Gwent's upcoming balance changes have been revealed and include a nerf to weather
- By Ash
- in News
The standalone version of Gwent recently entered Open Beta for both PC and consoles, thus opening its doors to a large amount of players. Combine this with a massive amount of balance changes and reworks that happened between the Closed and Open Beta and it shouldn't come as much of a surprise to hear that the current version of Gwent suffers from quite a few problematic cards. The end result is that Nilfgaard decks are everywhere on the ranked ladder, Northern Realms only has one viable archetype that's incredibly predictable, most Scoia'tael decks only use three units and just throw out weather cards like they're going out of season, and the list goes on.
Well, you'll be glad to hear that all of this will be changed in the near future! According to the recently updated Chinese test server (whose patch notes have been translated by tonyunreal over at Reddit) many of the problematic cards will be slightly toned down, while the previously useless archetypes such as Consume Monsters or Machine Northern Realms will be getting some much needed buffs. The patch notes are rather large, so allow me to just share a couple of highlights with you:
Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen is now available DRM-free on GOG, and its also 60% off
- By Ash
- in News
[Update]: It took a decade, but Dragon's Dogma 2 is now finally in development!
I don't know what exactly sparked this movement, but GOG has seriously begun expanding their lineup of excellent RPGs. A few days ago they brought in DRM-free versions of Fallout 3, Fallout: New Vegas, and The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, and today GOG has also added the equally excellent Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen.
As an added bonus, Dragon's Dogma is currently not only DRM-free, but also 60% off! The special launch discount will last until June 20th, during which Dragon's Dogma and all of its DLC will set you back €10,70. For a game with around 60 hours of content I would definitely say that the price is more than reasonable.
Drifting Lands, a Diablo inspired hybrid between a shoot'em'up and an RPG, has now released on Steam
- By Ash
- in Indie Games
In the most basic sense Drifting Lands is a Diablo inspired horizontal shoot'em'up. It has a large variety of levels with randomly generated enemies, three classes of ships with around 60 different skills to mess around with, and naturally, a complex loot system with a ridiculous amount of possible item permutations. In other words, its a hack & slash where the sword has been replaced with a space ship.
If you're not sure what in the world I'm talking about, you'll find the recently posted launch trailer right below. It'll give you a pretty good idea of what exactly Drifting Lands is all about, and how its RPG elements tie into the gameplay. Have a look:
The latest Kingdom Come: Deliverance trailer offers a look at the rather lovely open-world
- By Ash
- in News
Kingdom Come: Deliverance is a medieval open-world RPG that aims to be as realistic and faithful to the era as possible. In order to achieve this rather lofty goal you obviously need colorful and realistic environments, and if the most recent trailer is any indication the developers are definitely on the right path!
The video itself is not very long, and it mostly serves as a teaser for things to come, but it does offer a pretty damn good idea of what sort of style the developers are going for. To be perfectly honest the visuals appear heavily inspired by The Witcher 3, and I don't mean that in a negative way given that its one of the rare few AAA games that is both gorgeous and colorful at the same time. But enough rambling from me, here's the video:
RuneScape's quest-focused expansion Menaphos: The Golden City has now arrived
- By Ash
- in News
If you've somehow done everything there is to do in RuneScape, a feat that most likely took you the better part of the decade, you'll be glad to hear that a brand new expansion has just released. Menaphos: The Golden City brings with it four new massive story quests, procedurally-generated city quests, a new Slayer Dungeon and an increased level cap of 120 for the Slayer skill, as well as a maze-like Shifting Tombs area to explore for treasures and potential secrets.
All of this is primarily geared towards mid and high-level players, but there are also some benefits for newcomers as well. Once you complete the three-part questline that takes you across the desert sands into the city itself you will be able to enjoy a 5% buff on all skill training, take part in city quests to boost your experience even further, and use Menaphos as a jumping-off point for the rest of RuneScape's world. Most importantly of all, after 12 years of teasing and waiting you'll finally be able to find out what lies behind the close doors of Menaphos!
The next Heroes of the Storm character will be Malthael - Diablo 3's Aspect of Death
- By Ash
- in News
After a couple of Overwatch characters it would appear that Heroes of the Storm developers are now once again looking towards the Diablo universe for inspiration. As such, I am very glad to say that the highly popular and much-requested Malthael, the Aspect of Death from Diablo 3's Reaper of Souls expansion, will be the next character joining the Heroes of the Storm roster!
Unsurprisingly he will be a melee assassin that's all about draining the souls of his enemies in order to empower and heal himself. If you're wondering what this might look like in gameplay terms, here's the recently posted character spotlight video:
Rocket League's 2nd Anniversary Update will introduce a new arena and a bunch of new cosmetics
- By Ash
- in News
While it might seem like it has been around forever, Rocket League will be celebrating its second anniversary on July 7th. In order to get everyone in on the festivities Psyonix will be releasing a rather hefty update filled with a whole bunch of new cosmetics.
To be more specific, the July 7th update will bring with it a brand new arena by the name of Champions Field, new customization options for goal explosions, new trails and engine sounds, new trophies and achievements, and the introduction of Rocket League Radio featuring Monstercat and 18 new songs. The 2nd Anniversary Update will also bring with it the start of Competitive Season 5, two new import cars, Season 4 completion awards, and the list goes on. The update might not offer much in terms of gameplay, but if car customization is your thing then you're going to have plenty of new toys to play with!