Monster-summoning Action RPG 3D Sword of the Necromancer: Resurrection announces release date After a delay to avoid busy launch schedule, the game finally launches January 23, 2025
Barcelona, Spain – December 18th, 2024 -The wait is finally over! Grimorio of Games is thrilled to announce that Sword of the Necromancer: Resurrection, the 3D remake of the cult ARPG, will launch on January 23, 2025.
Available on PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch, this reimagined version of the beloved original promises an exciting blend of nostalgia and innovation.
Sword of the Necromancer: Resurrection brings the classic story of love, loss, and redemption into a new dimension. With fully revamped 3D graphics inspired by the sixth generation of consoles, a dynamic and fluid combat system, and the ability to program your summoned creatures with the innovative “Tactics” system, players will experience the world of Sword of the Necromancer like never before.
“We’ve taken everything fans loved about the original game and pushed it to the next level,” said the Grimorio of Games development team. “From the art style to the gameplay mechanics, this is a fresh yet familiar experience that will appeal to both returning players and newcomers alike.”
What’s New in Resurrection?
• A new dimension: 3D graphics inspired by sixth-generation console classics and brought to life with modern flair. • A reimagined combat system: Fast-paced, strategic battles with dodges, combos, and fluid animations. • Tactics system for summoned creatures: Customize the behaviour of your resurrected allies to guard, attack, or prioritize key targets. • Local co-op mode: Team up with a friend for even more exciting dungeon-crawling adventures. • Infinite replayability: With a combination of procedurally generated dungeons and handcrafted levels, every playthrough offers a unique experience. Discover new enemies, allies, and secrets with each run. Take on Roguelite Mode to truly test your skills!
A Tale of Love and Redemption
Follow Tama, a former bandit turned bodyguard, on her journey to bring her beloved Koko back to life. Using the forbidden power of the Sword of the Necromancer, Tama must descend into a dangerous dungeon filled with enemies, secrets, and hard choices.
This remake not only revisits the original’s heartfelt narrative but also adds new cinematics and expanded lore, deepening the connection to its characters and world.
Ready to Begin Your Adventure?
Mark your calendars for January 23, 2025, and add Sword of the Necromancer: Resurrection to your wishlist today. The crypt of the Necromancer awaits!
Grimorio of Games is a small team based in Barcelona. After developing the hyper-active action platformer Super Hyperactive Ninja, Grimorio of Games released Sword of the Necromancer, a top-down 2D Action RPG with roguelike elements, in 2021.
The game was released digitally on January 2021 for PC, Xbox One, PS4 and Nintendo Switch, and had a physical release in Europe for PS4 and Switch in September. In November, the game received PS5 and Xbox Series versions, thus being released in all current platforms.
Sword of the Necromancer previously had a very successful Kickstarter campaign that raised over $200K with more than 5500 backers.
Visual novels have long been used to tell stories through a simplistic but effective medium that often gives players choices to make to change the route of the story they are following but can also be completely static, telling a one route storyline. Throughout the years these visual novels have taken on many forms and genres, ranging from completely serious takes on war and loss, futuristic worlds being explored or interactions with fantasy races, and of course plenty of dating games and the numerous “subversions” of the genre. With CELL 0: Cyber Entertainment Leisure Lounge, players are treated to a prequel of sorts that the developer hopes will lead into a continuing series and deals with the apocalyptic rise of AI that has gone unchecked. With this small team and some big dreams, is this indie visual novel worth checking out?
Story
Humanity is extinct. No one knows exactly what happened, because there is no one left to know. All that remains, for what one man knows, is himself and the CELL that he has existed in since he was born. Kenzo has spent his eighteen years of life within the few rooms of CELL with only virtual simulators to interact with and his AI caretaker/assistant Acine. Despite being the only resident of the CELL, Acine keeps strict limitations on what she can tell Kenzo and has various limitations to her own interactions, something that has driven Kenzo slowly to the brink as his fragile state of mind continues to fracture under the crushing loneliness that is his existence.
