ICYMI, classic arcade space action returned in style as epic roguelike starfighter Rogue Eclipse recently launched on PC via Steam! Micro-studio HUSKRAFTS, with the support of Outersloth, invite you to strap into the cockpit for the thrill of high speeds and an explosive spectacle unlike anything previously seen in the genre before!
Master your piloting prowess! Blast and burn your way through swarms of starfighters, merciless armadas, and colossal behemoths in an Arabesque Future that spans the cosmos. Easy to learn, tricky to master, and impossible to put down.
Rogue Eclipse is an epic arcade spaceflight action roguelike for the new age. A love letter inspired by the greatest arcade spacefighters and the sci-fi frontiers of Arabesque Futurism, Rogue Eclipse brings the best of arcade flight speed and spectacle to a fresh epic sci-fi setting.
You are a pilot on the front lines of the war for humanity’s future. Try, die, and try again, blasting and burning your way through swarms of starfighters and merciless armadas in the deepest reaches of the galaxy. Delve into hulking enemy behemoths and battle your way through destructible environments, tuning your starfighter and honing your skills to vanquish a malevolent evil that spans the cosmos.
Features:
Edge-of-your-seat spaceflight action, easy to learn and difficult to master
A destructive arsenal of weapons to choose from
Upgrade, customise and personalise your starfighter as you progress
A Roguelike Campaign that spans multiple chapters, with new foes and hazardous environments to overcome
An epic space opera setting inspired by Arabesque Futurism
About the Developer
Husban Siddiqi, AKA Huskrafts, is an indie developer based in the UK running Huskrafts. He’s an alumni of the IGDA Foundation next-gen leaders programme as well as an Epic MegaGrant and Creative England New Ideas Fund Recipient. Husban is currently working on his debut title, epic spaceflight action roguelike Rogue Eclipse.
About Outersloth
From Innersloth, the creators of Among Us, Outersloth is a fund for indie developers looking to sustainably and freely make the games they want. Outersloth aims to share their success and support indies with friendly terms that help developers make their fun, clever, and original games. To learn more, visit their website.
Kosice, Slovakia – August 14, 2026 – Independent developer Moonpyre and RPG publisher Grindstone (Jotunnslayer: Hordes of Hel) today launched the first public demo of Hellforged, the loot-driven extraction bullet-heaven where every run is a calculated heist. This is the first time anyone can play Hellforged freely – previously the game was only available through a closed playtest, and it has already convinced over 60,000 players to add it to their Steam wishlist.
The demo is available now and free to download on Steam.
Control the Chaos, Secure the Loot
In Hellforged, players step into the boots of the survivors of a shattered expedition into the Blackspire. The mission: battle through hordes of bloodthirsty demons to loot epic gear with powerful modifiers. But the greatest challenge isn’t surviving the bullet-heaven – it’s knowing when to leave. Using a mid-battle extraction mechanic, players must decide at any moment whether to safely extract their hard-earned equipment and secure their progress, or risk everything for even greater rewards. Die, and you lose it all.
What’s in the Demo
Extract mid-battle or risk everything – safely recover your gear during a run, or push deeper into the corruption to gamble for legendary rewards.
Two demo-exclusive classes – each forged with its own distinct powers, offering a first taste of the wildly different playstyles waiting in the full game.
Pre-craft your builds with the Arsenal – take control of RNG by pre-selecting which abilities drop during an expedition, then craft specialized, screen-clearing elemental combos in the Eternal Tree.
Devastating boss encounters – channel gathered chaos to summon lethal bosses that test the limits of your build, and extract with the most powerful gear in the game.
Monthly Trials – each month brings a new sin-themed gauntlet, from greed to wrath and beyond. Climb the live leaderboard and claim exclusive in-game titles.
A Genre Fusion Built Around One Decision
Hellforged takes the addictive, screen-filling chaos of a bullet-heaven and welds it to the nerve of an extraction looter – two genres that shouldn’t fit together, built around a single tense decision you make again and again: leave now, or push your luck. Every expedition into the Blackspire is a fresh gamble.
