil roguelike RPG Iratus: Lord of the Dead on Windows PC via Steam Early Access. Flipping the script on classic fantasy RPGs, Iratus: Lord of the Dead makes you a newly resurrected necromancer on a bloody quest for vengeance against the fools who imprisoned you.
Wield an array of occult powers to make your
enemies recoil in fear, using the blood, guts, bones and souls of the fallen to
create monstrous pawns for your own personal army. With four different skill
trees to master (Alchemy, Magic, Ire and Destruction) and nearly 100 different
minion skills to unlock, you’ll have plenty of choices to defeat your foes in
turn-based combat.
Iratus:
Lord of the Dead is a delightfully
difficult roguelike that challenges your strategic prowess on all fronts, with
permadeath affecting not only minions but enemies, as well. Body parts and
essence are finite resources in the game’s sprawling dungeon overworld, so
you’ll need to think carefully about what you conjure and how it’ll help you
exact revenge.
Key
Features
Be EVIL: Play as the
villain and use dark necromantic powers to crush your heroic foes!
Craft an army from the
body parts of dead enemies: Pick from 16 different types of undead minions
like zombies, vampires, mummies, banshees and more with nearly 100 unique
talents.
Advanced turn-based
battle system: Learn your enemies’ weak points, exploit them with physical
and magical abilities, and attack their minds to drive them insane.
Combat and choices with
consequences: Classic roguelike features including character permadeath.
Choose from four types
of necromancer talents that change the way you play, including Alchemy,
Magic, Ire and Destruction.
Intelligent enemy AI and
multiple difficulty levels to challenge even experienced RPG strategists.
Improve and expand your
underground lair to grow in power.
Detailed 2.5D art style
with fully animated effects evoking classic dark fantasy atmosphere.
Standout voice acting
from Stephan Weyte, who played Caleb in the hit Blood franchise.
Iratus:
Lord of the Dead will be
continuously updated and expanded throughout early access with new content,
features and improvements. To stay up to date on the latest developments,
please visit Iratus: Lord of the Dead
on Steam.
About
Daedalic Entertainment
Daedalic Entertainment publishes and develops
high-quality games for all platforms. The company has a diverse line-up of
high-quality titles, including classic adventures, RPGs, and strategy and
multiplayer games. With more than 80 employees, Daedalic is currently
developing a new line-up of innovative games across consoles, PC and mobile
platforms.
Among the AAA titles in production at the
studio are the team-RTS A
Year of Rain (PC), as well as The
Lord of the Rings – Gollum (multiplatform). A Yearof Rain combines classical
elements like base-building and a comprehensive story campaign with
hero-focused and team-oriented gameplay. The
Lord of the Rings – Gollum is an action-adventure that tells the
story of Gollum from a perspective never witnessed before in any storytelling
media, all the while staying faithful to the legendary books of J.R.R. Tolkien.
Based in Hamburg, Germany, Daedalic is one of
Europe’s most acclaimed publishers and developers.
With a total of 32 awards in the German
Developers Award (including multiple accolades for “Studio of the Year”) and 11
German Computer Game Awards for genre-defining games such as Deponia, Edna & Harvey, Silence, Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun,
Ken Follett’s The Pillars of
the Earth, The
Long Journey Home, and State
of Mind, Daedalic is a record holder for the two most prestigious
games awards in Germany.
About
Unfrozen
Unfrozen is a games developer based in
St. Petersburg, Russia, formed by talented developers who have 15 years worth
of experience working in the games industry. The tactical RPG Iratus: Lord of the Dead
is their first project as a studio.
For Honor® Announces Year 3 Season 3: Hulda, With The New
Hero, “Jormungandr”
Along
with the new Hero, Year 3 Season 3 Adds a New Map and Gameplay Updates To download all assets please visit the
press extranet: ubisoft-press.com
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA — July 24, 2019 — Today, Ubisoft
announced that the Jormungandr, a new feral warrior, will be joining the Viking
Faction of For Honor® with the launch of Year 3, Season 3: Hulda for
PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system, the Xbox One family of
devices and Windows PC. Owners of the Year 3 pass will be immediately able to
play as the Jormungandr starting August 1 at 12pm PT, while all other players
can gain access to the new Hero on August 8 at 11am PT for 15,000 Steel.
