Lovecraftian fishing game Dredge has now made navigation smoother and added quality-of-life improvements
- By Ash
- in Indie Games
According to the recently released roadmap, Black Salt Games are planning to release a series of quality-of-life focused updates for their Lovecraftian fishing game Dredge before finally unleashing a chunky paid expansion in the latter part of the year. While the DLC is still shrouded in mystery, I'm pleased to say that the first of the planned updates has now arrived with some nifty tweaks!
First and foremost, Update 1.1 has given the in-game map a couple of often-requested features: the ability to zoom and scroll, as well as the ability to place a variety of markers! Best of all, these markers can be seen through the Spyglass item, so if you're returning to an area in order to finish off any outstanding quests you should be able to easily get through it all without having to keep opening and closing your map.
Diablo 4's free 'Server Slam' open beta has now arrived and will stick around until May 14
- By Ash
- in News
If you're excited about Diablo 4 and you've somehow missed the previous beta, you're in luck because Blizzard has now launched one last public test - the Server Slam! There is unfortunately a bit of time pressure with this one as the event will only be running until May 14th on PC, Xbox and PlayStation.
In terms of content, the Server Slam will let you play through the prologue and the entirety of Act 1, with the limit being that you can't go past level 20. This is still a fairly sizable amount of content, so you should be able to get a pretty good impression of Diablo 4's gameplay and hopefully decide whether the game is actually worth your time and money.
Total War: Warhammer 3 devs have detailed their roadmap for updates throughout 2023 and early 2024
- By Ash
- in News
[Update]: Total War: Warhammer 3's Update 3.1 has added Harald Hammerstorm, the original 'Warhammer', along with a rework of Bretonnia!
Well over a year has gone by since Total War: Warhammer 3 first launched, and despite it being the grand finale of a highly popular series it has received a remarkably small amount of updates and DLC so far, especially when compared to its predecessor that always seemed to have something waiting just around the corner. Thankfully, this content drought might soon be a thing of the past as Creative Assembly has now announced a whole suite of updates and DLC that will be arriving throughout 2023 and the first half of 2024!
First and foremost, the relatively small Update 3.1 will arrive in the final week of May with Chaos Dwarfs as an endgame scenario in Immortal Empires, seven new regiments of renown, a new legendary hero, as well as a whole assortment of balance changes and gameplay tweaks. Fairly simple stuff, but definitely welcome given how shaky the performance is right now.
MTG Arena's Aftermath expansion has now launched ahead of schedule due to some server issues
- By Ash
- in News
[Update]: The day has finally come - MTG Arena has now made its way onto Steam!
If you were looking forward to MTG Arena's upcoming March of the Machine: The Aftermath mini-expansion and its 50 new cards, I have some good and some slightly strange news to share. First and foremost, the good news is that the Aftermath expansion has now gone live, a full two days ahead of schedule!
The strange part is that all of this seems to be the result of the massive server issues that appeared on Tuesday. What exactly happened and why it forced Wizards of the Coast to release Aftermath so early, I have no idea, but I can definitely tell you that the premature launch wasn't planned as the freebie packs are still scheduled to arrive on May 11th!
After two years in Early Access, the turn-based roguelike Darkest Dungeon 2 has been unleashed
- By Ash
- in Indie Games
Over seven years have gone by since the original Darkest Dungeon arrived, and if you're itching for more of that stylish, turn-based roguelike action, you'll be happy to hear that Red Hook Studios have now returned with a fancy new sequel! While the two games are very similar in spirit, and especially when it comes to the punishing difficulty that will see many of your favorite characters unceremoniously kick the bucket, Darkest Dungeon 2 is by no means a simple copy.
The sequel brings with it 3D visuals, a much greater focus on launching lengthy expeditions that will see you make plenty of potentially fatal decisions, characters that can form friendships and rivalries, along with a whole bunch of tweaks and changes to the underlying gameplay mechanics in order to make things feel fresh and interesting. What some of this looks like in action, that you can check out through the launch trailer below:
Story-focused cooking sim Cook Serve Forever has now been delayed, though thankfully only for a week
- By Ash
- in Indie Games
[Update]: Cook Serve Forever has now launched into Early Access, though unfortunately alongside some fairly mixed reviews.
Cook Serve Forever, the story-focused spin-off of the cooking and restaurant management series "Cook, Serve, Delicious!", was originally supposed to land into Steam Early Access on May 8th. Unfortunately, due to some sort of technical trouble, the Vertigo Gaming team have now been forced to postpone the big launch. Thankfully, it's not going to be a long delay as Cook Serve Forever will be launching a mere week later - on May 15th!
"Hey folks! David (aka chubigans) here, the Creative Lead on Cook Serve Forever/Cook Serve Delicious," reads the brief announcement. "We have been working extremely hard to get the game ready for launch on May 8th, however we ran into some severe technical issues a few days prior and have been working feverishly to fix it."
Magic: The Gathering is extending its Standard rotation from two to three years
- By Ash
- in News
[Update]: MTG Arena's Aftermath expansion has now launched ahead of schedule due to some server issues.
While the Standard format on MTG Arena is absolutely thriving, its tabletop counterpart is slowly but steadily declining in both popularity and relevance. This is partly due to being overshadowed by formats like Commander or Modern, and partly because the high prices on staple cards like Sheoldred alongside the fairly stale metagame push people away before they even give it a try.
So in an effort to solve this problem and revitalize Standard, Wizards of the Coast has now done something a bit drastic - extended the Standard rotation from two to three years! In other words, there won't be a new Standard rotation once Wilds of Eldraine goes live this September. Instead, Innistrad: Crimson Vow, Innistrad: Midnight Hunt, Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty, and Streets of New Capenna will all be rotating in late 2024.