Powerful gear modifiers, deep class fantasies, and the sprawling Eternal Tree talent system mean no two builds play alike, while the Arsenal lets you bend fate and chase the exact synergies you want. Stack enough chaos and you can summon the game’s deadliest bosses on your own terms – the ultimate test of a build, and the fastest route to its most overpowered loot. It is fast, readable, and deliberate: easy to pick up in the first minute, hard to put down once the greed sets in.
About Moonpyre Moonpyre Studio is a fresh indie team making action games with strong atmosphere, smooth controls, and a focus on gameplay that feels good from the first minute to the last. Founded by the co-founder of SquareNite, the studio behind Darfall (2025), Moonpyre was built around a simple idea – small teams can still make games that feel deliberate, refined, and rewarding to play. We believe polish is not about size. It is about care, clarity, and thousands of small decisions that make combat, movement, and progression feel right.
About Grindstone Grindstone is a video game production and publishing company with a strong background in RPG development based in Slovakia. It was founded as a spin-off from the well-established Slovakian development studio Games Farm to create new opportunities and support game developers in delivering creatively and commercially viable games that can compete on global markets. https://www.grindstone.sk/
Invade minds. Uncover the truth. Survive your past.
Meridiem is pleased to announce that Observer System Redux – Limited Edition will arrive physically for Nintendo Switch 2 on November 13th, 2026. Developed by Bloober Team, Observer System Redux is a first-person cyberpunk horror detective story set in a decaying, neon-scarred future.
Meridiem is responsible for designing and manufacturing of Observer System Redux- Limited Edition for Nintendo Switch 2 and will include a copy of the game, a special case, a lenticular 3D postcard, in-game ads cards and digital content!
The year is 2084. The future has turned out much darker than anyone could imagine. First, there was the Nanophage. A digital plague that killed thousands upon thousands of those who chose to augment their minds and bodies. Then came the War, leaving both the West and the East decimated and shattered. With no one left to seize power, corporations took over and forged their own crooked empires.
You are an Observer – a tool of corporate oppression. Feared and despised, you hack into the darkest corners of your suspects’ minds. You creep into their dreams, expose their fears, and extract whatever your investigation may require.
In this sci-fi tale crafted by Bloober Team – the modern-day masters of horror, prepare to experience a dystopian future where not even your innermost thoughts are safe.
Features
Become a Neural Detective: You play as Daniel Lazarski, an elite investigator of the future portrayed by late cyberpunk icon Rutger Hauer. As an Observer, you hack into the minds of suspects to extract clues and evidence. Anything they felt, thought, or remembered can and will be used to solve your case.
Eat Their Dreams: Using a device known as the Dream Eater, hack into the minds of the dead and dying to relive their final moments to explore their fears and obsessions. Delve into these twisted neural mazes and search for clues that can help you find the elusive killer.
Take in the Atmosphere of 2084: Enter a world ravaged by war and cyber-plague, where life is cheap and hope is scarce. Where most people will do anything to escape their grim existence. Virtual realities, mind-altering drugs, neural implants – pick your poison and drift away into a blissful oblivion. But remember, no matter how deep you go, you can never hide from an Observer.
Observer System Redux – Limited Edition will arrive physically for Nintendo Switch 2 (cartridge) on November 13th, 2026.
We are Meridiem, a video game publisher and distributor in love with its culture, which we protect and pass on in order to preserve it. We do this by fostering talent through investment in independent projects with potential, bringing back classic titles, promising indies and AAA games while continuing to support the physical format.
When we stop working on video games, we celebrate by playing video games. https://meridiem-games.com/ #PLAYTOREMEMBER.
About Bloober Team
Founded in 2008 and based in Kraków, Bloober Team is a passionate house of horror, creating deep and immersive experiences that linger with players. With over 250 creative professionals, they tell stories that are both terrifying and unforgettable.
Bloober Team’s award-winning lineup includes Layers of Fear, Blair Witch, Observer: System Redux, and The Medium. Their most celebrated project, developed with KONAMI, was the highly anticipated remake of SILENT HILL 2, which earned widespread acclaim, numerous awards, and nominations—including Game of the Year at the Horror Game Awards and Best Game of 2024 by IGN Japan.
The studio’s latest release, Cronos: The New Dawn—its first original survival horror IP—launched on September 5 across multiple platforms and received praise from both players and media, marking an important milestone for Bloober Team.