The Jormungandr are Viking sectarians who wear their devotion to the
Great Serpent, after whom they are named, on their scarred bodies. Led by Hulda
or Gretar, respectively the female and male version of the New Hero, the
Jormungandr aims at crushing the weak before Ragnarok comes, as they believe
only the most worthy must remain for the Great Battle. Wielding their mighty
War Hamarr during fights, they cull their opponents with their powerful
attacks.
All players will have the chance to wield their weapons on a new Breach
map, the Viking fortress of Storr Stronghold, included in the upcoming Season.
Following in the footsteps of previous gameplay updates, Year 3 Season 3 will
also further balance the roster with new Hero updates to the Nobushi, Shinobi,
Orochi, and many other Heroes.
To get an exclusive first look at Year 3 Season 3, tune in on the
special Warrior’s Den livestream on Thursday, July 25 at 9am PT, on the For
Honor Twitch channel at https://www.twitch.tv/forhonorgame.
For those looking to receive seven days of exclusive access to new Year 3 Heroes at the time of their launch, along with other additional rewards, the Year 3 Pass is now available and is included in the For Honor Complete Edition.
For Honor will also be available on Uplay+, Ubisoft’s
subscription service for Windows PC. More details on Uplay+ can be found at
Uplay.com*.
Developed by Ubisoft Montreal in collaboration with
other Ubisoft studios,* For Honor offers an engaging campaign and thrilling
multiplayer modes. Players embody warriors of the four great factions – the
bold Knights, the brutal Vikings, the deadly Samurai and the fearsome Wu Lin –
fighting to the death on intense and believable melee battlefields. The Art of Battle,
the game’s innovative combat system that puts players in total control of their
warriors, allows them to utilize the unique skills and combat style of each
Hero to vanquish all enemies who stand in their way.
For the latest about For Honor and other Ubisoft games, please visit
news.ubisoft.com.
*Terms and conditions apply, including
platform, age and territorial restrictions.
ABOUT FOR HONOR
Developed by Ubisoft Montreal in
collaboration with other Ubisoft studios,* For Honor offers an engaging
campaign and thrilling multiplayer modes. Players embody warriors of the four
great factions – the bold Knights, the brutal Vikings, the deadly Samurai and
the fearsome Wu Lin – fighting to the death on intense and believable melee
battlefields. The Art of Battle, the game’s innovative combat system that puts
players in total control of their warriors, allows them to utilize the unique
skills and combat style of each Hero to vanquish all enemies who stand in their
way.
*Associate Ubisoft studios include Quebec,
Toronto and Blue Byte.Additional development from
Studio Gobo.
ABOUT UBISOFT
Ubisoft is a leading creator, publisher
and distributor of interactive entertainment and services, with a rich
portfolio of world-renowned brands, including Assassin’s Creed, Just Dance, Tom
Clancy’s video game series, Rayman, Far Cry and Watch Dogs. The teams
throughout Ubisoft’s worldwide network of studios and business offices are
committed to delivering original and memorable gaming experiences across all
popular platforms, including consoles, mobile phones, tablets and PCs. For the
2018-19 fiscal year Ubisoft generated Net Bookings of €2,029 million. To learn more, please visit www.ubisoft.com.
Band Together and Survive Ragnarök in Tribes of
Midgard in 2020, Open Beta July 26
MONTREAL — JULY 23, 2019
—Tribes of Midgard, the cooperative survival game from Norsfell where up to 10 players fiercely fight Giants during
Ragnarök, comes to Steam and consoles in 2020. PC Gamers can play it this week
in the game’s first open beta beginning July 26 on Steam.
The Asgardian Gods and the Giants of Jotunheim battle endlessly. Fed up with the constant trickery and deception of the Gods, the Giants have decided to invade Asgard. Much to the dismay of the Vikings of Midgard, the Giants must pass through their realm and regard humanity’s impending destruction as a necessary casualty of war. Ragnarök, the death and rebirth of the nine realms, has begun. Yet not all is lost, for the resolute Viking warriors will defend the seeds of the world tree Yggdrasil that binds all realms and protect the Gods.
Customize your
character, form a tribe and explore procedurally-generated worlds full of
fabled resources and creatures. Defend your village at night from the legions
of Hel, and prepare for the Giants’ mighty arrival. Grow ever-stronger by
surviving each day, feeding enemy souls to Yggdrasil, and crafting new
equipment with the help of the townsfolk. Hack-and-slash combat makes each
battle a gripping affair, and weapon-based special moves provide an incentive
to search for the rarest materials, whether they come from dangerous faraway
lands or the corpses of Giants.