Through Acine’s teachings and Kenzo’s own recollection of her teachings, humanity was ended by the unstoppable AI called Omniscient that was given complete control over most of humanity’s utilities and nearly everything else and suddenly chose to eliminate humanity for reasons unknown. The CELL, a secure facility buried deep underground and separate from the grand network, was the only thing to survive. Beyond that, Acine keeps everything of his history or anything related to herself secret, inaccessible without proper admin privileges. With Kenzo seemingly the last human and finding his mental and physical state only growing more disturbed to the point that Acine even breaches some of her own protocols to try and maintain the CELL’s structure. That is until Acine receives a message, a message from another CELL that survived and changes Kenzo’s potential future forever.
CELL 0: Cyber Entertainment Leisure Lounge serves as a prologue to what the developers call the CELL visual novel series and for an introduction it works quite well. It is a bit on the shorter side, as a standard playthrough from beginning to end will take about two hours, or a little more, depending on the player’s reading speed but it is worth noting that to actually experience everything the story has to offer, including learning more about the world, the AI advancements and changes that happened to create the end of the world, as well as about Kenzo and Acine themselves, the player will need to play through not only to obtain all three endings, but a few more times as well as certain pieces of information are kept tucked away behind certain choices and a few of these are shockingly relevant to expanding the world, including what potentially will happen in future entries.
It is worth noting that CELL 0 is heavily tech influenced with a lot of its storyline revolving around AI and the dangers of such a quantum level AI gaining power. Beyond AI related terms quite a few technical and psychological pieces of jargon are also used that players may not recognize at first. Two of the three routes in-game are heavily focused around the emotional attachment that someone may develop with an AI, especially when that is all someone has to interact with while the third route can be seen as the “true” route and even this one is highly emotional, giving many of these culminating moments quite a lot of impact.
As for the characters themselves, Kenzo is a heavily flawed protagonist to the point that he is almost unlikable, though it is easy to understand why he is this way thanks to his limited upbringing, especially once other characters are introduced and players get to see how being raised within CELL can lead its residents to develop some rather extreme personalities, one way or another. As for Acine, as an AI companion she is meant to play off of Kenzo as a caretaker/assistant but it isn’t hard to see how she is perhaps one of the best characters in the story through her reactions and scoldings of Kenzo, limited as they may be, though the three introduced near the end that will likely serve as the main heroines of the series, are quite interesting as well, especially a certain psychotic one.
Gameplay
Being a visual novel, the gameplay aspects for CELL 0: Cyber Entertainment Leisure Lounge are rather limited as players will simply be able to click through dialogue or set the game to auto play as they read. There is no dialogue log to access as players can simply tap the back button on the dialogue window to reread any dialogue they may want to double-check or even select a different choice if they so wish as it serves as more of a rewind button than anything else. Players can also use the Skip option to skip any previously seen text, making it easier to play through the game a separate time and see the other endings that are available or how various choices can affect bits of dialogue.
While there are only a limited number of choices in CELL 0: Cyber Entertainment Leisure Lounge the game does feature three separate endings and, ironically, what many may consider to be the worst of the three seemed to be the hardest of all to obtain as player choice leading up to a certain point will lock them into either that bad ending or continue further. It is worth noting that there are at least three playthroughs required to see every ending but more will be required to see every instance of new dialogue thanks to the various choices and how some delve deeper into the world’s lore.
It is rather unfortunate to say that, despite a recent patch arriving, the game does suffer from some really awkward dialogue from time to time and occasionally appears to be missing adjectives and verbs to properly describe what is actually happening or what characters are talking about. This can lead to some rather odd readings and happen too frequently to simply ignore. It is also worth noting that the title does feature quite a lot of technical jargon and AI terms as well, meaning those that might not be well-versed in some subjects might need to pause and check the meanings of words as the title doesn’t offer an in-game glossary for more complicated terms. In fact, only occasionally will players notice the menu button flash yellow in the top right corner, indicating a new piece of information that can be viewed relating to the current conversation and these focus solely on in-universe lore and events, not term explanations.