Today, Battlefield 6 released a deep dive video exploring its upcoming Top Gun collaboration, giving players an in-depth look at all the new content arriving August 18.
BATTLEFIELD 6 x TOP GUN — DEEP DIVE In this video, members of the Battlefield 6 development team break down the level of craft and artistry that went into building this collaboration and what you can expect when Battlefield 6 x Top Gun arrives on August 18, 2026, including a look at the incoming Carrier Strike mode, the new F-74A Seacat and the F/A-81F Super Spectre two-seater jets, and more.
About Battlefield Battlefield is a storied franchise renowned for uncompromising combat gameplay, and all-out warfare, for over two decades. 100 million players and 5 billion hours played later, Battlefield Studios is defining the future of the first-person shooter with the biggest launch in franchise history with Battlefield 6, and a new era beginning with Battlefield REDSEC.
New D23 Trailer Reveals A Vibrant World Inspired by Disney and Pixar’s Coco
SYDNEY (Aug. 17, 2026)– During D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event 2026, SQUARE ENIX and Disney & Pixar Games announced that the highly anticipated action-RPG KINGDOM HEARTS IV will release in late 2027 with a new trailer debuting at the Disney Entertainment Showcase, revealing the new in-game world inspired by Disney and Pixar’s Coco. Alongside this announcement, it was announced that ‘Kingdom Hearts’ (working title), an original anime series for Disney Channel and Disney+, is in development in collaboration with Tetsuya Nomura and the creative team at SQUARE ENIX
A panel during D23 titled DEEP DIVE into KINGDOM HEARTS commemorated 25 years of the franchise, discussing how the saga united Disney, Pixar, and SQUARE ENIX, with insights from the creative minds, character voice talent and more. The panel was livestreamed to audiences around the world and unveiled an extended trailer of KINGDOM HEARTS IV for fans to enjoy.
Watch the extended KINGDOM HEARTS IV D23 trailer
KINGDOM HEARTS IV follows protagonist Sora and some familiar characters as they journey though the mysterious city of Quadratum, where dark creatures known as the Heartless are causing havoc. In the next chapter of the beloved series, Sora will once again journey to various worlds inspired by Disney and Pixar, where new figures cross his path and new powers awaken.
This new trailer revealed a plethora of new information about KINGDOM HEARTS IV, including the return of familiar faces like Sora’s friends Donald Duck and Goofy. Fans will be able to play as Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Goofy as they seek to uncover information about Sora’s whereabouts.
KINGDOM HEARTS IV will be available for Nintendo Switch™ 2, PlayStation®5, XBOX Series X|S and PC in late 2027 and is available to wish list now. For more information, visit: https://www.kingdomhearts.com/
About the KINGDOM HEARTS SeriesKINGDOM HEARTS is a series of role-playing games created through the collaboration of Disney and Square Enix. Since the first KINGDOM HEARTS was released in March 2002 for the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system, the series has expanded with several additional entries. The series has shipped over 39 million units worldwide.
About Square Enix, Inc.
Ranked as the #1 Publisher of the Year in 2025 by Metacritic.
Square Enix, Inc. develops, publishes, distributes and licenses SQUARE ENIX and TAITO branded entertainment content throughout the Americas as part of the Square Enix group of companies. The Square Enix group of companies boasts a valuable portfolio of intellectual property including: FINAL FANTASY, which has sold over 212 million units worldwide; DRAGON QUEST, which has sold over 97 million units worldwide; and the legendary SPACE INVADERS. Square Enix, Inc. is a U.S.-based, wholly owned subsidiary of Square Enix Holdings Co., Ltd.
Nintendo Switch is a trademark of Nintendo. XBOX Series X|S, the Games for Windows logo and XBOX logos are registered trademarks or trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies and are used under license. All other trademarks are properties of their respective owners.
The story-driven horror adventure brings more unsettling dread to Sal and his friends
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | August 16, 2026 –Sally Face 2, the supernatural, post- apocalypse adventure from developer Portable Moose, reveals unrelenting horror and dark adventures for Steam Early Access with consoles and mobile ports to come at a later date.
