Celeste devs have now canceled their Metroidvania action-adventure Skytorn
- By Ash
- in Indie Games
Skytorn was supposed to be a Metroidvania action-adventure game from the developers behind the rather excellent Celeste, but unfortunately it would appear that the project has ran into some significant trouble and has now officially been canceled. The reasoning, as is often the case with these types of games, was that the procedural world design clashed heavily with the Metroidvania gameplay.
"To its core it was a procedurally generated adventure game without permadeath, but the procedural elements always clashed with the Metroidvania themes, and I didn’t know how to design around that," reads the developer update. "Taking out the procedural parts felt like it defeated the purpose of what the game was, so as it shifted towards a more linear adventure, the procedural map stayed but simply got more and more constricted, until the proceduralness of it didn’t really mean anything - it was just… there."
Bandai Namco's fighting game Jump Force will have a seemingly extensive character creation system
- By Ash
- in News
Continuing with the genre's tradition of crossovers, Jump Force is Bandai Namco's upcoming fighting game that will feature some of the most popular characters from a variety of manga (Japanese comics). You can expect to see the usual bunch of suspects from series like Dragon Ball and Naruto, as well as some less frequently seen ones like Yugi from Yu-Gi-Oh or Light from Death Note, though unfortunately it appears that Light will only be there for the story mode.
If you prefer to create your very own characters, however, you might be glad to hear that Jump Force will also have a seemingly extensive custom character creation system. You can get a bit of an idea of what this will look like, as well as what the overall story will be about, by checking out the recently posted trailer. Have a gander:
January's Humble Monthly bundle has arrived with The Division and Yakuza 0 in tow
- By Ash
- in News
If you're looking to pick up a couple of slightly older games at a steep discount, you might want to check out January's Humble Monthly bundle. It currently offers instant access to The Division and Yakuza 0 at a $12 price tag, with a bunch of other games coming in as a little bonus on February 1st.
I won't pretend I'm a big fan of either game as they're simply not my kind of thing, but they are still pretty darn good games. Even The Division, Ubisoft's open-world shooter that launched with somewhat mixed reviews, has slowly but surely managed to transform itself into something quite entertaining. So if you have even a bit of interest in the two games, for $12 I do believe they are well worth checking out.
Feudal Alloy is a colorful action-adventure starring fish-controlled robots
- By Ash
- in Indie Games
If you're up for something a bit out of the ordinary, you might want to check out the upcoming Feudal Alloy. Not only is it a hand drawn action-adventure set in medieval times where pretty much everyone seems to have a battle-ready mech, but all of the killer robots are controlled by tiny fish!
Since this is one of those things you have to see in order to fully comprehend, allow me to share with you the recently posted launch trailer. Have a gander, it's certainly an unusual combination:
Hitman: Blood Money and Absolution will be getting an HD remaster next week
- By Ash
- in News
[Update]: The Hitman HD Enhanced Collection has now arrived, though only on PlayStation and Xbox.
We're still in January, and this is already shaping up to be a pretty darn good year for the Hitman series. The reason I say this is because one of the best Hitman games out there, Hitman: Bloody Money, will be getting a HD remaster this January 11th as a part of the Hitman HD Enhanced Collection, which also includes an HD remaster of Hitman: Absolution.
As you would expect from any modern remaster, the Hitman HD Enhanced Collection will support resolutions up to 4K, run at 60 FPS, as well as bring with it significantly improved lighting and spruced up visuals. Perhaps most importantly of all, especially when it comes to Hitman: Bloody Money, the HD Enhanced Collection will also update the controls in order to make the whole experience a lot less clunky!
The newest Stardock themed Humble Bundle is filled with a variety of strategy games
- By Ash
- in News
If you're looking for a couple of games that you can really sink your teeth into and spend a large amount of time with, you might want to check out the latest Humble "Stardock 2019" Bundle. As you might imagine from the name alone, the bundle features a variety of strategy games, each one of which is quite massive in scope.
You can find the full list of games, as well as the pricing tier they appear in, right below. Have a gander:
The puzzle-platformer Catherine appears to be getting a PC version
- By Ash
- in News
[Update]: The PC version of Catherine has now suddenly arrived on Steam!
After the success of games like Bayonetta, Yakuza and Valkyria Chronicles on Steam, it appears that the puzzle-platformer Catherine will be transitioning from consoles to PC in the near future as well. Mind you, we still have no official confirmation, but given the teasers and leaks so far, it really does seem like it's just a matter of time before the veil of secrecy is lifted.
The first and most important clue is that Catherine's ESRB rating has recently been updated to include a PC version. If that isn't enough, you might also be interested to hear that Valkyria Chronicles 4 and Bayonetta have now posted pictures of sheep onto their Steam pages, which is quite significant given how prominently they feature in Catherine.