Audio & Visual
It is nice to say that a lot of love has been given to the character portraits in CELL 0: Cyber Entertainment Leisure Lounge. While Kenzo himself is rarely shown, only appearing in a few CGs (there is no CG gallery) or dream manga-esque panels, the rest of the characters are given quite a bit of detail and care. Obviously the one given the most attention is Acine as she is the most active character interacting with the player and has a wide range of expressions and poses as she reacts to Kenzo’s strange behaviors. The other three characters; Enaid, Lav, and Hirai are also given a decent amount of detail but it is interesting to note that the artists took an authentic feeling approach to their portraits. Since these characters interact only through an amateur rigged holograph being forced through systems that weren’t designed for it, having their character portraits glitchy and distorted is a nice touch, especially when just enough details are given of their facial expressions. It is worth noting that the aforementioned manga styled panels are drawn in a fairly unique fashion as well and serve as some disturbing reminders about Kenzo’s mental state.
It is worth noting that this visual novel does not have a dub of any kind, meaning players will need to read all of the written text. This isn’t too much of an issue as this can be standard for indie visual novels and thankfully the background music works rather well throughout the game. Some of the tracks are a bit on the repetitive and simple side, especially early on, but there are some great pieces of background music mixed in near the end, especially if players interact with Lav and the final song used deserves a special recommendation as well.
Overall
CELL 0: Cyber Entertainment Leisure Lounge is a compelling prologue that shows some great promise for future entries in the CELL series. While this prologue is brief and there are some dialogue inconsistencies that may leave players wishing for a bit more polish, the story, characters, and intriguing world-building make it a worthwhile and memorable experience. Its exploration of AI’s dangers and the psychological toll of isolation provides an emotional depth that resonates, especially when paired with the eerie, glitchy visuals and impactful character designs. With multiple endings and extra lore hidden behind choices players will be enticed to play through more than once even if some of the technical jargon might be a bit off-putting overall. Cell 0 is an emotional visual novel that is testing some interesting waters and at a fairly low entry point, this introduction to what has the potential to be a much larger storyline is definitely worth checking out.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
In a futuristic world AI has destroyed the entirety of humanity. Kenzo was born and raised within the protective CELL system isolated from the world and has spent his entire life raised by an AI caretaker until he finally begins to lose it. That all changes however as a message of hope arrives from another CELL and a potential future as we play through CELL 0: Cyber Entertainment Leisure Lounge and reach ending 1 1, one of three possible endings in the indie visual novel.
CELL 0: Cyber Entertainment Leisure Lounge Full Playthrough – Ending 1 1
CELL is a short non-linear visual novel in a post-apocalypse/cyberpunk setting. Kenzo is an artificially grown human who lived his entire life alone isolated with a sweet, but artificial service intelligence. He’s not okay. Help him to go through the disturbing situation he’s about to get into.
CELL 0: Cyber Entertainment Leisure Lounge Developer: Någon Annan Publisher: Någon Annan Platform: Windows Release Date: 10th December, 2024 Price: $7.99 USD
Recommended – “CELL 0: Cyber Entertainment Leisure Lounge delivers a gripping sci-fi story prologue with emotional depth, replayability, and unique visuals, though being jargon heavy and dialogue flaws hold it back.”
Foster real connections in free-to-play virtual social app
MANCHESTER, UK – December 19, 2024 – StageTime, the virtual social app for connecting and sharing the joy of performing, makes its grand debut on the virtual Meta Quest stage on Thursday, January 16, 2025.
Hop into a lively cyberspace primed for singalongs, social interactions, and epic performances envisioned by an ex-software engineer from a top social VR platform, and creator of the leading VR karaoke space. Create memories and lasting connections in this immersive, virtual venue. Invite up to 10 friends into a bustling performance room and put on a rockin’ gig, funny standup act, or a heartfelt poetry recital.
Aspiring entertainers can quickly and easily get the party started. StageTime offers a zero friction process, placing players in public rooms without the need to set up an account, eliminating pesky barriers and allowing partygoers to immediately dive into the festivities. This seamless integration is one of many key features that sets StageTime apart from other social apps in the VR space. Customize an avatar fit for a superstar with multiple options for hair colors and styles, skin tones, accessories, and more.
Stage all-out performances, complete with full-body avatar representation. Vocal animations sync to each person’s voice, creating a seamless and captivating experience. Every twirl, tap, and move is rendered in VR. Take the spotlight for all to see, or sit back, enjoy others’ performances, and cheer them on along the way!