Continuing after the haunting climax of Sally Face, Sal and his friends continue to navigate a dark and unforgiving world where terror lurks around every corner and even the release of death holds no relief. Guide this broken group of survivors in a horrifying narrative-driven adventure game filled with complex puzzles and gut-wrenching story twists inspired by 90’s cartoons and other nightmarish visions.
Sally Face 2 is a single-player, side-scrolling, narrative-driven adventure game and sequel to the original supernatural adventure, Sally Face. Guide Sal and his three friends through a dark world devoid of hope and filled with mind breaking terror. With everything falling apart and death brings no solace, Sally Face 2 asks “what’s left to hold on to?”
Narrative Driven Horror – Get lost in a sinister post apocalypse world where unremitting threats lurk around every turn. Uncover a story of lost hope and encroaching darkness where no one is safe and each revelation is more shocking than the last.
Brain Bending Puzzles – Fight for survival by solving challenging puzzles and cryptic brain teasers to bring more revelations and mystery to a twisted world. Sally Face 2 also offers a hint system for those looking for a smoother, more forgiving experience.
Inspiration from 90’s Cartoons and Terrifying Nightmares – Sally Face 2 continues the frightening blend of unimaginable horror drawn from nightmares and classic 90s cartoons with each character, enemies, and environment.
Hand Crafted Horror Made by Humans – Every aspect of Sally Face 2 is handcrafted from human hands, human creativity and human horror. There is not a single instance of A.I. generated content in the game.
“The community’s anticipation for Sally Face 2 has been inspiring, and we are excited to finally share a look at what we’ve been building,” said Portable Moose Founder Steve Gabry. “ Sally Face 2 is much more ambitious than the original, pushing the boundaries on art and tech beyond what was possible with the first game. The teaser is only a small taste of what’s to come.”
Sally Face 2will release on PC via Steam Early Access with consoles and mobile ports to come at a later date.
Portable Moose is an independent game development team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania USA. Created by award- winning indie game developer Steve Gabry in 2015, the studio grew to a four person team in 2025. Portable Moose focuses on creating narrative- driven games such as Sally Face and the upcoming Sally Face 2.
Taking to the skies to take down Grimclaw and his mechanical army we step into the role of Bowie, the leader of the Blue Bombers. Watch as our squad, including Roe, Chuck, and Thorne, fight all the way through the numerous stages and win in the end against Grimclaw in Balor Games’ Wild Blue Skies.
Wild Blue Skies – Full Playthrough
Wild Blue Skies is an exhilarating aerial combat adventure inspired by classic arcade flight games, placing players in the cockpit of a highly customizable aircraft as they soar through vibrant skies and dangerous battle zones. Set in a colorful world threatened by rival factions and mysterious forces, players join an elite squadron tasked with protecting the skies while uncovering secrets hidden beyond the horizon. Fast-paced dogfights, cinematic set-pieces, and daring aerial maneuvers combine to create an action-packed experience that captures the thrill of classic airborne adventures.
Players can upgrade and customize their aircraft with a variety of weapons, gadgets, and performance enhancements to suit their preferred combat style. Missions range from escort operations and high-speed pursuits to massive aerial battles against powerful bosses and enemy squadrons. With its charming presentation, responsive flight controls, and emphasis on arcade-style fun, Wild Blue Skies delivers a nostalgic yet modern take on the flight action genre.
Wild Blue Skies Developer: Chuhai Labs, VITEI BACKROOM Inc. Publisher: Balor Games Platform: PC/Steam, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5 Release Date: 13th August, 2026 Price: $14.99 USD
Not Recommended – “Wild Blue Skies looks the part, but shallow design, its barebones story, and noticeable technical issues leave this on‑rails shooter struggling to stay airborne.”
When it comes to life-sim games, many like to focus on having simple mechanics or tend to focus solely on working on a farm, growing closer to the villagers, and then raising a family with a few adding some extra spice with combat and magical creatures. This type of genre has grown in popularity and complexity throughout the years with more companies taking risks with taking the genre and seeing just how far they can stretch it and Kynseed is probably one of the furthest yet. Originally an early-access game on PC in 2018 before its full launch in 2022, developers PixelCount Studios have still been plugging away at adding features all the way up until the full console release of the game. So now that Kynseed has arrived featuring a plethora of content and its own unique brand of humor and life-sim, is it worth checking out?