Explore Viking mythology
through beautifully hand-painted cel-shaded artwork. Orchestral music solely
using instruments from the Viking era sets an ominous tone for the coming
apocalypse. Ragnarök is inevitable, but fight fiercely and die a glorious death
to ensure the tribe’s brave souls arrive at the gates of Valhalla. Should the
seed of Yggdrasil be destroyed, the world collapses and the game is over. Come
back stronger and fight for the realm.
Tribes of Midgard’s first open beta will be playable on Steam and begins July 26 at 3:00 PM ET and runs until
July 28, 11:59 PM ET. Norsfell’s living, breathing world will provide seasons
that offer new Giants, player customization options including a persistent
leveling system and skill tree, and other features along the way with the help
of their amazing community.
“There’s a beauty to the
concept of Ragnarök, and we wanted to create a game where players could
experience this deadly battle from a human perspective,” said Julian Maroda,
CEO and Creative Director for Norsfell. “Tribes of Midgard highlights
the tenacity of humans in the face of guaranteed doom.”
Norsfell was founded by
a group of brave adventurers with a dream: to forge new genres and bring people
together. They chose to call their new banner “Norsfell”, a combination of
“Norse” and “Fell” (“Mountain” in old Norse) to show their desire to achieve
great things, no matter how big.
For more information
about Norsfell, please visit its official website and follow them on Twitter.
ROOSTER TEETH GAMES’ UNCOOPERATIVE
MULTIPLAYER SHOOTER VICIOUS CIRCLE HITS STEAM ON AUG.
13
SAN
DIEGO — July 23, 2019 —
Rooster Teeth Games revealed this past weekend at Comic-Con International: San
Diego that Vicious Circle
will launch on Aug. 13, 2019, on Windows PC via Steam for
$19.99. Set in a comic-inspired sci-fi universe with ridiculous characters and
colorful art style, Vicious
Circle is a fast-paced uncooperative multiplayer shooter in which
four mercenaries compete for loot against a terrifying monster — and each
other!
In each round of Vicious Circle, one player is selected to
become a massive, unstoppable creature with a simple goal: kill all four
mercenaries. The mercs can be formidable when working together, so divide and
conquer, using your enhanced senses and powerful abilities to scatter foes in a
panic, hunt them down and pick them off one by one.
Mercs can team up with their rivals to
survive, but only the player with the most loot wins. And that means playing
dirty every chance you get. Use your gadgets and the environment to mess with
your adversaries: lock doors to slow them down, trap them in rooms with the
monster, and suck loot out from under them. Should you join forces against the
monster hunting you down, or sneak away to gain the upper hand while everyone
else is busy? The choice is yours, but remember — what goes around comes
around!
Rooster Teeth is a pioneering media and
entertainment company responsible for some of the biggest online series in
history, such as the award-winning and longest-running web series, Red vs.
Blue. They also produce the globally acclaimed animated series RWBY, the first
western anime series to be distributed in Japan; the award-winning Rooster
Teeth Podcast; and Immersion, a reality format that brings video game theory to
the real world. Rooster Teeth has a massive global footprint of more than 45
million subscribers to its YouTube Network, five million unique monthly
visitors to its RoosterTeeth.com hub and three million registered community
members. The company was founded in 2003 and is now a subsidiary of Otter
Media, a WarnerMedia company. Discover more at RoosterTeeth.com.
With a focus on employee health and happiness, the fledgling studio hits the ground running with its first IP already in production
Uppsala, Sweden — July 23rd, 2019 — Former Machine Games developers Michael Paixao and Joel Jonsson today announced the beginning of a new era – with the formation of Bad Yolk, a brand new, forward-thinking video game studio that aims to attract the best talent by offering a healthy and happy work-life balance, and thus, make the greatest, most creative and technically superior games possible.
Bad Yolk’s core team is made up of 10 senior AAA developers with a combined 90+ years of experience and over 14 AAA titles shipped including Chronicles of Riddick, Eve Online, Gears of War, The Division, The Darkness and many others. The studio is already well underway in developing its first, as yet unannounced, new IP.
“After years of working with some extremely talented people on some really great projects we felt it was time to branch out on our own to create a new kind of studio,” said Michael Paixao from Bad Yolk. “Obviously high quality video games should be fun to play, but we also believe that they should be fun to make and that creativity thrives best in a healthy and balanced work environment, which is a central pillar of our corporate message and structure.”