Using YouTube connectivity, StageTime allows users to sync their favorite videos to share with others in real time. Become the life of the party and pick any video to share with friends. StageTime allows seamless sync for each user, so there are no pesky delays or lag to drag down the party. The in-game LIV creator kit also offers a camera for recording and selfie options in first, third, and landscape perspectives.
“My goal is to present StageTime as a new way to connect with people through shared experiences in a live, virtual setting,” said Hamza Qureshi, Founder of Virtuware. “By blending performance and connection, StageTime invites people everywhere to celebrate creativity, share their talent, and forge meaningful moments together.”
The party continues following StageTime’s launch, as Virtuware’s vision is to continue providing support in the long-term. Fans of the social platform can look forward to a robust content roadmap, with plans to integrate new venues and environments, additional customization options for stellar avatar designs, and monetization with the ability to purchase avatar emotes, cosmetics, and more.
StageTime launches for free worldwide on the Meta store on Thursday, January 16, 2025. For more information on the game, please visit the official website, follow StageTime on TikTok, and join the community Discord.
About Virtuware
Virtuware is a development studio based out of Manchester, UK. With several years of experience in the VR space, Virtuware aims to create fun and engaging experiences for users through social connections.
Stalkers in the Zone will find unique winter artefacts and anomalies, breathtaking encounters with icy mutants, and battles with holiday bosses!
CREATE A FESTIVE ATMOSPHERE WITH CHRISTMAS TREES!
Players have the opportunity to dress their own Christmas Tree with festive decorations, each earning extra points.
The more extravagantly the tree is decorated, the greater the daily reward will be.
Decorations for the tree could be found or obtained through the following activities:
Random appearance in various boxes and barrels
Gifts scattered across all locations
Human campgrounds and mutant dens (with some chance from regular events)
Holiday bosses in locations
Holiday airdrops.
At the end of the event, a summary will be held where each participant will receive a reward depending on their place on the leaderboard. Decorate, receive daily gifts, and compete for the coolest and most beautiful Christmas tree!
UNIQUE SEASONAL REWARDS
This season, you can expect unique rewards, including the Antares Exosuit—a new scientific armor specially created for the harsh conditions of the Zone. By the way, in the new North, faction safes can now be found, so don’t miss the chance to loot some cool stuff!
STALCRAFT: X is available to play for free now via Steam and the EXBO launcher.
An update brings new racing game mode and a set of new futuristic vehicle parts
Gaijin Entertainment announces the release of the “Wasteland Drift” update and the start of the Christmas holidays celebration in the post-apocalyptic online action game Crossout. Players are getting a series of time-limited game modes with non-standard rules, the next season of the battle pass with rewards from the Syndicate faction, a new Syndicate-style PvP map, and new parts for armored vehicles.
A good example of new Syndicate-built weapons is the “Punji” turret, which allows you to install energy rods on the battlefield. Two such objects, located at a distance of up to 30 meters, generate a force field, and if the enemy crosses it, they receive significant damage. Another example, the “Satori” cabin, is ideal for drifting fans: the armored vehicle’s skidding increases the weapon’s damage, and the longer the skid lasts, the better.
The new map “New Fuji” features remains of the destroyed energy infrastructure, and some of those are still intact. For example, the players can turn on the generator to reactivate the system for a while and release an impulse that affects both allies and enemies. The oriental flavor of the map and the Syndicate faction as a whole is illustrated by the tracks Shamisen Hunter, Kariya and Twilight Samurai by musician Satxri, which were also added to Crossout in the “Wasteland Drift” update.
Finally, until January 22, players have access to special alternating PvP and PvE modes in which they can earn “crackers” and then exchange them for rewards. In particular, players will find a new racing mode “No Brakes”, in which participants in pre-installed cars must drive three laps faster than their opponents, while escaping from police pursuit. The fuel supply in the accelerators can be replenished by successfully drifting, and drivers caught by the cops themselves become law enforcement officers and hunt racers.
The exact schedule of modes and their rules are available on the official Crossout website.