Story
After taking part in a personality quiz within their dreams to apply some stat boosts and eventually obtain a special item, players will select from playing as either the male or female twin of a set of twins. These orphaned twins, who live with the Old Lady who Lives in a shoe with too many children, are suddenly adopted by someone they call Uncle Bill and are taken to his farm for the summer, able to get the hang of things and learn their way around the land of Quill and its people. Uncle Bill introduces the player to a wide-array of tasks and small simple missions such as making a friend, milking a cow, cooking a recipe, or even making an iron bucket to hold cows milk. All the while time passes and, as players play as a teenager, they are limited to certain tasks and find doors out of town locked and pass out directly at 11PM with no consequence.
As players complete the various tasks their sibling will simply go along with things while the player learns the ropes in the extremely extended prologue until the player reaches the end and it is revealed that the sinister looking wooden statues built around the town and mysterious ruins etched with unknown glyphs are far more than window dressing, they have an actual purpose. When this purpose is revealed not only is the player forced to make a horrific choice but also kickstarts their full connection to the world of the fae.
That same night, the player follows fairy lights to meet with the incredibly creepy fae Mr. Fairweather who informs them that the world will be in great peril eventually and they have the power to repel it all, but it will come at a price. Fairweather will grant the player the Kynseed, a magical seed that can grow in size and pass on the powers of one generation of player to their children if need be, at the cost of five years of their life. Suddenly jumping five years forward in time triggers an acute loss within the family and confrontation but outside of that, it brings the player to adulthood and unleashes them on the world to tackle however they see fit with sprinkles of actual story development here and there.
Now one thing must be noted right out of the gate and that is the prologue/tutorial is excessively long yet at the same time doesn’t even begin to cover some of the many elements that players will eventually have to deal with involving the gameplay and how to advance the story properly. For the most part though the story is decent enough with it’s fair share of fairy tales being worked in here and there, both dark ones and more light-hearted ones, and the multitudes of characters that players come across all have a different type of personality setting but it is worth noting that this is not the type of game many other life-sims are when it comes to characters.
While a general life-sim will have a set number of romance characters with specific likes and dislikes, Kynseed randomizes every character’s gift preferences and makes practically everyone that is an adult and not a fae romanceable, including already married people. Given the game does feature time skips and events where characters can literally die off, it is also one where players may find a notice on a signboard that the blacksmith owner was chosen as a sacrifice or that the eldest member of a family that hated them has passed away from old age. Similarly, new characters will be generated to fill in the gaps of these deceased characters or to move into buildings that players repair, something that does wonders for their “reputation” which is how players eventually will move the plot along. This means that while there is funny dialogue and events where some characters can talk about their past dreams, these are almost always generic and tend to be repeated since most characters are simply blank slates. Hell, outside of the player’s twin, no one even comments about the fact that the player was missing for five years or potentially missing another year here and there. Or even interacting with the player’s child that has inherited the Kynseed rather than the original character.
Outside of the main story, which as mentioned before players will need to reach certain reputation levels to unlock additional stages of, there are various signboard quests that range from simply racing a pig for the best time, delivering items, finding a lost item, or even inflicting someone with something like flatulence as a prank. Or, in other cases, players may find ghosts haunting a building and they’ll need to “appease” them to make them move on and stop terrorizing the people within, usually through committing some evil deed or something similar. These types of unique interactions help give the title enough unique flavoring and humor to make it worthwhile even though the characters themselves tend to be rather lacking. That and the pacing of the story and the heavy grind to get anywhere in it can make it rather tedious more than enjoyable at times.
Gameplay
As mentioned before, the lengthy prologue serves as a tutorial for many elements of Kynseed’s gameplay while also introducing the various elements that help set it apart from other games in the genre. First and foremost, there is no energy system in any shape or form once players become an adult. This means that they can stay out and adventure as long as they want and the game will autosave when the day rolls over at 6AM. It is possible to take naps at campfires or sleep back at home to save as well, but this isn’t necessary as the player’s health also isn’t affected in any way outside of actually fighting an enemy in the forest zones.
