Total War: Warhammer 2 artwork for the Warden and the Paunch DLC

[Update]: The Warden & The Paunch DLC has now arrived, and unsurprisingly, it's yet another pretty good one.

Later today, Total War: Warhammer 2's The Warden & The Paunch DLC will bring with it a morbidly obese Goblin and the eternally grumpy High Elf version of Batman. However, as exciting as that might sound, it is the accompanying free update that is likely going to have the biggest impact.

This would be because the update contains the long-requested rework of the Greenskins faction. Instead of having them be the punching bags of the entire world, it will finally make the Greenskins a nearly endless tide of ravenous anger and poor hygiene, just as they should be in the lore. More importantly, it will also reduce the power of the dreaded Order alliance by making it so the Dwarfs actually have a strong competitor vying for supremacy over the mountains.

Close up screenshot of the shark from the Maneater game

If you're in the mood for an RPG that's a little bit out of the ordinary, you might want to keep an eye on the upcoming Maneater. It's essentially a story-focused action RPG where you start off as a young shark pup, and eventually end up as a ridiculously over-the-top megashark that can annihilate boats with the mere flick of its fin.

As for what exactly this looks like in gameplay terms, that you'll find out through the recently posted launch trailer. Have a gander, it's certainly a unique one:

Mortal Kombat 11 screenshot of the three new characters from Aftermath

[Update]: The Aftermath expansion has now arrived, and apparently it's quite good!

This May 26th Mortal Kombat 11 will be getting its very first major expansion - Aftermath. It'll bring with it a brand new storyline centered around the Fire God Liu Kang, the new keeper of time and protector of Earthrealm, and will once again pit the various characters against each other in a series of brutal and over-the-top duels. Aftermath will also add three new fighters to toy around with (Sheeva, Fujin and the guest star Robocop), as well as three new skin packs that will be released over time.

You can get a pretty good idea of what the new characters have to offer, as well as get a glimpse at the new storyline, through two of the most recent trailers. Have a gander, they're about as ridiculous as you would expect:

World of Warcraft screenshot of corrupted gear in action

As a part of the recent Vision of N'Zoth update, Blizzard added a major new source of player power - corrupted items. Unfortunately, while the idea behind corrupted items is an excellent one, their actual implementation leaves a lot to be desired. Not only is there a massive power difference between the various corruption effects, but there is basically no way to target the ones you want, meaning you can rise or fall through the ranks purely on luck alone. 

This will soon be a thing of the past, however, as Blizzard is looking to make it significantly easier to get the corruptions you want. So instead of having to rely on pure dumb luck, MOTHER will soon start selling specific corruption effects for large quantities of Echoes of Ny’alotha. The items she sells will change twice a week, mirroring the new Assault missions, and will cycle through all of the corruption effects and their various levels of potency.

Gwent artwork showing both Geralt and Ciri

[Update #2]: CD Projekt Red will be drastically slowing down development on Gwent: The Witcher Card Game in 2023 and beyond.

[Update]: CDPR is working on a new singleplayer-focused card game adventure based on Gwent - project Golden Nekker.

While the card game Gwent has been around since The Witcher 3, it has gone through some rather massive changes ever since it went standalone. So even though it may share the same name and core mechanics, the Gwent of today is a far more expansive and balanced card game than The Witcher 3's mini-game.

If you're wondering just how different it truly is, this would be a pretty good time to find out as Gwent has now finally made its way to Steam. Much like the other platforms, including the main GOG one, the newly launched Steam version is free-to-play with a rather unobtrusive monetization system.

Dark Souls 3 Ringed City screenshot

[Update]: After some technical troubles, online features are now back on the PC version of Dark Souls 3, while the rest of the series will follow soon.

Even though their difficulty is often vastly overstated, the Dark Souls games aren't exactly the most welcoming to beginners. Yet, despite all of this, Bandai Namco has now revealed that the Dark Souls series has been astonishingly successful!

In terms of actual numbers, they have announced that the Dark Souls series has cumulatively sold over 27 million copies! A lot of that success can be attributed to Dark Souls 3 as it alone has managed to sell over 10 million copies on PC, Xbox One and PlayStation 4 combined.

Chex Quest HD official artwork and logo

Chex Quest was a total Doom conversion released all the way back in 1996 as a promotional game for Chex cereal. Despite all odds and the usual tie-in game curse, Chex Quest ended up not only being a good bit of fun, but also popular enough that it still has a small cult following to this very day.

So if you're curious about what exactly it has to offer, or if you're simply looking for a bit of a nostalgia trip, you'll be glad to hear that a modern HD remake of Chex Quest has now landed onto Steam. And best of all, it's entirely free to grab!

Trails of Cold Steel IV official artwork and logo

[Update]: The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV has now concluded the massive saga on both PC and Switch!

Just as Trails of Cold Steel III was making its way to PC, Nihon Falcom announced a brand new entry to the series. Trails of Cold Steel IV will arrive alongside the largest roster of characters out of any game in the series, greatly spruced up combat, as well as an assortment of new and returning minigames to mess around with.

If you're wondering what the story is going to be about, however, that you'll find out through the recently posted trailer. Just bear in mind, if you haven't played the previous Trails of Cold Steel games, all of this might seem a little bit nonsensical. With that said, here's the trailer:

Europa Universalis IV artwork without logo for the Emperor expansion

[Update]: The Emperor expansion has now arrived, though sadly with quite a few bugs.

If there is one thing you can say for certain about Paradox games, it would be that they are incredibly long-lasting. Europa Universalis IV released all the way back in the ancient times of 2013, and despite being nearly seven years old, Paradox is now planning to release a brand new expansion for it.

The titular expansion Emperor deals with the rise and fall of empires and offers a variety of new options for the Papacy, the Holy Roman Empire and numerous revolutionary movements. Here's the brief summary detailing what you can expect to see:

SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom - Rehydrated close up screenshot of SpongeBob

[Update #2]: The Battle for Bikini Bottom Rehydrated team is working on a new SpongeBob game - The Cosmic Shake!

[Update]: The newest Rehydrated preview is all about the multiplayer-focused horde mode.

Despite the tie-in curse that usually follows video games, especially older ones, SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom ended up as a surprisingly solid action-adventure. It managed to successfully balance references to the show and its characters with actually enjoyable gameplay, and so it remains a bit of a cult classic to this very day.

As such, I am more than pleased to say that THQ Nordic is working on a remastered version called SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom - Rehydrated. Expect to see a faithful recreation enhanced with modern visuals and controls, a brand new horde mode multiplayer for up to two players, as well as a bunch of extra content that was cut from the original game like the Robo Squidward boss fight.