About Crossout
Set in a post-apocalyptic world, Crossout is an MMO vehicle combat game available on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S offering players complete customisation in building and upgrading deadly armored vehicles to destroy enemies in open PvP and PvE battles. Crossout gives players thousands of possibilities to design their vehicle, including shape, armor, weapons, support systems and, of course, cosmetic enhancements. Official website: http://crossout.net
About Gaijin Entertainment
Gaijin Entertainment is the developer and publisher of the online games War Thunder, Crossout, Enlisted, CRSED: F.O.A.D. and Star Conflict as well as other PC, Mac, Linux, PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, iOS and Android titles across several genres. The company’s diverse portfolio has received a range of mass media and game industry awards including such as Gamescom Award and many more. Official website: http://gaijinent.com/
Season’s greetings, Travelers! HoYoverse is excited to announce that Genshin Impact Version 5.3, titled “Incandescent Ode of Resurrection,” will launch on January 1, 2025. This milestone update introduces the highly anticipated Pyro Archon, Mavuika, continues Natlan’s Archon Quest, and brings back the festive Lantern Rite with incredible rewards to celebrate the New Year.
Primogems ×1,600 and the new glider “Wings of Fate’s Course Intertwined” via in-game mails.
Intertwined Fate ×10 from the daily login event.
A free 4-star Liyue character through the Lantern Rite event.
Xiangling’s new outfit, “New Year’s Cheer,” available via Festive Fever.
New Main Story Content
The Archon Quest continues in Act V of Natlan, where the Traveler and Mavuika face the Abyss in a decisive battle, unlocking the Pyro element for the Traveler.
New Playable Characters
Mavuika (5-Star Pyro): The Pyro Archon can ride her motorbike for exploration and unleash fiery attacks in combat.
Lan Yan (4-Star): Deploys adaptive Elemental shields to protect allies.
Lantern Rite Returns
Celebrate the Lantern Rite Festival with new stories, mini-games, and generous rewards.
Two New Outfits
Hu Tao: “Cherries Snow-Laden” (limited-time discount).
Xiangling: “New Year’s Cheer” (free reward during Lantern Rite).
New Bosses
Wayward Hermetic Spiritspeaker: A world boss introducing fresh challenges.
Lord of Eroded Primal Fire: A powerful new Weekly Boss for daring Travelers.
Permanent Additions and Optimizations
Rhythm game mode becomes a permanent feature, adding Kazuha and Ganyu to Envisaged Echoes.
Quality-of-life improvements:
Boss respawn time reduced to 5 seconds without needing to teleport.
Artifact inventory limit increased to 2,100.
Enhanced Training Guide for new players.
HoYoFair 2025: Genshin Impact Fan Art Special Program
The HoYoFair 2025 Fan Art Special Program, “Dimensional Detective Chronicles,” will premiere on December 28 at 8 PM (UTC+8) on YouTube, X, and TikTok. Highlights include:
New episodes of fan-favorite series, such as:
“If Genshin Had a Cyberpunk Anime: Progenitor” by Dillongoo.
“Genshin with Guns” animations by No_Tables.
A text-based detective-themed mini-adventure game, available starting December 25 at 12 PM (UTC+8).
Celebrate the New Year in Teyvat!
Prepare for an unforgettable journey with Version 5.3 as Genshin Impact continues to expand its world and immerse Travelers in thrilling adventures.
Developed by HoYoverse, Genshin Impact is an open-world action RPG offering a vibrant world, rich lore, and dynamic gameplay. Available on PC, PlayStation, and mobile platforms.
BeardedBrothers.Games continue to make improvements to their Early Access blend of narrative-driven open-world racing and in-depth car repair mechanics, Underground Garage, with a new update available now. This latest update of the game completely revamps the games’ physics to make driving feel smoother, more responsive and more immersive. The update also includes a new map with ten new time attacks added to the new part of the map, a new car and a host of quality of life improvements and bug fixes.
Underground Garage is a Need For Speed meets Car Mechanic Simulator blend of car customisation and racing that lets you raid junkyards for old parts and cars, delve deep under the hood to repair and tweak every conceivable aspect of your cars, give them custom paint jobs, then take them out into an open world to take on challenges. A demo is also available on Steam for players to try out the game before jumping into the Early Access version. The full patch notes are available for viewing here.