Instead players will be given a variety of tools to make use of, proverbs to find and learn the various ways to increase the “star ratings” of everything from fish, fruits from trees, and even mined minerals. Chopping wood comes from specific trees that literally look like they are growing lumber, slingshots can shoot apples or pears out of trees for a chance at a better rating or higher yield, and even using the hand-scythe can produce extra seeds once players have become more “skilled” at using them through repetition. Similarly there are various Masters throughout the game that will teach players additional skills as long as players can deliver the proper items to them. This includes things such as being able to see what fish are available on a map (once it is unlocked via finding every map stone in the zone) by turning in the correct fish to the Fish Master, the ability to snag fish when casting, and more. Similarly players can turn in cooked food to the Cooking Master to gain special effects such as double-produce, higher quality and other bonuses which will be essential for the various grinding elements.
You see, while Kynseed does have a primary plot and does easily point the player in the right direction, for the most part it is also stalled whenever their “reputation” isn’t high enough to continue. Raising the player’s reputation can be done a number of ways such as completing requests from townsfolk, fighting enemies in the various forests, befriending townsfolk, rebuilding bridges or destroyed homes to provide new places for people to live, and especially purchasing and managing a shop. All while also trying to manage the player’s farm if they so wish. Actually managing the farm is a simple enough endeavor as watering plants is incredibly simple since the watering can is bottomless and crops won’t wither if left unwatered, animals seem like they won’t die if they go without food but they will not produce milk or eggs or listen to the player’s “pet whistle” if their mood is too low.
Speaking of which, there are no horses because they’ve apparently gone extinct/are fantasy creatures. Instead everyone rides pigs and that will be the best way players can move around quickly without making use of the Goddess statues to teleport at the price of an apple or making use of the twisted woods of the fae if players have the proper key obtained from Mr. Fairfield. Either way, players have an infinite inventory space and nothing degrades over time, nor do requests from villagers. Even if a request says a character must be “fed” or something similar within a certain time frame the quest won’t fail if players miss it, it’ll simply reappear at the same time the next day. That being said, players are also not able to “ship” items for money. Instead they can only sell items for a limited amount of money that each store has or earn gold from completing tasks from villagers. This gold is then used for things such as purchasing new recipes, more seeds to grow on the farm, additional animals (including dogs and cats), or straight up buying a business eventually.
Depending on the business that players purchase they will also find themselves needing to re-hire staff, keep the business stocked with items or manage it themselves by crafting items that are requested by customers. This is the cheaper method and Kynseed does offer a few shortcuts here and there since correctly completing certain item mini-games three times will give players the ability to mass produce a product as long as they have enough ingredients. That being said, a large portion of the mini-games that are involved with the crafting are poorly explained even in the tutorial and especially during gameplay where new elements are added to more complex items. For example, there’s never an indication that players can adjust the cooking temperature of the stove, meaning a number of poor quality meals came out until random button pressings revealed the ability to lower and strengthen the heat to properly balance out how hot or cold the ingredients were getting inside of the dish.
There is a certain level of accomplishment that comes from making progress, however incremental, in Kynseed. But boy does it feel like following a crumb trail at times due to the grind and high level of demand the game requires, especially with how easy it is to feel overwhelmed with what the game throws at players. Yes, it is entirely possible to take things slow and sacrifice the player’s original character to pass their abilities and reputation to one of their children through the Kynseed if they die of old age, but it feels forced at times and often poorly thought out, especially since it never really feels necessary unless players are dying rapidly in the forest fights or spending their years recklessly at Fairfield’s shop.
Speaking of fighting, the combat in Kynseed is something of a strange beast because it is an “active turn” style battling system where the player and enemies have an attack gauge that fills up over time. Before venturing into a forest, of which there are three each with their own difficulty level, players will select a sword of choice, various charms that can help increase their defense against certain enemy types, and even bring a pet with them to help out in species specific ways. Once in a fight players will have three spaces they can move up and down along to dodge incoming attacks and can attack enemies either straight ahead or diagonally from them with enemies being able to spawn on either 3 or all 4 squares. Pressing the matching face button will allow players to attack an enemy in that square if they can reach them, though it is worth noting it is impossible to attack an enemy in the far back except for with a bow, though bow and arrows are meant more to interrupt enemy actions and stun them than to properly slay them. There is a little bit of leeway here as players can adjust enemy attack speed in the settings but they can still hit like a truck if players are unprepared. Winning a battle not only provides various enemy drops and rewards but also the chance to take what the player has acquired so far and flee safely. Push too far and players might find themselves being taken down and “revived” at the cost of a year of their life.
