Amnesia: Rebirth's new Adventure Mode replaces otherworldly horror with puzzles
- By Ash
- in Indie Games
[Update]: Frictional Games's next horror game will be a non-linear sandbox set in a desolate WW1 bunker.
In a little experiment with their previous sci-fi horror game SOMA, Frictional Games introduced a Safe Mode that tweaked some of the horror elements and made the monsters non-threatening. While it did somewhat diminish the overall impact of the story, the Safe Mode was still a massive success as it allowed a whole host of new players to explore the world and soak in the atmosphere.
As such, I'm pleased to say that Frictional Games have now done the same for the recently released Amnesia: Rebirth. When playing the new Adventure Mode many of the horror audio and visual elements are noticeably toned down, the environments are slightly more bright in order to allow for easier exploration, while any sort of life-threatening monster encounters are entirely gone.
The Binding of Isaac's absolutely massive final expansion Repentance has now arrived
- By Ash
- in Indie Games
[Update]: The Binding of Isaac's Update 1.7.5 has improved Tainted characters and added even more room layouts.
Given how many times we've gone through the "this is definitely the last Isaac expansion" routine I won't blame you for doubting the title, but according to Edmund McMillen the freshly released Repentance is indeed the "FINAL FINAL FINAL mega expansion!" That latter part is not a joke either as Repentance has brought in 130 new items to toy around with, over 100 new enemies and enemy variations, and even fully fleshed out alternate path that leads to new chapters and a unique final bosses.
Repentance has also added 2 new playable characters, 25 new bosses, 5 new challenges, as well as over 100 new achievements to hunt down. And just to make the already insanely replayable roguelike even more time-devouring, there are now around 5000 new room designs to explore. Needless to say, Repentance really is a mega expansion!
Fall Guys' futuristic update has brought in Squad Mode and a bunch of new maps
- By Ash
- in Indie Games
It may have taken a little while to get here, but the latest Fall Guys' season has now brought in a whole bunch of new content to mess around with. First and foremost, there is now a Squad Mode that allow you to team up with either friends or random players in order to share progress and score across the various challenges, thus ensuring none of you get randomly knocked out just because you got unlucky that one time. That said, this does also mean that a particularly clumsy team can drag you down with them, though at least you'll be able to have a good laugh about it afterwards.
As for the maps, Season 4 has brought in seven highly futuristic ones to explore, many of which offer a combination of new and old elements to keep things fresh and interesting. Speaking of which, victories with your squad and Daily Challenges will now yield a bunch of Crown Shards - a resource that you can eventually combine into a proper Crown and thus unlock some of the numerous cosmetics at a nice and steady pace.
Retro-styled Metroidvania Narita Boy has now made its way to PC and consoles
- By Ash
- in Indie Games
If you're in the mood for an oldschool action-adventure with some Metroidvania elements thrown in for good measure, you might want to check out the newly launched Narita Boy. As you might expect from that brief description alone, Narita Boy is all about slicing and dicing your way through hordes of enemies, collecting upgrades and unearthing secrets as you explore the world, and naturally, beating up an assortment of bosses along the way.
What all of this looks like in actual gameplay, however, that you can find out through the recently posted launch trailer. Have a gander, it's a fairly long one:
After nearly two decades the Kingdom Hearts series has now finally arrived onto PC
- By Ash
- in News
[Update]: Kingdom Hearts 4 has been announced alongside a realistic, modern-day setting.
The very first Kingdom Hearts game released for the PlayStation 2 in 2002, after which the series slowly started expanding to other platforms. Unfortunately, despite the series spanning nearly two decades at this point, none of the games ever made their way onto PC. That is, until today!
Better yet, not only has the Kingdom Hearts series just arrived onto PC, but it has done so through four collections featuring the entire main series, complementary episodes and even a short movie! So if you ever wanted to dive deep into the rich Kingdom Hearts world, you'll now be able to do just that... provided you can actually figure out which games to play in which order given that the titles might as well be randomly generated.
Crash Bandicoot 4 has now slide-jumped onto PC, though sadly with an always-online requirement
- By Ash
- in News
[Update]: Crash Bandicoot 4 has now landed onto Steam, while a new game is likely to get announced on December 8th, 2022.
If you're looking to lose yourself in a good ol' fashioned action-platformer, I'm pleased to say I bring good news. A mere two weeks after the release of the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and Switch versions, Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time has now also been unleashed onto PC!
You can get a pretty good idea of what Crash Bandicoot 4 brings to the table, as well as what this new and improved version even looks like, through the recently posted trailer below. Have a peek:
Total War: Rome Remastered is bringing in improved visuals, controls and 16 extra factions
- By Ash
- in News
[Update #2]: Total War: Rome Remastered has now launched alongside a somewhat mixed reception.
[Update]: The newly released gameplay preview shows off the impressive technical improvements.
In a reveal that has arrived pretty much out of nowhere, Creative Assembly has now announced that they are working with Feral Interactive on remastering one of the original classics - Rome: Total War! The new and improved Total War: Rome Remastered will bring with it all of the DLC already bundled in, access to both the remastered and original game, as well as a whole bunch of quality of life fixes and additions.
What all of that means in actual gameplay terms is that the visuals will be improved across the board, the in-game camera and controls will be getting a modern overhaul, while sixteen previously locked factions will become fully playable. And just to spice things up even further, you will also be able to recruit new Merchant agents in order to create trade routes or simply use your economic might to buy out rivals and incite unrest.