About Bad Yolk
Begun in Uppsala, Sweden in 2017, Bad Yolk have a core team of 10 former AAA
senior developers on a mission to attract the greatest talent to make the
greatest games with an emphasis on creativity and a happy and healthy work
environment.
Pawarumi is a futuristic shoot’em up set in a pre-Colombian universe, developed by French studio Manufacture 43, the game has impressed audiences and critics alike with it’s original release on PC and Linux back in 2018, but does Pawarumi make the leap to consoles or does it’s fast paced gameplay fail to deliver?
Story
As touched on above, Pawarumi takes place in an futuristic pre-Colombian universe, meaning that the look and story elements of the game is inspired by Aztec and other similar American civilizations around the same time and earlier, before the colonization of the Americas. In Pawarumi, you play as Axo, the empire’s best pilot, who is seeking revenge for the crimes perpetrated against her people. Axo, with her legendary ship Chukaru, fight against the armies of the Council. The game has three slightly different stories (due to the order of the bosses) and different endings depending on if you’re playing on easy, normal or hard difficulties, with the last level in hard mode finally being your revenge.
I don’t think this story was told well in the game. The little bits of dialogue offered by the game doesn’t fill you in much to the story of the world, but I don’t think Pawarumi is a game that is relying on story and prefers to get to the gameplay quickly.
Gameplay
When I first read about Pawarumi’s gameplay, I thought it sounded crazy. The game describes itself as a ‘rock, paper. scissors’ shooter which makes no sense until you play the tutorial, then it feels so natural and you begin to wonder why no other game (as far as I’m aware) has done anything like this.
In Pawarumi, the enemies come in three different colors, red, green, and blue, with your attacks also being colored in the same pattern. Attacking enemies with the same color that they are increases your shield/health. Attacking the enemy with their ‘crush’ color defeats them quickly (e.g. Blue crushes green, green crushes red, red crushes blue) and attacking with the other color combination ‘drains’ the enemy for your super attack. (E.g. Red attack against green).
Pawarumi is challenging. It’s a fast paced that makes you earn beating a level, even on easy and normal difficulties. The difficulty curve means that it’s a good idea to beat the game on easy first before moving on to normal. The game is very reminiscent of the shooters of old, and would not be at all out of place in an arcade.
The game features local and online leaderboards and as mentioned above, is already available on PC. One feature that differentiates the Nintendo Switch edition is that you can have the ship change color depending on what joycon you’re using. I preferred playing the game in handheld mode and it’s a great game to play on the go, especially when playing the levels individually in training mode to improve my performance when I get time to try a full play through.
Visuals
Pawarumi is aiming for a Aztec-like, retro 80’s, pre-Colombian look. The game delivers on this look beautifully and looks very sharp. The colors are clearly defined on the ships which is helpful to color deficient players, the levels have lots of variation and the background of levels are interesting without being distracting, especially the snow level having very crisp looking snow and the lava cave level giving everything a warm glow.
The story artwork in the game is very visually interesting but I would of liked to of seen more, especially of the main character, Axo, who only has one artwork shown for her, if the game had more artwork for the character, perhaps showing the characters journey and growth as shes getting revenge, then the story may have stuck out more and become more visually interesting.
Audio
Pawarumi is musically uninteresting, the music fits in well and blends into the other sounds of the game, and only makes itself noticeable when required. The other sounds of the ships blend together and no sound feels as if it’s overstaying its welcome. It’s all very standard for what you would expect from a shoot’em up.
Overall
Pawarumihas entertained audiences on PC for over a year now, and it will gain a whole new audience on Nintendo Switch and Xbox One with a game that I couldn’t imagine playing without a joystick. When reviewing this on the Switch, the game feels as if it was made exclusively for the switch since all the controls feel so perfected. The story is interesting enough without falling into cliche and the graphics amaze. This is a must buy for anyone wanting a shoot’em up experience on console.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Atlus has continued their series of character trailers for Persona 5 Royal with this latest one focusing on the Phantom Thieves’ hacker Futaba Sakura who previously only provided various buffs to the party. Now, shown in the trailer below, she appears to actually participate in group beatdowns though whether or not this is a special ability at the moment is unknown.
Also found in the video are some slice of life scenes where we see Futaba and the rest of the crew taking part in a study session and visiting a shrine on New Year’s. Currently Persona 5 Royal is set to be released on October 31st in Japan for the PlayStation 4 with a Western release coming sometime in 2020.