Audio & Visuals
Kynseed does feature some gorgeous pixel art for its world design and characters. Sure, the character portraits might not be the best around, but the actual character sprites are nice and detailed looking given how many variations there are. A lot of credit also has to be given to making sure the various fae designs range from incredibly creepy to charming, making it a shame that a few aren’t romanceable. The world that players travel through also features a wide-array of different feeling biomes and ruins, including plenty of creepy locations that will make players wonder how, if at all, they’ll come into play later. The enemy designs are also handled well when players are in the game’s combat zones.
There is no voice work of any kind but the game does feature some great sounding background music including fitting adventuring music while traveling around the world or more intense when battling against enemies in a forest.
Overall
Kynseed is a strange beast of a life sim. It offers a wide array of mini-games to help keep things feeling fresh even if instructions are often vague at first all while giving players countless ways to approach how they want to grow their legend. The biggest issue though is the grind. Every single task, whether it is fighting, farming, repairing something, building a business, or even marriage, is a grind. This is far from a bad thing on its own as Kynseed does offer its own unique style of charm, but it isn’t quite unique enough to demand nearly as much as it tries to at times. As a result, while Kynseed may offer a massive amount of content once players get past the lengthy prologue, the lackluster characters and overwhelming grind is something that will likely only hook the most hardcore fans of the genre.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
BERLIN, GERMANY— Aug. 15, 2026 – Get rrrrrroary to rumble! Dino Party, the chaotic party brawler by Studio Nachtwerk, launches today on PC via Steam!
Fight to the top of a giant dinosaur tournament, juggling chaotic minigames with snappy combat. Punch, shield, and dodge your way through fast-paced challenges while scoring goals, stealing stars, and sabotaging friends on the path to victory. Grab two to four players online or on the couch for replayable 15-minute matches where every round is settled with punches.
Battle above bubbling lava pits, slick winter wonderlands, lush soccer fields, and sky-high stages filled with moving platforms, falling tiles, rapid conveyor belts and other unpredictable hazards. Keep an eye out for thunderstorms approaching, meteors falling from the sky and other random events that shake up every round!
Cover those claws in boxing gloves and further customize dinos with more than 120 unlockable cosmetics, including flower hats, floating UFOs, safety cones, and even different dinosaur species. Then make every match distinct by creating custom lobbies with personalized rules and randomized events.
“We wanted Dino Party to be the kind of game where you’re laughing with your friends one moment and yelling at each other the next,” said Florian Wolf, co-creator. “Those moments are what party games are all about, and we built Dino Party to create exactly that!”
Dino Party shifts the scales from minigames to big brawls today on PC via Steam for $11.99 / €12.25, with support for 16 languages at launch including English, Japanese, Chinese (Simplified, Traditional), Korean, French, Italian, German, Spanish (Spain and Latin America), Polish, Russian, Turkish, Indonesian, Portuguese (Brazil) and Portuguese (Portugal).
Studio Nachtwerk is a two-person indie game studio based in Berlin. Founded by game design students Florian Wolf and Philipp Wagner, Studio Nachtwerk is focused on creating fun, memorable, social multiplayer experiences that generate stories players want to share.
Arc System Works are known for taking other franchises and putting their own spin on the fighting genre with those characters. They have now gone for the top of the crop, snagging the Marvel license to make a stylistic version of some of your favourite heroes. Iron Man, Spidey, Storm, you know the cast. It’s the forefront of the Marvel spectacle here in a new take for a fighter, but does Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls make a splash on consoles, or is it one to pass in this saturated franchise? Let’s find out.