Stockholm, Sweden – 20th Decemeber 2024: After The Game Awards 2024 ended, Swedish game developer 10 Chambers transformed the Los Angeles skyline with a stunning display of light and fire to celebrate the show’s 10th Anniversary and promote its upcoming co-op FPS heist game, Den of Wolves. A total of 1,100 drones were deployed, including 100 equipped with pyrotechnical flamethrowers, all choreographed by a specialized 30-person control team. Now, they’re releasing a video of it all – and the full-length music track from the trailer, “Takeover.”
10 Chambers premiered the first gameplay trailer for Den of Wolves during The Game Awards 2024. The game is led by Creative Director Ulf Andersson, creator of the critically acclaimed heist games Payday: THE HEIST and PAYDAY 2. Den of Wolves is a co-op heist FPS where you and your friends operate as criminals for hire in the conflicts between rival corporations in Midway City, a hyper-capitalistic free trade zone set in 2097.
“It was our first gameplay trailer for Den of Wolves, and it was The Game Award’s 10th anniversary – so we set out to do something extra special to celebrate”, says Rasmus Harnell, Brand Experience Manager at 10 Chambers. “You could say it grew in scope, and I didn’t know back then that I would end up having to close off a street in central Los Angeles – and hire two LAPD officers to make sure we weren’t up to no good.”
The drone show was inspired by the trailer shown at The Game Awards and employed 1,100 drones to recreate moments from the trailer, 100 of which were fire shooting, pyrotechnical drones. 10 Chambers worked with multiple Guinness World Record Holder and America’s Got Talent Finalists, Sky Elements, to bring the drone show to life as the audience exited the Game Awards venue.
The Den of Wolves team has been inundated with comments about the trailer’s heavy EDM track which really sets the tone for the heists featured. So many, in fact, the composer Simon Viklund chose to turn it into a full-length track, and it’s now available on all major streaming platforms.
About 10 Chambers
Founded in 2015, 10 Chambers is a game studio based in Stockholm, Sweden. The studio was founded by Ulf Andersson, who founded Overkill Software and was the brain behind the PAYDAY franchise. 10 Chambers’ debut title GTFO was released in 2019. The studio is currently in active development of its second title, Den of Wolves.
For more information about Den of Wolves, visit www.denofwolves.com PAYDAY THE HEIST® and PAYDAY 2® are registered trademarks of their respective owners. 10 Chambers AB is not associated with, affiliated with, sponsored by and/or endorsed by them.
Unleash chaos in this intense horde-survivor before Early Access Launch
Košice, Slovak Republic – 20 December 2024 – Grindstone and Games Farm invite players to descend into Niflheim with a limited-time demo of Jotunnslayer: Hordes of Hel, available from December 20th through January 7th. Showcasing stunning new Key Art by renowned Slovak artist Michal Ivan (Blizzard, Riot Games, Marvel), this demo brings back the highly requested Revenant character and Loki skill type, previously available exclusively during October’s Steam Next Fest, providing enough gameplay to whet players’ appetites over the holiday season ahead of the game’s Early Access launch on January 21st, 2025.
When the game launches into Early Access, players will have access to four distinct heroes – Berserker, Seeress, Revenant, and the newly revealed Flame Sister – as they battle across the scorching realm of Muspelheim and the frozen wastes of Niflheim, wielding divine powers from four legendary Norse gods in this visually stunning take on the horde-survivor genre.
Do you have what it takes to become the Jotunnslayer? Download the demo and join the official Discord community for news and updates.
About Games Farm
Games Farm is an independent game development studio with a team of more than 50 people, headquartered in Kosice, Slovakia. It specialises in developing premium cross-platform titles for PC and consoles with a portfolio of over 20 titles released to date. From a small unknown studio, Games Farm has evolved into a globally recognised RPG developer with renowned brands like the Heretic Kingdoms franchise and an ever-increasing roster of quality titles.
About Grindstone
Grindstone is a videogame production and publishing company with a strong background in game development based in Slovakia. It was founded in 2017 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.