Story
Marvel Tokon has us select an Episode of a preset team right from the start, allowing players to get used to the mechanics by taking them through their own unique perspective on this tale. The narrative is simple. The Champion, a mysterious new foe, has risen up, and he wants to find the best of the best. Teams align and do battle through the universe here, and it’s a pretty entertaining, albeit short tale that allows players to simply fight their way to a climax, with animated cutscenes in tow. Sure, it could have been more fleshed out, but we know these characters and this story really just puts a small spin on a quick story mode to do the job, and what Fighting Souls has here is decent enough to warrant a good playthrough of each Episode without much issue.
Gameplay
This is where Arc cooks. Marvel Tokon is a fast-paced 4v4 fighter, where each squad share a life bar and can be interchanged to do battle. I know just looking at it will draw comparisons to Marvel vs Capcom or even the old Marvel fighters from the past, but it feels a bit different here as the game is really built around the style of the fights, rather than gimmickry. Each one of the 20 characters within comes with their own unique moveset, which is stacked with light, heavy, aerial, and special attacks, which means you will do combat everywhere within one stage. Sure, the game is a 2D fighter, but the world expands as you fight, and that is kind of where this title gets its own persona.
The environments are not fully interactive, but they can break and open up new portions of famed landmarks to do battle at. Think how Mortal Kombat did this with Deception and other titles, and you have almost the same approach here, but with worlds that feel more fluid and connected. The combat never comes to a halt during these sequences, always staying sharp no matter where you may be. In some ways, I found the normal AI to be a bit easy, even on other difficulties, but again- this is a game really showing off the full spectrum of every personality in combat, rather than trying to be a technical beast. To sum it up, it’s more about peacock than skill, where you can dive into stunning combos and menacing team moves to dominate the other side, rather than just hunt for weaknesses of every pixel within.
Speaking of combos, this system is effective and smooth as butter. Some fighters come with some accessibility challenges or curves, and this title is able to be picked up instantly, where the gameplay feels natural to any newcomer. That doesn’t mean skill isn’t a factor, as it still is a well-balanced fighter from some of the best developers in the business, but Tokon feels unique and the many modes within will keep things interesting, with a full online Ranked and Casual base to go after.
There is also Arcadia Rumble, which is a light fare where players can explore and fight with others in a more 3D environment, and while it’s neat, I didn’t find a lot of value here. The core game is enough, but I think expanding on this IP in other ways, such as Rumble, would have benefitted replayability more, and there aren’t a lot of options that do not feel the same outside of this little nifty mode. In some ways, I want to say Tokon doesn’t feel like it’s trying to be its own franchise, and that is kind of refreshing. It seems like a one-off that this team did for fun, and while I do think the mechanics are fun, there just isn’t enough depth to really do much more than experience this familiar roster in a new light.
Audio
The sound here is great. The voice actors, of course, are different, but do an amazing job capturing the personas of Deadpool, Wolverine, and so on without much issue. When you are dealing with such known faces, that can be difficult, but some are eerily similar to their on-screen characters, so kudos to the amazing voice team here. The environments also sound great and full of life, which is great due to how the wall breaks expand stages. The music is also decent, offering more original tunes that still give us that Marvel atmosphere – while still staying true to that new approach Arc System Works were going with here.
Visuals
Fighting Souls is also a very pretty game. The level of detail in these 2D animated characters is staggering. Each one looks stunning, and they animate flawlessly despite the heavy amount of chaos on screen. The animation also expands to the stage designs, where it’s hard not to have background characters catch your eye with easter eggs, paying homage to this vast property. The cutscenes are also incredible, but I do think the comic book panel sections just are a little too basic in comparison to the rest of the presentation. Overall, Marvel Tokon is Marvel Tokon and not trying to look and be like anything else, and that is really where the appeal is found in this beautiful design.
Overall
I think what makes Marvel such a special license to have is that you can really do your own spin on it and make something that will appeal to someone. Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls exists for that reason. It’s a fun fighter that has legs of its own, with a definitive look and feel that may attract anime and other fans to give this title a spin. Sure, it does come a bit limited in terms of content, but everything here is original and built from the ground up. There is something very respectable about this title existing in a market full of sequels and franchises, as Fighting Souls is a nice side offering that is surely a pit-stop for those wanting a new way to fight as these iconic teams.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
